The first warning came when three stars disappeared.
The second came when the stars behind them disappeared too.
At first, the CT detection systems classified it as an approaching fleet.
Then the estimated vessel count climbed.
Ten thousand.
One million.
One billion.
The sensors recalculated.
The number disappeared.
CLASSIFICATION ERROR.
What looked like separate ships were not separate.
They were connected.
Warships were connected to carriers. Carriers were joined to habitation sectors. Habitation sectors fed into command structures, industrial platforms, weapons arrays, transit arteries, medical vessels and entire artificial environments.
Every segment was linked through spatial bridges until the distinction between fleet and vessel became meaningless.
The system corrected itself one final time.
METASHIP DETECTED.
Karma's two Chaotic Generals looked toward the projection.
Karma did not.
The Metaship extended farther than a conventional observer could meaningfully perceive. From end to end, its linked operational structure spanned a distance greater than a supercluster.
Whole galaxies could have been placed between some of its major sections without touching either side.
And yet it was considered one ship.
Not because every meter was filled with metal.
It wasn't.
Its scale came from connection.
Millions upon millions of warships, stations and habitation structures were bound together through folded spatial corridors, each section operating as an organ within one military body.
Its occupied interior alone was obscene.
Nearly eighty percent of its habitable sections were devoted to personnel.
For ordinary soldiers, the word quarters was charitable.
Rows of rooms extended farther than some planetary cities.
Inside each room, beds occupied almost every possible surface.
Bunks were stacked fifteen high.
Some compartments held fifty sleeping spaces where twenty would have been considered humane.
Elite officers received private rooms.
Generals received sectors.
Sorrow received a moving command citadel.
Nobody aboard complained about the difference.
Very few people aboard had ever seen Sorrow in person.
Most never would.
They simply knew that when the Chair to the Epithet moved, the Martial Division moved with her.
Five General-class command vessels traveled close to the central citadel.
Each was large enough to govern its own military campaign.
They looked microscopic beside the Metaship.
Deep inside the command citadel, Sorrow stood before an observation wall.
The wall did not display space through glass.
It reconstructed the surrounding Archaverse in real time.
Stars appeared as points.
Systems appeared as symbols.
Flick concentrations burned in colors that grew increasingly severe near Karma's territory.
One of the five Generals stood behind her.
The General said, "Chair, CT headquarters is within transit range."
Sorrow did not turn.
She asked, "Current Flick escalation?"
The General replied, "Still increasing."
Sorrow asked, "Response from Karma?"
The General hesitated.
Then replied, "None."
Sorrow's expression remained still.
The General continued, "No suppression orders. No corrective deployment. No meaningful attempt to reduce anomalous activity."
Sorrow looked toward the projection.
ACT signatures pulsed across several regions.
Other anomalous concentrations had begun appearing around them.
Sorrow said, "So he knows."
The General replied, "Yes."
Sorrow said, "And chooses not to act."
The General answered, "Yes."
Sorrow turned away from the display.
Her coat was black, cut simply, with faint silver markings running from the shoulders toward her wrists.
There was no need for medals.
Her office was the decoration.
Sorrow said, "Prepare descent."
The General straightened.
Then asked, "Escort complement?"
Sorrow replied, "Five."
The General paused.
Confused he responded "Generals?"
Sorrow looked at him.
Then said, "Did you expect me to bring clerks?"
The General immediately lowered his head.
"No, Chair of the Epithet."
Sorrow walked toward the chamber doors.
The lights dimmed automatically as she passed.
Her shadow stretched behind her.
For a fraction of a second, it moved after she had stopped.
Nobody commented.