[center][h2]Hinansho System, Bridge of the [i]Excalibur[/i][/h2][/center]

"Empress! Alien vessel at point 108, 13, 89!"

The entire bridge crew turned to face the sensors officer, their memories triggered by the string of coordinates. They indicated the point of first contact with the New Roman Empire, and the site of the first battle of the war. The Abh had made it damn clear to the Romans through the liberal application of missiles that the area was not to be disturbed. It had been declared sacred, mainly because if it wasn't sacred then those who had died in the battle wouldn't be able to reincarnate, trapped in space forever. Not that they had told the Romans that. After all, they expected them to immediately do all that they could to desecrate it if they were told.

"Inside the debris field?" Said the Empress in disbelief, unsure how to respond. A missile strike would be reckless, and they certainly couldn't move into cannon range.

"Yes, Empress! They're right in the middle of it! They just activated some kind of stealth system, they know damn well that we don't want them there!" 

[i]They would risk a battle just to desecrate the graves of our explorers whom we sent to make peace with them![/i] She thought, scowling at the viewscreen as if the Romans could see her. [i]Once again, the demons from the fifth planet prove themselves to be just that.[/i]

"Open the hangar!" She yelled furiously, storming out of the room. "Prepare the new [i]Kamikaze[/i] mechs!"

[center][h2]Hinansho System, Midway Debris Field[/h2][/center]

A squadron of ten vehicles flew through the asteroid belt, heading straight towards the Kestral. They weren't normal fighter craft, they were something else entirely. They had a humanoid figure, and each carried a giant katana, for all the use it could possibly be in space combat. They also had railguns, designed for rapid, automatic fire. The lead one was painted white, with Sānshingenō characters on its right arm indicating that it was owned by the Na'brel family. If anyone on the Kestral happened to know Japanese, they just might be able to read them if they could get a look at the vehicle.

A yellow scanning beam from the lead mech swept the Kestral, and the Empress was surprised to learn that it didn't match even the basic design conventions of the New Roman Empire. The squadron quickly stopped, ending up just before the bridge of the Kestral, barely close enough to see the crew inside. Staring dumbfounded at the aliens inside, the Empress checked her mech's database. Whoever the aliens were, they weren't Roman, and they weren't hostile. She sent a message to the ship, choosing to include a video feed as well. Obviously, she had no idea what they would think. She was, after all, wearing a suit with wires connecting electrodes all over her to the vehicle itself in case something went wrong with her natural neural connection. And the neural connection didn't exactly provide the most [i]presentable[/i] piloting position.

"Well, you're about to have one hell of a day. Welcome to the Hinansho system, and welcome to no man's land. If you happen to enjoy life, you'll want to go to battlestations if you haven't already. The Romans will be here soon."