"Good."


    Arger Red Demon responded to his underling.


    "Make sure the Celestial orbs are stored properly. The higher ups will want this shipment secured before the next extraction. We can''t afford any mistakes. Especially with that monster running around ruining things for us on the surface!"


    ''Is he referring to me?''


    Alex thought to himself,ughing that they were calling him ''monster'' now.


    But he quickly shook that off and focused on another part of the conversation that piqued his interest greatly.


    ''Celestial orbs?''


    Therge Red Demon was clearly referring to the Soul Orbs they were mining from that huge ck mass.


    That wasn''t a term he was familiar with, as he was pretty sure the name ''Soul Orb'' was a universal one used by all who knew about them.


    Well, that and the fact that they were called that by the System…


    But regardless, it wouldn''t make sense for the Red Demons to have a different name for them.


    Just the fact that the name they had for them — Celestial — implied that they may even be something more.


    What were these orbs, really?


    Did they just look like soul orbs, and that''s it?


    He watched in silence as the Red Demons continued to extract and carefully store the glowing orbs.


    Dozens of them were already packed away in heavy, reinforced crates.


    The workers handled them with care, as though they were dealing with something sacred.


    Or perhaps they were driven by fear to be so exceptional at their jobs…


    Was there a connection between these so called Celestial Orbs and his Soul Orbs?


    Were they used in the same way his Soul Orbs were?


    The more Alex questioned things, the more he felt he had to do something about this.


    He gritted his teeth.


    If any one of his conjectures turned out to be correct, then this could change things, and not for the benefit of the Human race.


    He''d allow himself to investigate a bit longer, but not by much.


    Then, he would make them pay for every human life they had taken.


    Of course, his revenge was still mostly with Mira on his mind though.


    Every Red Demon in existence would pay for her death.


    It didn''t matter that she was now alive again.


    ***


    In the blink of an eye, the enormous ship carrying the six mysterious aliens disappeared from the vast expanse of space they were previously upying.


    Using the wormhole they had opened, they bridged the million light year gap between themselves and the Milky way in a matter of seconds.


    ***


    Bleep!


    rm!


    Multiple emergency alerts rang out through the entire Sr system all of a sudden, all at once.


    To all the guards on duty at the time, they knew this was no drill.


    Something, and something huge, must have happened for every single rm in the entire sr system to start going off at once!


    Read thetest on empire


    In the heart of the Capital Building, even the rms in the Round table room were set off.


    And this was of particrly important interest to those who regrly attended meetings in there.


    As they all knew that such a thing only happens when something managed to slip past their defences and make its way into the Sr system.


    "Report!"


    Principal Farnes wasn''t in the mood for keeping up his usual wise and mysterious image.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    His grizzled features showed deep concern for what was happening, which just went to show how serious this situation really was.


    Major General Lyndal trembled as she read the data streaming in from all corners of the system.


    Principal Farnes'' ''no time for useless shit'' expression left even an A tier like her a little afraid…


    Though it also had to do with the fact that the rm was ring out in the round table room.


    "Sir, it''s… we''re detecting a ship… it literally just appeared out of nowhere on the edge of the Kuiper Belt. The initial reports are that it is massive. Even bigger than our ownmand ships…"


    She connected to the holographic disy in the centre of the table and zoomed in, focusing on the region near the edge of the Kuiper Belt where the ship was first detected using the real time camera monitoring systems they had set up all over the sr system.


    The other S tiers in the room watched in stunned silence as the sensors struggled to process what they were seeing.


    A wormhole, easily the size of severals, had opened up…


    And from its depths, a massive vessel emerged.


    "Dear god…"


    One of them whispered, utterly shocked at the sight.


    These were S tiers, they had seen a lot in their lifetimes.


    But something like this left them speechless.


    "How big is that thing?"


    Principal Farnes muttered out loud, unsure whether tough or cry at the sheer absurdity of what he was seeing.


    Theirmand ships were, what? Nearly a hundred kilometres in diameter?


    "The sensors are telling me that it''s around the same size as Earth…"


    Major General Lyndal answered him, but even she was shocked by the words that wereing out of her own mouth.


    A ship… as big as their whole?


    What. The. Fuck.


    But then, as if some sort of interference blocked them, the holographic screen shut off entirely.


    "Sir, all attempts to further scan the ship have been blocked. It''s as if… nothing''s there…"


    Then, a voice cut through the cosmos, cold, methodical, but most of all celestial.


    "Attention, inhabitants of this system."


    The voice was not human.


    It was clearly from a sentient being though, as everyone in the entire sr system could hear the arrogance and sheer condescension in the voice''s tone.


    "We are the Overseers. Your civilization has recentlye under our observation. We do not seek your resources, nor do we seek your friendship. We are only here to offer you a trade out of our own good will."


    Principal Farnes felt his heart tighten for the first time in many, many years.


    For the first time in a long time, he felt fear.