Now I get it. You two are my brilliant strategists! Sobek watched the two of them singing from the same songbook, his heart heavy with indignation. One more thing needed to be said: the Empire didn't have any "brilliant strategists" by that name, but it did have a similar allusion.
In any case, the point was simply to understand the spirit of it.
He now felt that if he really followed their advice, his "archrival" would definitely beat him to death. That man was brilliant and ruthless; if he noticed anything amiss, he would turn the table without hesitation.
Then again, no matter how ruthless, calculating, or cold-hearted his "archrival" was, he wasn't exactly a bloodthirsty brute.
If Sobek simply delivered the message like an honest man, surely the other fellow wouldn't do anything to him, would he?
After all, the principle that envoys should not be killed during wartime still mattered. Surely they wouldn't actually blast him with the fortress guns? Probably...
And so, with that in mind, Jaeger Sobek's Imperial Hare set off from the main fleet and headed for the Seder Fortress.
He was a fleet admiral of some standing, after all. Even if he was only acting as a messenger for the time being, he ought to travel in his own flagship. It was only proper for a general of the Galactic Empire.
Besides, the Empire had resources to spare. It wasn't going to consider this a waste of energy; it valued ceremony and appearances far more.
"Shouldn't we send a friendly signal?" Miss Serl asked the captain during the journey.
"We should wait until we're within one astronomical unit. This is wartime, after all. If we put up a friendly signal too early, wouldn't it look as if we were waving a white flag from