Chapter 1075: Launching the Expedition
Gazing out into the Void left Leon speechless. The sheer enormity of empty space could leave anyone feeling dizzy, but his focus wasn’t on the Void itself, but on his assembled fleet of Void-capable arks, all of which had finally assembled.
The city ark was in the center of the formation, where it could be most easily defended. Surrounding the city ark were the four carriers, all equidistant from each other. Bolt in Shadow would be leading the formation, and the six Raven-built heavy cruisers would flank the carriers to the right and left. Silver Spear and Bright Intent flew in the gaps between Bolt in Shadow and the other heavy cruisers, with the seven destroyers flying to the rear of the formation. Finally, the twelve scout frigates flew above and below the city ark, ready to fly out and see what they could see as soon as they were ordered.
All of the crews had been extensively trained on their arks, and Leon was confident each one would work as designed. There were still doubts creeping into his mind, however—they had never tested the Nestorian drives over such a large distance before, and so much could go wrong…
Still, looking out over the fleet he had at his command for this expedition kept him calm. Such a force could carve a great Empire out of any plane it came across—so long as the local power structure resembled Aeterna’s, at least. Hopefully, this level of power would be enough to do the same in the Nexus, too.
“Your Majesty,” the Jaguar said as he stepped forward, a solemn look on his face. The elders joining Leon’s expedition were with him, as were several others armed with many of the Thunder Kingdom’s most advanced comm slates, each with a comm lotus petal encased within. The Jaguar would be coordinating this opening move of the expedition from Bolt in Shadow’s observation deck, keeping Leon from having to micromanage everything. The Jaguar confidently stated, “We’re ready to begin. On your orders.”
As they’d agreed several days before, the Jaguar extended his comm slate. When Leon nodded, a rune on the dark glassy slate illuminated, and Leon knew that his image was being projected from every projection enchantment in every ark among the fleet. His words would reach every person partaking in this endeavor.
The projected windows of the observation deck made for a wonderful backdrop, in his opinion, with the light reflecting off Aeterna far below, and the sheer dark abyss of the Void far above, lit only by distant stars. To his right and left stood his wives, each dressed to the nines and looking as resolute as he did.
Gravely, Leon began. “Over the past eighty-thousand years, the power of our people has waxed and waned, but never have we forgotten where we came from! We came to Aeterna as Kings and conquerors, but were humbled, laid low, reduced to a mere shadow of our former power. In these dark times, the Ten Tribes came together, joined their power, and became brothers! And now, today, we take the most important step in the rebuilding of our legacies! Today, we launch the greatest endeavor in the history of the Ten Tribes! We take to the Void more powerful than we’ve been in eighty millennia, ready to reassert our position in the universe!”
Leon paused a moment, letting many listening in person stomp their feet and cheer. He wasn’t able to tell, but he hoped similar scenes were happening all across the fleet.