The four dreadnoughts and their dozen-plus escort ships of various classes completed their formation in just five minutes, far exceeding the command staff's expectations.
That was certainly thanks to the highly trained, elite crews, and it was also a testament to the ships' performance. Of course, it also helped that some inhuman "political officer" had been running minor alerts every three days and major drills every five. The entire crew was practically developing a Pavlovian response to training.
During the reorganization, the embassy ship that had been leaning against the side of the Fuxi was quickly pushed away by the sailors with a gravity tractor. The close-range explosion left a particularly ugly stain on the Fuxi's fluid armor, but that was all.
By then, the warships' bows were pointed toward the system's sun. Their silver radiance glittered against the azure nebula, as if tracing the vast waves with mysterious lace. Yet at the edge of that silver glow, ominous black spots seemed to be appearing.
At the same time, the Fuxi's active gravity-source radar began sounding an alert.
"Five o'clock! Unidentified fleet detected!" the observation petty officer called out. Like their captain, the diligent officer had stayed at their post from the beginning and had not been affected in the slightest by the brief fight on the bridge.
Half a minute later, the dedicated officer reported more information: the fleet comprised ten large warships of the same class as the Main God, and had reached a distance of 1.5 astronomical units.
"It has to be an Imperial fleet! The Imperial bastards betrayed us again!" Chief of Staff Mukawa said.
Those Starrealm Knights wearing heraldic armor had already proven as much.
"There may be a Tuhane fleet as well! This is a trap!" Captain Tovi said.
By then, the chaotic mess