For the entire space industry, the European Community had always been an overwhelming force.
It held absolute authority over orbital development, launch permissions, and extraterrestrial resource exploitation.
No megacorporation, no matter how powerful, was allowed to conduct space research without its approval.
Every launch.
Every station.
Every cargo route.
All of it had to be reported.
All of it had to be approved.
At the center of this system stood the High Knights.
To those on Earth, the title sounded grand, almost noble.
The reality was far less romantic.
The earliest High Knights were simply children born in orbit.
Their parents had been scientists, engineers, and elite specialists sent by the European Space Agency to permanent research stations.
Once those families settled in space, their descendants were born there.
And from the moment they were born, they belonged to the station.
To the agency.
To the system.
They were raised as assets.
Trained as tools.
Their lives were meticulously controlled by the corporations and governments that funded the stations.
For generations, they lived in sealed steel worlds above the Earth, never setting foot on natural ground.
They longed for freedom.
Eventually, that longing became rebellion.
The orbital population rose up.
They united, overthrew the old station authorities, and seized control of the entire orbital network.
After their victory, they renamed themselves the High Knights—
knights who stood above the sky itself.
But as history so often proved, dragon slayers eventually became dragons.
The High Knights did not bring liberation.
They became the new ruling class.
The new gatekeepers of space.
In time, the orbital powers and Earth's European Community reached an understanding.
The result was a monopoly.
Space above.
Currency below.
Together, they controlled the development of the entire aerospace sector and sealed off the stars from everyone else.
While Earth's corporations fought bitterly over land, fuel, data, and influence, the European Community had already lifted its gaze beyond the planet.
Its eyes were on the infinite resources of space.
Asteroids.
Solar collectors.
Lunar mining.
Orbital manufacturing.
That was the true source of its power.
This was why the European Community stood above every other giant.
Not because of politics alone.
Because it controlled resources vast enough to challenge the entire world by itself.
If that strength did not exist, Militech would have challenged it long ago.
The roots of that power ran deep.
The European Community had emerged from the ashes of the old Soviet and European blocs.
Former rivals.
Former powers.
Former benefactors and enemies of the United States.
When old America fractured during its internal collapse, those old rivals seized the opportunity.
They took control of monetary sovereignty.
They established the euro as a dominant global currency.
And with it, they built a new empire.
That betrayal was something NUSA never forgot.
Under Militech's banner, the reunified American state had clawed back nearly all of old America's territory.
All except Night City.
Hatred toward Europe was deeply ingrained.
Especially after the European Community had once dropped orbital strikes—literal meteor bombardments—on NUSA territory, killing hundreds.
That single event alone had ensured permanent hostility.
Nor was Militech the only one with reason to hate them.
Arasaka had lost Kei Arasaka in the brutal conflicts that followed.
The collapse of Asian revolutionary blocs had forced the formation of Kang Tao.
Biotechnica had been compelled to sell key energy formulas abroad.
Nearly every megacorporation in the world carried some old grudge against Europe.
And yet none of them could challenge it directly.
Because the European Community controlled two things no one else could afford to lose:
currency
and
space.
That monopoly created a brutal hierarchy.
Corporations exploited smaller companies.
Those companies exploited the public.
And above them all, the European Community exploited the corporations themselves.
A perfect food chain.
A system built on scarcity.
The corporations knew the truth.
The real wealth was no longer on Earth.
It was in orbit.
In lunar industry.
In asteroid belts.
In the vast dark beyond.
But every time one of them attempted independent launches, the result was the same.
Their rockets barely cleared the atmosphere before being obliterated by orbital defenses.
The message was simple:
Earth belongs to you.
The sky belongs to us.
That reality had forced the corporations down different technological paths.
Biotechnica pursued biological dominance.
Arasaka pursued soul technology and immortality.
Everyone was looking for some way to overturn the board.
Because if they could not reach space through engineering—
they would reach power through control.
That was why Rogue had warned Xiao not to underestimate Europe.
She knew exactly what kind of monster sat above the clouds.
Xiao, however, merely smiled.
"I already possess space technology."
Rogue frowned.
He continued calmly.
"A technology capable of faster-than-light travel."
The room went silent.
Rogue stared at him.
Then gave him the kind of look reserved for people who had finally lost their minds.
"…You're telling me you have an FTL drive?"
Xiao leaned back in his chair.
"Sun Sail technology."
His expression did not change.
"As long as I want to, I can destroy every station controlled by the European Community and the High Knights."
Rogue blinked once.
Then laughed.
A short, incredulous laugh.
"Faster-than-light?"
She shook her head.
"Europe barely manages lunar logistics."
"There isn't even a proper light-speed engine anywhere on the market."
Her eyes narrowed.
"And you expect me to believe you've skipped straight to FTL?"
Her tone turned dry.
"What is this, a bedtime story?"
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