**Kamasabaku Desert, Imperial Proving Grounds**

A blue beam shot out into the desert towards a block of metal, glowing as bright as the sun itself. It impacted the block, instantly punching a small circular hole straight through it. A group of observers standing behind a blast shield looked on in awe, some of then started to take off his protective goggles, but a woman wearing a lab coat stopped him.

"We are not done yet, Admiral." She said, tapping a button on her small personal tablet. "If you thought punching a hole through a solid block of steel was impressive, watch this."

The beam activated again, this time widening to engulf the entire block. The light was so bright that it blinded the observers despite their goggles. When their vision returned, they couldn't see anything left where the block of metal was. Their mouths dropped open in shock, and the same man from earlier turned to look at the woman.

"How is that possible?"

The woman turned to the man, cracking a smile.

"It tears apart the bonds between quarks, destabilizing matter in the process. This prototype you just saw was one similar to what would be deployed on one of our main battle tanks. I am requesting your permission to send them into mass production."

"Of course, Countess Lasis! I'll give your team extra resources as well, I expect great things from you!" Said the man, reaching his hand out.

Countess Lasis returned the gesture, a quite buzz being let out as her exoskeleton moved her arm for her. She had been born with a genetic disorder that caused her body's muscles to be extremely underdeveloped, though she didn't look like it. The disorder only affected muscle density, muscle size remained the same. Interestingly, the disorder also caused her skin to be a light brown. The common theory on the disorder was that it was a mutation to adapt to the weightless and irradiated environment of space (Abh evolutionary theory states that mutations occur in response to the environment, not randomly).

"Oh, believe me Admiral, I will go beyond those expectations."

**Imperial Warship Tomerarenai-fū, Captain's Quarters**

The Countess' dark blue hair floated in the microgravity environment, flowing well over half a meter behind her. Unlike most Abh in the Spaceborne Navy, she hadn't cut her hair to a manageable size when she entered. It was an odd choice, especially for someone with such a major disability. Her head was already heavy enough on her neck, and the hair didn't help. Still, she chose to wear specially designed supports instead of cutting her hair. She had always refused to change herself to accommodate for the disorder, instead acting like it wasn't even there. As a child, she had spent most of her time in a hoverchair. Even after she got her exoskeleton at age six, she ended up breaking her bones quite frequently from taking off the exoskeleton. 

She reached down to a button on her belt, pressing it. Her exoskeleton came apart with a click, slowly drifting away from her in dozens of pieces. She sighed happily, moving her body on her own for the first time in weeks. The exoskeleton was uncomfortable, and often felt like it was pressing into her skin. It felt wonderful to finally have it off. Swinging herself into the bathroom in her quarters (Teikkupuraim-Class vessels are even more extravagant than smaller ships, even normal crew quarters have full bathrooms), she bumped into the wall lightly. The very fact that nobody else was there to ask if she was alright made her smile. She might be disabled, but her bones were more than strong enough to handle a little bump. In fact, she could be fine even if she was punched. Even so, people acted like the slightest touch would kill her.

A small bubble of water formed in the air as she squeezed the liquid out of a small pouch. She snatched a relatively large bottle of pills off of the velcro on the walls of her cabinet, and took one out. She gently threw it up towards the bubble of water, which absorbed it and kept it within itself. Placing her feet on the wall, she pushed off towards the bubble. Opening her mouth as wide as she could, she swallowed the bubble and pill all at once, slowly continuing forward towards the other end of her room. The pill was a neural blocker, designed to prevent her from feeling all of the artificial muscles that kept her organs functioning.

_Taking pills like that never gets old._ She thought, stretching her arms out to stop her "fall" towards the opposing wall. 

She swung herself towards the ceiling using a handhold, "jumping" off of it and returning back to the bathroom. She began to undress, taking off her labcoat and unzipping her military uniform. Surprisingly modest underwear was underneath the two layers, baring her midriff, lower thighs down, and little more. The garments were stark white, with the symbol of the Spaceborne Navy prominently displayed. The upper part would slide off easily, but the lower part was notoriously nicknamed "The Labyrinth of the Stars", referencing a myth of the same name and the famous complexity of the process of removing it. A purely practical design, of course. It's hard to put a bunch of people of both sexes-many of whom are homosexual, bisexual, etc.-into a spacecraft which could spend years away from port and have everything work out just fine. Thus, the uniform designers had created an infuriatingly complex undergarment that was so hard to remove that sexual assault was unheard of in the Spaceborne Navy simply because everyone knew it was impossible to get away with.

Suddenly, a sound pierced her ears. A bright light shone on the wall before her, her shadow clearly shown. Turning around in surprise, she gasped at the sight of an odd being. Its body was similar to that of an Abh woman, but the torso was oddly small, and they had swept-back ears (a rarity among the Abh). Their skin was a light purple, something no Abh had ever seen before. The largest oddity, of course, were the wings. They were like those of a butterfly, an insect referenced only in the texts found in the Sūkaiisutshō.

Frightened, she reached for the nearest weapon. In this case, it was an iron katana that her family had kept as an heirloom for over a thousand years, she always carried it with her. She held it with both hands, knees bent, right foot in front, and her left foot rotated sixty degrees to the left in classical Abh dueling style. The stance held no practical use in microgravity, but it was considered the honorable way to face an opponent, and honor was more important than practicality.

"I am Countess Lasis of the Eight World's Empire!" She said, hoping that the alien had some kind of translator device. "Are you from that cursed fifth planet? Are you the face of the demons that we fight? Answer me!"

**Bridge of the Baguyoka, Outpost 12**

A response was sent as the ship moved in to dock with the large Abh vessel, presumably a battleship.

"Agreed, if you would, please come up alongside our largest vessel. We can connect to your ship using an automatic docking adapter, and I have to be on that ship anyways. A commander must always be their to celebrate with her crew, if only for a few moments. I can promise you that it shall take no time at all."