"Ah, looks like we scared them."
Inside the space station, Setsuna and Cecilia sat in the control room, watching the scene below through the holographic interface.
After their brief trip to the Imaginary Space, due to time distortion, Earth's timeline had advanced significantly.
Although Setsuna had only spent a few days crossing Finality, on the solar system's timeline, it stretched into twenty-seven months.
Humanity had already developed the ability to explore outer space, having unlocked the technologies for anti-gravity spacecraft and reactionless propulsion.
However, encountering a space station and a Juggernaut immediately upon entering orbit proved too much for the natives.
The Schicksal-1 spacecraft froze mid-flight, drifting helplessly among the stars, not even adjusting its orientation.
Meanwhile, this historic moment was being broadcast live to the ground control center—and through television—to countless households worldwide.
Due to signal delay, the ground broadcast was a few moments behind what the astronauts saw.
Every viewer watched with excitement and pride, witnessing humanity's first great step into the cosmos.
They dreamed of following in Schicksal-1's path—to see the vast universe, the glittering stars, the wondrous alien worlds...
If possible, they even hoped to encounter alien ships, to witness humanity's first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization.
"Whoa—our ship has broken through the atmosphere and entered outer space! Now, dear viewers, we can finally see the boundless universe before us!!"
"This is one of the greatest achievements in human history! We've finally escaped the pull of gravity and reached for the stars!!!"
The news anchors shouted with passion, their excitement infectious, their pride overflowing.
"Let's follow Schicksal-1 and the Saint Freya Valkyrie pioneers—let's see what awaits us in the void!!"
Whoosh—
The screen suddenly shifted.
An enormous space station filled the view, hovering not far beyond Earth's orbit.
And nearby—a Juggernaut, larger than the planet itself. Its wings of armament stretched for thousands of kilometers, its countless cannons and turrets reflecting a cold, sharp light.
Compared to it, all human creations looked like tiny shrimp before a whale.
"...?"
"Who switched the feed to the movie channel? Is this sci-fi day? Hello? Director? Someone fix this?"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
"What? No malfunction?"
"This... this is the actual spacecraft feed?!"
"???"
"AAAAHHHH what the hell is that?!!!——"
Before the Schicksal-1 manned mission, several space probes had been launched—none detected anything unusual. That's why they felt confident enough to proceed.
And yet, these massive constructs had seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Chaos erupted across Earth.
Humanity's first sight after stepping into space was... an alien space station and a galactic dreadnought.
Too shocking. Too tragic.
Their dream of the sea of stars turned, in an instant, into a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads.
After a few minutes of stunned silence, every live feed on Earth was abruptly cut off.
Ground control plunged into disarray.
"Bring them aboard."
Setsuna glanced at the Earth feed and smiled, tilting his head in instruction.
Though the time skip had caused some deviation from his original plan, in a way, Grey had been right—"They'll come to you on their own."
"Understood, Master——"
Ikaros and the other Angeloids bowed deeply in response.
...
"Ababa..."
Inside the spacecraft, everyone was still dazed and disoriented.
Suddenly startled by Kiana's outburst, they all froze in confusion.
"That... that's your dad's ship? Who... who's your dad?"
Raiden Mei pointed at Kiana, then toward the distant Eternal Snowfall, stammering.
"Mm!"
The white-haired dumpling nodded firmly, gesturing toward the space station.
"He's the Commander of the Starsea Empire!"
"Papa and Mama both live up there. There are also lots of sisters—I used to live there too, on the 16th floor, Room K-2."
"They've always been watching over me from the sky. They know everything that happens on Earth, and when there's danger, they protect me."
Since she was inviting her friends over as guests, Kiana thought it was fine to tell them.
"W-what?!"
Theresa and Himeko exchanged stunned looks, their expressions as if they'd just seen a ghost.
They had always thought Kiana's words—about her parents watching her from the sky—were simply a beautiful bit of emotional comfort.
But this... was literal?!
In the physical sense?!
The Starsea Empire, to them, had only ever existed in legends—a rumored extraterrestrial civilization.
One of Schicksal's primary reasons for launching a space mission was to search for traces of the Starsea Empire. This elusive civilization had always been a thorn in Schicksal's side.
Kallen, the First Herrscher, Cecilia... so many events were linked to it.
And now they were finding out the Starsea Empire had been right beside them all along?!
The Valkyries aboard the ship were stunned once again.
All these years of being classmates... and she turned out to be the daughter of a galactic emperor?!
What was this?!
Was this a galactic princess visiting the mortal world in disguise to experience the life of commoners?!
Crack—
Himeko, Mei, and Theresa all felt their worldview shatter into pieces.
Their heads were filled with questions—so many that they couldn't even decide where to start, leaving them utterly speechless.
"Ah, someone's coming."
While they were still dazed, Bronya—holding her plush toy—pointed out the porthole.
Several escort ships piloted by Angeloids departed from the space station, halting just short of the Schicksal-1.
Whoosh—
A holographic interface lit up inside the ship, bypassing all encryption and signal barriers.
Ikaros' image appeared before them.
"Kiana, welcome back."
"Master has agreed to meet you. Everyone, please follow me."
There was no room for hesitation or debate.
Leading the escort fleet, Ikaros took point, guiding the way for the Schicksal-1.
"Eh..."
Surrounded by a formation of interstellar warships, Theresa had no choice but to comply. Running wasn't even an option. She activated the propulsion systems and followed slowly behind.
Before departure, Otto had told her the spacecraft carried Honkai fission warheads—to be used in emergencies.
But could those really be used against a Juggernaut? Seriously?
Theresa tapped a few buttons on the control panel, quietly retracting the missile pods to make the ship look a little less threatening.
"Ikaros-sis, what's the Commander been up to lately? Why hasn't he contacted me in so long?"
"Sophon-sis said you all went missing for a while—I was really worried!" Kiana asked curiously.
"Master went to handle something of great importance to this world. Due to time distortion, it took longer than expected," Ikaros replied succinctly.
"Oh..."
Kiana nodded, rummaging through her backpack.
"You and the other sisters are doing fine, right? I brought some Earth souvenirs for you all—there's a new kind of watermelon, and some snacks for Nymph-sis and Astraea-sis..."
"Thank you very much."
"..."
Watching Kiana chat casually with the Angeloid, it was clear—they were way too familiar.
"You... I... aaahhhhh——"
Raiden Mei looked at Kiana, at a total loss for words.
She was the daughter of ME Corp's president, a true noble lady—brilliant, graceful, admired by countless classmates.
She had always carried herself with quiet pride befitting her elite background.
Kiana, in contrast, had always seemed simple-minded—goofy even. Aside from her talent in astronomy and combat, she barely passed other subjects thanks only to help from Bronya and Mei.
Naive, energetic, and often called a 'paramecium' by Bronya.
And now?
Turns out the "local" was her—and Kiana was the real noble here?!
A galactic aristocrat—the actual highborn among the stars!
"Bronya shouldn't have called you a paramecium. I'm sorry."
Bronya said this with utter seriousness.
The other Valkyries quickly gathered around as well.
"Sorry for ever calling you a dumb white-haired idiot!! Gomen nasai!!!"
"I'm sorry for stealing your jelly!!! (I'll pay you back, okay!)"
"I was blind to your greatness!!! Lady Kiana's beauty and wisdom are unmatched in the universe!!"
"Eh? It's fine, really..."
Kiana was flustered by all the sudden apologies.
"Ah..."
Theresa suddenly remembered something.
She recalled Kiana's very first exams at St. Freya Academy—in physics, mathematics, and other technical subjects, she had written down all sorts of strange, avant-garde theories and formulas that were completely unexplainable.
Even now, years later, with Schicksal's technology having advanced dramatically, they still couldn't make sense of what Kiana had written back then. Theresa had always assumed she'd just been making things up.
But now... maybe not.
"Those theories you wrote before... they were all real?" Theresa asked cautiously.
"Mhm! Of course!" Kiana said proudly, puffing her chest.
"Einstein, Edison, Planck—they're all up there! I'll take you to meet them later if you want!"
"Wait... which Einstein and Edison are you talking about?"
"The one who came up with relativity, and the chairwoman of General Electrics—they're both working in the Research Division now! They were my teachers when I was little."
"You mean... those who disappeared decades ago—wait, what?!"
—
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