“Did you think this was going to be easy?” Admiral Matir answered. Being that they did not age, it was always hard to tell just by appearance how old any given Rothian was. As long as they were an adult, a Rothian looked about the same at a hundred years of age as they did at a thousand. Of course, the personnel files that the others no doubt had would identify Matir as one of their most experienced naval officers, but even without that, the firm confidence he had with every word he spoke gave him a commanding presence. 

“We know nothing of our adversary. Should you be wrong about the primary target, then the secondary objectives shall fail, and the civilians [i]we[/i] are sworn to protect at each shall perish. We will complete all stated objectives, and we will do so with the resources we have available. Complete your objectives [i]quickly[/i] and efficiently, then regroup on my position for the final attack on our primary target. If your ships are truly strong and your crews capable, then [i]show[/i] me what you can do. You have your orders.” 

[hr]

Vreta shrugged, tilting his head towards Freyr. “Well, I’ve given my speeches. [i]I[/i] don’t have much else to do but watch at this point. I have to admit, I am a bit excited for what we might find, though. If we find another one of these objects here, on [i]another[/i] species’ homeworld, then I guess that is pretty strong evidence in favor of the life-seeder hypothesis.”

Crossing his arms, Vreta paused for just a few moments. “Have you wondered how many places this might have happened? How much life is really native to the Milky Way? Maybe there is another one of these on Earth?”