“What’s the closest one you think you can be reasonably sure about?” Eric asked.

Miram considered the question for a moment, then highlighted a system about fourteen hundred light-years from Earth. “This one. It’s along the withdrawal vector of Bandit One, is close to one of the precursor installations on the crystal, and we already have it listed as a system of interest.”

“We do?” Eric blinked. “Why?”

“Kepler 452b,” Miram said. “It’s been on our investigate list since the early twenty-first century as a system with a probable Earth-type planet.”

“Alright, then I suppose we have a target,” Eric said.

“Yes sir.”

►►►

► “The Heracles signals that they’re ready to begin research operations,” Miram said as she took her place on the bridge of the Odysseus. “Captain Vasquez sends her regards and wishes us luck.”

“Send my thanks,” Eric said, “and have the rest of the squadron ready to depart.”

“Bellerophon and Boudicca both signal ready, and our Rogues are ready to travel,” Miram said.

“Signal all ships,” Eric ordered. “Warp space for the heliopause, ahead full.”

“All ships, ahead full, aye.”

“Odysseus ahead full, aye,” Steph echoed from the helm and navigation station.

The feel of the Odysseus shifted just slightly as the big ship began to move, warping space-time and pulling away from the gravity of the local star and the heliobeam anomaly.

The four Rogues took point and flanking positions around the three Heroics in an escort formation based on carrier group escort SOP. Eric had taken some time to familiarize himself with the Rogue Class of ships when the admiral had assigned them to his command, and in many ways he wouldn’t have minded being assigned one of them instead of the Odysseus.

The Rogues were very similar to the Odyssey in their power system, though considerably refined and several times more powerful overall. Many of the power sinks and inefficiencies of the Odyssey’s original design had been done away with, streamlining the systems into dedicated warships. That, along with the Chinese space-warp drive, made them fast, invisible, and lethal.

By comparison, the Heroics were slow, lumbering giants in real-space encounters. Powerful beyond all sane measure, but also impossible to miss by anyone with gravity scanners.

Eric made a note to start working on tactical SOPs for using the Heroics and Rogues in combined arms operations. He was reasonably certain he could make adaptations from submarine and carrier task force operations with a few key modifications.

His Rogues would serve as fast-attack submarines, Eric decided, covering the Heroics as well as using the obvious threat of the larger ships as an opening to get in the occasional free shot.

His task force now consisted of the Heroics Odysseus, Bellerophon, and Boudicca in combination with the Rogues Hood, Aladdin, Song-Jiang, and Kid.

Eric just hoped the squadron would be enough. He had a bad feeling about this Empire.

►►►

Imperial Space, Interstellar Meeting Point