The red scales around the admiral's eyes could be seen even in his flickering hologram, and they slid over each other as he scowled. "The Wub Empire? These creatures are scarcely more than feathery blobs. No self-respecting Aresian would stand beside them in battle. With all due respect, Your Omnipotence, I hope you're not serious about this. They are not knights with which to ally ourselves, but scuttling vermin to be crushed."
The Omnipotent responded to his venomous speech with utmost calm. "I am serious, Admiral. You of all people should know the deception that appearances can harbor. The ships under their command could fill the sky, and their pilots' skills are among the best in known space. Their influence is every bit as widespread as our own. An alliance with them is for the best."
The admiral growled quietly. "As you wish. I'll send an emissary to the Kalorbira system immediately."
"I will anxiously await their answer," The Omnipotent said. "Report back to me as soon as you receive it. Keen in word and deed, Admiral."
"And you, sir," he replied, and the hologram flickered out. The Omnipotent sighed and walked to the window of his bedroom in the palace, which offered a splendid panorama of the verdant landscape of Primus. It was hard enough to oversee a rapidly growing collection of systems without insolence from his officers. It was he who personally flew to each of them, deploying the colony pods with the materials and personnel. It was he who defended them from the bridge of the Alcaeus, his shining white star-cruiser, in the first days of the Aresian interstellar program. He had earned the title of Omnipotent through his exploits among the stars, establishing trade routes, probing planets near and distant for spice deposits, and crushing those who would oppose them. If anything, a shining record such as his should at least earn him some respect among his own kind.