The universe, it seemed, had decided that one galaxy-ending threat at a time was just not exciting enough. Ryan and his team were now officially fighting a war on two fronts, which is a famously terrible idea in any war, but especially when one of your enemies is a grumpy shadow-god and the other is a reality-bending super-gardener.
The two wars were completely different.
The war against Lord Malakor was loud, messy, and direct. It was a war of ships, soldiers, and explosions. Ilsa Varkov and her Iron Wolves, now commanding the newly-built and very impressive Bastion Alliance fleet, were the tip of that spear. They chased Malakor's growing armada of pirates and cultists through asteroid fields and fiery nebulas. It was a classic, old-fashioned war, and Ilsa was very, very good at it. Her fleet, a disciplined hammer of steel, would smash into Malakor's chaotic armies, which were more like a bag full of angry, rusty nails.
