The first to enter Gibraltar β were indeed not the Empire's small and medium-sized warships.
When the imposing silver oval-shaped unidentified object roared out of the silver vortex at the heart of the Stargate, it sent the defenders into a panic. Even the Outer Ring Fleet veterans, seasoned and widely traveled as they were, couldn't help saying they'd never seen anything so absurd.
"So what the hell is that thing?"
"A shell?"
"What kind of rail could launch a shell that big? One as long as the Ring of Miracles?"
"Or is it some kind of oversized assault landing craft?"
"Recon says it was towed here by a transport ship?"
"So those engines were just installed? Is that really the Empire's style?"
"Yeah. It's a bit too raider-like, isn't it?"
"There's definitely a plot! If it's the Empire's doing, then a plot is a certainty!"
The communications channel filled with confused, astonished chatter. Marshal Bonaparte also sensed something deeply uncanny about the situation, but she forced down her surprise and ordered the fleet to open fire.
In an instant, surging beams of destruction raised a storm of devastation and swallowed the silver behemoth, still drifting through space, in a raging flood of energy.
Yet amid the blinding light, the strange craft's outline remained steady. It kept moving, kept growing larger, and even became clearer by the moment.
The storm of fire unleashed by the Outer Ring Fleet did not shake it in the slightest.
The silvery craft, seemingly forged from a single enormous lump of metal, simply strode through the Stargate, standing firm against the dense fire from the arsenal ships and turrets.
"What kind of monster is that?"
"Are the Empire's assault landing craft all monsters?"
"Idiot, do you still think that thing is an assault landing craft?"
"Fire!