[i]"Even the great warriors of the North had to learn how to walk."[/i]
-Prophet of Urania Luca Leuscrybh

[b]Imperial High Command, Shōrino'ba[/b]
The room was illuminated by an accurately colored hologram, the lights off to allow for the best viewing. It displayed a Roman Sicily-Class Frigate, which was identified as am "Alien destroyer" in the hologram. Four people sat around the circular table from which the hologram was being projected, three of them were the members of the High Command, and the fourth was wearing the iconic white and gold uniform of the Spaceborne Navy. A circular patch on her right shoulder (a relic from the early days of space exploration) displayed three chevrons and one star, identifying that she was a Deca-Commander. Her hair was a light blue, and trimmed into a bob cut, which was the traditional style for women in the Spaceborne Navy. Her ears were exceptionally long, with their points being about five inches from her head.

"This is an alien destroyer that I found while on watch in the Tala'rii system." Began the woman, reaching out to the hologram and touching it, zooming in on a large gash on the ship's hull. "As you can see, it was heavily damaged. Our scans showed no remaining lifesigns, so we came up alongside the ship. Two of my officers and I performed an EVA, and managed to cut through the docking port here."

Tapping what felt like a solid screen due to the repulsor beams used in tactile holograms, the woman focused the image back to it's original position, but now showed the interior of the vessel.

"Their design philosophy appears to be similar to ours, and the bridge was easily located. We recovered an alien computer core, which-as we suspected-runs on binary. Utilizing this basic similarity, we were able to access it's contents, and downloaded the entire contents onto our ship's computer. We can't understand the language, but we did manage to find multiple interesting images."

Swiping to the left and tapping the air, she ordered the hologram to display the image of some kind of exoskeleton.

"This is what we believe to be an enemy combat exoskeleton, similar to our [i]Semarri[/i]-Types. However, there is a major oddity."

She tapped the hologram once more, revealing a complex system of electrodes and electrical wires running through it.

"That is a system that seems to be made to detect muscular movements, in short, the aliens do not use a neural link."

Everyone stared at the hologram with a confused look, but only one of them spoke: a dark-haired, dull-eared old man.

"Why do they not use neural interfaces?" He asked quizzically, one eyebrow raised.

"They do not have any method of interfacing, we recovered a corpse, and it had no [i]seniichi[/i]."

At that point, everyone's mouth dropped open. They had been prepared to face even the most horrible monster, but they never expected that their enemy would be unable to naturally interface with computers. The Abh had only invented computers because their [i]seniichi[/i] (natural silicon chips suspended at the end of a chain-like structure, growing from the back of the neck) resembled them, inspiring the inventor to create the first computer. It was believed that all species with computer technology could interface with it, but apparently, this was not true.

"There's more. Those who are equipped with these exoskeletons are genetically modified soldiers, meant to be stronger than any enemy. Astoundingly, these soldiers are just as strong as our own, despite being meant to be their elite. We found a file on their normal genetic makeup, and it turns out that they can't even bear three standard gravity units. They don't look frail, though. An average alien looks almost exactly the same as us, though their hair is oddly colored and their ears are round and flush to their skull. Our muscle density is much higher than theirs, with their bodies being pathetically inefficient. Apparently, if one of them eats too much, then a mass forms all around their body that can potentially kill them, just like animals do here. A civilized species should have evolved to have an adaptive metabolism, redirecting it towards muscle growth like us. In short, they are animals in the skin of a person."

"You mean we are genetically superior?" Said a woman with piercing red eyes that took all the attention away from her light blue hair and slightly drooping ears. Since the Abh had never encountered a civil rights problem based on genetics, nobody had any idea of the gravity of such a statement.

"Yes, we are [i]extremely[/i] superior. It seems like we are simply better than the aliens in every way, physically and morally."

"Thank you for your service, Deca-Commander Na'brel." Said the same woman, bowing in respect.

"Anything for the Empire, Admiral Arluth." She replied, bowing in the same fashion. The lights turned back on as the hologram dissipated, and she walked out of the room with a businesslike composure. The moment the door closed, a loud exhale could be heard even inside of the conference room.

"That girl's going to make a good Empress." Said Admiral Arluth, clearly impressed by the Deca-Commander's ability to hide her nervousness."

[b]Outpost 12, Abh Fringe Space[/b]
"You have got to be kidding me!" Yelled Baron Socal as his ship shook around him "The last territory that my family owns is under attack by aliens! And I'm the only person [i]in[/i] my family!"

His ship was a [i]Ryouta[/i]-Class Battleship, the only vessel he actually owned. The other four ships in his battlegroup were all mercenaries, mercenaries that he could only pay in room and board. The Socal house had always been small, but now it was just pathetic. Five ships going up against an alien strike force of ten didn't bode well, and soon the palace of the Socal house would be the captain's quarters of his ship.

Streams of antiproton particles leapt between the two fleets at relativistic speeds, smashing up against their respective shields. The first ship to go down was a [i]Guyoka[/i]-Class Destroyer, which was anhilliated completely when its shield systems overloaded in the middle of an antiproton volley. The Baron's [i]Ryouta[/i]-Class fired two antimatter torpedoes from it's railguns, one of which took down the shields of an enemy Sardinia Frigate. With it's hull exposed, the second torpedo hit, causing a massive detonation of all of its remaining missiles. The debris further impacted a Sicily Frigate, causing a localized shield hole and punching into the ships hull, causing a breach.

Desperately, the Baron sent a distress call. Though it was usually seen as a cowardly act, reinforcements were always sent, to do otherwise would be dishonorable (something much, much worse than being cowardly). The Romans would hear it, but not understand it, as neither species had been able to translate the other's language. To do so would take cooperation, something neither was willing to give.

"This is Baron Socal to any Imperial vessels! We're outnumbered two to one at Outpost 12, please send assistance!"