The Interstellar Human Military Junta, Western Border.
Long ago, the Empire's First Fleet had already crossed the border and advanced north.
There were no Imperial Stellar Bases here, but Science Ships had surveyed the region and transmitted a complete starmap to guide the fleet.
However, the territory charted by the Science Ships was limited. A few months earlier, the First Fleet, led by Imperial Navy Minister Ning Zhiyuan, had finally left the charted region and entered unknown systems.
From then on, they had to find their own way.
As before, they spent a great deal of time charging their Hyperdrives, then spent ten days traversing a Hyperlane to reach an unfamiliar system.
Sensor signals scanned the entire system at light speed and sent a preliminary survey report back to the Galactic Throne, where the regular scientific personnel aboard analyzed it.
In the game, military fleets could not replace Science Ships in conducting precise system surveys, but a fleet with a commander could perform preliminary exploration, at least identifying the entrances and exits of the system's Hyperlanes.
A fleet without a commander could only travel through surveyed systems.
This system was a crossroads. Aside from the Hyperlane they had arrived through, two other lanes connected it to other systems.
One led northwest, and the other due north.
Ning Zhiyuan decided to head due north.
According to the coordinates on the starmap, their position on its Y-axis was already beyond the westernmost edge of the Zirick Cooperative. A little farther north should put them in the territory of the XT-489 Extermination Unit.
After once again spending a great deal of time crossing the entire system, the First Fleet traveled through the lane to the system to the north.
Unexpectedly, the Hyperlane ended here. It was a dead end.
Worse still, the moment