Eight escort cruisers and three enormous immigrant flotillas would have counted as an independent nomadic "tribe" in the galactic core.
But a group like this had no business appearing in the heart of the Empire.
The Marauders' "nomadic tribe" had, of course, failed to notice the Blizzard hiding in the icy asteroid belt. They crossed the entire star system without a care, then jumped away in another direction.
It was unmistakably heading for the "Glory Gate."
Only after the Marauder fleet had vanished into the distance did everyone finally let out a long breath of relief. They all felt as if they had escaped certain death, but then realized that this was no time to celebrate.
"Why is a Marauder flotilla entering our star system and heading for the Glory Gate? Captain, what do you think?" the commander asked.
"Your Excellency, I believe there's something suspicious about this. So..."
"So we have no choice but to follow them and take a look, right?"
Uh, I was going to suggest that we lie low a little longer and wait for reinforcements from Prince Suliuka! If you're going to play it safe, then play it safe all the way; if you're going to be bold, then be bold to the end. Could you please stop being so contradictory? It's hard for hardworking professionals like us to keep up!
But before the captain could complain, Colonel Sobek said grimly, "Send a report on the situation here to the Marshal's Office of the Heavenly Domain and the command center on Luyuan. Then... we'll follow them!"
It wasn't that Colonel Sobek had suddenly grown bold. He had realized that since the enemy fleet included habitat ships, its speed and maneuverability would be severely limited while traveling at sublight speeds. It could never outrun their Skyclear-class