"Red Alert! Red Alert! All crew proceed in battle station!"A loud siren accompanied by an explosion shook their s.p.a.cecraft. Various personnel of the s.h.i.+p is scrambling about to get to their stations.
"Damage report?"
The steel door opened and Captain Heather with his son immediately asked without waiting for the door to close as he entered the bridge.
"Rear s.h.i.+eld – 9% damaged, All their missiles are targeting our thrusters. Our enemy seems to plan to just immobilize our s.h.i.+p!"
Officer Laila answered as she checked on her monitor the damage. She noticed that all missiles are aiming their s.h.i.+ps aft.
"15% damaged!"
"Put all power on rear s.h.i.+eld!"
"Yes, Captain! s.h.i.+fting s.h.i.+eld priority."
"Maximum output activated on rear s.h.i.+eld."
After a few more bombardment, the damage reached 24% on their s.h.i.+eld and the s.h.i.+p"s shaking came to stop.
"Have you recognized this fleet? How come they"ve closed in without being detected?"
"Yes. That"s the newest battle cruiser of Meredith Empire – "Executor". If it weren"t for the mines we sent out before, they would have gotten even closer."
As the comms office answered the captain, he immediately projected several feeds of the s.p.a.cecraft on the center screen. Everyone in the bridge noticed that their numbers aren"t small.
"No wonder". Captain Heather realized why their radar wasn"t able to detect this stealthy s.p.a.cecraft.
Everyone was aware of this new battle cruiser of this invasive empire. Executor is a medium-sized vessel with excellent manoeuvrability and high firepower accompanied by the most advanced stealth technology of the Empire.
Although its size is way smaller than their Dreadnaught-Cla.s.s Zymeth, their s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p"s current firepower is at its lowest.
They have just left a battlefield and on their way back to resupply their munitions. They have discovered a few relics of an alien technology but before they could leave the place, they have been ambushed by their business rivals.
Yes, the Dreadnaught-Cla.s.s Zymeth isn"t a part of army from some Nation or Empire but owned by a business tyc.o.o.n which is Captain Heather himself.
They no longer hired someone to protect them on their business trades in s.p.a.ce but have their own forces to protect themselves.
Unfortunately, they have no means to resupply and seek reinforcement on their branch that is still three standard hours away from their current location.
His trip to Asteroid Bul"Zar was to retrieve a certain relic from who knows how many millennias ago. He invested a lot on this dangerous trip causing him a lot of loss on his trade business. Heather never expected this trip has attracted a lot of attention. They made sure that this expedition was kept in secret.
"To think that even this Meredith Empire will be involved in this, at least they probably don"t want to destroy the relic we have retrieved"
Captain Heather looked at the several dozens of Executor circling around their s.h.i.+p. He noticed that a flags.h.i.+p that has previously been in stealth mode appeared behind a cl.u.s.ter of these Executor.
Everyone in the bridge could only feel helplessness seeing this Imperial-Cla.s.s Arcane Star. If it was only these Executors, they could have maximized their s.h.i.+eld and propulsion to escape this entrapment ignoring the firepower of these medium-sized Cruisers. Even though they have few munitions and could not retaliate ma.s.sively, they are somehow confident that they could withstand the shots of these Executors.
"What"s your order Captain?"
"Let"s wait. They will contact us."
He was confident as he believed that the empire wants to acquire the goods without any damages.
As soon as he said this, a contact immediately arrived and the comms officer asked permission to the Captain. But before that, Captain Heather looked at his son then to his subordinate.
"s.h.i.+n, execute protocol Last Cycle."
He was looking very seriously to s.h.i.+n a retired lieutenant in the army who nodded with the same determination as his Captain.
"Wallace, follow s.h.i.+n and he will help get you in safety."
Wallace was a bit reluctant leaving the bridge. Although he was only 15 years of old, he contributed a lot in the previous battle at Asteroid Bul"Zar which has a very treacherous environment. But looking at the situation and how his father looked serious, he knows that there isn"t any room for argument this time.
He was also aware about the current status of the s.h.i.+p. Aside from the s.h.i.+eld they could rely on. They only have a few missiles and hadron beams they can use before their canon will fail. Even their Mech Frame only has 6 left from the previous hundreds. They could never win this upcoming battle.
"Yes, father. Please be careful"
Wallace could only abide to his father"s order leaving with his Uncle s.h.i.+n.
After the door closed, Captain Heather heaved a sigh before nodding to the comms officer to accept the audio-visual call of the enemy s.h.i.+p.
"Mr Heather, we meet again." A deep and calm voice echoed in the room as they saw the representative of their enemy s.h.i.+p. They all looked to this stern soldier in his mid-thirties sitting on the captains sit.
"Solon, so it was you!" Captain Heather looked at the familiar person on the screen. Everything now makes sense to the captain.
"I never knew you were such a high ranking officer of Meredith Empire."
The captain gritted his teeth as he tried to contain his anger and disappointment in his voice. Solon was delighted seeing Heather came to realization.
"You know why I"m here Heather."
"I will never hand it over to you Solon."
Captain Heather said in his mind as he looked at one of the small surveillance screen on the bridge. He noticed that the preparation for Last Cycle Protocol was almost completed.
"I"ll buy time as much as I can. It"s all up to you Wallace. Farewell, son."
***
"Uncle s.h.i.+n, what"s with the protocol?"
Wallace asked as they walked along the hallway. He noticed that they weren"t going to the shelter but actually to the warehouse where the relics where left in stock.
"It is to safeguard you and the relic, Wallace. You have to survive in this place. The relic could not be handed over to anyone. This relic is the fruit of your mother"s research."
Uncle s.h.i.+n answered as he opened the door to the warehouse. Several tied containers can be seen on the right part of the room.
Wallace was astounded that the relic that his father tried to obtain at all cost has some relation to his mother. He never expected it.
He was only aware that the relic could earn them a huge sum of money.
"It seems there are still a lot of secret in this relic."
He would like to ask a few more questions but they obviously don"t have enough time.
His uncle s.h.i.+n stopped momentarily and pressed some few control b.u.t.tons on his wrist guard.
Whoosh~
A room was seen after the walls on the left part of the room was split open.
What Wallace saw is a very impressive s.h.i.+p. It was a small s.h.i.+p that looks like a luxury Corvette-cla.s.s s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
Uncle s.h.i.+n urged him to go in.
Wallace obediently nodded and started to get in.
"Let"s wait the others here then? Hmm.. I didn"t thought we have this s.h.i.+p."
He checked the status of the s.h.i.+p. The s.h.i.+p is already on standby mode and ready to take off anytime.
These kinds of s.h.i.+p aren"t for large scale battle but even if that was the case, when looking at the design, he could see some advance technology from a powerful empire including the exquisite propulsion tech that this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p were using.
"How about you, father, and everyone?"
As he realize that his Uncle s.h.i.+n didn"t answer. Wallace asked again.
He knew that they could not all fit in this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in case they need to escape. He is aware that there is a specific shelter with several escape pods on the s.h.i.+p.
There is nothing wrong to retreat whenever there is extreme danger ahead. After all, although the crew they have are mostly retired officers, mercenary and professionals on their field, they aren"t patriotic soldiers trying to protect some country but all here to supposedly earn a profit on this expedition.
He believes that if their s.h.i.+p couldn"t handle the battle, his father may order to handover the relics to the marauders and will not sacrifice his men"s lives. But if these marauders aren"t satisfied with just that and wants them to be silenced, he believed they could only retaliate as much as they can and order an escape if possible
But with everything said, it seems that Wallace is still ignorant on how important this relic is.
"You will take this s.h.i.+p and escape. We will have our own escape route."
***
Wallace immediately woke up after hearing some noise coming from the monitor. He looked at the screen and he noticed that he was nearing to a certain planet.
The buzzing sound was due to multiple errors or warning sign telling him that this planet is not included in any database that human civilization has reached.
It was already his second week wandering aimlessly in the s.p.a.ce. He set the destination to the coordinates of that planet.
"About six standard days."
He murmured as he noticed the number on the screen when checking the ETA.
There is no choice but to try to check that planet and try his chances there. Though looking at his supplies within the s.h.i.+p, he discerned that it would last him maybe an entire year but he would never know if he would even see any known planet in his current location. During his entire journey the s.h.i.+p"s A.I. tried all possible calculation on its huge database but they could never identify their current star system or galaxy.
This all happened after his Uncle s.h.i.+n ordered his quick departure. The s.h.i.+p"s A.I. who he calls Avalon, as its written on the screen, was activated by his Uncle as soon as he was on pilot seat. Avalon actually took over the flight and Wallace only watched as his small s.h.i.+p that is in stealth mode escape the entrapment of the enemies.
He was actually shocked during that time as even the Meredith Empire"s latest technology could not detect his s.h.i.+p with all their radar and sensors.
He remembered that when he looked at the monitors on the screen and observed the situation of Zymeth, it looks like they were about to be besieged. But as his s.h.i.+p moved away the encirclement he noticed that there was some changes on the center screen and quickly looked at it.
Last Cycle Activated.
It was the only words written and after that was bright light taking over his vision. His visor immediately activated to protect his sight. He looked at his back where the light came from and noticed a cube that was just the size of fist only after several adjustment of his visor due to the bright light it discharges.
He thought at first that it was just a decoration but looking at it now, it seems to be one of the relic they retrieved and the place it was attached on what seems to be linked to the whole s.h.i.+p as he saws lines of light webbing through some part of the s.h.i.+p.
Is this a new type of energy that my mother is researching? This was what he had in mind as he nervously waited to see what this phenomena"s about to do.
He heard some buzzing sound and looked at one of the screen and noticed that this s.h.i.+p was locked by the enemy s.h.i.+p. It seems that due to the energy of activation of the cube, their stealth was seen. But the bright light didn"t last long and it only took over 15 seconds then he almost lost his consciousness.
It was because after that bright light, his s.h.i.+p"s Avalon continued it"s flight but in unimaginable speed. If it was seen on others point of view, after the s.h.i.+p discharged it"s bright white light, it just disappeared.
It was then the start of his aimless journey in an unknown location in the s.p.a.ce until he found this unrecorded planet.
Haaa~
Wallace sighed as he remembered his father and his crew on the s.h.i.+p. He wondered if they were safe. He tried contacting them and even tried logging to the Dark Net but after multiple attempt even with the help of Avalon they are unable to connect. Even Dark Net who boasted to have connection in more than a hundred galaxies is unusable. He couldn"t browse or get any information online.
***
Wallace was now wearing a combat suit. It was a black bio-armor suit that fitted his entire body. You wouldn"t see his face as well with his solid matte black full face helmet.
He was now looking at the planet which was the same size of planet Earth and as the s.h.i.+p gone closer he already prepared himself on whatever he will encounter on this journey. His first aim of course is to check if the natives of this planet have human civilization or friendly with it but if they aren"t, he"ll come up of something to escape. He was confident on his survival skills.
Wallace was a bit worried of the language barrier if there"s an alien civilization below since this planet should be undiscovered until today. He could only rely on Avalon"s stored tens of thousands languages on it"s database that human civilization acc.u.mulated in thousands of years.
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His second aim is of course to find a way to communicate with his family. Whatever will happen, he will first descend on this planet and take it from there.
"Avalon, start descending."
The s.h.i.+p"s A.I. dutifully obeyed the instruction. He already waited for almost 12 hours for any form of communication that"s coming from the planet but no one contacted him so he could only command to descend.
The reasons he could think of is that their technology is so backwards, or no intelligent beings living in the planet or some other possibilities that could stop them from making contact in outer s.p.a.ce.
He was worried of this possibility because it means that he won"t be able to communicate to his family if his s.h.i.+p"s small communication device is much more advanced than the technology of this planet.
He looked at the now dimmed cube at the center of the pilot room just at the back of pilot seat.
"Whatever you are, you"re most likely one of the reason of this entire situation."
Wallace talked to the cube but immediately shook his head. He would first have to set his priorities. Uncovering the secrets of this cube would come later once he settled his current predicament.
*****
Wallace was now seated on the pilot seat and is monitoring the damage report popping out of the screen as his s.h.i.+p descended on the planet. His s.h.i.+p obviously wasn"t in a good condition and needs to be repaired. It had already acc.u.mulated damage when his s.h.i.+p was transported by the light that came from the cube. This descent added to the damage. He would obviously need to repair it first if he wants to travel back to s.p.a.ce.
It can also be seen that the A.I. was mult.i.tasking trying to get photos or relevant information it could get on the surface of the planet. The s.h.i.+p has now trying to fly safely on its atmosphere and Wallace can now see the surface of this planet.
"It doesn"t look that different on Earth"
Wallace muttered as he can see this beautiful scenery of nature. The s.h.i.+p was currently flying on top of the ocean but looking in front was a land with lush forest and mountain. The land seems so enormous that he couldn"t see the end.
Damage has now reached 82% and exceeded the threshold. Recommending for immediate descent.
A robotic voice was heard as Wallace was viewing the scenery.
"Permission granted"
Scanning for safe location to descend.
It only takes few second for the AI to scan the surroundings and found an isolated small island near the mainland. The system started its countdown for its descent. Wallace saw a few dozen of small islands near mainland. The chosen island was about 5km away from the mainland. As the s.h.i.+p neared the island and after a few shakes on the s.h.i.+p, it has safely descended.
Wallace heave a sigh as it safely descended as the countdown by the system stops. He wasn"t warned by the AI as well for any living being that is near the s.h.i.+p, aside from the unknown but familiar small insects and animals living in the small island.
The young man was now equipped with a firearm - rifle gun, grenade, and handguns. He also brought his only laser gun. Even though he is equipped with a bio-armor suit, this only increased his defense and still needed some offensive equipment as the bio-armor suit is only initially equipped with two blades.
The two handgun placed on left and right side of his waist that is seemingly attached to the bio-armor itself and only the handle itself is sticking out.
This bio-armor suit is the latest technology of his father"s company and he luckily has 4 more extra suits on the s.h.i.+p.
This suits usefulness is at the top of the Galactic Federation and Wallace was confident the he can protect himself in this planet.
He was confident to its high adaptability in any environment but he could not know what awaits his journey in this planet and could only hope for the best.
As he landed on the ground, he clutched his chest in pain and died.