"Their commander's called Warlord Threnn," Rudra reported, having pulled what he could from the scouts and the Hub's own event ledger. "Old kingdom, old reputation. They don't survive by being clever. They survive by being first to hit, and hitting harder than whatever hits back."
"Charming," Ainen said. "I do so love meeting new people."
The two camps watched each other across the black saddle for the first several hours, neither side eager to open a fight on unfamiliar ground, and the family used that grace to do what it always did with time.
They planned.
"A straight fight favors them," Rudra said, standing over a chart scratched into the sand with the whole family gathered close. "Heavier hull, heavier guns, a crew that's done nothing but build for this its whole life. We don't win that by matching them plate for plate."
