The Earth Forces' Pursuit

Inside the Doolittle's bridge, the air hummed with the low drone of the circulation system and the faint sounds of electronic instruments. On the enormous main screen, the pitch-black backdrop of space was divided by tactical symbols of various colors and lines marking flight paths.

The bridge crew sat at their stations in Earth Alliance uniforms, their fingers moving over glowing keyboards and touch panels. Their hushed conversations blended into the ambient noise.

Rod Djibril stood just behind and to one side of the captain's chair, his hands clasped behind his back.

He wore no uniform. His well-tailored dark suit made him look somewhat out of place.

His gaze swept over the constantly updating streams of data on the main screen before settling on the blinking point of light that represented their destination.

He looked past the screen, out the window into the deep void beyond.

That darkness did not make him feel insignificant. Instead, it stirred a desire to bring it entirely under his control.

He was aboard this Agrippa-class space battleship as an observer, but that was merely a title.

In reality, every aspect of this operation stemmed from his will.

He drew his gaze back from the window and turned toward the man seated in the captain's chair.

Colonel William Sutherland, captain of the Doolittle, was a career soldier through and through.

"How much farther to L4?"

Djibril's voice was quiet, but it carried clearly across the hushed bridge.

The question broke the steady rhythm of operations. Several operators paused briefly before returning to their work.

Sazaland replied in an even tone, "At our current speed, we expect to enter the perimeter alert zone of the L4 Sector in three standard hours. Our advance reconnaissance craft have already moved ahead, and they've detected nothing unusual so far."