Criminals

Alex adjusted the console to display a 3D scan of the system. 

Hundreds of red blips crowded the screen, marking ships clustered around planets and moons. 

Each one represented a pirate vessel, smuggler, or scavenger — criminals from every corner of the galaxy, converging like vultures on the crippled system.

"They're everywhere…" 

Mira muttered, scanning the holographic map. 

Her eyes flickered from one red icon to the next, assessing their formation. 

"I'm counting dozens of clusters, each one with enough firepower to overrun the Federation's defences… Not that the Federation's presence here would make much difference."

Alex nodded, taking in the hologram. 

Each dot of red indicated trouble, but none of them worried him — these were opportunists.

They weren't soldiers bound by allegiance or principle. 

They were here for blood, bounty, and whatever plunder the fractured world beneath them offered.