——AD.2157.4.17——

Unknown star field.

"How did the Mass Effect repeater become like this? What happened? ”

"What do we do now?"

"Oh God, what's that?"

"This galaxy is a little too clean, like someone has cleaned it."

The nearby crew members, who had been performing their duties, gradually panicked.

"[All units are ready for battle! Anderson issued an order with a ship-wide radio: "[Don't fire without permission from the flagship!] 】”

Although it was a repetition of General Grisham's previous instructions, the effect was not bad, and the crew gradually calmed down.

Connor frowned at the "rings" and tapped her headset with her hand, "EDI? ”

"[No signal has been received other than the fleet's internal communications,]" EDI replied in her usual flat tone, "[Optical observations show that the nine giant space entities are artificial, but they are too far away to obtain further information. 】”

"Hmm......" Connor began to think quickly.

After passing through a semi-abandoned Mass Effect repeater and arriving at a galaxy with nothing but stars and nine giant artificial entities, what to do if you don't see danger for a while?

According to the provisions of the Interstellar Exploration Law, in this case, the fleet should stay near the mass repeater, send ships back, and report the current situation of the galaxy to the Star Federation, and the next action will be discussed and decided by the Star Federation Council.

However, General Grisham is not the kind of character who follows the rules and sees the rules, and since he is ready to go to war, it is impossible to stand still in the face of this strange galaxy.

"[All fleets obey orders!] Stay in battle formation and head for the 'doughnut' closest to us! As expected, General Grisham's order was quickly delivered: "[Prepare for battle! No one is allowed to fire without my orders! 】”

Arriving at the same time as the order, there was also control of the frigate Dunkirk.

"Oh! I can finally fly freely~" Cicero immediately crackled at the panel.

Connor felt a slight weightlessness, and the battleship under his feet had already flown away from the frigate battle group first.

The battle formation is different from the marching formation, where all ships of the same type stay together, with destroyers rushing forward and frigates surrounding them for protection, cruisers back to protect battleships, and battleships destroying destroyers and frigates with its powerful main guns attacking enemy ships of the same class that can only polish them.

According to the specific arrangement of the fleet commander, there may be some changes in the specific formation, but the general direction of "small ships attract firepower" and "large ships will kill with one hit" will basically not change.

Unless the enemy uses a superweapon that is unannounced and capable of inflicting a wide area of attack.

In any case, though, get ready for battle first.

Connor checked the N7 armor and weapons he was wearing, and turned to walk towards the warehouse deck.

"[Confirm that the material of the giant space entity is 'triple titanium alloy'. 】”

"[Intelligence update, the inner layer of the giant space entity is rock.] "Fifth

"[The outer layer of the alloy is slowly rotating, providing gravity to the inner layer of the rock.] 】”

[Intelligence Update: Biological reaction detected in the inner layer of the rock, suspected to be a plant.] 】”

[Intelligence Update: Confirmed existence of an intact ecosystem in the inner layers of the rock, but no sapient organisms have been found.] 】”

[Intelligence Update: Confirmed the presence of ancient artifacts in the inner ring of the space entity, but did not receive any signals.] 】”

As the entire fleet gradually approached the nearest of the nine "halos", and the judgment and test results of it were constantly updated, presumably those staff members who were in charge of analysis were already anxious.

What is currently known for sure is that these "halos" are artificial creations of an entire ecosystem that exists within.

Their apparent chaotic inclination and rotational orbits are designed to provide a day-night cycle for this "inner ring".

This galaxy apparently does not follow the principle that "every galaxy has a Gaia planet" that has always been held up by the Star Federation, and each of these rings is a perfect "Gaia planet", although the shape is a bit bizarre.

As for the purpose for which it was built...... This will have to wait for a specific scan of one of them, and if there are a large number of organisms that clearly do not conform to the laws of the ecosystem, then they are undoubtedly a ...... Zoo.

This would be very frustrating, so the "Pioneer Ruins" theory is more acceptable in comparison, given that alien technology such as Mass Effect technology and repeaters have been used by humans for many years.

And, most importantly, these artificial objects appear to be intact, so what happened to cause the Mass Effect repeater to look like that?

"[I declare that these artificial objects will be named 'HALO', and this galaxy will be called 'Halo Galaxy'! Admiral Grissom again broadcast through the All-Fleet Channel: "[But you can also name it after yourself when you go back and brag about it, I have agreed!] 】”

Connor Galaxy? No, that's stupid too.

Eventually, the entire fleet was captured by the gravitational pull of the "Halo", reoriented and anchored over its inner land.

Even if the fleet is counted as a whole, there is still a world of difference from the size of the "halo", if you want to compare it, it is like an ant perched on top of a giant doughnut, if you count only the Dunkirk, it is simply a speck of dust.

"[We're going to scout all nine 'Auras' one by one, but we don't have that many men to land them all," General Grisham began to make a plan: "[I'll send a detachment to land and study the situation on their surfaces in detail, and the captain who is willing to do this task can now send me the name of your car.] 】”

[Send a signal to the flagship.] (Model)】

[Do not send signals to the flagship.] (Rebellious)】

Since it's just a simple yes and no, there is no third option, but is this model and rebellion the opposite?

Could it be that the superiors issued a task, and no matter what, they had to rush to meet the public's "model" standards?

"[Connor? What do you think? "Anderson's communication came through EDI.

"Send it," Connor decided, "out of an abundance of caution, it is impossible for General Grisham to send another force to land, and while it is not yet known what the level of investigation is by the other comrades, 'we' will certainly do better." ”

Connor accented the word "we", implying that she, as a android, and with EDI as an AI, it is impossible to miss any doubts.

"[Okay,]" Anderson responded, "[After commanding the ship for so long, I feel like my back is stiff, and it's time to move my hands and feet and walk the dog.] 】”

…… The first person to walk a dog on an alien planet.