Eirik was more than a little surprised when an unknown ship tried connecting a call to his, as they approached the border to the Chiros sector. He sat down in his captain's chair, glanced over his black uniform to ensure it looked presentable, and accepted the call.

A tall thin N'amlei appeared on screen, manipulator limbs folded in front of its... Chest? Stem? In formal greeting.

"Greetings, gentle being. I am sorry to inform you that you are close to violating the "Protection of Potentially Evolutionary Sustainable Species" Act, as signed by all galactic space-faring species. Continuing on your current trajectory will see you crossing the border defined in the aforementioned protection act.

Any violations of said protection act will result in immediate and severe punishment from a collective galactic community. I am sure this is all a big misunderstanding and we will be understanding if you turn around and leave." The tone of the N'amlei was respectful but firm. No discussion was to be had about this.

Or so he thought.

"I am the Emperor of Libertalia, and as such, I refute your right to contain or restrict my right of movement. Any attempt at those actions will result in a swift, aggressive response!" Eirik said, sitting in his chair, back straight and shoulders squared. He had been anticipating this, but at the end of his stay within the forbidden sector. Not at the entry.

"Even an emperor must respect a signed treaty!" The tone shift of the N'amlei was almost imperceptible, but the threat was there.

"Then we have a problem, as I have not yet signed any treaty with the greater galactic community, except for an alliance with Terra. I repeat, any attempt to contain or restrain our travel will be seen as an act of aggression against Libertalia and will see swift and brutal retaliation in response!" Eirik played his best card, knowing for a fact that he was exempt from a treaty he had not signed. Now he could only wait while his ship continued

While Eirik could not see what happened on the other end of the call, beyond the N'amlei, he could most certainly hear the scrambling taking place to figure out if he was speaking the truth, and if he was, what to do instead of forcing him to turn back.

The N'amlei itself was disturbed, to say the least. "You haven't signed the treaty? He asked incredulously.

"I have not yet had the time to formalize the event, as is custom. So until such a time as that happens, I am breaking no treaties. I might be going against common decency, but I have my reasons. Speaking of, you might need to perform an internal corruption review. I know for a fact that a mercenary group uses this sector to hide out in. Which would indicate some sort of agreement with the forces, guarding these fledgling species." Eirik was ashamed to admit it, but he took a great deal of pleasure in the look of shock on the face of the N'amlei.

"In any case, You are not stopping us. You can report to your superiors that you followed protocol and were refused by people of higher standing. Just mention emperor Eirik, I am certain they will understand. Have a blessed day!" With that, Eirik ended the call ad ordered full engine power forward.

"Captain, what if they decide to try and stop us?" Trasti called out. He had been moved to the bridge so he was on hand whenever Eirik needed a comm specialist.

"We open fire." Eirik's reply was flat and fast. Trasti turned his head to protest, but one look at Eirik's face told him it was a bad idea to even voice the opinion. The next 5 minutes passed in silence until David called out "Threshold to the Chiros sector has been crossed. continuing on course, no changes."

"Trasti, you should receive a message within the next minute, from the Council. Do not worry about it, it is a standardized, automated message sent out to any ship crossing the threshold. You can ignore it, read it or delete it. I don't care." A moment passed before EIrik rose from his seat.

"Contact me when we reach the first solar system," He said to Trasti before he left the bridge.

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They had barely been an hour underway when Trasti's tail trembled for the 5th time, prompting David to summon Eirik to his station. "Something bothering you, Trasti?" He asked once he stood next to the young male Kloxna.

"This is the 5th time I have found a shadow-ping on the scanners. It shows up for a split second before it vanishes just as quickly. But I'm slowly working out how to get past... whatever is managing to hide from us." Trasti answered, eyes focused on his screens while he tapped away at his keyboard as fast as he could.

"Ignore it!" Eirik said, "It has followed us since this hunt began. you will not be able to identify what it is."

Trasti looked up at Eirik in astonishment and said. "You make it sound like you are not only aware that we are being followed, but also know who or what is following us, Captain"

"Yes, I do make it sound like that, don't I?" Eirik replied with a smile before he walked out of the bridge again.

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The first 3 solar systems were barren of any form of life, even the planets in the goldilocks zone. In the 4th system, they found life, but it was barely past the stone age, and currently engaged in what looked like either ritualistic mass slaughter or an extreme form of population control. They decided this was not Narvik's people.

On the search went, planet after planet, system after system. By the 12th system, they were no closer to their goal but kept going unperturbed.

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Sif was busy. Someone was going meticulously through the sector and everything pointed at them searching for something. She had to get everything ready, just in case, they were the ones they were expecting. Despite his many, many flaws, Dalle was usually right when it came to Eirik.

Sif stopped for a moment to straighten out the summer dress she had chosen. She had high expectations for this Eirik. Dalle had told her a lot about her target, but she had a habit of doing her own research. His exploits were undeniable.

Decorated soldier, accomplished commander, successful mercenary, even a spell as a cargo hauler. Unfazed in battle, generous to those under his command, and according to every piece of information she could dig up about him, a general pleasure to be around. And the latest exploit, he had named himself emperor and had carved out a not insignificant piece of territory.

She was frustrated by the lack of photographs and pictures. The TA had done a VERY thorough job of hiding the man's identity. This was not normal procedure, even for commanders. This was only done for the elite. The best of the very best.

This was both worrying and enticing. Those soldiers were as mysterious as they were dangerous and controversial. Used to accomplish missions that the TA cannot afford to be linked to. Assassination, kidnapping, terrorism with nuclear and chemical weaponry, torture, blackmail, murder of political dissenters on the homefront, undercover infiltration, and false flag maneuvers. Nothing was off the table for these guys and they had no restrictions placed upon them, for the price of being given up for dead if captured.

He would be her greatest conquest. The ultimate prize. With his death on her name, she would never lack for work again. Never again would her looks and stature, which aided her so much in her line of work, be used to exclude her from the lucrative contracts. She would cement her name as one of the greatest killers for hire this galaxy had ever seen with the completion of this mission.

Even Dalle had made the same mistake as hundreds of dead beings. when he had first met her. He had thought she was a cute little trophy daughter/wife that wanted to live out a fantasy as a dangerous mercenary, that he could scoop up and make his plaything. She had quickly remedied that line of thought when she pressed a blade to his scrotum and promised him a very swift and messy vasectomy if he did not start talking about the job and forget any other thoughts he might have been having.

She had killed her first man when she was 11, the reason being that he yelled at her and her friends to stop playing ball in the streets. She had slit his throat in his sleep that same night and had been hooked on killing ever since.

Age had only refined her skills and at 29, she was deadly and discreet, 2 qualities that rarely fit on the same person. She just needed time to cement her reputation. She was still young and hungry and did not have the accomplishments of the more seasoned killers for hire. Any idiot could kill a bum in a back alley. Reputation came with high-profile targets. And she had her sights on the biggest of them all. she WOULD kill Eirik... When she was finished having her fun..

__________________________-

It was during the search of the 17th solar system that Narvik excitedly broke out in chatter, in a language unknown to everyone.

"I take it we found your home?" Eirik asked after a moment to collect himself.

"I RECOGNIZE THAT MOON!!" Narvik managed to get out in his excitement.

"Jackpot" Jesper chimed in from the sidelines. "Let's get searching, Captain!"

"Not so fast, Jesper. We need to do this carefully!" Eirik said as he leaned back in his chair. "Call a meeting. We need to plan this."