Caoimhe nodded.
Everyone pulled their overdress hoods on, and Freya fell into place behind the sisters, next to Bianca.
Even the governess was antsy over this mission.
They all were.
And that was what it was, a mission. That was what Freya had to tell herself. This was a mission for the Empire to bring their people peace, once and for all.
They left the room, Veta in front of the ladies. Diado led the procession out of the suit. The only sounds aside from the ship’s engines' soft hum were the sound of their shoes on the hard floor.
“Anyone else feeling like we’ve been let behind the curtain?” Freya broke the silence.
Veta smiled. “Sort of.”
“This is a historic moment,” Bianca said. “We are the first Terrans behind their protection.”
"Mother was behind it," Caoimhe said.
"The shield wasn't active then. It was raised later," Bianca said. "After the fighting began in earnest."
The hall they walked down had an open side, allowing them to see the resource-rich moons of Sol that orbited the huge gas giant. The Emperor had been working with the Galactic Alliance to appropriate the system before the Rhimodians came and claimed Sol and its resources without any permission.
The Galactic Alliance refused to intervene on behalf of the Terran Empire. It forced the Terrans to battle with the Rhimodians over the territory. As the story went, the Terrans never expected the Rhimodians to put up such a fight over the five moons.
If their people could live on Sol, they could live anywhere.
The Rhimodians didn’t see it that way.
Out in space, through the window, three of the five moons were visible. The other two were on the opposite side of the ship. One was the main settlement, Sol-3. Of the other two, one was green and lush with vegetation, while the furthest one seemed to be white, hinting at a frozen ore environment.
Escort ships moved around their vessel. Some were Terran. Some Rhimodian.
The Rhimodian ships, though, had something the Terran ones did not.
The ships transformed. Wings pulled in, the length of the vessel converting to something smaller as they moved around.
"It's like a magic show, watching the way they move," Freya said.
The Rhimodian ships moved in unison, unlike the Terran ships. Transformable in a battle to merge into one, create a singular attack ship, and then break apart to pick off anything left.
“So maybe we are behind a curtain,” Caoimhe said. "Maybe we will get to see their magic."
“A curtain that’s getting thinner and thinner,” Eleanor added.
“Hopefully, that curtain will stay open after this,” Caoimhe said.
“Maybe,” Veta said.
They remained quiet, contemplating.
“Are all the worlds so different?” Freya asked after a moment.
“Yes. Each one of the moons is a variety of resource-rich ecosystems. What we cannot see is the moon that is more mountains and rock, and there is another that is almost entirely water,” Bianca stated.
Not what Freya had been thinking, but it was an answer that filled the silence. The true mystery was whether they would wind up being so different from the Terrans.
“Oh, my, look at how they move in perfect form,” Eleanor whispered, gesturing out the window.
