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| | - Prologue |
 | | Ahead, the ringed, back-lit globe of the gas giant loomed vast within its necklace of crescent moons. |
 | | Sallos A and B, the local suns, glowed hot, white, and arc-light dazzling, made tiny by distance. |
 | | On board the battlecarriers Esan and Helias, the command cruiser Galahedron, and the three destroyers that made up the battle group, nearly ten thousand Confederation naval personnel waited at their stations, waited to see what shape the Aetryx response to their arrival in-system would take. |
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