098 Lord's Log 10 Land Management 5 System Survey 3

We just warped out of the Caprius System, thirteen light-years away, into an unknown system.

Our emergence point is slightly offset from the orbital plane of the planet—perpendicular, really.

Chose this spot for minimal obstacles and easier planet detection.

My Personal Ship conducts a quick survey of the system using various sensors.

The star is about twice the size of Sol. Two rocky planets and two gas giants—standard setup.

No suitable moon for terraforming.

Rocky planets are outside the habitable zone, so even if we could extract resources from the gas giants, we’d still have no habitable planet. Useless setup.

We’d need to build a colony or a habitable space station, which makes it too expensive to consider. Budget cuts.

"Should we name this system at least?...Hmm, what do you think?"

"This is your first survey system, so how about AKR01?"

"Feels like that number’ll be a problem if we get to 46 or 48 or something..."

"Just skip the numbers, no big deal."

"Are you god now?"

"Hehe."

No, I’m not complimenting you.

"Anyway, AKR01 (tentative) works for now."

"Even that 'tentative'... whatever."

"Alright, next one then."

"Yay!"

Kae's reply is getting sloppier.

We’ve advanced our survey to AKR13 (tentative).

In the meantime, we’ve hit dead ends: star systems with massive suns and fierce solar winds, systems teeming with primitive life, systems with zero planets—wasted trips all around.

So far, it’s easier to just develop AKR01 (tentative) than keep doing this.

And now here we are, at AKR13 (tentative), our motivation barely holding on.

AKR13 (tentative)'s star was a solar-type, with a well-populated system: five rocky planets and four gas giants.

And three of those rocky planets sat right in the habitable zone.

Wait—ever since we started, we've just been assuming the habitable zone was a given. But it's not just "a zone where life could form"—it's the sweet spot for human comfort. The ideal environment.

We expect intelligent life to emerge there. But no, that never happens. The best we ever see is the faint trace of basic organic life—bacteria, mostly.

The "system with primitive life" we mentioned earlier? That's the standard fare in the rarest of rare cases.

Even if it's just primitive life, I still think it counts as an invasion if we interfere. So I’m not touching the system.

Unless it’s a planet already messed with by an empire like Anoi II, of course.

We might as well make use of it—there’s no going back now.

Back to the matter at hand. AKR13 is a promising star system, rich in mineral resources, heavy hydrogen, and three Earth-like planets capable of sustaining life.

AKR13-2 through AKR13-4 were all pristine—water, oxygen, habitable without any modification.

All three had life. But no people. Too clean. Too unnatural.

We were approaching AKR13-3 for a closer inspection.

That’s when we found it.

“Dimensional Jump Gate! And ancient!”

“!”

Right. We found it. A forgotten remnant of the old empire.

Makes sense now. Three habitable Earth-type planets? Not normal.

They’d already been terraformed.

But then… no people. No signs of human presence. So what’s the story here?

"This place feels like a star system the True Empire abandoned ages ago. Ayame, did you find any records about this one?"

"I've never heard of it. Maybe ask the old man...?"

"Right. We’ll check when we get back."

"!"

We barely dodged the railgun projectile with an emergency evasive maneuver.

At that moment, enemy fleet emerged from behind the shadow of AKR13-3.

Identification signal—red. Enemy.

"Hit us with a gravity-bent shot from AKR13-3’s pull?!"

"What do we do, big brother?!"

I pause. Retreat makes sense—but we’re already surrounded by overwhelming numbers.

No time to hesitate.

"Hit them all with erosion bullets. Stop their movement. If they’re remnants of the Old Empire, they might be cousins of the True Empire. We can’t kill them."

"Right. I’ll keep broadcasting signals."

"Please, remaining Erosion Bullets: 1,345 rounds. Enemy fleet: approximately 500 ships. Without reinforcements, we can seize control of all vessels."

I aimed the three Long Barrel 5cm Railguns at the enemy ships and fired Erosion Bullets one after another, indiscriminately.

"This is a true descendant of the Old Empire. We are the rightful heirs displaced by the current Empire. Respond. Cease hostilities."

No reply from Ayame.

Maybe just some random space vessel?

Or… possibly a ship from the current Empire?

No. The design’s too outdated. Looks like they’re just using Old Empire relics straight from the vaults.

"Brother… it’s not working."

"Don’t give up. Keep going. That one’s definitely an Old Empire ship."

"Yeah… I got it."

"Right! Go full Ayame Princess Mode!"

I kept firing Erosion Bullets at the enemy ships to disable them, all while giving Ayame orders.

"Listen, if you're from the old empire! I am the last descendant of the deposed Emperor of the fallen empire! Surrender now!"

A ripple of unease spreads through the enemy vessel.

But without proof, they probably can't believe it either.

I fire an Erosion Bullet into what looks like their flagship.

A message appears on the holographic screen before me.

"Consumption complete. Data link established. Take control?"

I grab the YES icon.

"Navicrack initiated. Five... four... three... two... one. Completion. Enemy vessel secured."

"Tactical Weapon Integration Control System, activate! Take control of all ships under the enemy flagship's command!"

I forcibly seized the entire enemy fleet.

Took over the enemy flagship’s Tactical Weapon Integration Control System, locked all enemy ships’ weapons, and gained full command.

I now have the enemy flagship’s data.

"An unmanned fleet? You're telling me it's been guarding the star system all along!"

I'm conducting an interrogation on the enemy flagship’s comms, now that it's under my control.

That's why it was an advanced neural interface (AI) designed specifically for command use.

Who the hell are you?

"I am the flagship of the *?+??-* defense fleet. My duty is the defense of the *?+??-* system."

...was still obeying some ancient order from long ago.

"Humanity doesn't seem to be on this planet, though?"

The rebel forces have fired the Genesis System. Every city... every person... gone.

Then why guard the stars?

"Waiting for the Lord to return. The stars haven’t been taken by the rebel forces yet. The operation continues."

I'm fine with guarding, but we need to get recognized as allies—me and my subordinates.

Then, your master has returned. What will you do?

"Master?... Yes, this power... the bloodline of the Master... I understand. I shall obey your command."

"Then command me. Hand over this star system. Acknowledge my subordinates' invasion and allow the mission to continue."

"As you wish."

Good. The star system is secured.

"Can the Dimensional Jump Gate be used?"

"It was sealed for defense, but it's ready to activate at any moment."

"Then open the Dimensional Jump Gate. Fill this system with people."

"Ah! Right away, I'll arrange it!"

"Settlers on the planets too. Understood?"

"As you please."

Yeah. Ends justify the means. That’s my motto.

I’ll turn AKR13-2 into an agricultural planet, AKR13-3 into an ocean world, AKR13-4 into a pastoral one, AKR13-5 into a mining planet, and AKR13-6 into a heavy hydrogen plant world.

There’s no system like this one. I want to make this place my base of operations.

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