*** Cairo, Earth ***
"The receptionist told me. How they knew, I do not know," Crowley told Michen.
*** Reznov Residence, Dragon'taan ***
"As am I," Ketorr replied as he fed John another spoonful. "Sleep well?"
*** Starship Grendlekeep, Draco City Outskirts, Dragon'taan ***
Roc went through the mission profile he had while Alex went about decrypting her data. "Any luck, over there?" he called to her from the cockpit.
*** Sith Command Center, Gorbis Mongdrigo ***
"Very well," Malgus said, "But in the future, I'd prefer to be kept in the loop regarding these things. We cannot protect you if we know not where you go." He paused just shy of a war room door. "I assume these territories will be amenable to trade?"
*** Outpost 'Mantakar ***
In the quiet around the Coalition Outpost in Cornerian Space, Outpost 'Mantakar suddenly stopped receiving status signals from Corneria. "Commander?" one of the officers said. "The signal from Corneria has stopped transmitting."
The commander shrugged it off. "They said they'd be taking their comms offline for routine maintenance; pay it no mind."
"The comm maintenance wasn't supposed to commence for another two hours, sir," the junior officer protested.
"I said don't worry about it, Lieutenant," the commander growled. "Give it an hour, maybe two, they'll be back online."
*** Corneria ***
In the quiet of Corneria orbit, the sudden cutting of the comm line between them and the nearby Coalition Outpost did not go unnoticed. The furs there worked frantically to restore their comms, and with good reason - long-range sensors detected multiple Slipspace signals inbound.
Corneria was being invaded.
*** Starship Chimera, Geidi IV Orbit ***
Vasily continued to moan and toss and turn, a clear indication of his unsettled mind.
*** Indari Manor, Dragon'taan ***
"... you're sure she can handle such a large order?" asked Kaidon 'Vadam, conversing with High General Kyle over a subspace transmission.
"You know her as well as I do, Kaidon; she's never not delivered for either of us. She can handle it," Kyle assured the Sangheili.
Thel sighed. "Very well. I leave it in her hands," he said. "I look forward to the status updates."
*** Krystal's Mansion, New Cerinia ***
Markus lay sound asleep in the bed he shared with Krystal, seemingly oblivious to the ringing subspace transmitter.