Chapter 211: Unexpected Arrival at Ross 248

After explaining the changes to the war zones, it was time to introduce an entirely new unit: the Cluster.

This was a new term, meant to optimize the command structure.

With the increase in fleet numbers, sticking to the old command system just didn’t make sense anymore.

So the idea of the Cluster was born.

Between the war zone commanders and their fleets, the Federation Fleet added this concept of a Cluster.

It’s actually pretty similar to the army groups from Earth’s military history.

This let war zone commanders coordinate large-scale operations with much greater ease.

Below that, things stayed the same as before: standard fleets and sub-fleets.

Of course, sub-fleets could even be split further, but that was up to each fleet—there were no set regulations for that.

Currently, both the Barrens War Zone and the Vyas War Zone each have three Clusters and nine fleets.

According to the latest Federation standards, a standard fleet has a set number of warships. That means nine fleets make up a total force of a certain number of warships.

On top of that, each war zone also fields thirteen Warstars.

One for the war zone commander, one for each of the three Cluster commanders, and one each for the nine fleet commanders—thirteen in total.

And besides the regular warships and those thirteen Warstars, every Warstar comes with 300 escort ships.

So, a fully staffed war zone boasts a staggering fleet.

For the entire Federation, aside from the two main war zones each fielding over 200,000 warships, the Earth’s sphere has an independent fleet separate from the two main corps with its own sizeable force.

Compared to ten years ago, the overall fleet size has increased fivefold.

But the most important detail: though about 80,000 warships are still Zhulong-class Type B, it doesn’t matter whether they’re B or even the newer C class.

They’re all equipped with Zero-Point Modules and Jump Engines.

If you leave out things like energy shields and weaponry, just focusing on engines and power sources, they’re as good as anything a Tier 4 civilization could build.

Especially on the energy side—they’re practically rivaling Tier 5 civilizations now.

——

Ross 248.

Dawson, commander of the Ninth Fleet, leaned back in his captain’s chair, cradling a hot cup of coffee.

Honestly, while Ross 248 was the outermost line of the Barnard Defense Circle, except for that invasion eleven years ago by the Venus Empire and four other civilizations, not much had ever happened out here.

Most days were slow. Honestly, a little boring.

There was plenty of downtime, but not much going on.

Right then—

“Report! Unscheduled jump energy signature detected!”

Hearing that, Dawson nearly spit his coffee all over the place.

“Unscheduled? What’s that supposed to mean?”

These days, with how advanced jump technology was in the Federation, even some civilian ships had it, let alone warships.

But the Federation had strict protocols for using jump drives.

Basically, every single jump had to be reported in advance to avoid sparking false alarms with the fleet.

It wasn’t even complicated—if you were jumping from Earth to Biling, you just uploaded your coordinates and jump time before firing up the engine. There was no approval needed, just a simple record.

With that, the Federation Fleet’s system always had a record of which ship would show up at what coordinates and when.

There’d never be a case of mistaken identity or needless panic.

Over the years, the Federation’s kept a tight leash on this, and since the whole process takes less than a minute—

There’s really no reason anyone needs to break the rules.

And breaking those rules comes with harsh consequences.

Get caught and your license to fly a ship with a jump engine is stripped away—for ten years.

That’s why when Dawson’s officer said they’d detected an unscheduled jump signature, he immediately grew tense.

“Sound the battle alarm! Alert the Eleventh and Twelfth Fleets—have them launch immediately!”

Dawson gave the order without hesitation.

He served as commander of the Ninth Fleet under the Vyas War Zone’s Third Cluster. The Eleventh and Twelfth Fleets were also with the Third Cluster, all stationed at Ross 248. Between the three, they had over thirty thousand ships—and as the front line, every single one was a Zhulong-class Type C.

In other words—

These were warships built around the proton beam as their main weapon.

“Damn it, the whole Third Cluster is being mobilized for this! If I find out which idiot jumped without reporting, I’ll lock them in the brig for a week!”

He kept a close watch on the observational feed his crew had pulled up.

Dawson cursed under his breath.

As for some grand-scale hostile incursion from another civilization, Dawson didn’t buy it.

From the looks of it, the jump energy reading was coming from a single source. In other words, just one ship.

He figured it was 99.99% likely some idiot simply forgot to file their jump report.

Still, even if that’s what he believed, Dawson made sure every standard protocol was followed. Besides putting his own fleet on combat alert, he’d told the other two to launch and prep as well.

“Commander, it’s here!”

An instant later, the radar officer called out.

On the screen, space itself seemed to contract—a massive ship even bigger than a Warstar appeared before their eyes.

Unlike the rugged, powerful lines of Federation warships, this one sported sleek, elegant curves, almost delicate in its design.

But whatever the impression, the readouts on the display made everyone’s jaw drop.

Length—

9.87 kilometers?

How big are Warstars, anyway?

Usually between 5.5 to 6 kilometers long—already the largest vessels humanity has ever built.

But this one in front of them? Nearly twice the size of a Warstar.

Wait, could this possibly…

Be a Drac Empire ship?

“Send a warning immediately!”

“Yes, Commander!”

[To unidentified vessel: You have entered Human Federation territory. Immediately identify yourself and state your purpose. Failure to comply will be treated as a hostile incursion and will result in attack!]

[Repeating message…]

The message was sent right away.

Along with it, a dataset of human languages was transmitted to help them reply quickly.

“Commander, could this be from the Drac Empire?”

“That was my first thought too, but I don’t think so. According to the data the Venus Empire shared with us, I’ve seen Drac Empire ships—this isn’t their style.”

“But if it isn’t them, does that mean there’s another warp-capable civilization in the Orion Arm?”

“We have it, don’t we? Maybe there’s another group out there flying under the Drac Empire’s radar, just like us.”

Dawson shook his head.

At that moment, the mysterious vessel replied.

“What did they say?”

“Commander… they claim to be independent interstellar traders. They say they didn’t know there was a civilization here—they wandered in by accident and are requesting to conduct interstellar trade!”

“What? Interstellar traders??”