On August 19, 832 C.C., the joint fleet of the Empire and the Commonwealth officially took control of the DL36 system. The star region, still known for the time being as the "Devil's Labyrinth," had its gates kicked open by the joint fleet's iron heel.
Of course, with no access to black-tech equipment, the news didn't reach the joint fleet's headquarters in the Devil's Throat system until after 8:00 p.m. on August 23.
At that point, the Devil's Throat was enjoying its calmest stretch in two weeks.
For the past week, there had been no particularly intense fighting in this frontline system. Each day, attackers and defenders alike merely fired a few salvos at the other side's orbital fortresses and outposts, as if punching in at work.
After all, they had been fighting desperately for more than two months. Whether the marauders were trying to "defend their homes and country," or humanity and its followers were looking to earn distinction while stamping out a security threat, everyone had their limits. At this point, the fighting needed a halftime break.
So that day, Major General Yang Xiyi, deputy chief of staff of the Commonwealth Joint Fleet, was spending some time with a mature beauty who still had plenty of charm—Major General Marlowe, the expeditionary fleet's occult adviser—and two musclebound hard cases: Lieutenant General Picard, deputy fleet commander and admiral of the Tenth Fleet, and Lieutenant General Seyo, the fleet's other deputy commander and director of the Marine Corps. The four had taken over a private room in the senior officers' mess and were playing mahjong behind closed doors.
And, to be clear, it was ordinary mahjong.
As it happened, psychic users had countless ways to cheat at games like this without making a sound, and ordinary people stood no chance against