As the camera drew closer, the full shape of the solitary probe gradually came into view.
Unlike human civilization's neat, orderly manufacturing style,
the probe had hardly any sharp edges. Even its internal circuitry formed graceful arcs.
A thick layer of dust covered the ellipsoidal probe, and its casing was damaged in several places.
It was interstellar dust clinging to its surface. Clearly, it had endured a long journey through interstellar space.
Yet amid all that dust, the probe's oval lenses remained brilliantly polished and clear, untouched by the grime.
Swish... swish...
Several objects resembling windshield wipers swept gently across the lenses, clearing away the dust that had just settled on them.
The probe seemed to receive an instruction, and one lens slowly changed direction.
Its target was none other than the Kepler-452 Stellar System, four light-years away.
As it observed, quantum signals streamed into the distance.
Ten light-years away.
A modestly sized fleet lay at the edge of a small stellar system.
The ellipsoidal shapes of its starships made it clear that the solitary probe traveling through the vast universe had been launched by this fleet.
At the fleet's center was an exceptionally large starship.
It was clearly the fleet's flagship.
Graceful arcs traced the ellipsoidal flagship's hull. In this civilization, curves seemed to be synonymous with beauty.
Together, those arcs could have formed an enormous, elegant pattern.
But the scars left by weapons fire had ruined that beauty.
Melted armor, exposed wiring, components trailing wisps of black smoke...
All pointed to one thing-this pitiful fleet seemed to have just survived an utterly devastating war.
The Talodan Civilization.
That was what this unfortunate civilization called itself.
Inside the flagship.
Round-bodied creatures covered in fine, dense fur operated propulsion devices, gliding swiftly through the zero-gravity environment.
Their black-and-white fur,