After gaining a significant advantage, Luna ordered all units to retreat once more.
She retreated further, while the Filament civilization exemplified the adage of pushing their advantage.
Their primary goal now was to expand their gains.
They were also deploying significant forces to the Federation's battlefield.
According to Ayla's analysis, even if the Filament civilization invested massive resources into warship production over the next 3000 years, they wouldn't exceed 500,000 warships.
Producing warships was extremely difficult.
For a 10,000-meter warship, building just 10,000 units would deplete the resources of a small star system (excluding the star itself).
500,000 warships represented the resources of 50 star systems. This illustrates the resource intensity of warship production.
Ayla's calculation was actually a high estimate.
The Filament civilization already possessed millions of warships, with existing production lines capable of supplying a considerable output.
Without these production lines, the Filament civilization might not produce 100,000 warships in 3000 years.
Correspondingly,
The same applied to the Federation.
Why did Luna and Ayla support bio-engineered warships so strongly?
Because bio-engineered warships required negligible resources; their resource consumption could essentially be disregarded.
Theoretically, the Federation could produce 1 million bio-engineered warships in just 500 years.
However, this is currently unrealistic.
Bio-engineered warships are still in their early stages; the success rate of bio-engineered warship embryo growth is only 6%.
Due to this, the Federation's bio-engineered warship numbers on the frontlines are limited.
Coupled with the lack of more advanced bio-engineered warship designs, their combat effectiveness is inferior to traditional warships.
The Federation still has significant room for improvement in warship technology.
The Filament civilization recognized this weakness in the Federation's warship production, prompting their all-out attack to prevent the Federation from producing more warships.
Their attack wasn't reckless but a calculated decision.
Meanwhile, on Kunlun, Luna analyzed the Filament civilization's next move.
"The Filament civilization will undoubtedly target our main warship fleet."
"Because they know we are conserving our forces."
This was indeed the case. Luna's repeated retreats aimed to preserve her warship fleet; a single decisive defeat would leave the Tau Ceti sector undefended.
Retreating was currently her most suitable tactic.
However, retreat didn't preclude the possibility of launching counter-attacks.
Similar to 70 years prior, she used a massive number of ships to encircle and attack the Filament civilization, resulting in losses exceeding 920,000 warships—a 38% loss from the previous encirclement.
The Filament civilization's total warship count was now below 1.5 million.
Looking at the overall battlefield, these 1.5 million warships didn't seem significant, as the Federation had already destroyed many Filament civilization warships. However, the Federation was now at its limit, making these 1.5 million warships an immense threat.
Therefore, Luna needed to weaken the Filament civilization further.
"In 1300 years, we must inflict sufficient pain on the Filament civilization to ensure their retreat once information from the Orion Nebula arrives."
Was the Filament civilization suffering?
Yes.
But not enough.
"Are the traps ready?"
Luna's expression was serious; her usual workplace was filled with various materials—paper documents, holographic projections, scattered information—enough to give anyone a headache at first glance.
Although her lifespan had increased to millions of years after becoming [Supreme Being], she looked weary from the past few millennia.
She bore immense pressure; every decision affected the lives of hundreds of billions of Federation citizens.
She had matured significantly.
All her experiences had served as valuable learning opportunities.
In this war, over 50% of the decisions stemmed from her personal judgment; Ayla's sub-unit could only provide support, as its computing power was only on par with a dreadnought's mainframe. Ayla's sub-unit might be slightly more powerful than other dreadnought mainframes, but not by more than 20%.
Luna, aided by her augmented brain, had over a hundred times her previous intellectual capacity.
Therefore, she participated more actively in the planning of the war, rather than simply making decisions.
"Ready, Luna!"
Unlike Luna, Ayla remained unchanging, her tone as ever.
"If the Filament civilization falls for the trap, their losses will be immense."
"If it fails, we'll waste a tremendous amount of energy."
On the star chart before Luna were numerous small black dots; countless dots.
These dots were widely dispersed, each separated by over 350,000 kilometers. These dots were only a few tens of meters in diameter, camouflaged as small asteroids.
Inside these tiny asteroids were extremely sophisticated mechanical structures. If dissected, one would find a mass of metal with a large hollow sphere at the center.
However, under a microscope, it would become clear that this wasn't a single block of metal.
The structure had reached the nanoscale; all mechanical components and spaces were nanoscopic, hence indistinguishable.
Each of these devices, only tens of meters in diameter, cost over 1 billion Energy Credits—equivalent to a standard warship.
Their purpose was singular.
Creating black holes.
Currently, the Federation could relatively easily create black holes; small micro black holes could be produced for as little as 10,000 Energy Credits.
But these devices, costing over 10 billion, were no ordinary black holes.
Normal black hole weapons typically last less than a second; these could be sustained for far longer.
After encountering the Olive Branch civilization's super-gravity weapons, Ayla had researched long-lasting black holes.
She had developed these devices, capable of sustaining black holes at the Planck mass.
The Planck mass is 0.00005g, the boundary between macroscopic and microscopic scales, also representing the minimum size for a long-lasting black hole. Smaller black holes cannot be sustained for an extended period.
Theoretically, this was the minimum size for a long-lasting black hole.
Luna planned to use these long-lasting black holes as the core of a devastating trap.
Deploying the trap.
The most difficult aspect wasn't creating the trap, but luring the prey into it.
After the previous ambush, Luna had reason to believe the Filament civilization would be wary of asteroids in space.
However, the size of these asteroids had been minimized; at only tens of meters in diameter, even in clusters, they would likely be ignored by most warships.
With the warships' hull strength, even a high-speed collision with asteroids of hundreds of meters would not necessarily leave a mark.
To successfully lure the Filament civilization into the trap, Luna sacrificed a significant number of ships.
The previous war still left many ships, although their energy reserves were low.
The Federation's classification of starships, ships, and warships served to restrict the size of spacecraft available to Federation citizens. Larger ships required more fuel and carried more powerful weapons, posing a threat to domestic security.
This time, decades were spent replenishing fuel and discarding damaged ships from the previous battle. These ships would form an even larger encirclement to trap the Filament civilization warships.
That was the plan.
And that's what they did.
"The Filament civilization fleet has 420,000 warships entering the encirclement."
Luna received the report.
After the previous encounter, the Filament civilization had learned its lesson; they were no longer massed together.
This time, they were still massed together, but divided into three parts, forming a triangle advancing forward.
With 610,000 reinforcements from the previous battle, the Filament civilization's leading force still numbered 1.19 million warships, putting relatively little pressure on the Federation's perimeter.
To win, the Filament civilization must attack Sirius.
Tau Ceti was originally the capital star system of the Tau Ceti sector. However, due to Tau Ceti's relatively small star, after Luna returned from the Olive Branch civilization and resolved the threat of their super-gravity weapon, the capital was moved to Sirius, a blue giant star.
"420,000. Sufficient."
"To destroy this many ships, the three fleets will likely launch a coordinated attack."
Luna's decisions at this point were largely irrelevant.
The ships lacked Tachyon communication; Luna couldn't give orders due to the vast distances of space, and Ayla couldn't remotely control them.
All decisions had been pre-programmed into the ships' onboard computers thirty years prior; these ships were essentially pre-programmed autonomous drones.
...
Six months after Luna's statement, one of the Filament civilization's fleets was enveloped by ships, losing thousands of warships.
The Filament civilization believed the Federation was attempting to repeat the previous tactic. They quickly deployed other warships to disperse the ship encirclement from the outside.
Indeed, in the third year, the ship encirclement was broken, and the ships scattered in all directions.
Countless ships dispersed in various directions, making it difficult for the Filament civilization to determine which direction to attack.
However, at that moment,
A dense cluster of ships entered the Filament civilization's field of vision; the density of ships in this area was exceptionally high, with over 100 billion ships in a single region.
While 100 billion ships were relatively few compared to the total number, this concentration suggested these ships were more important, potentially command ships.
To avoid traps,
The Filament civilization fleet didn't mass together; only one fleet was dispatched to pursue them.
The ships' speed was high, and the Filament civilization warships couldn't close the distance quickly.
The Federation ships, seemingly anticipating the pursuit, veered towards an asteroid belt. The asteroids here were very small, and the ships passed directly through, seemingly posing no threat.
Ships of 10,000 meters or less could pass; Filament civilization warships could do the same.
However, having learned from the previous encounter, the Filament civilization warships used numerous scanning devices to analyze this asteroid belt, dispatching 1000 warships as an advance force.
No problems.
Or perhaps they thought they were being overly cautious.
Then, all warships accelerated forward.
This asteroid belt was extensive; they couldn't circumvent it and would fall behind if they did. They only had two choices: to pass through or retreat.
But Luna, consulting numerous Federation psychologists, had carefully planned this asteroid belt.
First, the distance couldn't be too far from the original encirclement, preventing the Filament civilization from abandoning the pursuit.
The Filament civilization had only been pursuing for a few days; abandonment was impossible.
Fleet, proceed!
Almost simultaneously with the entry of numerous warships, the black hole devices within the asteroid belt activated.
These black holes were extremely small and insufficient in number; even if the Filament civilization fleet directly passed through them, it wouldn't cause significant problems.
Therefore, the primary function of these black hole devices was to trigger small-scale, high-frequency gravitational waves, causing the gravitational waves to collide and generate more black holes.
Gravitational wave collisions are like water droplets colliding; intense collisions can create vortices. Similarly, colliding gravitational waves have a probability of creating black holes.
Luna had used a similar tactic during the war against the Purple Thorns civilization.
However, the intensity of these gravitational waves was far greater than before.
The size of the black holes created by the gravitational wave collisions was also macroscopic and visible.
Trillions of black holes, several meters to tens of meters in diameter, were generated instantly, swallowing the entire asteroid belt and all 390,000 Filament civilization warships.
Was evasion possible?
Absolutely not.
Black holes were completely insurmountable for Type 2 civilizations, at least for those below Type 2.5.
Even the Olive Branch civilization would have been mercilessly destroyed.
Space warfare tactics are usually simple, but sometimes using clever tactics can yield remarkable results, especially in this situation.
After absorbing the matter and energy from these warships, the black holes released massive gamma-ray bursts.
This region of space instantly became a death zone.
The Filament civilization fleet observed the situation.
The encirclement combined with this trap resulted in the destruction of over 400,000 warships—an immediate loss of over 30%.
The Filament civilization went from the offensive to the defensive.
If they continued, they risked encountering more traps; a direct confrontation with the Federation wouldn't guarantee victory.
The blow was devastating.
They had been incredibly cautious, yet they still fell into the trap.
After several months, the Filament civilization chose to retreat, planning another attack later.
But what they didn't know was that this retreat would be their final one.
...
The Federation's industrial relocation to other star nations continued throughout the war.
A primary relocation site was the Ouro star nation, located along the interstellar Silk Road. Due to its location and trade with the Federation and the Olive Branch civilization, Ouro possessed considerable economic potential, securing numerous contracts for Olive Branch civilization product manufacturing in its early stages.
Therefore, although Ouro only comprised 81 star systems, its economic and military strength was equivalent to five star nations, currently ranking among the top three.
King Ouro of Ouro was a formidable figure.
Using Ayla's system to rapidly establish the Ouro star nation, he enjoyed unprecedented success for almost 1000 years. Unlike many benevolent protagonists in fiction, Ouro had no qualms about punishing any subordinate who dared to betray him.
After establishing the star nation, he eliminated many of his former associates, securing his control over the star nation's government.
If he were compared to any historical human figure, it would be Zhu Yuanzhang.
He rose to power during a period of upheaval, taking advantage of Ayla's authority to become the founder of the star nation, ruling over dozens of star systems.
A Zhu Yuanzhang with a lifespan of hundreds of thousands or even millions of years—a truly terrifying prospect!
His life alone could fill an epic saga.
Ayla then offered opportunities to all star nations, but only Ouro seized them. For the next few millennia, Ayla continued to invest in Ouro, personally shaping its current form.
This was another test.
Ayla transferred over 80% of her production lines to Ouro.
Initially, these production lines wouldn't generate immediate profit for Ouro; they would even transfer funds to the Federation.
But Ouro possessed remarkable foresight; he saw the future. After receiving these production lines, despite opposition from his subordinates, he invested heavily, increasing Ayla's projected output fourfold.
This was exactly what Ayla and the Federation desired.
Of course, this was far from sufficient.
Using Ouro's ambition, Ayla created further tailwinds for Ouro.
The Olive Branch civilization, observing Ouro's rise, couldn't attack the Federation directly but also wouldn't allow the Federation to develop smoothly, so they chose to support Ouro.
Chu, circumventing Federation surveillance, contacted Ouro, offering support.
Ouro, with immense ambition, readily agreed.
However, this wouldn't have been possible without Ayla's assistance, although she wasn't initially aware. Ayla learned of Chu's contact with Ouro afterward.
Chu's actions were not spontaneous.
Ouro's ambition to seize power wasn't a recent development.
Chu subsequently provided Ouro with technological support, further advancing Ouro's industrial capabilities, even surpassing the Federation.
Federation industry flowed towards Ouro, a relentless tide.
This was the current state of Ouro.
Especially during the intense conflict between the Federation and the Filament civilization, Ouro aimed to surpass the Federation.
Recently, however, Ouro discovered something unsettling.
He realized that much was outside his control.
For example, during this war, he'd intended to manipulate dreadnought orders, and his subordinates had indeed reported falsified information.
After going undercover, he discovered the dreadnoughts were flawlessly delivered; not only was there no manipulation, but the quality was even better than expected.
As a Zuim, from his humble beginnings, he'd orchestrated numerous such events.
When unable to achieve a direct victory, he usually instigated his subordinates, using the enemy to create advantageous circumstances, concealing his actions at higher levels to gradually seize control.
And now, this was happening to him.
He felt a surge of unease.
This unease deepened his roots.
The Zuim were plant-like beings, essentially tree people.
On Earth, plants possess a rudimentary form of consciousness. With a slightly different evolutionary path, mythical tree-like beings, especially mobile plants like Venus flytraps, could have emerged.
By consuming other organisms, they could easily sustain a brain or a large network of neurons.
The Zuim also share some physical characteristics with animals.
Ouro appeared as an opaque, ice-like dust cloud, four meters tall and weighing over ten tons. However, his body was soft; his outer layer secreted a fragrant toxin, attracting other beings to lick it, paralyzing them with the poison, before his body split open to reveal a half-meter-wide maw to devour its prey.
Their movements were relatively swift, not slow.
The Zuim had remained inconspicuous in the Federation because of their limited mobility. Their roots couldn't be easily extracted from the ground like those of tree people; they needed to be firmly rooted, and their plant-like nature made them heavily reliant on water, light, and heat, hindering long-distance travel.
For the Federation's ships, this wasn't a major obstacle.
But why modify ship designs for a species with no inherent advantages within the Federation?
It's simply not cost-effective for ordinary corporations.
Therefore, the Zuim had to fund this themselves; but as a poor species, where would they get the money?
These factors led to the Zuim's lack of prominence in the Federation for tens of thousands of years after being liberated from the Purple Thorns civilization, until Ouro received the system.
Therefore, he cherished it greatly and wouldn't allow anyone to impede his rise to power or his species' progress.
After sensing betrayal, Ouro swiftly made a decision.
"Find all the traitors, and eliminate them without mercy!"
He gave orders to his personal army.
This private army, numbering 140 million, controlled 30% of the Ouro star nation's warships, directly under Ouro's command.
His orders weren't given to the army commander, but directly to each warship's captain.
Because he was the commander.
He wouldn't allow anyone to take anything from his star nation.
...
Ouro believed he would quickly uncover the truth.
And he did.
Within a year, his private army uncovered numerous traitors who had accepted bribes from the Federation to benefit them.
His fury was immense!
Ouro didn't even bother questioning them; his private army executed the traitors as a deterrent.
For the next 300 years, he largely ignored the matter.
But 312 years later, an event refocused his attention.
A financial crisis.
Ouro's star nation had been accumulating debt since taking over the massive production lines.
Both the Federation and the Olive Branch civilization demanded regular repayments. Facing these two giants, Ouro had no room for negotiation.
This put immense pressure on Ouro, necessitating even greater production to repay debts.
Many production lines within Ouro's star nation operated with minimal downtime—some only stopping once a year, others only once a decade; "around-the-clock" was an understatement.
Ouro calculated how much debt he could repay every hundred years.
Usually, he ignored this; the repayment periods were exceedingly long.
However, his scrutiny of recent financial reports revealed a significant discrepancy: repayments were 12% lower than expected.
Considering the interest on these debts, the shortfall could increase final payments by 30% or more.
A 2% discrepancy might have been tolerable, but 12% was catastrophic!
He again dispatched his private army to investigate.
More traitors were uncovered, some even among his original associates.
He continued his policy of making an example.
He believed this would deter potential traitors, but he remained uneasy, monitoring financial reports for the second year.
He discovered that the second year's finances were even worse.
A closer look revealed that the problem hadn't just started a year earlier. New traitors had already begun manipulating financial information just a month after the first group of traitors were executed.
Almost 90% of these manipulated financial reports benefited the Federation.
The remaining 10% favored the Olive Branch civilization, but through Federation-controlled entities in Tilted Station.
Rage!
Unprecedented rage consumed him.
He ordered a massive purge.
More traitors were uncovered, leading to another wave of executions.
He believed this was sufficient.
So he rested for ten years, only then casually checking again.
"..."
Ouro waited in his garden; the toxin secreted from his body flowed like a waterfall.
The toxin was thick and viscous, emitting a floral scent.
This fragrance could travel ten kilometers; all who smelled it knew their king was enraged.
But this rage differed from his previous outbursts.
This time, it was laced with helplessness.
He didn't understand why, despite countless executions, traitors still existed. Weren't they afraid of death?
Death within a rapidly growing star nation was highly detrimental to the long-lived citizens of Ouro's star nation. They could accumulate wealth and honor over their long lifespans; there was no need for this.
Yet, countless beings continued to betray the star nation.
He didn't know how many more he would have to kill.
He faced a dilemma: kill, or don't kill. Neither seemed satisfactory.
So, he killed.
But this only led to more helplessness.
After another purge, less than half a year later, traitors resurfaced.
More killings. Three months later, more traitors.
And more killings…
Each purge eliminated more traitors, seemingly effective, but actually indicating a growing number of traitors.
Ouro tried to recall how many traitors he had executed.
One million? Ten million?
The sheer number was staggering; he himself found it hard to believe.
But it was true.
He realized it wasn't the rebels themselves, but his private army.
Every 500 years, he would place trusted confidants within his private army. These confidants, trained personally by him and isolated from all other beings, would quickly replace the upper echelons of the army.
During this period, his confidants observed a strange phenomenon.
His private army, while apprehending traitors, would deliberately release some.
Ouro finally understood the reason for the continuous waves of traitors. He purged his private army, initiating the largest cleansing in history.
Over six million traitors were eliminated.
"I never imagined the Federation had infiltrated so many spies into the star nation. It's fortunate we discovered this early. If it had been several thousand years later, the consequences would have been catastrophic."
The Ouro star nation was experiencing rapid growth; allowing these spies to thrive during this period would have given them control of the nation's weaknesses, potentially crippling it.
Ouro breathed a sigh of relief.
...
Meanwhile, at the front lines, Luna inquired about the Ouro star nation.
"How many dreadnoughts is the Ouro star nation currently producing?"
Tilted Station and the Ouro star nation were the Federation's primary dreadnought production centers.
After the last war, the Federation faced a severe shortage of warships. This is why Ayla provided Ouro with significant advantages, allowing the creation of complete dreadnought production lines.
Ayla responded via Tachyon communication: "Tilted Station is producing 8, and the Ouro star nation 3; a total of 11 dreadnoughts will soon arrive at the front."
"Luna, are you alright?"
"Now that the Filament civilization has retreated, you might be able to return. The Filament civilization likely won't launch a major attack for a long time."
Ayla's tone was laced with concern.
Although Luna's [Supreme Being] gene pool possessed regenerative abilities, space warfare held many unknowns.
"I can't return yet."
"The Tau Ceti sector is devastated. I need to plan and fortify the Tau Ceti sector to make it impenetrable."
"The Filament civilization's retreat won't last more than ten thousand years. They will return."
"So you must ensure everything is perfect, and the Ouro star nation must remain under our control."
Ayla replied: "Luna, you needn't worry. 70% of the Ouro star nation's citizens are under my control; no unforeseen circumstances will arise."
Having decided to support the Ouro star nation, Ayla ensured its complete control.
What Ouro perceived as an end was merely a manipulated conclusion.
On Luna's side, the reconstruction had begun.
...
Sirius.
Luna's forces were currently stationed here.
Although the Filament civilization fleet had retreated, they hadn't returned directly—and wouldn't. They were occupying the Federation's border, awaiting confirmation from the Orion Nebula.
Once confirmed, Luna knew these warships wouldn't return; they would employ a new strategy, harassing the Federation from the border while the main Filament civilization force confronted the other two civilizations.
Therefore, Luna still needed to deal with this million-strong Filament civilization fleet.
Luna wasn't stationed on Kunlun but in a Star City within the Sirius system.
She summoned numerous scholars.
These scholars specialized in strategic analysis, bio-information, and other fields.
"Currently, we haven't discovered any Filament civilization lifeforms. This suggests two possibilities."
"One, the Filament civilization lifeforms are mechanical; they have retreated into their computer systems."
"Another possibility is that they are plasma or quantum lifeforms, unlike any life form we currently understand."
The meeting room was large and circular.
It resembled a parliament chamber; all participating scholars sat around the perimeter, the center left empty for presenters to explain their findings, which were then discussed.
After a Lightwings scholar presented these two possibilities, some scholars pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Others disagreed.
"We previously observed a characteristic of the Filament civilization's warships; they use filaments to connect with each other, and they possess a flagship."
"If so, isn't it possible that only the flagship contains Filament civilization lifeforms, while the other warships are simply controlled drones?" A human scholar stood up.
His idea garnered significant support.
Another scholar added: "On the front lines, we fought the Filament civilization for many years, yet we never observed them using complex tactics."
"Furthermore, our basic tactics easily overwhelmed them, demonstrating their limited computational power. If only a small number of lifeforms make the decisions, this outcome is easily explained."
Luna, among the assembled scholars, didn't sit apart from the others.
In this meeting, she preferred to act as a regular member, as her presence at the center would undoubtedly influence the other scholars' judgments.
"The Filament civilization using filaments to connect warships is a valid point."
"However, destroying their flagship only disrupted the connection between warships; it didn't render them completely dysfunctional."
"Actually, their combat effectiveness remained strong afterward. I believe the filaments are a weapon, and the communication link is merely a byproduct." Lulian stood up.
As a veteran of the war against the Filament civilization, he had been assigned to this meeting by Luna.
"Very well. Let's first categorize the possible forms of the Filament civilization, then use statistical analysis to determine the probability of each possibility." A scholar specializing in data analysis stood up.
"Does anyone else have new insights? Please share."
"Considering all viewpoints might increase our win rate against the Filament civilization by at least 5%."
Luna stood up.
Her movement caught everyone's attention.
She gently tapped the table three times, silencing the room. She calmly stated: "Colleagues, the Filament civilization's lifeform isn't something we can analyze simply by sitting here."
"I believe you have misunderstood the purpose of this meeting."
"We aim to discover the Filament civilization's lifeform, not through analysis, but through practical means."
Luna's objective wasn't to obtain speculative data.
She wanted 100% confirmation.
However, some scholars misinterpreted her intention. They thought Luna wanted to gather opinions to guess at the Filament civilization's lifeform, then devise various tactics to test in the next war.
But…
"I understand you are scholars, unfamiliar with warfare."
"But you must understand the brutality of war; those cold numbers of deaths aren't just numbers, but individual lives."
"Everything has a cost—building warships, undertaking long-term projects. Those costs are merely financial and temporal; I would even say they are trivial—mere money, mere time!"
"In war, each cost is measured in lives—not one, not two, but hundreds of billions of lives."
"Each of your speculations carries this cost."
"How do we minimize this cost? I propose that instead of waiting for the next war, we explore this now during the armistice."
"The purpose of this meeting is to determine how to discover the Filament civilization's lifeform with minimal cost."
Powerful!
Luna didn't want to dominate the meeting, yet her actions shaped its course.
Her words were a necessary correction, preventing the meeting from becoming pointless.
These were the Federation's rising scholars; after Luna's statement, they fell into contemplation, some displaying remorse.
They realized their previous discussions had been a form of laziness, pushing the problem onto the next war. While not intentional, it was still shameful.
Luna's words placed greater demands upon them.
After Luna sat down, the meeting room remained silent for nearly 70 hours. The scholars thought, planned, rejected their ideas, rejected their plans, and formulated new ones.
Again and again.
Then, a scholar spoke: "To minimize costs, perhaps we could try a zero-cost plan?"
His voice broke the silence.
"Remember the Olive Branch civilization, or our first contact with them?"
"The Olive Branch civilization, using a single small ship, placed the entire Federation on high alert. When faced with an unknown civilization, we must undertake a certain action—communication."
"To date, we don't understand the Filament civilization's lifeform, communication methods, or language models."
"I suggest we start with language; that's relatively simple."
"We could launch a ship using Olive Branch technology. Faced with such an advanced civilization, the Filament civilization might initiate contact…"
The plan was sound.
"Clap clap clap!" Luna applauded.
This was the solution she had hoped for. Although still undeveloped, it was feasible.