"Message from the frontline. They've lost contact with Aesop. He's possibly been captured by Black Star."
As this report was read by a Modo Civilization upper echelon, the conference room was filled with dead silence.
After quite some time, a top military officer finally said, "The plan must've failed. The situation is now dire. Do you guys have any ideas?"
"I thought the Mechanic Emperor would have definitely completed the mission. I didn't expect him to be this useless and unreliable," someone said. "Could he have deliberately divulged the information to Black Star, using that to fix his relationship with Black Star?"