1.10

By the time the Ombra Prime Sunkeepers disappeared into subspace, the Federation’s 11th fleet had done the same, leaving the battlespace around Thalassar to the PDR. Only the scattered remains of Starlancers and Wraith Reiters gave any indication of the conflict.

Vae remained motionless, hands frozen over her gaping mouth, eyes unblinking, watching the black void where Ombra Prime ships had just been seconds earlier. 

She had never before seen a Sunkeeper in person.

Few ever did outside the Ombra star zone. Fewer still ever forgot the moment they did see one. The sleek lines, sharp curves, built as tall as they were wide. Like an exotic flower held in an insect’s mandible – four curving pincers aimed forward. Strength and beauty as one. The bright white trimmed in glimmering gold looked as Vae had imagined a star in its main sequence up close.

1.09

“Signal jamming engaged,” Banks called from the comms station.

Andar turned to her and said, “Connect to fleetwide comms.”

Within moments, the Chrysalis was linked to every other Starlancer in the 17th fleet, on a comms line the Federation couldn’t access.

From the Captain’s seat, Vae hoped there were no codebreakers on board in the Federation fleet before her.

1.08

With comms shut down by the Fed, there was no way of knowing if the city garrison had received the signal that the Congressional Building’s power had been cut. 

“Devana, we need you back up in the communications center,” Sorenna said. “Find out if the garrison has been deployed.” 

Standard emergency protocol dictated that they should have been, but nothing was certain under enemy occupation.

1.07

The climate of the small, parched world of Ombra Prime, nestled on the edge of The Verge deep within the Austral Corridor, ranged between inhospitable desert and semi-arid steppe.

Long thought by many to be scarcely worth the effort of settling, it had been one of the last planets in the galaxy to take on a permanent population. This barren territory, largely devoid of mineral and energy resources, was further cursed by a meager allowance of drinkable water, thus rendering it incapable of supporting a populace beyond the most meagre and scattered of habitations. 

But the air was breathable, there was potable water, and – most importantly – no good reason for the Federation to claim it as their own. After the revolution on Kaal and the rise of the PDR, they, too, saw more value in strengthening their own positions rather than expanding their slight resources to swipe up a mostly-barren, far-flung rock. 

Contradictorily, what kept most away from Ombra Prime in the first place had become the reason for its influx of immigration.