“But above all, everyone should assume a defensive position. There may be traps placed that we can’t detect at this range.” With that last line, I cut the communication and made my way to the bridge.
The next couple of hours were spent in preparation, everyone on edge in case of the possibility of an ambush. It wasn’t until we were half an hour out that one of the officers finally spoke up. “Sir, we’re within scanning range of the coordinates.”
I nodded my head, looking at the officer. “Picking up anything?”
“Negative, sir. No readings on either the subspace or normal space scans.” The officer shook his head after another look at his screen. However, a moment later, something flickered on the screen. “Huh?” He asked curiously, looking it over again. “Correction, sir, it looks like there might be something there. I am getting a faint response.”
Well… that was curious. “Okay. I have no idea what to do about that, aside from what I already told everyone. So, carry on.” I let out a sigh, shaking my head. I could only wait to see what would happen.
The little remaining time seemed to take forever, before we eventually made it to the coordinates. However, the signal from the scanners was still only ‘faint’, and we couldn’t get a visual. As such, we had to drop out of subspace before we could get a clear understanding. Naturally, I sent a message across the entire fleet to have weapons ready, just in case.
When the fleet was wrapped in a field of blue light and emerged from subspace, what we saw… could only be described as destruction. In front of us was a planet, or what was left of it. At least a third of it had been blasted away, leaving a great field of asteroids surrounding the planet. The parts that remained seemed scorched, as if the entire planet had burned from whatever explosion destroyed it to this extent.
When the crew aboard the bridge saw this, they let out a collective gasp. I furrowed my brows in frustration, thinking to myself. Why is there a signal coming from this? Did some piece of technology manage to survive?
“Scan for the source of the signal. If there’s anything left after this, I want to know what it could be.” Honestly, even if it was just some mundane device, that would at least be a lead.
“Understood, sir!” The officer in charge of scanning started typing away at his console, presumably to narrow the scan.
“Something’s off, John.” Celeste’s voice entered my head as I looked at the scene in front of me. She seemed unsure about whatever she was talking about. “This doesn’t feel right.”
I nodded, trusting her judgement. However, there wasn’t really much I could do about the subject. Just in case, I spread out my Mana Sense as far as it could go, to watch for anything suspicious. “Any results?”
“Sir, the signal seems to be coming from one of the asteroids. Pulling it up on screens.” After he answered, hologram appeared in the center of the bridge, showing one of the distant asteroids. From the surface, it did not seem to be anything special. However, there was a blinking red light to mark the source of the signal.
“Hold position. I need to go get a better look at that.” I got up from my chair, and walked out of the bridge. I didn’t bother waiting for the inevitable protests, thought that did not stop the one who I couldn’t really run away from.
“John, what are you doing?” Celeste called out into my mind, her voice concerned.
“I’m going to go get a better look. If there’s something there, I’ll be able to find it.” I spoke simply as I moved towards the medbay.
“And if it’s a trap?”
“Then I’ll be careful. Besides, I haven’t had a real chance to test my durability in a long while.” When I arrived at the medbay, I connected to my clone. “Don’t worry, I’m playing this safe. If anything goes wrong, disconnect me from this end.”
I felt more than heard her agree to that, and I quickly made my way to the airlock. As I did, I first altered my aura to become a void elf, in order to grant myself immunity to the hazards of space. When in the airlock, I gave them the signal to let me out.
Once I was outside, I turned into my real combat form. I felt my muscles stretching as my body grew to double its normal height. My hands and feet grew sharp claws that extended out a few inches, and my skin grew white scales that covered my entire body. Finally, large leathery wings sprouted from my back, growing until they were even bigger than my new form.
This was the ultimate form I was currently able to take, combining the best offense, defense, and utility powers I had acquired over the years. So far, I had never had the need to use it in a fight, so I was unsure just how strong it was. However, I was confident with being able to fight a boss monster of the same level as myself.
Using my new form’s space flight ability, acquired from the giant space dragon, I quickly made my way to the asteroid that had been indicated in the scan. At the same time, I kept my senses focused for even the slightest unnatural movement, giving all of the asteroids as wide a berth as possible. There was still the off chance that they were bombs or something.
It did not take me long before I arrived at the asteroid in question, but when I got there, I found myself instantly alarmed. With my Mana Sense extended, I was able to tell that this was not a chunk of rock as it appeared. In fact, there was not a trace of earth mana coming from it. Instead, there was simply metal and electricity mana.
Celeste, I need you to identify this, now! I thought back towards her as I used my Mana Sense to thoroughly scan the device, creating a three dimensional image of it in my mind.
It took a few long moments before she got back to me. “It seems to be a signal relay of some kind. If you destroy it, you’ll cut off ‘normal’ contact methods with this base, I believe. Whatever is causing the illusion must not have completely suppressed the signal.”
Take it they’ll know we were here once I smash it? I asked, flying a ways back and getting ready.
“Most likely, they knew we were here the moment we dropped out of subspace, if not earlier. We need to hurry up and find the source of the illusion. A spell this big, give me a few minutes.”
I nodded my head, before aiming a palm at the ‘asteroid’ in front of me. A thick ball of red light condensed in front of my hand, and flew towards the target. When it impacted, there was a silent explosion of red light. Although I could sense that the device had been destroyed, the ‘asteroid’ was still there.
So, hologram or illusion? I asked myself curiously as I flew towards the nearest asteroid. This one, my senses determined to be a normal floating rock.
“Okay, I’ve got a theory. Unless they have a power generator pumping out purely obscene amounts of energy, they can’t create an effect this big with just a single device or formula. Most likely, there are dozens of different ‘control points’, each one controlling a section of the illusion. I can have the Qu’Lopti help you scan for them, as their mana scanners are more advanced than either the Ariadne or the Deus Ex.”
After she finished speaking, I saw the Qu’Lopti flights all split apart, over a hundred ships flying in different directions. Presumably, they were moving to scan each asteroid one by one to determine the fakes. It only took a few moments before the first ship opened fire on an asteroid.
An invisible ripple of energy spread through the area, with most of the asteroids fading away into nothing. However, that was not the most disconcerting part. Celeste… I asked, as I looked towards a structure not too far from my present location. How do we safely break THAT?
What I saw was only a corner of the structure, but it was enough to let me know exactly what it was. A giant metal ring, the interior able to fit the Ariadne several times over. This was a warp gate, something that should definitely NOT be here. This must be one of their staging points, part of their own connection of gates. Maybe even the one that the ships before had fled to.
“It’s already powered up. You need to shut it down before you destroy it, or the backlash will be large enough to destroy you. I’ll try to pull up a map
for you to follow until the Qu’Lopti break that section.” As she spoke, a wireframe map appeared in my vision, extending beyond what I saw of the gate. If this map was right, it showed me the entirety of the gate based on this corner. Of course, that is only assuming they followed the standard design.
Trusting Celeste’s map, I flew down towards where the wireframe portion began, using my mana sense to verify its accuracy. Sure enough, I felt dense metal mana coming from that apparently empty space. So, I flew towards the section that was highlighted as one of the likely power sources.
Or, that was my plan at least. Just as I was about to approach the section, I felt an eruption of different mana types beneath me, coming from the ring itself. Although I had never personally been this close to one, it was fairly obvious what was happening. There were only one of two options. Either it was self-destructing, or… “John, something’s warping in, hide yourself!”
How am I supposed to hide myself!? I’m in the middle of space for crying out loud! Looking around desperately, I flew towards one of the nearby asteroids, scanning it. Since I could feel that it was ‘empty’, I flew straight into it. Hopefully, this will be enough to hide from their sensors.
It only took a few more moments before a thick beam of light erupted from the gate, and a giant metal shape began making its way through. The front of the new ship was a smooth cylinder, roughly fifteen meters thick and sixty long, before it began curving outwards. From there, it split into four thick metal bands that circled around a glowing white shape. The white shape seemed trapped within the metal bands, which joined on the opposite side to form a thick, silvery ball. At the back of the ball was a single hole, which appeared to serve as the engine as it pushed its way out.
Okay, NOW can I blow it up?!
Chapter 20: Fire all the Things!
“No, John! You still can’t blow it up!” Celeste called out into my mind. “Let us take care of this for now.”
After that, I saw the Qu’Lopti ships come together to form their giant mechs, each one equipped with their full armaments from the start. The Deus Ex ships began glowing in a strange light, multicolored energy arcing along their hulls, heading towards the weapons at the front. The only ship not to directly take action was the Ariadne, which seemed to be watching for now.
As the Deus Ex gathered the light at the tip of their cannons, beams of energy shot out towards the New Human Empire ship. Each of the fifteen Deus Ex ships sent an attack, and they all seemed to target the same part of the enemy ship. However, a grid of hexagonal energy shields sprang into being around the New Human Empire ship. When the fifteen beams impacted against one of the hexagons, that shield glowed brightly while the others all dimmed.
Although a small amount of initial energy was let through the shield, once the energy from the other shields had been redistributed it was able to perfectly block the attack. I furrowed my brows as I watched that scene. Those shields had a pretty obvious weakness, so it couldn’t be that simple. Then again, I can’t call it simple when it just took the full initial volley of fifteen Deus Ex ships acting in concert.
As if adding insult to injury, I saw a second ship start to poke its head out through the warp gate, this one built entirely different compared to the earlier ship. Although there were still the two giant bands of silver metal surrounding a white cloud of energy, the rest was fundamentally different. With the energy cloud as the center, five rings of metal orbited the ship, a glowing blue light at the center of each ring.
Okay, I really want to blow something up right now. If the first ship was built for defense, then this should be their assault ship. That seemed like a prime target for exploding to me.
“Do it.” Celeste said, her voice resigned. At the very least, I’d be a good distraction, right? “But get as far away from the blast as you can.”
I nodded my head, finally flying out from the asteroid hologram that had been shielding me from sight. Of the five rings surrounding the second ship, four moved at the front to overlap, aiming at our fleet, while the fifth flew to the back, seeming to track me. I really hope this is a laser, and not some fancy kind of energy…
Placing both my hands out in front of myself, I gathered as much light mana as I could, preparing myself to receive their attack. And when that attack came, it was on me faster than I could blink. I let out a roar of pain, feeling my wings begin to burn in the first few seconds. Were it not for my insane Light Affinity, I might be killed as soon as the attack hit, but thankfully I had some time. Fully extending my wings, I called on the black hole in my grove again to frantically absorb this attack, using my own control over light to disperse what I could before it reached me. However, I was not sending the mana into my grove this time, I was directly swallowing it.
This was an ability that I had managed to create by combining my Mana Leech and elemental breath powers. The result? Ten seconds later, when the laser from the enemy ship finally stopped, I felt my body burning with too much restrained energy. My wings had been charred black, but the rest of me was glowing like a shining star.
Your turn. I grimaced to myself, opening my mouth again. What came out was a thick beam of light, leaving small explosions through space as it crashed into the enemy ship. Just a half second later, the hexagonal shields once again appeared, surrounding both ships. The one receiving my attack showed the same glowing effect as the one that had blocked the Deus Ex before, though the other shields did not seem to dim as much.
I had not been able to watch the result of the attack against the fleet, due to being surrounded by a thick laser myself, but now that I could see, I was somewhat surprised. Although all of the ships were still present, I could see cracks visible along the hull of one of the leading Deus Ex ships. A single shot from their assault ship almost took down a Deus Ex ship…
Gritting my teeth, I cut off the laser attack I had been firing after it was only halfway finished, and turned my head to face the warp gate. As if noticing my action, all five of the ring turrets flew around the assault ship to face me, overlapping to appear as one giant cannon. At the same time that I opened my mouth to finish releasing the blast and destroy the gate, I felt a warm light burn through me.
The next thing I knew, I was back in the Ariadne, jolting upright in the bed I had laid myself in when I connected to my clone. Dammit… instant death, huh? I wasn’t surprised, I had barely managed to tank one of their turrets, let alone all five at once. “Celeste, status report.” I called out to the empty room.
I heard the familiar voice echoing into my mind. “They killed you too quick, you weren’t able to do any critical damage to the gate. However, you did get a small amount of damage in, and it has made the gate unstable. After your attack, it was immediately shut down. Most likely, if they risk activating it again, the gate will explode.”
“And the fleet?” I recalled the Deus Ex ship, and the damage it had sustained.
“One Striker has been critically damaged, and can’t operate normally until it has been repaired. However, we have acquired useful information from the enemy ships. Though… not all of it is good.”
I did not like the sound of that at all. “Tell me.”
“The ships appear to be powered by white holes, granting them a near limitless supply of energy. These kinds of ships would be hard to come across, even in NeoLife.” Celeste’s voice was laced with concern. “The Empire has a powerful backer, someone able to show them how to build and use these ships. It’s impossible that the humans could have come up with this in five years, no matter how hard they tried.”
Great, so someone isn’t playing fair. “Anything else?”
This time, Celeste sounded more sure of herself when she spoke. “We are preparing to deal with the ships now. Like you noted, there is a major weakness to this kind of shielding. Although the Striker Legion alone can’t break through them with a concentrated assault, we worked out a plan.”
I nodded my head slightly, laying back in the bed. It would take too long to ru
n to the bridge at this point. “Show me.”
My vision became blurred, until I was looking through Celeste’s eyes. “Commence firing. Striker Legion, go!” I heard her call out, as if it were my own voice. On the hologram at the center of the bridge, I was able to see that the remaining fourteen working Deus Ex ships all fired at the same location once again. And once again, they were blocked by that hexagonal shield.
“Main cannon, fully charged!” One of the officers called out from the bridge.
“Fire! Executioner, charge positron cannon!” Celeste again called out. This time, it was the Ariadne that emitted a thick beam of light, blasting towards the assault ship. One of the dimmed shields surrounding it flared to life, while the rest of them nearly vanished entirely.
A few seconds later, we were receiving reports of weapons overheating, but then the one we were waiting for arrived. “Executioner is primed.”
“Fire!” Celeste called out a final time, and the Qu’Lopti ship released its most powerful attack. This time, there was no energy to spare for the shields. Although a white hole may provide limitless energy, that does not mean they have the ability to harness all of it at once. With the shields distracted by the previous two attacks, the positron cannon cleanly struck the shield ship, causing explosions to arise all over its surface.
At the same time, the two active shields vanished, allowing the full force of the fleet to be shown. However, Celeste was not calm or content. Instead, she was even more alarmed. “All forces, immediately jump to subspace!”
Although I did not understand this action, the ships all obeyed her order. Turning off their weapons, they surrounded themselves with the blue energy shields that would protect them in subspace and made the jump. Only then did Celeste let out a deep sigh of relief.
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