The metal beasts failed to catch the Civilization Coalition fleet, which was intent on escaping. Nor would the Destroyer let its only remaining defensive force leave. It began sending instructions for the metal beasts to spread out around the Stellar System.
The retreating Civilization Coalition fleet lingered two light-years away. Under orders from above, it became a mobile force tasked not only with surveillance, but also with disrupting any abnormalities within the system at critical moments.
The Civilization Coalition was drawing on active forces scattered throughout the Nebula Constellation. Its main forces were rapidly transferring through Hyperspace Channels, and the first wave, numbering four million, would finish assembling in ten hours.
Whether or not something had gone wrong with the Spatial Warship, the Civilization Coalition had to confront this "interstellar tumor" spreading like cancer cells.
In terms of productivity and mobilization, the more technologically advanced a civilization was, the faster it could complete a large-scale deployment.
Meanwhile, in the vacuum of space within the star's gravitational reach, dead metal beasts were still spraying assimilation particles. The other large beasts fought over the small metal beasts formed from their dead kin's remains.
These corpses were far too badly mutilated. Although the star's radiation had awakened the remaining metal's activity, the small beasts they formed were fit only to serve as food and nourishment for the larger beasts.
As they fed, the metal beasts began fighting to redraw their territories. They basked in radiation around the star and also foraged for the metal chunks that assimilation particles had created in space.
While the others fought over their kin, a metal beast controlled by the Destroyer pounced on the wreckage of a Civilization Coalition warship far larger than itself. Its body began melting like a soft-bodied creature, rapidly wrapping around the wreckage and