The Martial Unity

The rest of the tour only got better and better, as far as Ria was concerned. She loved everything about her brand-new Stellarch. The light stealth surveyor spaceship was perhaps the one extravagant belonging she had that made her truly ecstatic about it, compared to the endless wealth she could tap into as a princess of the Kandrian Empire.

Whether it was the energy generator section or the quantum entropy sensory modules, she loved every part of the spaceship. Its structure was remarkably dense and well-fitted. Every inch of its internal body had been used efficiently and effectively, cleanly fitting into a classy but quiet design.

By the time the tour came to an end, Ria was deeply satisfied. She heaved a long breath of satisfaction and excitement once the tour came to an end.

”So, now that I’ve prepared your ship,” the Esoterist remarked, leaning against a wall. ”When can I expect you to commence your operations? I trust you have everything else settled, yes?”

”Almost,” she admitted. ”We are in the final stages of ironing out some chinks for the office of our company. We also have to have the crew that we have recruited get used to the ship. But aside from that, all the major stuff has been cleared. We got our business papers all filed and all of that technical stuff down. Oh…”

She paused. ”Runark hasn’t come out of the manifold once in the past two months. He’s very busy training. But he should be there in time.”

”Whatever, Princess, just make sure that you commence this operation soon, alright?” He directed a pointed gaze at her. ”I’ve invested a lot in this arrangement. This ship. The proprietary technology that I gave you to patent and make your fake real R&D division look more real, the stealth tech and other operational supplementary tech to make you less likely to die and more likely to succeed. Now, I need some ROI, do you get me?”

Ria folded her arms, unimpressed. ”Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you have monopolized an infected world all to yourself within the Seni Star System. That was because of me and that should easily cover the costs of all of this.”

”Just saying.” The man shrugged. ”Now, I’m handing this off to you. Have your crew come over and take this off my hands. After that, it’s your responsibility.”

It wasn’t long before they left, returning to the Kandrian Empire. The first thing that Ria did when she got back was visit her father.

BANG!

The doors to the Royal Office flew open as Ria waltzed in. ”Dad—”

She paused when she saw that he wasn’t there, instead spotting Secretary Claris sitting at her table as she skimmed through some holo-documents. The older woman turned towards Ria. ”His Majesty is at a private location.”

”Is he busy?” Ria tilted her head.

Secretary Claris smiled at the question.

”For you, he never is. I have informed him of your desire to seek him; he says he will come to collect you.”

Before Ria could respond, she suddenly disappeared, teleported away.

Secretary Claris simply went on with her work as if everything was normal.

WHOOSH

Ria found herself in a laboratory with numerous tools, machinery, and even an elaborate chemical setup across different sections of the spherical chamber.

Face to face with her father. He was wearing his Martial attire instead of his royal attire, which typically meant that he had no intention of being in the office that day.

He wasn’t alone, however.

Next to him was none other than another member of her family.

Julian looked up from a tablet he held, removing his glasses as he smiled at Ria with delight.

”Well, if it isn’t my niece. How have you been, Ria?”

Her amber eyes lit up. ”Uncle Julian! Where have you been?! I’ve been trying to reach you for months!”

The man hadn’t changed that much in the past eighteen years, having consumed a bit of Rui’s blood. He wore a lab coat atop formal attire, with a belt of several devices hanging from them.

”Yes, well, I’ve been busy humoring your father and his desire to help him decode some strange alien technology that we got from this alien specimen,” the man remarked. He pointed to an object at the center of the laboratory, sealed within a glass tube.

”What alien specime—” She froze as her amber eyes widened with one look in the direction he pointed.

It was a crystal.

With a horrifying familiar figure within it.

It was none other than the Divine Mother Homoarachnoid who had tried to kidnap her.

”W-What is she doing here?!” Ria yelped, taking several steps back as she broke into a cold sweat.

”Relax baby girl, she’s frozen in time,” Rui reassured with a calm and measured tone. ”She’s not getting out.”

Ria found it impossible to relax when she was staring at what looked like a horror exhibit, a monster frozen with six wide eyes staring straight forward. Her body was much more wounded than she remembered, since she had only last caught a glimpse of her before the battle between the creature and her father had begun.

She gulped. ”…Do you mean she’s still alive?”

”She is,” Rui remarked in a relaxed manner, deliberately trying to get his daughter to calm down. ”Moments away from death with those wounds, but I managed to preserve her.”

”…But why?” Ria couldn’t help but squeeze out.

”That should be obvious,” Rui tutted with a hint of disapproval. ”Why would I want to capture the leader of our soon-to-be enemy?”

”…Intelligence?” She realized. ”You want to secure an information advantage before the war begins?”

”Yes,” Rui replied straightforwardly. ”Our enemy has a territory, or domain of influence, rather, that extends to…”

He paused, reconsidering his decision to tell his eighteen-year-old daughter about just how rough their odds were. ”…well, a lot of stars. They are bigger than us, and they are stronger than us. Which means we need an asymmetry that will allow us to become victorious.”