As the Galactic Council's military anthropologist, my job was to study the war with humanity from the start to what was supposed to be its easy, inevitable end. Not for their current strength, but for their rapid growth. No other species had gone from flying in their atmosphere to traveling the stars in less than 300 years. Not because they expected us, but because they've already faced similar tactics in their own wars. But unlike other species, their cooperation was driven not only by survival, but by competition with other humans.

The maintenance-based dim emergency lights threw long flickering shadows across the forgotten hangar, as Raza carefully descended the old, rusted gantry stairs. Raza had worked the station's tunnels long enough to know its countless shortcuts and forgotten chambers, but nothing he had ever stumbled across could compare to what now stood in front of him. Her once proud hull was scarred with deplasma burns and pitted with impacts from micrometeorites, signs of long forgotten battles, despite the damage she remained whole or relic from another age. The ship's registry plate confirmed her identity, the defiant dawn, a tarant battle cruiser over a century old, built during humanity's very first expansion beyond the Saul system. If Captain Chen's message was right, the defiant dawn wasn't just an old relic.

The maintenance-based dim emergency lights threw long flickering shadows across the forgotten hangar, as Raza carefully descended the old, rusted gantry stairs. Raza had worked the station's tunnels long enough to know its countless shortcuts and forgotten chambers, but nothing he had ever stumbled across could compare to what now stood in front of him. Her once proud hull was scarred with deplasma burns and pitted with impacts from micrometeorites, signs of long forgotten battles, despite the damage she remained whole or relic from another age. The ship's registry plate confirmed her identity, the defiant dawn, a tarant battle cruiser over a century old, built during humanity's very first expansion beyond the Saul system. If Captain Chen's message was right, the defiant dawn wasn't just an old relic.

The emergency beacon screamed across the emptiness of space, ripping Zia's salvage vessel from hyperspace and throwing her into the draconian system. Zia's hands hovered over the control's tents. Her hands, scarred and stained from years of mechanical work looked rough against the dragon lady's perfect form. Zia placed her palms on the dragon lady's temples. Zia, the dragon lady's cellular regeneration has increased by 400%.

The emergency beacon screamed across the emptiness of space, ripping Zia's salvage vessel from hyperspace and throwing her into the draconian system. Zia's hands hovered over the control's tents. Her hands, scarred and stained from years of mechanical work looked rough against the dragon lady's perfect form. Zia placed her palms on the dragon lady's temples. Zia, the dragon lady's cellular regeneration has increased by 400%.

The ship's AI says I have 14 days before everything fails. This is my engineer, Rook Davis, Captain Patel says. I take my identification crystal, research notes and a memory token for my mate, and a short time later I follow them through their docking tube into their huge ship. Welcome to the lucky break, Captain Patel says proud. Someone else, taller with darker skin, asks about my research.

The ship's AI says I have 14 days before everything fails. This is my engineer, Rook Davis, Captain Patel says. I take my identification crystal, research notes and a memory token for my mate, and a short time later I follow them through their docking tube into their huge ship. Welcome to the lucky break, Captain Patel says proud. Someone else, taller with darker skin, asks about my research.

The ship's AI says I have 14 days before everything fails. This is my engineer, Rook Davis, Captain Patel says. I take my identification crystal, research notes and a memory token for my mate, and a short time later I follow them through their docking tube into their huge ship. Welcome to the lucky break, Captain Patel says proud. Someone else, taller with darker skin, asks about my research.

The ship's AI says I have 14 days before everything fails. This is my engineer, Rook Davis, Captain Patel says. I take my identification crystal, research notes and a memory token for my mate, and a short time later I follow them through their docking tube into their huge ship. Welcome to the lucky break, Captain Patel says proud. Someone else, taller with darker skin, asks about my research.

The ship's AI says I have 14 days before everything fails. This is my engineer, Rook Davis, Captain Patel says. I take my identification crystal, research notes and a memory token for my mate, and a short time later I follow them through their docking tube into their huge ship. Welcome to the lucky break, Captain Patel says proud. Someone else, taller with darker skin, asks about my research.