[Thermodyne]

Thermodyne sat reading through the reams of reports that the empire generated every month. All of the internal departments were reporting another month of outstanding growth, and the economy was continuing to run a surplus. The border dispute in the northeast had been settled without the need for any strategic fleet actions, and all of the frontiers were peaceful. The nearest war was many light-years away, but it was this very problem that was the foremost concern of Thermolia.

What had started as a small war had grown into a much larger conflict. And as Thermodyne had seen many times before, was now well on the path to becoming a pan galactic conflict. Thermodyne again looked at the mandate that the Senate had drafted, and with a few key strokes, slapped a veto on it. There would be no Thermolian expeditionary adventures. Thermolia would remain neutral; there would be no Thermolian fleet units sent to aid any of the combatants. The bulk of the fleet would be retained for defensive picket activities.

But, the war had changed the Galaxy. Thermodyne now issued an order to summon the many foreign ambassadors to examine the state of relations with each of the races currently trading with Thermolia. There would have to be changes.