The Martial Unity

"I'll take two potato twisters, please," Ria told a man standing at a street stall. "One in hand and one to go."

"Coming right up! That will be twenty alliance credits, Miss."

Ria used her neural inlay to transmit the money to the payment portal of the street stall. The man dipped two spirally-cut, skewered potatoes into a gaussian radiation fryer that deep-fried them in the blink of an eye, all without a single burn. He plucked it out a moment later, handing it to an eager Ria.

"Thank you!" Ria immediately began munching, walking out of the line of impatient customers, enjoying her snacks. She had just gotten back that day from her second infected world hunt, eager to take a day off in the Jakarthar Federation. The sky was already dark, with the two red dwarf stars having already set in City Stormfront.

The darkness of the night was cut off by the city lights. The street lights, the signs and billboards, the holograms. The city came alive at night in a way that it simply didn't during the day. She munched on the potato twisters nostalgically, recalling how often she would get them with Runark.

Being in the frontier alone made her feel lonely, but also more determined in doing what she had set out to do. It was also convenient, for the surveillance state was much easier to evade in the frontier than it was in the heart of human civilization.

She had already begun scoping out her next target, intending to plan out the minutiae the next day after a night for herself. What made it harder for her to appreciate the night, however, was the changed mood in the air.

There was a nervousness and a grim scent to the atmosphere that wasn't there before. There were more pathwalker patrollers with the uniform of the Jarkarthar Federation guard corps walking around than ever before. She had also noticed more patrolling spacecrafts in outer space when she had returned to the Arima III System after her mission.

The Arima III System had been closest to the Strehegeld Star System, which made it the place where most people went in order to try and reach the Strehegeld Star System for the infected matter that was there. She knew that the Gaian Alliance and the Kandrian Empire, her aunt Ru mainly, had pressured the Jarkarthar Federation to up its security and surveillance.

But that was the only thing she sensed.

There was more.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

All of a sudden, billboards and holograms across the entire city suddenly shifted to feature a stream of an old, weary man wearing a formal suit, seated at a table. On the table was a plaque that read [President Jakarthar].

It was none other than a stream of the leader of the entire planet broadcasting some kind of announcement. Waves of murmurs began to ripple around the crowds around her as each of them stared at the screens featuring the stream with a confused expression.

"Citizens of Jakarthar and travelers from beyond, I am the President of the Jakarthar Federation, and I am broadcasting an emergency announcement to all of you to inform you of a new law that is to go into effect immediately," the man spoke with a serious expression. "Effective immediately, the Jarkarthar Federation will be imposing a planet-wide curfew at 23:00 in each respective timezone. The Jarkarthar Federation will also be restricting activities that can lead to cognitive impairment, partial or complete incapacitation, such as the consumption of alcohol and narcotic substances—"

A collective groan emerged from the crowd around her as countless people began shouting back, booing in return to the stream.

"Get the hell out of here with that bullshit!"

"You're just a brand-new frontier state, don't be full of yourself!"

"Welp, time to move to a different frontier state!"

Ria understood what this was about, of course. She knew that there was a war incoming. The general public was not aware that the arakai had discovered human civilization as the culprit for the death of Divine Mother o-o-o-o. The moment the arakai had discovered humans, she knew that it was only a matter of time before war came.

The fact that frontier states were imposing curfew and alcohol restrictions meant that war was closer than she had expected. Most likely, the Gaian Alliance had gotten its hands on some intelligence of an impending attack from the arakai and was bracing by trying to make humanity more prepared for the invasion.

"I don't have time to be taking it easy." Her amber eyes sharpened as she immediately rushed back to her private quarters. She needed to prepare for her next operation to ensure that human civilization had as much esoteric matter when the time came.

Unbeknownst to her, it wasn't just the Jakarthar Federation that was imposing curfews and restrictions. Although the Gaian Alliance knew that the Arima III System would be the target of the invasion, they didn't want to give away that they knew the exact location of the invasion thanks to the brilliant espionage by Sage Sayfeel.

So they made all frontier states get into a state of curfew and restriction so as to make it seem like they were merely preparing for a war that they knew was coming.

In his office, Rui read reports of humanity's mobilization. "This is good, but this alone won't be enough. What tactical operations has the strategic committee prepared to counter the hook-anchor invasion strategy of the arakai?"

In a meeting room with the other members of the Central Human Command, Rui leaned forward after posing the question for the esteemed military strategists, generals, and intelligence officers.

Deputy Commander Wiles turned towards him with a serious expression. "There are several interception strategies that we have developed, Your Majesty, each with varying levels of risks and outcomes. Whatever response we decide, we must decide now, for implementing it will require the remaining time we have until the invasion commences, Your Majesty."

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