"Dark Elf?"
Rodgraim narrowed his eyes. He heard tales about the Dark Elves.
The homeworld of the Dark Elves lies within the Inner Sea.
Nevertheless, they belonged to the bloodline of Star Sea Elves.
For some unknown reason, Dark Elves and Star Sea Elves are sworn enemies.
Whenever they met in the Sea of Stars, it will turn into an all-out clash.
Unlike the proud and aloof Star Sea Elves, the Dark Elves are much more brutal and arrogant, that other alien races are always afraid to connect with them.
What really bugged Rodgraim was why the Dark Elves, who were usually confined to the Inner Sea, would venture to the Outer Sea.
Just then, the Dark Elf fleet arrived at the dock.
The Vulcans down at the dock raised their brows as they looked out at the fleet.
Though they had encountered countless races of aliens, their disdain for the Dark Elves was unparalleled.
The thought that the Dark Elves were only here to keep up their vessels seemed highly improbable.
Dark Elves are born arrogant.
They think that other races are inferior and consider it an insult to even be touched by them.
This superiority complex had earned the Dark Elves a terrible reputation across the Sea of Stars.
But the Dark Elves didn't care.
Their military strengths were powerful, or nobody dared to challenge them.
The flagship of the Dark Elf fleet was opening its hatch.
And, putting on a mask, the captain of the Dark Elves descended, making a truly foul expression.
"Damn it," said he, spitting out through his lips.
"Why must I come to this Vulcan backwater for a mission? Just stepping on this land feels soiling my boots!"
That brings the Dark Elf soldiers' arms into view-and that's a problem, because advanced thermal laser guns in those arms can cut a hole through 40 cm of steel with one shot.
Frozen by that heavy firepower, the boatmen were too afraid to speak their minds.
The Dark Elf captain sneered in disdain, went down the ramp, and waved his hand.
"Search the dock. The holy relic we're after must be here."
At his command, several Dark Elf soldiers disembarked, their movements precise and threatening.
The captain of the Vulcan dock workers hurried forward, suppressing his anger as he forced a smile.
"My lord, the ships here belong to our customers. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to open their hatches without permission?"
However, the Dark Elf captain pulled out a laser pistol and aimed at the Vulcan captain's head before he could continue.
The other boatmen instinctively snatched wrenches and pliers, quivering in their hands.
At the sight, the Dark Elf captain sneered.
"You miserable wretch. Do you think you have the authority to interrogate the affairs of the Dark Night Empire? "
Even the usually composed Vulcan captain couldn't contain his rage.
"Vulcan is a neutral planet," he snarled. "We're not so easily intimidated." He sneered.
"If you open fire here, do you really think your fleet can escape unscathed?"
The Dark Elf captain's eyes narrowed, icy and calculating.
A threat from a Vulcan? Unthinkable.
Yet he knew causing too much chaos might provoke the wrath of the Vulcan Lord.
With a sneer, he kicked the Vulcan captain aside.
The Empire of the Night is taking care of business.
When we find what we're searching for, we're out of here, he said.
"I would advise you not to interfere. The Dark Night Empire will not think twice about annihilating Vulcan from the Sea of Stars."
He shrugged off their angry glares with a cold shoulder toward the Vulcans and waved at his troopers.
"Even if you have to take apart every ship in this dock, find the relic! Whoever finds it first will be promoted to Baron!"
The soldiers sprang to action, their zeal doubled.
One grabbed a high-energy cutter right away and started trying to pry open the hatch of a ship nearby.
Metal rending metal filled the sound of the dock.
Watching their clients' ships get destroyed, the Vulcans clenched their fists in helpless rage.
The reputation of Vulcan docks was being ruined before their eyes.
The captain of the Vulcans trembled with fury as he turned to one of his underlings.
"Go inform the Lord of Vulcan!"
Meanwhile, a group of Dark Elf soldiers approached Rodgraim's ship, the Aether Dominion.
The mighty vessel really left them awestruck.
"Captain, there is an S-class ship in this dock!" one of them exclaimed.
"S-class?" The Dark Elf captain strode over, his eyes aglow with greed as he gazed upon the Aether Dominion.
"This ship is hereby commissioned by the Dark Night Empire!" he declared.
Under his command, the soldiers started hacking at the hatch of the Aether Dominion with high-energy tools.
[Warning: The Aether Dominion is being breached!]
Rodgraim was at the mall, doing his shopping, when the alert came through on his tech watch.
His face darkened.
Wasn't the Aether Dominion under maintenance at the dock? What's going on?
Systems of Aether Dominion transmitted to him a live feed of the situation.
Dark Elf soldiers trying to dismantle his ship made Rodgraim's face harden.
"Activate the pilots and prepare for battle," he ordered.
[Command received. Awakening pilots.]
In the Aether Dominion's arsenal, cryo-chambers opened one after the other.
A thousand armored pilots came out to meet the battle.