13: Exiles from the Tigaden Galaxy

Just as Earth civilization was being thrown into turmoil by an email from "the guide," the advance fleet carrying the hope of the Faleim Civilization was silently traversing space in a way humans could not comprehend.

On the bridge of the fleet flagship—the Far-star class cruiser "rathia"—there were no alarms or clamor, only the low, heartbeat-like hum emitted by the first-generation Warp Drive while in operation.

The ship was not traveling through conventional space; instead, it was enveloped in a distorted spacetime bubble, moving forward at five times the speed of light, riding the "tides" of space.

Outside the windows, there were no brilliant, colorful stars, only an absolute, lightless pitch-black void.

It had been over two months since the fleet departed from the Faleimland System.

They had traveled nearly one light-year, entering a completely unfamiliar star region.

"Commander, the long-range gravity sensor array has captured an anomalous signal."

On the bridge, a young sensor operator named Kyle broke the silence.

His voice, transmitted through the communicator built into his uniform collar, rang out clearly across the entire bridge.

His gaze was fixed on a faint, irregular fluctuation on the holographic screen in front of him.

Sitting in the command chair was Military Councilor Talon.

To ensure that this expedition, which concerned the future of their civilization, was foolproof, he had personally taken on the role of supreme commander of this advance fleet.

"Magnify the signal source and analyze its nature."

Talon's voice was calm and without a ripple; his azure pupils, like frozen lakes, reflected the massive screen before him.

"The signal source is located at the edge of the 'Teegarden' star system (all factions in this book refer to real star names using Earth nomenclature)... Deep scan in progress..."

A slight waver suddenly appeared in Kyle's voice, which was extremely rare in the disciplined Faleim military.

"Commander, we have detected a fleet—a massive fleet."

The Teegarden star system.

This name instantly made all the officers on the bridge tense up; it was the closest neighbor to their home system, Faleimland, at a distance of only 2.5 light-years.

Before departure, Faleimland's deep-space observatories had already begun monitoring the conditions of various star systems surrounding Faleimland, including, of course, the Teegarden system.

However, the detection results for the Teegarden system were full of eerie contradictions.

According to spectral analysis, the system's second planet, Teegarden B, was perfectly located within the star's habitable zone, and its volume and mass indicated that it was highly likely a planet possessing a thick atmosphere and liquid water.

Yet, no matter how they observed it, the result was always the same: that planet possessed no atmosphere whatsoever.

It was like a peeled apple, nakedly exposed to cosmic radiation; a planet that should have been vibrant with life was dead, utterly and completely.

And now, right at the edge of the system where this dead planet was located, they had discovered a fleet.

"Project the image onto the main screen."

Talon ordered.

After complex signal processing and image sharpening, an astonishing scene appeared on the main screen.

It was a fleet so massive it was almost clumsy.

Thousands of light points were densely clustered together like a swarm of migrating cosmic plankton.

After preliminary morphological identification and quantity statistics, the AI provided a staggering number: over two thousand ships.

"Analyze the fleet composition."

Talon's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

"Multi-dimensional high-speed detector activated, conducting heat signal and energy reaction analysis..."

Kyle's voice had regained its composure as he reported rapidly, "Most of the ships... have bloated structures and extremely low energy core output power; they look like civilian transport ships or freighters without any combat capability. Only... only about forty to fifty ships have detected energy reaction signatures of high-energy weapons; they should be escort warships."

A mixed fleet composed of over two thousand civilian vessels and a few dozen warships?

This looked more like a migration, or rather, an escape.

"What about their speed?"

"Extremely slow, Commander. Their cruising speed is only 8% of the speed of light."

Eight percent of the speed of light.

For the Faleim People, who had already mastered faster-than-light travel, this speed was as slow as crawling through space.

Talon fell into deep thought.

A fleet so massive, so slow, and almost entirely defenseless was conducting a long interstellar journey right on his doorstep.

Who were they?

Where did they come from?

And where were they going?

Just then, the main AI of the flagship "rathia," using its synthesized, emotionless electronic voice, provided its analysis.

"Commander Talon, based on existing data, a preliminary deduction model has been established."

"Speak."

"First, based on reverse calculation of their current flight trajectory, speed, and the ships' energy decay characteristics, there is a 97.3% probability that the fleet's point of departure is a planet within the 'Teegarden' system, most likely that atmosphere-less Teegarden B."

This conclusion made everyone on the bridge shudder.

They had fled a dead planet.

Was the planet's death related to them?

"Second," the AI continued, "cruising at 8% of the speed of light means they have not yet mastered, or have lost, the capability for faster-than-light travel. Such a massive scale of non-combatant personnel, combined with such a long travel time, fits the behavioral pattern of a 'generation ark' or 'interstellar exile' civilization. Preliminary judgment: this is an exile fleet undergoing a racial migration."

Exiles.

This word struck a subtle chord with the Faleim People, who had also lost their entire empire.

"Third, regarding the fleet's destination."

This sentence from the AI made Talon's eyes instantly sharpen.

"According to extended calculations based on their current heading vector... although there is a certain margin of error, the overall direction of their voyage has an 89.1% overlap with our target heading."

On the main screen, the massive cluster of light representing the Teegarden fleet and the ten tiny dots representing the "Far-star" fleet were connected by a virtual trajectory line.

And at the far end of that trajectory line, a familiar star system image was clearly marked.

The Solar System.

"Their destination... is also that star system related to the guide?"

Kyle said.

The AI replied calmly: "The probability is extremely high. For a sub-light-speed civilization fleeing its home star, after long-range sky surveys, the 'guide star system' is the only migration destination in this region of the universe worth wagering their entire civilization's fate upon."

The bridge fell into a long silence.

This discovery had a certain impact on their prior plans.

They had originally thought that this voyage to the "guide star system" would be a solitary stealth mission.

The goal was clear, and the only variable was what the guide had left behind on that Gaia planet.

But now, another group of "players" had appeared out of thin air halfway there.

A group of... alien refugees, massive in number, with unknown intentions, piloting thousands of starships.

If they arrived at that Gaia planet in the "guide star system" before them, what would they do?

Would they make peaceful contact with the civilization there, or launch a brutal invasion to fight for living space?

"Commander, do we need to make contact?"

a subordinate officer asked for instructions.

"With our technology, we can easily catch up to them and attempt to establish communication from an absolutely safe distance."

"They may be the first intelligent race we have encountered in this universe."

Talon's gaze, like the most precise scanner, scrutinized the exile fleet on the main screen composed of thousands of light points.

His fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest of the command chair.

"Their existence is, in itself, a piece of intelligence. Why did they become exiles? What happened to that dead planet—Teegarden B? Most importantly, why did they set their sights on the 'guide star system' that we are about to head to? And how much do they know about it?"

A series of questions came from the mouth of this Military Councilor, each one pointing directly to the core of this expedition mission.

"Ignorance is the greatest enemy when sailing through an unknown universe."

Talon stood up and paced slowly across the bridge.

"We cannot enter a star system that may harbor potential competitors while carrying these questions. Before arriving at the guide star system, I need to understand the rules of this universe as much as possible, and these exiles are a living textbook."

He stopped his pacing and looked at the communications officer.

"Commander, what do you mean?"

"Establish communication."

Talon's decision was without a shred of hesitation.

"In the name of the Falaim Scientific Integration Nation, send a request for peaceful contact to the commander of that fleet. Ask why they embarked on their journey and why they chose the guide star system as their destination. Clearly inform them that we have no hostility, that we are merely two travelers sailing in the dark, and that we hope to exchange our Star Maps."

No officer present opposed this decision.

In their view, this was a condescending, benevolent gesture.

For a faster-than-light civilization to take the initiative to contact a primitive neighbor still crawling at sub-light speeds was, in itself, an act of goodwill.

"Yes, configuring the quantum communication array, constructing a high-dimensional channel... Channel established. Please provide the communication content."

Talon approached the communications station; his voice was captured and converted into a more essential form of information that transcended electromagnetic waves.

This was not a signal being "transmitted," but a "rewriting" of reality itself at the quantum level.

Through the composite application of quantum entanglement, quantum tunneling, and high-dimensional space theory, his words would ignore distance and obstacles, appearing directly and instantaneously within the other party's information system.

This was the whisper of a faster-than-light civilization, capable of achieving conversation without delay from tens of thousands of light-years away.