Octavia awoke with a start to the sensation of someone shaking her by the shoulder, her head rocking back against the metal wall painfully as her eyes shot open. She was surprised to find Remiel standing over her with a sour expression on her face, peering down at Octavia. When Remiel saw her eyes open, she immediately let go of Octavia’s shoulder and stood up straight.

“Ah, you’re awake. Good,” Remiel began, “I require your presence.”

“What?” Octavia asked blearily, blinking as she regained her bearings in the real world once again. She raised her hands and rubbed at her eyes, wiping away the residual tears with the backs of her hands.

“I understand you are grieving right now, but we do not have time to dawdle. I require your presence,” Remiel repeated firmly, her expression unchanging, “Follow me,” she declared, and without another word she spun deftly on her heels and began to power her way towards the exit ramp.

Octavia watched in surprise as Remiel strode away, her eyes flicking back towards the casket in front of her. A lump grew in her throat briefly before she forced herself to look away, standing up from the crash seat as she turned to follow Remiel. She noted that the rest of the expansive cargo bay of the Cutlass dropship had been emptied, and briefly wondered how long she had been out for.

“We’ve been docked for thirty minutes,” Remiel explained over her shoulder without breaking her stride, “The deck hands didn’t want to move the casket until you were awake. Based on the rumors, I would say their decision not to approach you was more out of fear than respect,” she added, the smallest of smirks visible over her shoulder as Octavia followed.

“Did that spook just read your mind?” Vita asked suspiciously.

“I got weird vibes from her from the start,” Mack’s voice added, sending a spike of unreasonable panic up Octavia’s spine as her eye twitched. Her heart raced for the briefest of moments before settling, the surprise fading.

Blinking, Octavia realized something. She picked up her pace to step alongside Remiel, turning her head to the side to look at her, “Rumors?” she asked curiously.

“One of your crewmates, Minuteman Jace Kelly, has been spreading rumors since your arrival. He claims you single-handedly fought off eighty attendants with nothing but the blade on your back,” Remiel explained, the amusement in her voice barely noticeable through her stoic facade, “The workers have begun calling you the Butcher of Destiny, to my knowledge.”

Octavia’s breath hitched in her throat, her eyes opening wide at the information. She couldn’t formulate the words to express how she felt at the new moniker, but a brief memory played in her head. The sight of a gutted attendant she had torn open like a tin can, rusting in the rain with nineteen others who had met similar fates. The heavy feeling in her gut made her feel nauseous.

As she struggled for words, she eyed a jumpsuited dock worker who was wheeling a cart towards the Cutlass behind them. He noticed her gaze and instantly recoiled as if he had met the eyes of the scariest thing he’d ever seen, only to force his expression into neutral a moment later. That split-second reaction was enough for Octavia’s heart to drop. She faced forward immediately, trying to put the look out of her mind.

“It wasn’t eighty,” Octavia replied bitterly, her ears drooping across the back of her head unhappily, “And it wasn’t single-handed. I had Vita, and the rest of the crew were providing covering fire.”

“It doesn’t matter what the truth is, Octavia,” Remiel replied matter-of-factly, “What matters is what people perceive as the truth after the fact. To them, you’re the Butcher of Destiny now, and that’s their truth.”

Octavia sighed quietly, falling into silence as they walked through the hangar. She tried to avoid looking at the other dock workers as she passed, but every now and then she’d catch their eyes and would immediately find the same expression as the first. To them, she was an indomitable force of nature, as unapproachable as a supernova. Really, she just wished they would stop looking at her like that.

They passed through an airlock and began off through a hallway, no words spoken between them. Octavia didn’t have anything more to say, and Remiel seemed content to be silent for the moment. Eventually their wandering took them to an elevator, which Remiel swiftly keyed to open and stepped inside with Octavia. The doors slid close and Remiel procured a security badge from a pocket inside her jacket, which she flashed in front of a reader before pressing a button. Octavia couldn’t help but notice they were heading for the command deck.

“Where are we going, anyways?” Octavia asked curiously, looking to her side at Remiel.

“We have a meeting,” Remiel explained shortly, “We need to debrief on what you found.”

“How do you know I even found anything?” Octavia replied, her head tilting to the side.

“If you weren’t close to something, that Omni wouldn’t have revealed itself like that,” Remiel replied knowingly, shooting Octavia with a pointed glance, “You must have found something for it to deem killing you more important than hiding its presence.”

Octavia sighed softly and nodded in response, “A few things,” she agreed quietly, her gaze falling to the floor as she shuffled on her paws awkwardly, “The connection was interrupted, but I managed to download some data beforehand.”

“Good, then put a pin in that thought,” Remiel declared as the elevator ground to a halt, the doors sliding open to reveal the quiet bustle of the command deck, “Follow me,” she added as she strode out of the elevator, leaving Octavia to either follow or get left behind.

Struggling slightly to keep up with Remiel’s pace, Octavia powered after her on the balls of her paws as quickly as she could, staying just behind Remiel as they passed a multitude of workstations and service hallways. Octavia had to duck past several uniformed officers as they went about their business in keeping the cruiser in the air, a sea of determined and humorless faces. Eventually Remiel came to a prominent side door and flashed her badge once again, causing the doors to open.

Within was a darkened circular room with a large holotable in the center, its crystal surface alit with blue light as a multitude of well-dressed individuals were projected holographically to the sides of the table. Captain Hale was in the middle of a heated argument with the holographic officers, his hands gesturing frantically in the air in front of him as he spoke. Remiel gestured for Octavia to step in first, following her into the darkened room a pace later as the doors slid shut behind them.

“-this is an absolute outrage! You know as well as I do that I was only following orders!” Captain Hale shouted, his gruff voice cracking at the edges as he gesticulated wildly.

“Following orders was deemed an unacceptable excuse by your own species several thousand years ago, Captain Hale,” one of the holographic officers remarked firmly. She immediately recognized him as an amaranthoid, his chest plate decorated with a strip of Federation blue and painted with the four stars of an admiral.

“The Holy Alari Empire demands recompense for this heinous atrocity!” an impossibly beautiful alari woman declared, her tone so smooth and free of imperfections that it made Octavia’s skin crawl. Even through the blue of the hologram, Octavia immediately recognized the hip-length purple hair done into the most elaborate of styles, parted by an intricate crown of gold.

“And you will have it, Goddess Alariael,” a new woman’s voice declared, drawing Octavia’s attention to the side. Her heart nearly stopped as she recognized the elaborately engraved and painted amaranthoid decorated in ancestral robes, “The Amaranthian Empire is similarly displeased with the results,” Empress Tiberius declared, her measured voice clear and polite as she spoke across towards Alariael.

Captain Hale noticed Remiel and Octavia approaching and immediately turned his head towards Remiel, “You! Get up here and explain yourself!” he spat, pointing at the ground next to him as his face turned red in rage.

Remiel stepped up to the table and gestured for Octavia to follow her along. Without any other options, Octavia stepped up next to the table with her, peering across at the holographic people with a curious gaze.

“This is the Federation Intelligence Agency representative who gave me the instructions in the first place!” Captain Hale defended, pointing at her with an accusatory glare.

“I did not give you instructions, Captain Hale. I provided you with the official FIA analysis on the White Peace Device. It was your choice to make the hypothetical changes to the programming a reality,” Remiel remarked flatly, fixing the Captain with a bored expression.

“Wait, wait. That was intentional?” Octavia asked suddenly, her eyes going wide as she whipped her head around to face Captain Hale, “You modified the White Peace Device?”

Captain Hale’s anger fizzled at Octavia’s look, the red bleeding from his face in favor of a pale hue. He stammered for a moment as he gripped for words before finally settling on, “It was her idea! She told me it was possible to modify it to shut down all devices, even bots.”

Red-hot rage bled through Octavia’s neurolink, seeping through the corners of her mind like an insidious infection. Her lips pulled back, exposing her canines as a primal growl escaped her throat unconsciously. Somehow she managed to scream through her growl, her voice coming out in a gutteral warble, “You’re the reason my mate is dead?”

If Captain Hale’s face was pale before, his flesh became comparatively as white as a sheet as his hands slowly raised placatingly towards Octavia. He twisted his body and took half a step backwards, his eyes wide and pupils narrowed to pinpricks as he stammered for words. Eventually he managed to cry out, “It was supposed to make the job easier! Less casualties!”

Octavia was blinded by red, her vision blurring into a dizzying swirl. Before she knew what she was doing, she was suddenly standing on top of the Captain with his white hair gripped in her fist, his bloodied face pressed hard against a now-cracked holotable screen. His face was contorted in a mixture of agony and fear as he struggled against her unyielding grip, but his struggles quickly stopped as Octavia put more pressure into the back of his skull, giving way to a pathetic whimper that she could scarcely hear over the droning of her anger.

There were other sounds struggling to reach through the haze of her mind, other voices that were trying to get her attention, but she couldn’t focus on them. The sight of the monster held under her hand was enough to blind her to the rest of the world around her. It was only when something touched her arm that she finally tore her attention away from him, looking at the source only to find Remiel holding her upper arm. As soon as Remiel had Octavia’s attention, she shook her head once with an impassive look.

Somehow, the impassive expression was enough to take the edge off of Octavia’s rage. The red began to bleed away as her grip on the Captain loosened slightly, but she didn’t let go. Her breath escaped her in a long sigh, her rage deflating as she turned her attention towards the shocked expressions of the holographic people around her. Finally she took a deep breath and steadied herself, forcing the anger to the back of her mind.

“If no one else is going to punish this man, house Tiberius hereby declares him hostis scientiam. The only acceptable payment for his crime is blood,” Octavia declared firmly, the strength of her voice surprising even herself.

“This man is responsible for untold damages to my colony. I second the call for his blood, in the name of all that is holy,” Alariael replied, her beautiful features shifting into a scowl.

“The Startide Federation stands by its decision,” a middle-aged human woman declared, her holographic eyes peering across the table at Octavia, “Jonathan Hale is hereby stripped of his rank and exiled from the Federation Navy. His fate may be decided as per international law by the aggrieved parties.”

Empress Tiberius spoke up for the first time since the encounter, her voice measured and polite while still carrying enough weight that Octavia instantly froze as she held the old man in her iron grip, “Goddess Alariael, it was your colony that suffered due to the misuse of our technology. While the Amaranthian Empire stands by the call for a blood price, we can agree to your right to be the one to extract that price. Is this acceptable?”

Alariael’s scowl turned into a sickly grin which immediately set Octavia’s hackles on end, a chill racing down her spine. The Goddess leaned forward, her holographic hands flat on the table as she peered across at the ex-Captain. Finally she all-but purred, “Very acceptable. We will make a spectacle of him worthy of both our Empires.”

“Then it is settled,” the middle-aged woman decided with a single nod, “I will make the arrangements.”

“Great, now if you are quite finished with punishing mister Hale, we have far more important things to focus on,” Remiel declared boredly. She reached into her pocket and procured a scroll, tapping on the screen for a few moments. A few seconds later, a pair of Federation Regulars slipped into the room with their rifles drawn, immediately making their way over to Octavia.

Octavia tensed as the armed marines approached her, but they didn’t point their weapons at her. Instead one of them looked down at Captain Hale and spoke, “Ma’am, may we take the prisoner?”

She hesitated for a moment, glancing over at Remiel with a curious look. The intelligence officer simply fixed her with an impassive expression, eager to get on with it. Octavia sighed softly and finally let go of her fistful of white hair, letting the old man slump to the ground in a heap, leaving a trail of blood on the table where his face had been. The Regulars nodded at her and knelt down, grabbing him by the shoulders before yanking him up to his feet. Without another word they dragged him forcibly out of the room, the doors closing shut behind them as they departed.

“Finally,” Remiel grumbled, drawing Octavia’s gaze. She immediately gestured across the table, “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Octavia Tiberius, a member of the Royal Amaranthian Honor Guard.”

Octavia felt a wave of anxiety at the introduction and said nothing, instead nodding politely to the multitude of holographic people peering at her. Remiel didn’t give her a chance to think of anything to say, instead immediately jumping into the rest of the introductions.

“Admiral Cassius Felix of the SFS Valiant,” she explained as she pointed to the amaranthoid. He nodded politely in turn, offering Octavia a friendly smile.

“Fleet Admiral Monica Starr of the SFS Manifest Destiny, the Federation’s flagship,” Remiel continued, motioning to the middle-aged human woman.

“A pleasure,” Monica remarked, adding her own nod to the introduction.

“Goddess Alariael of the Holy Alari Empire needs no introductions,” Remiel remarked, her hand sweeping across the table at the eccentrically decorated woman.

“You are most welcome,” Alariael remarked singsongedly, pushing back off of the table to recline on an unseen throne with a pleased look.

“Those two are the representatives for the Ryjax Commune and the United Planets of Humanity; Representative By’ra Hur and Representative Miranda Smith,” Remiel concluded, gesturing to the two well-dressed people at the end who had been silent up until that point.

“Guardian Tiberius,” By’ra remarked politely, her asymmetrical rocky head nodding once in a respectful gesture.

“Welcome to the team, Octavia,” Miranda added with a friendly smile and a short wave.

“And I’m sure I don’t need to introduce her,” Remiel added with the smallest of smirks, nodding towards the decorated amaranthoid in the heavy robes. Even drawing attention to her made Octavia nervous, her previous outbursts in speaking for the Empire surging to the forefront of her mind as she was instantly filled with regret.

“Cousin,” Empress Tiberius remarked politely, her impassive metallic features impossible to read as she nodded once at Octavia, “Always a pleasure.”

“Likewise, your majesty,” Octavia replied hastily, bowing her head towards the Empress for a moment before raising her head to speak to the rest of the assembly, “Thank you all.”

“Anyways!” Remiel interrupted impatiently, an annoyed look worn clearly on her visage, “Shall we move along? Time is wasting,” she insisted sharply.

“Proceed, Agent Remiel,” Fleet Admiral Starr agreed, nodding once.

“Finally,” Remiel muttered as she swiped her finger across the scroll. A series of high-definition pictures popped up above the crystal surface of the table, showing several closeups of the Omni that they had fought on Destiny. The sight brought a residual headache and a twitch to one of Octavia’s eyes, the spreading sensation of having someone picking through her mind returning to the forefront of her memories.

“An Omni Seraphim, here in Federation space,” Remiel declared flatly. While all the people around the table were profoundly capable politicians, even Octavia could see the wave of anxiety that spread through their faces at the sight.

“It attacked when Octavia downloaded files from a secure computer on-site. Octavia, would you please tell the assembly what you found?” Remiel asked knowingly, looking towards Octavia with an expectant look.

“I didn’t find much, it destroyed the computer before I could download all of the information,” Octavia admitted nervously, her voice catching and breaking briefly. She hastily cleared her throat and projected her voice with more force, trying to sound confident, “I downloaded an encrypted communications suite, and amongst the information that was transmitted was this.”

She reached through her neurolink and sent a copy of the blueprint she had found into the table in front of her. A holographic Seraphim appeared in the air above the table with a series of nearly incomprehensibly complex instructions above each individual part. Every few seconds the diagram would expand to show the internals and the instructions within, only to close again and repeat the process.

“The attendants on Destiny had established a direct connection to the Omni hivemind, and through that connection they were given instructions for how to build their own Seraphim using materials at hand,” Octavia explained, sending a copy of the conversation to the table. The interactions between the attendants and the Omni hivemind appeared next to the instructions, showing the hivemind giving the attendants orders to follow the blueprint to the letter.

“Did they only build one?” Fleet Admiral Starr asked with an edge of concern.

“Yes, ma’am. It took them ten years to build this one in secret, they didn’t have the materials or facilities necessary to make more,” Octavia reassured, “But there’s something more important than that.”

Digging through the communication suite, she procured a small section of the most recent conversation to have taken place. She projected it onto the holo table and let out a sigh, “It says here that the Omni are preparing for a final push against the Bastion. They’ve developed a gravitational bomb that’s currently being shipped from the Omni research labs to the frontline. They didn’t include the specifications for the bomb, but it will be enough to collapse the black holes present at HAL-9 into one supermassive black hole, destroying the hyper acceleration lane and any structures present in the system.”

The table immediately erupted into pandemonium as each member tried to talk over the other, their expression ranging from outrage to abject shock. Octavia’s ears pinned against the back of her head at the sudden increase in volume, her face shifting into a displeased look as she watched the leaders of the Federation arguing in front of her. She spared a glance at Remiel, who simply looked annoyed at the development.

“Quiet!” Remiel snapped sharply, her expression unchanging despite the volume. While the arguments continued for a few seconds afterwards, they died down into silence as all faces turned towards Remiel. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, then looked over at Octavia expectantly, “Continue.”

Octavia nodded appreciatively at the response and cleared her throat awkwardly once again, working up her courage to continue. She faced the table and spoke, “If the bomb makes it to the Bastion, no amount of repositioning the defensive line will make a difference. The new hyper acceleration lanes to come out of HAL-9 could deposit the Omni armada anywhere within Amaranthian space at the very least, if not even further towards Alari space.”

“So, in short, the Omni are prepared to smash through your little defensive line without putting a single one of their ships at risk,” Remiel added sharply, “So, are you finally ready to consider my proposal, or are you submitting to losing this war?”

“Your proposal goes against everything the Federation stands for, Agent Remiel. We cannot condone a military operation that violates Directive 12,” Empress Tiberius announced, her expression shifting into a carefully measured frown.

“You also cannot condone a galaxy-wide occupation at the hands of a hyper-intelligent machine hivemind,” Remiel remarked with a bored expression, “According to our intelligence, our arm of the Milky Way is the last beacon of unconquered territory in the entire galaxy, and the Bastion is the only thing stopping this Omni armada from breaking through. Even if they didn’t have a bomb to break through the Bastion, their armadas from the adjacent arms are already drifting towards us through dark space. The Startide Federation is at the breaking point, and if we don’t do something drastic now, we will never have the chance to win again.”

There was silence across the table as the assembly considered her words, their features shifting into various degrees of displeasure. Octavia shifted awkwardly as she glanced at Remiel, hoping that she had made the right decision in providing her support for the intelligence agent. She glanced back at the information present above the table, squinting slightly as she eyed the data that she had provided. She couldn’t help but wish she was wrong about her findings.

“Do you truly believe that this anomalous material you’re after can provide us with the means to win?” Alariael asked curiously, her gaze shifting from the information to Remiel.

“Yes,” Remiel replied instantly, the conviction heavy in her voice, “Without a single doubt in my mind.”

“How?” Alariael retorted.

“Alarium is limited by the user’s capacity for channeling it. It can achieve great things, but only if the user is of strong enough will to handle the strain,” Remiel replied. She swiped a finger across her scroll and Octavia’s data disappeared, replaced with the holographic projection of a red gas giant surrounded by a thick ring of various sized asteroids, “Atomic element deltium, dubbed ‘Erillium’ by the researchers present on Perseus Station, is not limited by such a thing. If channeled through a device powerful enough, its capabilities would be limitless.”

Remiel swiped her scroll once again and elemental data appeared next to the planet. Octavia struggled to make sense of the information she was looking at; the element didn’t have any protons, and shared no properties with anything that she had seen on the periodic table. Her understanding of chemistry failed her as she gazed at the information, confused as to the actual applications of the anomalous material. It didn’t even seem to behave like Alarium, which was the only anomalous material she had ever studied in depth.

“The process of building such a device would take longer than we have, Agent Remiel. I fail to see how this can help us win the war when the Omni Animus is actively sending a coup de grace towards us,” Fleet Admiral Starr replied, her expression unchanged as she crossed her arms in front of her.

“With all due respect, that’s where you’re wrong, Fleet Admiral,” Remiel replied flatly. She swiped her finger across the scroll and another image popped up, this time one of an absurdly small continental planet covered in lush green continents interspersed with seas of glistening blue. A smaller image popped off of the side of the planet, showing a zoomed-in depiction of a mountainside with an elaborately carved doorway in the side, “This is Erillia.”

“Located in the Crescent Cloud System, Erillia is one of thirty similarly sized terraformed planetoids in the asteroid belt around the gas giant, referred to by natives as Oculus. Much like the other planetoids, Erillia contains a sizable population of native inhabitants who have yet to reach spacefaring status,” she explained before pointing to the enhanced image, “This is a ground-level photograph of a facility located on Erillia. It was created by the same civilization responsible for terraforming all thirty planetoids. We believe it is a control room.”

A small wave of excitement passed through the assembly as they took in the information, eyeing the images with trepidation, but Octavia could tell they were intrigued by what Remiel had to say. She glanced at the hologram of Oculus and its surrounding ring, the unnerving hue of crimson causing a primal bout of fear to boil within the depths of her stomach. She wasn’t sure why the gas giant made her feel uncomfortable, but it was an inescapable sensation she couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“Based on our understanding of Erillium, Oculus is the source of the element, and it is connected directly to each of the thirty planets through some means we have yet to discover. However, what we do know is that those connections lead directly to facilities like these,” Remiel continued, highlighting the image of the doorway in the mountain, “By accessing the control room, we surmise that we’ll be able to direct the Erillium to suit our own purposes.”

“Do you know for certain what will happen when you access the control room?” the Fleet Admiral asked curiously.

“We do not, at least not yet,” Remiel responded with a shake of her head, “We haven’t been able to access the control rooms directly due to Directive 12. Even a science vessel has the potential of impacting unenlightened cultures,” she added, her expression shifting into a faint scowl, “But we have tested Erillium to the best of our abilities without violating Directive 12. This was our latest test,” she added, pressing something on her scroll.

The information above the table moved aside, revealing a video feed. It was shaky and slightly blurry, but it clearly showed an Omni Seraphim with its arms and legs removed, tied to a post with heavy chains. A young man in a white lab coat spoke in a faintly nasaly tone, “Okay, this is experiment one-zero-zero-three, testing the effectiveness of native conductors of Erillium,” he declared, the excited edge in his voice impossible to miss. In his hand was an unassuming metal rod, roughly a meter and a half in length and the diameter of a small coin.

In the video, the young man leveled the rod towards the tied-up Seraphim. Nothing happened immediately until he began waving the rod around in circular motions, which caused bright blue sparks to begin forming at the tip of the rod. He finished the motions with a thrust, and instantly the video feed was blinded by a flash of white light, the audio bursting as a deafening sound broke the microphone. The white slowly faded away to reveal the Seraphim in a crumpled heap, its entire torso evaporated save for its shoulders and its hips. The researcher was excitedly talking towards the camera, but the audio never recovered, keeping him silent until the video came to a stop on a closeup shot of the destroyed Omni.

The assembly was silent as they watched the video with various degrees of disbelief, their faces switching from shock to appreciation and everything in between. Eventually the Fleet Admiral turned her attention towards Remiel, frowning slightly, “And you expect this to be the effect if you reach the control room?”

“Something similar, at the very least,” Remiel agreed with a nod, “I believe it will be sufficient to destroy any Omni threats, if not remove them from the galaxy entirely.”

The assembly immediately broke into a quiet discussion amongst themselves, leaving Octavia and Remiel out of the loop as they talked to one another. The two Federation admirals spoke to each other in hushed voices while Goddess Alariael, Empress Tiberius and the Representatives spoke in a more heated debate. Octavia couldn’t follow any of the discussions to save her life, but when she glanced at Remiel she couldn’t help but feel like the intelligence agent was following each conversation with perfect clarity. She stopped herself before she tried to speak to Remiel, instead allowing her to listen in silence.

“This is getting pretty fucked up,” Vita remarked with a humorless laugh.

“I’ve gotta agree, this is sketchy. Think you might have bitten off more than you can chew with this politics nonsense,” Mack replied, though she sounded more amused by it than anything.

Octavia’s eye twitched slightly as she regarded the display in front of her, watching the inner machinations of politics speeding past her as everyone around the table discussed the opportunity. She wanted to just leave them to their own devices and go back home, but her sense of duty kept her paws rooted where they were. With the Empress right there, she had no choice but to stay in place, doing her best to keep a prideful appearance while the galactic politicians did their thing.

Eventually the discussion quieted down and fell into silence, drawing her attention towards the Fleet Admiral as she opened her mouth to speak, “What would you need for this operation, Agent Remiel?” she asked curiously.

“The biggest ship the Bastion can spare, as well as every inactive Longsword crew stationed on Garbonix Prime,” Remiel replied simply.

A look of concern crossed Fleet Admiral Starr’s visage, “Every inactive Longsword crew? Why on Earth would you need so many crews?”

“Perseus Station’s sensors picked up an Omni alpha cluster drifting through dark space towards the Crescent Cloud System. Obviously they’ve scanned Erillium the same as us and have decided to try and prevent us from accessing it,” Remiel explained casually, “If they want to stop us from accessing it, they must think it’s a threat.”

The assembly was silent for a few moments as they considered Remiel’s request. After a few seconds of tense silence, Admiral Felix spoke up, “Fleet Admiral, with your permission I would like to volunteer the SFS Valiant for this mission. One heavy carrier loaded up with every inactive Longsword crew should be more than sufficient to fend off an Omni alpha cluster, at least long enough for Agent Remiel to utilize the anomalous material.”

Fleet Admiral Starr regarded the amaranthoid for a few moments in silence before she finally gave a single nod and turned towards Remiel, “Very well. Operation approved. May God help you.”