The arguments went back and forth across the hall, theories rising and falling as pilots tried to make sense of what they had just been told. Some insisted it was simply a massive military buildup, Mekharans preparing for a larger offensive than any the Federation had faced in centuries.
Others suggested ships, a vast fleet built in secret. A few pilots near the front proposed stranger ideas, structures or weapons that nobody in the Federation had ever imagined.
Nobody could agree on what it meant.
But everyone agreed on one thing.
"Whatever it is," Dorn said finally, his voice cutting through the noise of the hall, "they're clearly up to something. And when they're done building it, we're the ones they're going to point it at."
The hall fell silent again.
Ning sat back in his seat and looked at the image of the scarred planets on the display.
He was curious.
