The Martial Unity

Divine Mother ooo—o- the Web Binder sat secluded in a cradle of webs as her finger skimmed through intelligence reports about human civilization. The moment the true identity of the culprit that killed Divine Mother o-o-o-o was revealed, she had deployed her best spies to begin investigating the civilization from afar.

Strands of light wove together holographic versions of webpaper, formerly used by the arakai when they were a more primitive civilization, hovering above her as she skimmed through all the listed details in the privacy of her own web nest.

Her six eyes sharpened at everything she had learned.

The former Divine Mothers -o- and —oo-oo— had mentioned it shortly before they were ambushed by an emperor of water, but the reality was that this civilization had grown exponentially at a truly alarming rate.

In just thirteen years, they had expanded their stellar territory by a factor of ten thousand. That was just a mind-boggling rate of expansion that beggared the imagination, but that was not the only oddity.

Once her people had begun investigating human civilization, they had learned of numerous anomalies. Chief among them was the concept of paths, which was impossible to miss if one studied human civilization for any length.

Her investigations revealed that they were paths of power. Power that could be reached through a steady rate of progression, allowing an individual, without relying on mass-produced technological upgrades, to grow tremendously in power.

Reports detailed how human civilization had infantry that was on par with that of the arakai civilization despite the fact that the arakai civilization’s technology in that regard was like much more advanced.

And of course, there was the fact that an Administrator in a lesser civilization was able to defeat two Divine Mothers in a battle, even if he had the element of surprise.

Unlike her other sisters, Divine Mother ooo—o-, the leader of the pluralist faction, did not bear deep hostility towards human civilization. In fact, she found herself admiring this strange but extraordinary civilization that somehow managed to crop up in a patch of space with fewer and dimmer stars than the rest of the Orion Star Strand.

”If. We. Could. Bring. This. Civilization. Into. The. Fold. Then. We. Would. Be. So. Much. Stronger.”

She firmly believed that the webs of civilization ought not to stop at the boundary of species. That the webs of civilization could bind those of different species and even different webs of life.

However, she knew that that was a politically untenable position at the moment. Because, unfortunately, this civilization was responsible for the death of three Divine Mothers. Even though the War Faction and Virus Faction had lost a tremendous amount of face, Divine Mothers across the board were very much in favor in making the culprit for the death of three of their sisters pay.

However, she knew that that was a politically untenable position at the moment. Because, unfortunately, this civilization was responsible for the death of three Divine Mothers. Even though the War Faction and Virus Faction had lost a tremendous amount of face, Divine Mothers across the board were very much in favor in making the culprit for the death of three of their sisters pay.

She had managed to temper their aggression by opting for a more careful approach, doing their due diligence, but she wasn’t able to stop them from opting for war in the first place.

Even as she read through the reports that her subordinates had begun gathering on human civilization, the other factions were doing the same as they sought to understand the net war potential of their target and what their general capabilities were. They were scouting human civilization to understand how much power they would need to invest in order to wipe the civilization out.

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”They’re. Strong. But… They. Will. Not. Survive. A. Symmetric. Confrontation.”

She found it most lamentable if such an extraordinary civilization would be eradicated. She even considered doing something about it, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do. She had been aiding the Dessandrites, but the unfortunate reality was that the aid she could provide covertly would not be enough.

And the military and size gap between human civilization and arakai civilization was simply too large for it to be filled with things like the power of their infantry.

She could only heaved a sigh of regret and be grateful that there was the silver lining of her factional opponents being weakened. But otherwise, it appeared that the pluralist faction would have to bide its time for now.

VMMM

A flash of light shot through the strands of the communication webs in her little nest, forming a message that was transmitted straight into her mind. One of her subordinates requested a personal meeting with her about an important matter that couldn’t be shared through the network. He was waiting right outside because of how urgent it was.

Divine Mother ooo—o- frowned before allowing him in.

A male arakai entered her nest, prostrating himself before the Divine Mother with deep reverence.

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”Your. Excellency. We. Have. Received. What. Appears. To. Be. A. Missive. From. Outside. Our. Civilization,” the male arakai informed her diligently, before pulling out an object from a pouch of web at his thorax and presenting it to the Divine Mother.

Her six eyes sharpened as she studied the object; to her senses, it was a flat, rectangular object that appeared to be composed of some kind of organic substance that seemed like it was the dried-out processed fiber remains of a flora organism.

It was an envelope made of paper with a letter inside.

When Divine Mother realized where it was from, her six eyes widened with surprise. ”…Where. Did. You. Find. This?”

”It. Was. Anonymously. Deposited. In. Our. Anonymous. Tips. Portal. Your. Excellency.”

She immediately grew suspicious. An alien civilization managed to deposit a missive into one of their communication systems? How did the humans even know where arakai civilization was? That information should not have been revealed yet. Not to mention, how did they know how to get this message to reach her using their anonymous tips portals?

She studied the crest of the letter, recognizing it in the intelligence reports on human civilization that she had been binge-reading.

It was a letter from the Emperor of the Kandrian Empire, the Emperor of Water himself.