Across The Milky Way

We might start a sub-thread of objects seen in front of the Milky Way:

"Aycharaych nodded, his crest a scimitar across the Milky Way."
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 339-606 AT IX, p. 461.

A scimitar is a weapon and Aycharaych works for the Merseians who aim to conquer the Milky Way.

"They had left the shining nebula far behind; an unlit mass of cosmic dust reared thunderhead tall across the Milky Way."
-op. cit., XII, p. 503.

The Hooligan flies from light towards darkness and a metaphorical thunder storm threatens the Empire.

"...the dreadnought...was Nova class; its hull curved over him, monstrous as a mountain, guns raking the Milky Way."
-Poul Anderson, "Hunters of the Sky Cave" IN Sir Dominic Flandry..., pp. 149-301 AT XV, p. 266.

"...guns raking..." is not metaphorical but quite explicit.

"His profile, vaguely seen against the Milky Way..."
-Poul Anderson, The Byworlder (London, 1974), VI, p. 62.

"Silhouetted athwart the Milky Way, as if hovering free among clustered stars, Ahasuerus' pine-cone bulk..."
-The Byworlder, XIV, p. 166.

"A gob of thick digestive fluid sailed past the Milky Way." (XV, p. 185)

See also:

Night On Ivanhoe
Starting The Jumps
Shadows And Milky Way
Blaze Of Stars, Milky Way And Meditation
The Milky Way And The Promised Land
The Voyage Begins
Zamok Sabyel'
Progress
A Reminiscence Of Ferune
Five Interesting Features In "Cold Victory"
Coffin's Coffin
Mercury, Milky Way And Moon
Past The Milky Way
A Mountain Against The Milky Way
Embarrassment And The Milky Way
Hirharouk's Head
Athwart The Milky Way
Mirkheim And The Milky Way
Fringe Of Battle
Leaving Hermes
Night On Avalon
Lissa's Sister And The Milky Way
Galactic Vastness And The Milky Way
Tjorr And The Milky Way
Irony, Highlanders And The Milky Way
The Trader Team On Merseia
Abrams II
Clans And Tribes
Diomedes, Starkad And Talwin
Djana Remembers And Imagines
Near The End Of The Rebel Worlds...
Battlements Against The Milky Way
Falkayn's Father's Castle Or Mansion And The Milky Way
A Flying Mountain Across The Milky Way
Gigantic Against The Milky Way

Jupiter And The Milky Way 

Dayspring And Milky Way

Against Sagittarius
A Turban Against The Milky Way
A Scullery And A Glade

A Silhouette And Birds Of Prey 

In Space

Across The Milky Way II

A Wisp Of The Milky Way 

Frozen Fire And Glowing Maelstrom

The Milky Way And The Gate Of Death 

A Weapon, Stars And A Funeral

On A Comet

End Of The Long Way Home

"The Bitter Bread": End

A Soothing, Then Unsettling, Helicopter Ride

Night In The Freehold Forest