The Imperial Down floated unmovingly in space, a short distance away from a massive ring-like object that appeared to be made of thousands of smaller sections and was big enough to fit several capital-class ships stacked on top of each other inside of it with room to spare. They had arrived a short time ago and had been patiently waiting for the arrival of the Phoenix races' ambassadorial ship.
Suddenly, the small sections of the ring started to light up rapidly one after the other, starting with the one at the very top and rotating clockwise around the ring until every section lit up. The moment every section was lit up, a beam of energy erupted from each section and flew towards the very centre of the ring, where they all combined into a large ball of energy.
A few seconds after the large energy ball formed, it seemed to collapse as the energy surged back towards the edge of the ring like waves after you throw a stone in a pond.
Once the energy reached the edge of the ring and filled the entire space within it, the waves started to settle until a pool of energy, like water that rippled occasionally, filled the entire ring.
The bridge officers on board the Imperial Down watched the active jump gate through the viewscreen for a few moments until they noticed that the water-like energy that filled it started to ripple more and more from the centre outwards until an object emerged out of it.
A capital-class ship slowly emerged from the jump gate, followed by several dozen smaller ships of various sizes that acted as the capital-class ship's escort and security.
Every ship carried the insignia of the Phoenix race somewhere on its hull, and after the final ship emerged, the water-like energy of the gate vanished as it seemed to evaporate before the thousands of smaller sections of the ring turned dark once again.
"Open hailing frequencies," The Imperial Down's captain ordered.
"Hailing frequencies open, ma'am," The communications officer said.
"Terran Imperial Space Force ship Imperial Down to Phoenix Ambassadorial fleet. I am Captain Andria Ororis, and we have been assigned the honour of escorting you to the Terran homeworld of Terrana Five."
Quickly, a window appeared on the viewscreen showing a beautiful woman in uniform who spoke, "Greetings, Captain Ororis, I am Admiral Solaris of the Phoenix Space Force, and it is my honour to have been given the duty of transporting Ambassador Ryse by her majesty, Empress Revi."
"Greetings, Admiral Solaris. I hope your trip has been free of incident."
"It has Captain Ororis, thank you, though I will admit that my crew and I are looking forward to when we can disembark and spread our wings a little."
"Then might I suggest that we depart so that you can 'spread your wings' as soon as possible?"
"That sounds like a fine idea, Captain Ororis."
"Then we will set course for Terrana Five at once, so please have your pilot match our course and heading. Also, might I invite you and Abasador Ryse to dine with us tonight as a way to welcome you to the Sandanar Galaxy?"
"I will have to check with Ambassador Ryse, but I'm sure that will be most acceptable." I will contact you to arrange the time once I have spoken to the ambassador."
"Then I look forward to the positive response," Andria said before ending communication and saying.
"Set course for Terran Five and enter FLT."
Shortly after, the Imperial Down, along with the Phoenix Fleet, entered FTL and began their journey to the Terran homeworld.
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Andrew Terrana entered the Imperial Palace just as night fell across the city after returning from the Terrana Five neutron reactor and suddenly found himself surrounded by several individuals wearing dark clothes that covered their entire bodies except for their eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?" Andrew asked warily as he looked at the shadows that surrounded him.
He, like every member of the imperial family, knew very well who the shadows were and what role they played in Terran society.
"Release me, release me, I say. Don't think I won't tell my husband about this?" A woman's voice suddenly said angrily before Andrew's mother, Petulia Terrana, appeared, while being escorted by other members of the Ororis family's shadows.
"Petulia and Andrew Terrana, you are both being remanded into custody under the combined authority of the Ororis family and Emperor Daniel Terrana on suspicion of treason." Michael suddenly said as his form seemed to materialise.
"Treason? What nonsense are you speaking, Michael Ororis? Is this something Victoria put you up to?" Petulia asked angrily.
"Not at all, we know very well that you have both been in contact with a secret organisation that plans to help you overthrow Emperor Daniel and claim the throne; they are also the same organisation suspected of the Trillion neutron reactor bombing."
"What evidence do you have to prove these outlandish claims?" Andrew asked angrily.
"Well, for one, we have a copy of the conversation you had with this organisation using your secret console," Michael replied before adding as he saw Andrews' eyes widen in surprise, "Yes, we know about your secret console. I believe you said, and I quote. Father's weak and not only in terms of ruling but also in bed, it seems. If it were me, I would have tamed that succuba slut and had her obey and serve me both in the bedroom and out of it.
Not exactly a polite way to speak about your father and stepmother, Prince Andrew."
"Fuck," Andrew cursed as he realised that they had indeed somehow found his hidden console and worse, accessed it.
Realising that this was going downhill quickly and that he had to do something desperate to get out of this situation, Andrew quickly accessed his uniband before activating the virus he had just planted in the planet's neutron reactor control room.
"STOP HIM!" Michael yelled as he saw him access his uniband, but he was too late, as all the lights suddenly went out because the planet's neutron reactor shut down, and everything using the power it generated went offline.
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The mysterious individual from the restaurant, who was Andrew's new contact sat comfortably in his hotel room, drinking while overlooking the capital city that was illuminated by all the different city lights, when all of a sudden, every single light went out, plunging the entire city into darkness, while at the same time, the contact received a notification from his uniband.
As he checked the notification, the sounds of people screaming and panicking, along with the loud noise of a collision, could be heard from the street below.
"Haha, well now, someone's impatient, aren't they? He's only just installed the virus, and yet he's activated it so quickly. Good job, we have already put people in place." The man said as the notification on his uniband told him that the virus had been activated.
The man reached up from his chair and walked over to his wardrobe, and after opening it, withdrew a large bag.
From inside the bag, he pulled out an old communication device that Tephe would recognise as being very similar to the one Revi used during the Siege of Fenix Nest.
After flipping the cellphone-like communication device, the man sent a message in a group.
[[Begin]]
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"I hope you're enjoying the meal, Ambassador Ryse," Andria asked as several of the Imperial Downs bridge officers, including her, the commander and several others dined with several of the Phoenix representatives, including Ambassador Ryse, Admiral Solaris and several of the ambassador's staff and admirals' officers.
Very much so, Captain Ororis, I must say I find Terran cuisine fascinating and quite delicious."
"I'm happy to hear that. Though what we can offer you here pales in comparison to the welcome banquet the imperial family will host upon your arrival."
"Then I look forward to our arrival even more."
Several Imperial Down crew members moved back and forth, serving food and drinks to those participating, including Tessa and Becky.
"Is this some sort of punishment?" Becky grumbled as she appeared next to Tessa to collect another round of drinks for the guests.
"Probably, what did you do to piss Andria off this time?" Tessa asked with a side glance.
"Why do you assume it's my fault? For all I know, you could have done something to anger her," Becky said defensively.
"Oh please," Tessa replied while rolling her eyes before adding with a smirk, "Every crew member knows that if something happens on this ship that pisses the captain off, you're the one most likely to have caused it."
"Is there a problem, Lieutenants Kirkmeld and Starlover?" Andrea asked with a smug smile.
"No, captain," they both replied before returning to serving drinks.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Kirkmeld. I must say that this beverage is quite delicious," Ambassador Ryse said to Tessa as she replaced his drink.
"You're most welcome, Ambassador," Tessa replied with a smile before continuing, "It's a very popular drink on many of the planets within the Sandanar Galaxy, though not as popular as God's Oasis."
"Haha, that's not surprising, there isn't a drink in the universe as popular as God's Oasis." Ambassador Ryse said with a laugh.
Tessa was about to say something more when a communication suddenly came over the internal comm.
"Bridge to captain."
"Go ahead," Andrea said with a smile as she had just finished laughing at the story Admiral Solaris was telling.
"We have just received a fleet-wide emergency communication from Terrana Five space station."
"What did it say?" Andrea asked as her tone turned serious, and everyone in the room paid close attention.
"Apparently, the homeworld has had a massive planet-wide power loss."
"Power loss? Like on Trillion? Has the neutron reactor been attacked?" Andrea asked with concern and anger.
"Aparently, investigations are still ongoing; however, no explosion was detected before the power loss."
Andrea was about to respond when a sudden shout of alarm caught everyone's attention.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP…. NO TESSA!"
End of Volume 3: Concerts and Shadows.