《Scavenged Empire》 Chapter 1 - The Chip As I looked out of the reinforced spire window in the palace hall I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. How did people perceive rain on their planet? My mother and father told me tales of their youth, how they played in the rain and got mud on their clothes. How they got scolded for going outside during the rain. How they enjoyed the rain. I wonder what that¡¯s like. To walk through the rain, to be able to wear nice clothes without hardware in it. To not be afraid to go outside, to have rain that doesn¡¯t have acid and other chemicals mixed in. To have the luxury of bathing in clean spring water. That is why we work tirelessly, so that one day we too can enjoy our planet¡¯s rain. The door on my right opened with a hiss, accompanying it was the sound of familiar steadfast military boots clanging against the metal ground. There stood my father¡¯s trusty friend and military advisor, Xander. He came with us when my parents were ¡®gifted¡¯ planet Rafar by the Autarch Union for their exemplary service, along with quite a bit of credits. I think they gave those credits out of pity, as we are so far isolated that there is barely anyone out here that we can trade with. Good thing then that my mother used them to buy materials to build Rafar¡¯s space station. ¡°Are you lost in thought again Jason?¡± asked Xander. ¡°Sorry about that..¡± I replied. He waved nonchalantly ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, considering the state of your parents and your recent interaction with your friend..¡± I shook my head ¡°What Lady Romira does from now on is her own business, but she ain¡¯t no more friend of mine.¡± Xander hid his reaction well. If I hadn¡¯t known him since birth I wouldn¡¯t have spotted the sad look in his eyes hiding amongst the many scars etched onto his obsidian-colored skin. I close my eyes to push away the memories of my former friend, replacing them with a cold feeling of resolve and duty. ¡°Report, Xander.¡± Xander assumed a crisp military stance, standing wide and folding his hands behind his back. ¡°Currently both Lord and Lady Rafar are being treated for radiation poisoning. With them being indisposed for the moment, overall command falls to you Lord Jason El Rafar.¡± I figured that would be the case. ¡°I see¡­ How did the radiation get in?¡± ¡°As far as our engineers can determine their suits had minor leaks, which is how the radiation got in.¡± ¡°Was it sabotage¡­¡± He shook his head ¡°We checked for the usual spots and found nothing. It truly seems to have been an accident.¡± ¡°Really? Then why was it spotted so late? Those suits are reinforced and designed for the outer atmosphere, if there was a leak of any kind the internal systems should have sent immediate warning signs!!¡± ¡°They should have, alas those suits are ancient by today''s standards, the fact they work at all despite the lack of resources is a testament to the ingenuity of our engineers.¡± Following Xander''s eye line I saw my fist clenched without my knowledge Get it together Jason. I took a breath, unclenched my fist, and refocused. ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t take my anger out at you, especially given the current circumstances.¡±Xander wanted to say something but I motioned with my hand for him to stop. ¡°Right now my feelings can¡¯t take precedence. For the time being my actions reflect that as the ruler of Rafar and not as Jason.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I sighed and showed a weak smile ¡°I hope you can help me get through this Xander.¡± Xander nodded ¡°Of course. To change the topic then, there is a matter that requires your immediate attention.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Xander let out a rare grin. ¡°For once it¡¯s not a problem.¡± [ Rafarian Palace | Engineering Bay] I flanked by Xander and three other royal guards walked into the Royal Engineering bay. The place usually bustled with life, but there wasn¡¯t a soul in sight. Head engineer Grimar came to a stop in front of a heavily secured door and started the unlocking process. ¡°So ya see we found some of dem really old tech in one of dem derelict ships up er.¡± He motioned upward with a finger whilst fiddling with the door panel with his other hand. I cocked my head.¡°How old are we talking Grim?¡± ¡°Colonization era olde.¡± ¡°Before or after the formation of the Autarch Union?¡± Grimar turned and grinned, exposing the cybernetic teeth under his oily brown mustache.¡°Before.¡± I shared a look with Xander. Pre-A.U era tech is almost unheard of in this day and age. Grimar had opened the door. We left the guards outside to guard the entrance before proceeding onwards. ¡°It''ll be a miracle then if anything is left functioning after that amount of time.¡± Replied Xander. Grim nodded. ¡°Ay, a miracle it certainly iz, luckily de lads ere are pretty gud at what they du.¡± We stopped at a large empty metal table in the engineering section with all kinds of ancient parts strewn around. ¡°Okay enough with the showmanship, shows us what you found Grim.¡± ¡°Ay lad-¡± Xander stared a hole into the small man. ¡°I meanz lord, one second ay.¡± As Grimar looked for whatever it was he wanted to show me Xander turned to me with an inquisitive eyebrow ¡°How do you even understand a word he says?¡± I shrugged ¡°You get used to his ¡®accent¡¯.¡± A moment later Grimar brought a cylinder-shaped container up on the table from who knows where. ¡°Dere ya go, lord, in ere lies da top of gud ol colonization era tech, an AdVancement chip.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes, one of the most prized possessions of the colonization era is in front of us. Sure many things have advanced quite beyond the old tech but this particular piece and its fabrication methods had been thought lost to time. ¡°Tell me if I¡¯m wrong Grim, but if I remember my history correctly the A.V chips were supposed to help people get better at specific jobs by providing certain built-in skills or abilities that differed per chip?¡± ¡°Ay, dat i¡¯ll be de gist of it.¡± Said Grim whilst cleaning his work goggles. ¡°What about compatibility issues? Will our cyberware be able to run it?¡± ¡°In most modern cases, nuh way in hell lad, but in ours? Our tech should be uld enough da run it just fine.¡± Xander seemed too stunned to correct the man. I clapped my hands in excitement ¡°This is the advantage we¡¯ve been looking for! When can we expect R&D to produce more of these chips?¡± Grim looked away awkwardly. ¡°Grim?¡± Grim started scratching his bald head as he looked away from me. ¡°Da chip ain¡¯t reproducible,¡± he muttered. ¡°What?¡± Grim sighed ¡°Wez did some research, apparently dis ere be a spare chip. By design, dem chips ain¡¯t copieable. Dey likely made em dad way to prevent theft by enemyz. There ain¡¯t no way we iz gonna be able da copy nor produze it. And frankly, even if wez could du it, we ain¡¯t have da tech nor resources da make it happen.¡± Of course, things wouldn¡¯t be that simple. We¡¯ve been looking for years to find some ways to improve our people¡¯s lives, why do I even hold out hope for some silver bullet at this point... ¡°So why does this require my immediate attention?¡± ¡°Da chip be dying lord. During iz wee long stay in da broken ship in orbit it began lozing integrity, wez been able to restore it to a functioning state, but it can¡¯t last longar.¡± ¡°So you want me to find a suitable candidate for it?¡± Grim shook his head. ¡°Wiz got dat covered.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Grim pointed at me. ¡°Da chip be containing data on adminiztration, construction, and mangezement. It¡¯ll be perfect for yee az a future rula. Besidez we¡¯z got but a few hourz left before it goes.¡± Grim made a breaking motion with his hands. ¡°Any risks involved with implanting this relic into our lord¡¯s head?¡± asked Xander. Grim shook his head ¡°We¡¯z made sure that if somethingz gous wrong wez can remove it safely.¡± ¡°How long would the operation take?¡± ¡°Ay couple of hourz.¡± I looked at Xander ¡°Any other thoughts?¡± ¡°Normally I don¡¯t think this would be a good idea, but we currently lack too many things, the populace can barely live in safety and even that won¡¯t last long with the current trade convoys going missing, frankly we need any advantage we can get. That said I¡¯m not happy with putting some ancient unknowable tech into your head, especially with Lord Collin and Lady Miranda out of action.¡± I looked at Grim ¡°We¡¯ll proceed with the operation immediately Xander you will have operational control, I also need you to look into the source of these missing convoys.¡± Xander looked resigned but nodded and left for the upper spire again. After Xander was gone Grim gave me a grin. ¡°Ya ready to take a nap lad?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get it over with.¡± Chapter 2 - The Wonders of the Past ¡°You can¡¯t catch me!¡± shouted Henry through our coms channel as I chased him through Erak plaza, dexterly dodging in between piles of trash in ways that only us children could. ¡°Yes, I can!¡± I said in between my rebreathed breaths. We often used the masks to reenact deeper voices from our favorite movies. Like that one scene of Darth Mum from sun wars ¡°Psss, Ekul I am your mother!¡± Not for the first did I curse Henry¡¯s running ability. I Ran to the left and ducked in between the opened crack of an old corroded store corner, momentarily losing Henry out of sight. Once I reached my destination I came to a stop, took a breath, and waited. Five seconds later my hand struck out to claim my prize. ¡°Your it!¡± I shouted triumphantly. I couldn¡¯t see Henry¡¯s face but I didn¡¯t have to imagine the shock he must have felt as he stood stock still, giving me a headstart. Sadly Henry quickly recovered, now he was the Hunter and I the prey. We exchanged roles frequently as we exploited the terrain to our advantage, me through intelligence and Henry through his speed and reflexes. I could feel the exhaustion catch up to me. Just a little bit more and then I¡¯ve won! I assured myself, despite the lack of any other rules we set. As I rounded the corner I felt the need to duck, and had I not done so my head would have been crushed, as the mutated rat quickly turned around and prepared for another strike. My legs clamped up, my heart pounded in my ears and my eyes could not look away from the mutated horror who wanted to have lunch. I was too tired, not even a scream could leave my throat. As the monster¡¯s maw opened wide I closed my eyes. I¡¯m sorry Mom, for sneaking out, I¡¯m sorry Dad for not listening to your lectures, I¡¯m sorry Xander for stealing your access card, I¡¯m sorry, I promise to do better, so please help! But I knew they wouldn¡¯t come. The expected squelch was even worse than I had imagined, luckily I could not feel the impact. And then the scream that would haunt my nightmares came. Quickly opening my eyes to see my own doom I saw Henry¡¯s right hand dangling in between the monster''s jaw. Henry tried to fight the monster as he screamed. My body rocked forward, powered by a cocktail of fear, adrenaline, and desperation. My foot propelled ahead to meet the three sacks of squishy meat dangling beneath the monster. When contact was made I had no time to check how many sacks remained. I grabbed Henry by his left hand and called my mom and dad, all the while Henry kept on screaming. ¡°Jason! Jason!, Jason!!¡± Opening my eyes I could see Henry standing over me whilst shouting my name. His short blond hair covered parts of his cybernetic implants. He had grown into the engineer suit over the years, it now fit him quite well, though I would never tell him that. ¡°How many fingers am I holding up¡± asked Henry whilst holding up his right hand. ¡°Six.¡± ¡°Hmm seems you¡¯re alright after your little beauty sleep.¡± ¡°Fuck off Henry. ¡± Henry flipped me off with two of his six mechanical fingers on his right hand. I sighed. ¡°I should have made the hand have five fingers..¡± ¡°Nah, once you go six there¡¯s no going back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only you who shares that sentiment.¡± Henry grinned ¡°Me and Linda.¡± I made a gagging noise, ¡°DON¡¯T. WANT. TO. KNOW.¡± He just kept grinning. ¡°So how long was I out for?¡± I asked in a bit to change the topic. ¡°Only Five hours, it took a bit longer than expected but everything seems fine, why don¡¯t you try to access the A.V. System now?¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. No rest for the productive. I opened my internal UI and searched for the A.V. system, it took all but a few seconds to find it. [A.V. CHIP 108055 - COLONIZATION TYPE CHIP] My mind sent the next command ¡°Execute chip program.¡± [Executing chip program 108055] [Creating User profile] [Race: Augmented-Human | Gender: Male | Age: 25 | Name: Jason El Rafar | Occupation: (Temporary) Planetary Ruler] [User profile is now locked in, This chip is now inaccessible to other users as agreed upon by the Terran Coalition under Rule 42] [Booting up COLONIZATION systems] [Adminstration System - Status: ONLINE] [Construction System - Status: ONLINE] [Management System - Status: ONLINE] [!!ERROR!! CAN NOT ACCESS ALL DATA!] [Validating chip data] [Chip integrity - Integrity at 50%] [Initiating Repair.exe] [Estimating Repair time¡­] [Repair time: ???] [Repair progress 1%] ¡°Can I access the three COLONIZATION systems while repairs are underway?¡± [.|] [..|] [User can access the basic functions of the COLONIZATION systems while repairs are underway, additional functionality will be unlocked as the system un-encrypts the remaining data.] ¡°Why is the remaining data encrypted?¡± [.|] [..|] [Chip integrity was reaching unfunctional status, to preserve all the advancement data and slow down the loss of functionality the remaining data was encrypted and compressed to be regained at a later date. Once integrity is restored to a level where the repair program can be reactivated the de-encryption process will be activated.] ¡°Is there any way to speed up repair speed?¡± [.|] [..|] [The system will recover faster when the user¡¯s cognitive load is reduced. This will free up additional resources to speed up recovery speed. It is recommended that the user relaxes and rests as much as possible to increase recovery speed.] ¡°Are there any instruction manuals for first-time users?¡± [.|] [..|] [UNABLE TO FIND START-UP GUIDE] [Repair progress 3%] [Startup guide found] [Activating startup-guide.exe] [Congratulations Colonization Leader! You have been chosen by the Terran Coalition to spread our glorious way of life to the many corners of the galaxy!] [To assist in your mission your A.V. chip has been provided with three main systems: Administration, Construction, and Management] [The Administration System will allow you to command and keep in touch with your subordinates, (both biological and mechanical) and ensure that any problems they can¡¯t deal with are immediately brought to your attention so that they can wait for further instructions] [The Construction system will provide you with the means to construct both standard template designs such as worker drones as well as create new designs to help combat unexpected situations that might arise during the colonization effort] [The Management system will keep track of all the colonization¡¯s resources, subordinates, and tasks set by the Leader so that there is no loss of efficiency during the colonization progress] [As is standardized the A.V. chip will grow with the user, over time new functionality may be unlocked to suit the characteristics of this individual user''s needs.] ¡°So any luck?¡± Asked Henry. ¡°Yes and no, apparently the system is still quite damaged, so most of the data that was encrypted is currently being unencrypted. The good news for now is that the three main systems that this A.V. chip comes with are at least operational on a basic level.¡± ¡°Administration, Construction, and Management right? Any idea what they do?¡± ¡°Yeah, in short, they help me with colonizing a world.¡± Henry raised an eyebrow ¡°Fat load of good that will do us, this planet is already colonized.¡± ¡°True, but the system will also grow with me. Besides that, it also mentioned that the three systems will help me deal with ¡®unexpected situations¡¯. One could imagine that not every planet the Terran colonizers found would be habitable, besides that they might not always have had a choice on where to settle.¡± ¡°Hmm, that sounds a bit more promising. By the way, what¡¯s a Terran?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know..¡± ¡°Try asking the system?¡± ¡°What is the Terran Coalition?¡± [.|] [..|] [The Terran Coalition is an organization made up of a collection of planetary governments that reside within the sol system.] ¡°What does ¡®¡¯Terran¡¯ mean?¡± [.|] [..|] [Terran means human or ¡°One from Earth¡±.] ¡°What is earth?¡± [.|] [..|] [Earth, now commonly referred to as Terra is a life-bearing planet residing within the sol system, it is the birthplace of humanity.] ¡°Henry.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Remember the name Terra.¡± ¡°Sure but why?¡± ¡°That is our birthplace.¡± ¡°Uhh, last time I checked we were both born on Rafar Jason.¡± ¡°I meant the birthplace of Humanity.¡± ¡°Wait you mean our great ancestors from before the colonizers came here are from a planet called Terra?¡± ¡°Yeah, though apparently, it used to be called Earth.¡± ¡°Huh. Well, I can certainly see the resemblance of our great great ancestors in you.¡± ¡°Henry..¡± ¡°You both have shit naming sense.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± As I was catching Henry up on what I knew from the chip Grimar came up to us. ¡°Master Grimar.¡± said Henry with a bow. ¡°I told zje lad, I don¡¯t need em formalities down ere.¡± Grimar turned to me. ¡°Xander needs ya upstairs lad. He says it has somzing zo do with da convoyz.¡± ¡°I see, I¡¯d better be on my way then. Good work on the chip both of you, let the engineers know I appreciate the work they do and have done so far.¡± ¡°Will do lad.¡± ¡°See ya around Jason.¡± I waved goodbye for now and headed out. Let¡¯s see what happened to the convoy. Chapter 3 - Problems, problems, problems ¡°You wanted to see me, Xander?¡± I asked as I came through the doorway and into the command center. ¡°Greetings my lord, I heard the operation went well?¡± ¡°It went fine. Now what did you find out about the convoy?¡± Xander leaned over the holo table. The holo table displayed the Haderes system in which Rafar was situated with its sister planets. Amira the ice planet and the desert world of Zevia with its ever-vigilant green moon Deros. ¡°Our scouts have come back, though they brought heavy losses with them. It turns out that pirates attacked the convoy.¡± I raised an eyebrow ¡°Pirates? All the way out here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m as perplexed as you are my lord, but the irrefutable truth remains, which is that one of our scout ships has taken serious damage from a pirate vessel.¡± ¡°What was the location of the pirates when they attacked the scout ship?¡± Xander changed the view on the holoscreen and a second later a red path digitally manifested itself between Rafar and Amira. ¡°What type of ship did the pirates attack with?¡± Before Xander could reply he was interrupted by the metal clanking of a soldier¡¯s boots. The soldier came to a sudden stop as half the command center''s personnel aimed a pistol a rifle or a coffee mug at the guy. Looking the soldier over I noticed a set of fresh and bloodied bandages around his head, and one of his arms dangled at his side like a marionet¡¯s arm whose string had been cut. ¡°Belleran! What the hell are you doing here?!!¡± Bellaran seemed unfazed by the fifty-ish weapons aimed at his cerebrum as he screamed ¡°Where are those bastards?!!¡± and Ignored Xander''s command as he took another step forward, he seems to be searching for something. ¡°Soldier if you take another step towards Lord Rafar your head will be filled with something that ain¡¯t muscle!!¡± Judging by the fact that Xander hadn¡¯t shot the soldier yet he must be familiar with him. ¡°Are you lord Jason?¡± Asked the half-crazed Belleran. Ah crap.... ¡°And what if I am soldier?¡± I said with more grace and composure than I felt. A trick my father taught me for when I would take up the mantle of ruler one day. ¡°My lord I need permission to-¡± ¡°Woh slow down buddy, let¡¯s take a breath first,¡± I said as I slowly walked towards him. ¡°Okay?¡± I got his full attention as his eyes focused on me. ¡°Okay, now what do you need my permission for?¡± ¡°T-ttt they killed him, lord! Those bastards killed Haruk!¡± said the man who barely seemed to notice his arm bleeding all over the floor. I came even closer to Belleran as I spoke. ¡°You have my word Bellaran that we will find and punish those who murdered loyal men like Haruk, but first we need to figure out where they are.¡± ¡°But!¡± and that was all he got out as Xander knocked him out from behind. ¡°Ferrick get Belleran back to medical before he bleeds out and make sure to have someone guard him and the rest of the scout team before they get themselves killed. And you lot.¡± Xander looked at a group of security watchers. ¡°Find out how in the void this man got here without encountering any security.¡± ¡°SIR! YES SIR!¡± Shouted the soldiers in the room who quickly went to follow their orders. Xander turned and bowed to me solemnly. ¡°I am sorry for the incompetence of both me and my soldiers.¡± ¡°We handled the situation Xander it¡¯s fine.¡± I waved him away as I walked back towards the holo table. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°No it¡¯s not!¡± hissed Xander. I turned around. ¡°But we prevented the loss of a loyal soldier,¡± I asked confusedly. ¡°You don¡¯t understand the significance of your life right now! With your parents out of commission, You are the last of your bloodline to represent the entirety of Rafar. I know that most of us here including you don¡¯t care for such outdated thinking but the Autarchs from the Union certainly do, and the only reason they haven¡¯t taken over our world is because of the service your family has rendered to the union in the past. So if anything happened to you or your bloodline Rafarian society would collapse within a week! And I assure you that most Autarchs don¡¯t care for the populace in the way that your family does.¡± The command center grew quiet as Xander¡¯s words echoed off the walls. Xander sighed ¡°Look, Lord Jason, this situation was not your fault, if anyone is to blame it is the door guards who hesitated to either shoot or incapacitate the wounded Belleran. I will make sure to drill them so that something like this doesn¡¯t happen again, but I need you to understand the weight your life holds right now.¡± ¡°I... I understand.¡± Xander didn¡¯t look entirely convinced but backed off. He was probably afraid that all kinds of rumors would spread, rumors that we couldn¡¯t afford right now. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth though, I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t have to shoot Belleran thanks to your efforts.¡± ¡°Who is Belleran anyway? You seem to know the guy.¡± Xander nodded. ¡°Belleran was part of the crew sent out on the scouting mission.¡± ¡°That explains a lot. Will make those pirates pay for what they''ve done.¡± ¡°We will lord, but first we have to find them, now as for your earlier question, the pirates were using fighters.¡± ¡°Do we know the fighter model they are using?¡± ¡°Not precisely, why do you want to know my lord?¡± I used the holo screen to display a circle zone originating from the last known location of the pirates. ¡°Because if we know the fighter model we know how much fuel they can carry, which will help us narrow down their field of activity. And using that we can surmise that somewhere in this region¡± I pointed to the zone ¡°There is a way to refuel, which is where we need to strike.¡± Xander looked thoughtfully ¡°I hadn¡¯t considered approaching the problem from that angle, I¡¯ll see what we can find out and narrow down the area of their refueling base.¡± ¡°Good, but that still leaves us with another question, how did they find out about the convoy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. The only ones who knew of the convoy were Lady Miranda, Lord Collin, and the outer colony partners who sent the convoy.¡± I furrowed my brows. ¡°What''s the chance the pirates stumbled across this information by themselves?¡± Xander shook his head ¡°Next to none, everyone involved in the convoy swore to secrecy. If they didn¡¯t the union would have taken control the moment they heard of the convoy.¡± ¡°Then that means that there is a traitor among us.¡± ¡°My lord, while I agree that this is certainly a concern, there are more pressing matters at hand.¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°Our fleet''s capacity. As you know we aren¡¯t rich. To put it bluntly, having two corvets, two fighter squads and one scout ship is about all we could scramble together. I fear that we may lack the resources to deal with these pirates, given that the majority of our forces aren''t experienced fighters and that we don¡¯t know the number of pirate vessels out there.¡± I scratched my head. ¡°Right, and unlike the pirates we can¡¯t take the fighter squads with us due to a lack of a refueling base.¡± Xander shook his head. ¡°And that is not even the end of our problems. Even if we do manage to fix the fuel problem and send out all our forces, our space station will be left defenseless.¡± Which we can¡¯t lose as it is the only way Rafar currently has to get access to new opportunities to improve our situation. ¡°So to summarize we need to find the pirates and their base of operations, find a way to expand our navy, and increase the orbital defenses surrounding the station. Any idea on where to start?¡± Xander scratched his chin in thought. ¡°We can take care of the scouting problem once the scout ship is patched up, the main problem will be increasing our navy and the defenses. All the ships we currently have are the ones we bought for cheap and fixed up ourselves, from back when your family first came here with the space station. Until now Rafar never needed a big fleet as no one would come all the way here.¡± ¡°but now we will have to figure out some way to build up our fleet, I¡¯ll check back in with Grimar and Henry to see what can be done, are there any other pending issues I should look at?¡± ¡°There are always more problems, but not that I know of right now. For the domestic problems, you will need to check in with Orik.¡± ¡°Alright send someone to fetch Orik and bring him to engineering where I will meet with Grimar and Henry to see what we can do.¡± ¡°Yes, Lord. I will also send Talos there so that you can all discuss what resources could be allocated to fix the coming problems. ¡± ¡°Good, while heading there I will also inform our outer colony partners to inform them of the pirate threat.¡± I said as I walked out of the command center and back to engineering. I let out a silent groan as I left. This is going to be a long day¡­ Chapter 4 - Expanding the fleet ¡°Pirates? All the way out here?¡± asked Henry. ¡°What could they possibly want in this little corner of nothing.¡± ¡°First of all, it¡¯s our little corner of nothing.¡± I stated with an imperious finger ¡°Secondly they hit our scout ship, meaning that any vessel wanting to travel through our system is now under threat.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just wait them out? Surely the pirates will leave once they notice that there is nothing to gain?¡± I shook my head. ¡°While that would be ideal, we can¡¯t let the pirates get away unscathed, if we did they might let out rumors that our defenses are a pushover, which might attract other pirates, or warlords that decide that they could take better care of the Haderes system.¡± Besides that, we really need the convoy. Henry shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°Well let¡¯s send the navy after them and be done with it then.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think I would¡¯ve done that already if I could?¡± Henry looked confused. ¡°So we don¡¯t have a navy?¡± I sighed, luckily my savior came in the knick of time, heralded by a satisfying smack as Henry tumbled over from Grimar''s back slap. ¡°Give the yung lard a break Honry!¡± ¡°For the umpteenth time, IT¡¯S HENRY!¡± ¡°Well, ya don¡¯t hab te scream me bludy earz out Hikry!¡± ¡°IT¡¯S HENRY!¡± ¡°I HEARD YA DA FIRST TIME HIGSBY.¡± I stepped in before the comedic duo really started firing up their routine. ¡°Calm down Henry, yes we have a navy. The problem is that the navy ain¡¯t exactly big nor top of the line, and right now we don¡¯t how many pirates there are.¡± Henry caressed his back as he asked. ¡°So how exactly are ya planning on fixing that issue? Are you going to pull a destroyer out of a magic hat?¡± ¡°I wish, but if I knew how to do that I wouldn¡¯t be here now would I? So Grim any ideas?¡± Grim closed his eyes in thought. ¡°Wellz da problem ain¡¯t sa equipment, sinze wez got da station floating in orbitz. No da problem isz the same az always.¡± ¡°A lack of resources.¡± Said a feminine voice from behind me, as Talis our planetary resource manager made herself known. Talis stared at Grimar. ¡°And where were you last night Grimmy?¡± Beads of sweat rippled off the bald engineer''s head, it¡¯s hard to say if it was from the work or Talis¡¯s presence. ¡°I.. I was at the workshop as I always am!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you promise me you would take me out to Shram¡¯s place?¡± Grim could feed our citizens monthly water supply with the amount he¡¯s sweating.. Also is it me or does he manage to speak without an accent whenever Talis is around? ¡°Well, Grimmy?¡± Grim motioned Talis to come near and whispered something in her ear. Sadly his mustache muffled the whispers so I couldn¡¯t hear a thing. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll hold you to it.¡± As Talis turned around I could see glimpses of my own reflection in her glasses. ¡°Ah sorry my Lord J.¡± she said with a playful smile. ¡°Forgive my bad manners.¡± Said Talis as she did a small courtsie. ¡°Greetings to you too Talis.¡± I deadpanned. ¡°Now now Lord Jason that¡¯s no way to greet your former ethics teacher.¡± ¡°So Grim any ideas?¡± I asked with a bit more force than usual. Talis had this presence that demanded your attention and I had no time to get swept up in it. Grim took the social lifeline I threw him and ran with it. ¡°Izz been thinking wez might be able to repurpose some of da three dai-mensional printas to fabricate fighter ship partz, so wez could assemble dem.¡± I looked to Talis. ¡°Do we have enough printer supplies to make that plan into a reality?¡± Talis shook her head. ¡°You might be able to make one full ship out of it alas that would not solve our problem now would it. Besides you¡¯re all forgetting the more fundamental problem at hand. Even if you could get the ships ready who¡¯s going to crew them hm? The cooks, the cleaners, maybe some more of those annoying suitors that have been bothering me recently?¡± ¡°So fighters are out of the question, but what about gunships?¡± ¡°Dat might, work lord, dem gunships iz little more then a sluw moving box with gunz.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice and all gents, but how exactly do you plan to make them?¡± Hummed Talis. ¡°Can¡¯t we just repurpose the wrecks?¡± asked Henry. We all turned around to him. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°What wrekz yee talkin a boot lad?¡± Henry brought over a holo screen displaying the outskirts of the capital Harentiel where we were currently located. ¡°The A.U dumped a lot of things on Rafar over the centuries, some of which were old space vessels. Sure they are rusted to hell and buried under tons of waste and scrap, but it¡¯s laying there, ripe for the taking.¡± Henry flipped through a couple of satellite images before landing on one with multiple highlighted wrecks. ¡°These locations house the most easily repurposed wrecks though the readings indicate that they are mostly civilian ships with the odd mining vessel here or there.¡± ¡°Grim, Henry do you two think you and the engineer corps could patch them up, assuming we could dig them out of the wastes?¡± ¡°It will be hard ta say lord, but wez should be able to manigz somezing. Right Henz?¡± ¡°Only one way to find out.¡± Replied Henry. ¡°What do you think Talis, do we have the resources to make it happen?¡± Talis looked thoughtful for a moment. ¡°Assuming we could fix them up I¡¯d be able to spare some manpower, but it would take too long to dig them out. By the time the digging is done, the pirates would already be gone or upon us.¡± Whilst the three of them continued on figuring out the details I checked in with the A.V. system. [Chip Repair progress at 5%] ¡°Open Construction system.¡± [Opening Construction system] [Searching for colonization blueprints] [!!ERROR!! UNABLE TO ACCESS CB 14023] [!!ERROR!! UNABLE TO ACCESS CB 06010] [!!ERROR!! UNABLE TO ACCESS CB 05021] [!!ERROR!! UNABLE TO ACCESS CB 13210] I grabbed my head to steady myself as the endless barrages of errors continued. After what felt like an eternity a new message came in. [CB 00001 - Construction Drone - FOUND] I felt the corners of my mouth rise as I read the specifications for the Construction Drone Blueprint. ¡°You think he¡¯s alright? The chip might have fried his brains out..¡± ¡°Hill be fine lad, he can loze a few nuts¡¯n boltz.¡± ¡°Lord J will be fine Henry, and if not I can always give him some old ethics lessons to get him back into shape.¡± ¡°Say whatever you want, because I might have found a way out of this mess.¡± ¡°Jason I always thought that pink would suit you.¡± ¡°Okay, maybe not everything Henry.¡± Grim luckily put a hand over Henry¡¯s mouth while Talis practically demanded an explanation of course she didn¡¯t word it like that... ¡°So this Construction Drone can be easily fabricated from our printers for little cost and is used for resource gathering, construction, and repair work?¡± ¡°That about sums it up yeah.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the catch?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Only one way to find out.¡± I connected my cyberware to one of the 3D printers in the engineering bay, loaded up the blueprint, and let it build. The drone looked weird. To be specific it looked like a metal brick. ¡°Open Administration system.¡± [Opening Administration system] [!!ERROR!! [TACTICAL OVERVIEW] LOCKED] [!!ERROR!! [ASSIGNING TASK ROUTINES] LOCKED] [!!ERROR!! [COMMUNICATION NETWORK] LOCKED] [!!ERROR!! [REMOTE CONTROL] LOCKED] [Administration System Function - [COMMAND] - FOUND] ¡°COMMAND - Walk to me¡± [!!CANNOT PERFORM ACTION!! 404 NO TARGET FOR COMMAND FOUND] ¡°Open the Management system.¡± [Opening Management system] [!!ERROR-] I waited for the system to get all the error messages out before finally something useful again. [Management System Function - [ASSET TRACKER] - FOUND] In my peripheral vision, an arrow marker hovered above the drone, which still sat there in brick mode. ¡°Target Construction Drone.¡± [Linked Subordinate Targeted - Rafarian Construction Drone V1 0001] ¡°COMMAND - Walk to me.¡± The others were about to wonder whether or not I truly had a screw loose, luckily the brick- er Construction Drone began opening from its brick-like state. The Construction Drone looked like a.. Well a.. ¡°Is that a metal crab?¡± Asked Henry Rethoricly. The cra- Construction Drone did as was ordered and walked up to me. While its structure was that of a crab its individual parts were different. To see if the crab could handle Rafars rough terrain we had some of the workers gather a bunch of scrap from storage and put it out haphazardly on the floor. I ordered the drone to walk to multiple locations of varying difficulty, which it achieved without much difficulty. It seemed that the legs were made so to have a good grip no matter the terrain, this however did come at the cost of speed, but could probably be offset for now by numbers. The claws as we found out had a limited size heating and cooling ray in them, allowing the drone to modify the materials it was trying to repair or gather. ¡°This is good enough for me, what about you three?¡± All of them gave me a thumbs up. ¡°Then let''s put the plan in motion and make General Thalia happy.¡± Chapter 5 - Politics I mentally thanked the A.U. for ¡®donating¡¯ their ships to Rafar. Half of the wrecks Henry had discovered proved to be unfixable, but the other half still had a chance at life according to Grimar and his engineering team. It took about two days to set things up, but during that time the operation had already begun to bear fruit. On the first day, I sent the construction drones to begin digging away at the piles of trash that covered up the wrecks. We discovered that Rafar''s ever-mutating wildlife had taken an interest in the drones. Which meant we had to make guard stations to guard the drones. Whilst this was happening R&D made themselves useful by using the data collected from the drones during their work to improve their robotic shells to better endure under Rafar¡¯s hostile environment. On the second day, the A.V. chip repaired itself enough to unlock a new function. [Chip Repair progress at 10%] [Administartion Function - [ASSIGN TASK ROUTINES] - UNLOCKED] R&D set up a metal sorting machine that in combination with the [Assign Task Routines] function allowed us to have the construction drones bring back any usable salvage which were then melted down into new materials to be used to construct new construction drones. This in turn meant that each day the operation went smoother and quicker. The digging operation alone was estimated to take weeks, and that was with people working around the clock, but now we were done digging the wrecks out within four days. As thanks for their hard work, I entrusted Grimar, Henry, and some of the other engineers with command over their own Construction Drone groups, which they immediately set to work to help repair the wrecks. Henry however had a different idea. As he pointed out some weaponry or other technology might still be found and dug out from beneath the waste. So with my blessing he and a team set out to hopefully recover some armaments with which we could arm the ships. I snapped out of my retrospection as the door to my father¡¯s office opened. ¡°Ah Xander, how goes the hunt?¡± ¡°Badly my lord, they still elude us for the moment. The military faction is demanding additional resources to deal with the threat. They feel that they¡¯ve been neglected for too long, and are saying that our planetary sovereignty is paying the price because of it.¡± ¡°What about General Thalia? Is she doing anything to stop this movement from growing out of hand?¡± Xander sighed. ¡°She¡¯s both unable and unwilling to do anything about the military¡¯s demand.¡± ¡°Has nobody informed the good general of our current retrofitting operations?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, my Lord. It was only a few days ago the project was still in the testing phases, it¡¯s only now that one of the wrecks is getting to a functional state that the engineering team is willing to share the details with the other factions.¡± ¡°In that case, I will personally update the general, that should help lower some of the anger of her faction. This will be a good time to have her train additional crew for the new ships.¡± Xander nodded. ¡°And who is that besides you?¡± A man wearing a civic uniform with a puffy black afro stepped forward. ¡°Greetings my Lord, I am Orik head of domestic affairs.¡± the way his hair bobbed up and down was magnetic to look at. ¡°Ah your Orik, greetings to you too, please take a seat. My apologies for not meeting with you earlier. I saw the meeting requests you sent previously, but sadly I was preoccupied over the last few days with a project concerning our planetary security that required my full undivided attention.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I have heard something to that effect. I would have liked to be able to handle this problem internally within domestic affairs, sadly the problems have been left to fester and we need your help.¡± ¡°Well let¡¯s get to it then, what exactly is plaguing you and the people?¡± Orik sent me some files through the network. ¡°So some of the shrimp farms had a malfunction in their water purification pumps. Tell me Orik how bad is it.¡± Orik looked pained. ¡°The consumption department estimates that we lost about forty percent of our food supply..¡± ¡°Will our emergency food supplies hold?¡± ¡°If luck is on our side we have four months of foodstuffs left.¡± ¡°And if it¡¯s not?¡± ¡°Two or less months..¡± ¡°I see. Is there any way we could increase the food supply without external aid?¡± Orik shook his head. ¡°Your father mentioned something about finding potential trade partners, do you have any idea what he meant lord?¡± ¡°I do, sadly that is not an option as of this moment, though we are actively working on it. Right now we will have to cover this shortage ourselves. Recently we did manage to kill a lot of hostile wildlife, I know it¡¯s a long shot, but can you ask the consumption department if they can turn some of those corpses we got into food?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask but don¡¯t expect much.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. Tell consumption that they can expect a batch of newly constructed construction drones?¡± ¡°You mean those metal crabs some citizens have been seeing over the last few days?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I had commissioned R&D to look into ways to expand or upgrade our workforce, these crabs as you call them are the result.¡± Can¡¯t exactly let everyone know I¡¯ve got an A.V. chip now, can I. ¡°Fascinating, if you don¡¯t mind my asking could you share some of these Construction Drones with the other departments?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll allow it, but only after rapport has been put together showing how each department plans to use them and the expected gains we can expect to receive from this investment.¡± ¡°Would you let us handle putting the report together my Lord?¡± Can domestic affairs gain more bargaining power with the other departments. Sure, for the right price. ¡°Of course, and I¡¯m sure you can use some resources to lessen the citizen''s complaints in the meantime yes?¡± ¡°Your wisdom exceeds your age, my lord.¡± Said Orik with a smile that lacked warmth, while his hair bobbed from side to side. How does he even fit that inside his helmet? ¡°And I can see why you''re in charge of domestic affairs,¡± I said with an equally friendly smile. I hate politics. Let¡¯s just get this over with. ¡°Well, I would love to keep talking with you Orik, but I¡¯m afraid time is always short, so what are the other pressing matters?¡± ¡°Recently more wildlife than usual have been running into our underground habitats, while we don¡¯t know the cause, the people feel unsafe and threatened.¡± Crap, the worksites must have disturbed whatever ecosystem was in place. ¡°I¡¯ll increase the Planetary Defense Forces budget so they can hire more manpower. I¡¯ll also ask General Thalia to temporarily send over some new recruits to help bolster the defenses as a training assignment. Will that do for now?¡± Orik nodded. ¡°Good, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°The Industrial Resource Department is about to run out of metal ore to refine, soon the foundries will be out of work, putting a large part of our citizenry out of a job.¡± ¡°What measures have they taken so far?¡± ¡°Right now the IRD has shifted its focus on recycling more of the surrounding material waste, but they can¡¯t fully be switched over due to the time it takes to identify and haul recyclable materials.¡± ¡°Tell them to steadily switch over to full recycling, in the meantime, I will have R&D modify some of the construction drones to better enable them to identify the resources that can be recycled. Have the IRD send me a rapport later on how things are going.¡± After that, we kept talking about a lot of different topics for a bit longer, mostly about which department was going to have its budget lowered. Can¡¯t exactly print money... Or at least not without ruining our own fragile economy. Once we were done I politely excused Orik from my office and told Xander to guard the outside of my office. ¡°Now to placate our dear general..¡± I hope my parents get well soon. This is too much work for one person. Chapter 6 - To Battle part 1 The shuttle stood out as the odd duck in the orbital station¡¯s hangar, as it was the only thing that didn¡¯t look hastily put together. My mother always insisted that it had been a necessary expense, otherwise, foreign dignitaries wouldn¡¯t take our arrival seriously. While I agreed with the principle of it, in practice, it hadn¡¯t been worth the cost, for we were seldom invited to any social event. And still ended up a laughing stock. It took only a minute before Xander walked back into the royal shuttle. ¡°It¡¯s safe for your entry my Lord.¡± ¡°Thanks, Xander, let the others know I appreciate the work you¡¯ve all been doing.¡± Xander nodded solemnly. ¡°It is our duty and pleasure my Lord.¡± Walking down the shuttle''s retractable stairs I soon spotted an army guard. The guard bowed upon seeing me and my entourage of royal guards. It still felt weird having Xander or one of the other royal guards follow me around at every turn. How the hell did Dad or Mom ever get used to this? ¡°Greetings to you Lord Rafar, General Thalia has been expecting you. Please follow me.¡± Said the army guard. ¡°Lead the way.¡± As we journeyed through the station I offered a glance through the window. The planet¡¯s surface was barely visible due to the large bands of toxic clouds that radiated out and polluted the atmosphere. Solar power is still an unviable venture on our planet, which means that we have to rely on old and outdated power sources such as power plants. Thereby only adding to the already catastrophic climate conditions. Maybe one day we can fetch some fusion reactor tech for ourselves. Since I seemed to have a bit more time on hand before I arrived at the general¡¯s office I checked in with the Advancement chip¡¯s data decryption and repair progress. [Chip Repair progress at 30%] [Administration System - Function - [COMMUNICATION NETWORK] - FOUND] [Administration System - Function - [REMOTE CONTROL] - FOUND] The repair progress has not been as fast as I had hoped, though that might have been due to the lack of sleep I¡¯ve been getting over these past few weeks. Still, I should check out how these new functions work when I¡¯m done chatting with the general. The army guard stopped in front of the door. ¡°We have arrived Lord Rafar. ¡± I nodded towards the army guard. ¡°Thank you for your service soldier.¡± Crossing over the door''s threshold the first thing I spotted was the general hunched over her computer screen. I recognized the look of a warrior fighting against an endless sea of documents, only to go back to being drowned by them whenever you thought they were almost done. ¡°How do you like my gift, my dear General?¡± I asked sarcastically. The General looked up at me, and from beneath the shadow of her General¡¯s hat, I saw the beginnings of dark circles forming under her eyes. ¡°I like the new ships, I like the troops, I hate the paperwork. As far as gifts go I can¡¯t complain.¡± She said with a tired grin as we shook hands. ¡°You¡¯ve done well to take over the mantel of both your parents during their absence Lord Jason. The things you¡¯ve managed to accomplish in three weeks are quite simply astounding.¡± She waved over to a window where our newly retrofitted corvettes were practicing against dummy training targets. I gave her a weak smile. ¡°Thanks, General, sadly it''s still not enough to deal with our current threats, so let''s stop making pleasantries and get to the heart of the matter. How goes the search for the pirates?¡± The General pushed her short white braid over her shoulders, her cybernetic cross-shaped eye seemed to lighten up with a red glow as she faced me. ¡°The pirates have been getting sloppy, we¡¯ve managed to slip under their radar and track down their location without giving ourselves away.¡± I looked over the data packet she sent me. ¡°So they¡¯ve been using a carrier as their refueling platform. No wonder we couldn¡¯t find them all this time.¡± The General nodded. ¡°From the basic scans we¡¯ve managed to do the carrier seems to lack a lot of weaponry, however, it makes up for its lack of firepower with its fleet of fighter squadrons spread out over its two hangar decks. We¡¯ve also been able to identify the blueprint of the original ship in our database. The vessel seems to have been an old heavy freight cargo transport in the past before it was modified.¡± I leaned back in the office chair. ¡°Do you think you can handle that carrier with the new additions to the navy?¡± The General though tired radiated an aura of confidence. ¡°I think so, with the three additional multi-gun corvettes you¡¯ve provided we can now provide anti-fighter cover for our two missile frigates to assault the carrier with. Of course, in battle, there is no surefire win, but our chances are looking good.¡± ¡°Good, I can¡¯t stress the importance of getting this trade convoy back on track, right now Domestic affairs have been able to feed our citizens due to the rationing we put in effect, but that won¡¯t last us longer than a few months tops.¡± ¡°Rest assured my Lord the military will handle it.¡± ¡°I hope so General. How long before the operation commences?¡± ¡°Will leave in an hour, the station still has two fighter squadrons to protect it.¡± ¡°What about some of the orbital weaponry Henry¡¯s salvaged, are those online?¡± ¡°Last thing I heard was that some of the gun''s calibration systems aren¡¯t compatible with ours. I¡¯m afraid that if you want more specifics, you will have to check in with Henry and the other engineers.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I see. General I pray for the success of you and your men. Make Rafar proud.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord.¡± With that, I stood up and left the room to find Henry and the engineers. [15 minutes later, Rafarian Space Station ¡°Miranda¡¯s Hope¡± - Engineering bay - Weapons division] Son of Rattialion! Screamed a familiar voice. ¡°Hi to you too Henry.¡± I snickered. Henry who was too caught up in his own work dropped his tools and turned around in shock, apparently he hadn¡¯t noticed me. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just you..¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You know, technically speaking you just insulted your planet''s ruler.¡± ¡°If you want me shot go ahead, it¡¯s preferable to getting this hunk of junk to work.¡± Quipped Henry, as he gave whatever kind of machinery he worked on a good kick. I chuckled and shook my head. ¡°Alright friend, what seems to be the problem?¡± Henry let out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°It''s the targeting system for the turrets we scavenged and fixed up down below. The machine won¡¯t play nice with the station''s systems.¡± ¡°The General mentioned something like that. I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s not a software problem then?¡± ¡°No, we managed to hack a system for that together. The problem is that the internal machinery for each targeting system used by each gun is different, thanks to being from different eras and manufacturers.¡± ¡°Alright let¡¯s take a step back first and look at the big picture and go from there. First out of the fifty guns your team has managed to salvage, how many are functioning right now?¡± ¡°About thirty of the fifty guns are working properly, it¡¯s the other twenty that¡¯s the problem, their internal workings are too out of date to connect to the station''s ammo supply delivery system.¡± ¡°And how long has your team been working on getting those twenty online?¡± ¡°About a week..¡± ¡°Right, in that case, I want you and the team to stop working on trying to integrate these into our stations system, I have a different plan.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Well it was a plan intended for later, but since these guns won¡¯t work with our station any time soon, I think it¡¯s time we made some of our own gun platforms that we can deploy around the station. That way we can have each platform have its own internal system that will work with a subset of the twenty guns we still have left, whilst still adding to the station''s overall defense.¡± ¡°Mmhh that could work. Alright will get on that right away.¡± ¡°Good, now before you go off and lose yourself in work again how about you point me to the asteroid mining division, I¡¯ve got something I need to go over with them.¡± Henry sent a message to the mining division to let them know I was coming whilst also giving me pointers on how to get there. I said goodbye to Henry and the team and walked off. When I looked at Xander I saw him smiling. ¡°And what¡¯s gotten our royal guard captain happy? At this rate, you¡¯ll lose your grumpiness and stern demeanor.¡± I joked. ¡°It¡¯s just been a while since I¡¯ve seen you genuinely happy like this my lord. Reminds me of your younger days when you and Henry were playing is all.¡± I thought back on my interaction with Henry just now. ¡°Yeah, that was fun..¡± [7 Hours later, Rafarian Space Station ¡°Miranda¡¯s Hope¡± - Engineering bay - Mining and salvaging division] I collapsed into the office chair. Today was another productive day. R&D had managed to make a version of the Construction Drone that worked in space by replacing most of the mechanical limbs with small thrusters. It was quite surreal to see hundreds upon hundreds of metal crabs doing construction work in space... But the results spoke for themselves. Thanks to these metal beauties we¡¯ve managed to repair the aging station and made and deployed four brand new defense gun platforms on each vertical and horizontal side of the station. And the work I did with the mining division should see an increase in our asteroid mining operations and construction facilities. Soon we might be able to make brand-new ships ourselves, without having to rely on salvage. However, we still need to figure out how we can make reactor components ourselves before that dream kicks off. I had yet to hear back from the general, but I didn¡¯t expect a response anyway, space combat could hours if not days to finish. Not that I had or wanted any experience with that. I¡¯m a builder, not a killer. As I felt my eyes close themselves and sleep to begin taking hold a communication link was sent to me from the station¡¯s communications center. I grudgingly accepted the invitation. Immediately upon accepting a virtual link was established between my cyberware and the communications center. ¡°Sorry to disturb you your Highness but we¡¯ve picked up a big FTL signature near the edge of our sensors network.¡± I took a sip of my nearby energy drink as I tried to fight off sleep''s embrace. ¡°*Yawn* Is the general back already?¡± The comms went quiet for a minute. ¡°We¡¯re not sure, the vessel¡¯s power signature outclasses any that our vessels can produce.¡± I have a bad feeling about this. ¡°I want all our defenses ready to respond?¡± ¡°Sir all stations are already prepared and standing by for possible action.¡± ¡°Good, keep me updated on the situation I¡¯ll be at the command center in a minute-¡± The warning claxon of the station came alive and blared through my conversation with the communications center. ¡°WARNING ENEMY CARRIER DETECTED, STATION PERSONNEL READY AND ARM YOURSELF, PREPARE FOR BATTLESTATIONS, I REPEAT THE ENEMY IS APPROACHING, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.¡± Are these the pirates?!? Did the General fail? I immediately rushed out of my quarters to get to the elevator, Xander and the royal guard were immediately behind me, giving me some sense of comfort and assurance. I immediately invited all of them to join my conversation with communications. ¡°Communications what is happening, leave no detail out!¡± I practically barked at them in my panic. ¡°We¡¯ve detected a hostile carrier, they have deployed several fighter squadrons and are heading for the station at top speed!!¡± Adrenaline surged through my body as I ran, whilst also checking that my custom pistol was still in its holster. ¡°Are these the pirates our scout ship engaged weeks ago? And how many fighters squadrons are heading our way?!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know my Lord, the carrier doesn¡¯t match the data we scanned previously on the pirate carrier. Five squadrons are heading for us! Three fighter and two bomber squadrons.¡± ¡°What about our two fighter squadrons? Have they deployed yet? ¡°They are leaving the station as we speak.¡± ¡°Instruct them to take advantage of the new defense platforms we¡¯ve deployed to make up for the lack of numbers, whatever they or the defense network can¡¯t hit we have to make up for with our new station defenses.¡± I quickly called up Henry as well. ¡°HENRY! Where the hell are you now!¡± I could hear Henry sprinting over our coms channel. ¡°I and my team have split up, one half went to make sure that the guns are working properly, the other half is with me going to the hangar bay to see if we can help repair any of our fighters that need repairs.¡± We will need all the help we can get. ¡°Good thinking Henry. I¡¯m heading to the command center to get a better picture, arm yourself and your team, and stay safe!¡± we were almost near the elevator. ¡°You too Jason!¡± ¡°My lord the carrier is generating a ton of power, it¡¯s-¡± A second later the lights flickered out and we were plunged into darkness. Chapter 7 - To Battle part 2 As the station''s internal lights went out I began to feel myself slowly drift from the ground, as gravity was quickly leaving the immediate vicinity. We searched for the emergency atmosphere suits that every station was required to have at certain intervals. Luckily I and the guards managed to find ones that were close by, less than a minute later we were all suited up. Communications were still down, meaning that we and presumably others in the station were cut off from the chain of command. The outside of the station was painted with lights as explosions went off and fighter squads dueled it out across our sovereign space, various documents and other things that hadn¡¯t been bolted down floated out and about in the station¡¯s hall. I remembered that two additional functions came online and with no other plan in mind I inquired the A.V chip about the new functions. ¡°What do the administration functions [COMMUNICATION NETWORK] and [REMOTE CONTROL] do and how do I activate them?¡± [The [COMMUNICATION NETWORK] Function allows the user to communicate with one¡¯s subordinates remotely using a special frequency produced by the chip and the user''s cyberware, the range depends on the cyberware system specifications.] [The [REMOTE CONTROL] Function allows the user to take remote control of a subordinate so long as it has a mechanical core from which control can be obtained.] I looked at Xander. ¡°Xander, do you trust me?¡± ¡°Of course my Lord.¡± ¡°Good, I¡¯m about to try something, be ready.¡± ¡°I wish to designate Xander as my subordinate.¡± [Designating subordinate ¡°Xander¡±] [Asking subordinate ¡°Xander¡± to accept being registered on the A.V neural network.] [Subordinate ¡°Xander¡± has accepted the A.V. neural network link.] ¡±Activate the [COMMUNICATION NETWORK].¡± A second later I could see Xander stare at me in bewilderment. ¡°My lord, how did you reestablish the coms network?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. I made a new one using the A.V. chips capabilities but we don¡¯t have time for further explanations, I need you to help me get the other guards to accept this as well for the time being.¡± Xander nodded, and less than a minute later all the other guards were designated as my subordinates, further bolstering the new A.V. network. ¡°Xander it appears the enemy has some kind of EMP weapon, based on the last message we got from the comms center it seems likely to have originated from within the carrier. Any idea how we can resolve our current power outage?¡± ¡°I think we should go to engineering, if there is any solution at all, it will either be there or in the hangar bay.¡± Shit on a stick, Henry is in the hangar right now! But without power, we will all die... FUCK! ¡°Everyone we¡¯re going to engineering, without power there is no way to reestablish command,¡± I said through the A.V. neural network and a second later we were off, steadily pushing ourselves forward in the now zero gravity environment as the power must have completely left the gravity generator dead and empty. it wouldn¡¯t be long before the remaining oxygen would leave the station, as with the gravity generator turned off it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to think the air filtration system would soon follow after it. As we boosted ourselves forward with the small movement thrusters on our atmosphere suit we eventually managed to make our way down to engineering by going through the station''s highway network, which was no more than a two-lane zero gravity tube through which one could quickly move up and down the station. Normally this space was reserved for construction workers and drones and we would have taken the elevator. But without power, there was no point in even trying the elevator. As we entered engineering we could see various suit lights pierce through the darkness as the engineers searched desperately for a way to restore power. I invited every engineer there to the A.V.N (Advancement Chip Network) and soon we had reestablished a command structure within engineering. ¡°So Steven what¡¯s holding us back from restoring power?¡± The man looked worried as his sweat glistened inside his suit and reflected the small bit of illumination our companionship provided. ¡°The station¡¯s emergency power management system is supposed to redirect power to the most critical systems to maintain a minimum of power so that the power generation centers such as the solar wings and the core reactor can quickly work to recover power. However, with the damage from both the EMP blast and the bombing runs from the enemy¡¯s bomb squadrons the station¡¯s infrastructure has been damaged in key locations and now lacks ways to transfer the remaining power from the inside to the power generation centers.¡± ¡°Show me which power transfer stations are the least damaged on the station¡¯s exteriors.¡± A minute later the engineers sent me the data points of the least damaged power transfer stations. ¡°Have you tried sending the construction drones out to fix them?¡± ¡°We did, but with communications down, they don¡¯t receive our commands.¡± Replied the frustrated engineer. ¡°I might be able to help with that.¡± ¡°Designate construction drones from 1864 through 1892 as subordinates.¡± [Designating Construction Drones 1864 till 1892 as subordinates] [Construction Drones 1864 till 1892 have accepted the A.V. neural network link and await your command.] Excellent. I immediately used the [REMOTE CONTROL] function to order the drones around. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I have regained control of the drones, now help me coordinate the repair effort!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± I sent out the repair drones under the careful instructions of the engineering team, and a few minutes later some of the station''s coms network was brought back online. ¡°This is Amanda from Engineering, can anyone hear us, I repeat this is engineering can anyone hear us!?¡± Asked one of our female engineers. A second later the station¡¯s silence was finally broken. ¡°This is Erikson from Henry¡¯s engineering team, we are working to get the weapons back online, but the power system has been cut off from us and we can¡¯t reroute it!¡± I cut in. ¡°This is Jason, I and the others from engineering are working on fixing the outside systems with construction drones, send over data points on what you think would be the quickest systems to repair to bring the guns back online!¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± I got a private message from Xander. ¡°What are you doing my lord!? The enemy could be intercepting our comms and now know where you are!¡± I all but barked back. ¡°So what Xander! Our command chain is crippled, General Thalia hasn¡¯t reported back, and we don¡¯t know the status of our fighters let alone if our defenses are still up?! And you¡¯re worried about my life right now?! Just focus on your job, you can chew me out later if we''re still alive at that point!¡± That seemed to shut him up. A few minutes later after repairing the systems Henry¡¯s second team had designated I could hear voices of jubilation come over the coms network. ¡°You did it your sir! The guns are back online.¡± I ignored the small bit of relief I felt as we were still very much in the frying pan. I looked at Amanda ¡°Am, did you establish contact with comms and the command center yet??¡± The woman looked frustrated and on the verge of tears as she replied. ¡°No sir, no one¡¯s responding, dammit!¡± Shit. ¡°Alright stay calm people, we will get through this, just focus on what you can do. Erik, can you and your team try to reestablish comms from your side to our fighter network?¡± I got a ¡°Will do our best sir!¡± and the repair work continued. After a few minutes, another big problem reared its big ugly head. [!!ERROR!! Drone_1864 has left your control range.] [!!ERROR!! Drone_1872 has left your control range.] [!!ERROR!! Drone_1867 has left your control range.] [!!ERROR!! Drone_1865 has left your control range.] [!!ERROR!! Drone_1891 has left your control range.] [!!ERROR!! Drone_1888 has left your control range.] I immediately ordered all drones to fall back to a closer range. ¡°Sir we found a way to reach the fighter squads, the problem is that we lack the power to feed to the comms network, you will need to repair the following points to have the extra bandwidth required to contact fighters,¡± reported Erik. Of course, those exact systems were just far enough out of my control reach. Great just great. I took a deep breath before replying. ¡°Erik standby to extend the comms network to our fighters, I¡¯ll get those systems fixed.¡± I went to leave engineering, and as I did Xander barred the way. ¡°Jason I know what you¡¯re thinking, I can¡¯t let you get outside!¡± I took out my pistol and pointed it at his head. ¡°Xander I truly appreciate the loyalty and dedication with which you and your team have served Rafar and my family over the years. But I swear on all that I hold sacred that if you do not move I will shoot you, one way or another I¡¯m getting us out of this mess.¡± The stubborn veteran remained unmoved. ¡°I can¡¯t let you pass Jason, your father will kill me if anything happens to you.¡± I motioned around with my free hand. ¡°Look around you Xander, do you see my father here, do you think he¡¯ll be happy knowing that I live while everyone around me dies due to your choice?! Do you think he¡¯ll be happy that our future lies died in the water because you tried to stop me from fixing this mess?! Stop thinking as a guard and start thinking as a soldier!¡± With that I moved past him and up towards one of the airlocks, I didn¡¯t bother to watch whether or not he followed. Opening the latch outside I could see various pieces of station debris float outside as fighters moved at speeds my eyes had trouble following. Focus Jason focus! I put all my effort and attention on grabbing the footholds on the outside of the station, as our suits lacked magnetic boots. I pushed myself back, then pulled forward, let go, and caught the next foothold. I repeated this motion till I reached what I estimated to be the location where I would be needed. The drones resumed their previous repair mission, while I prayed that some stray shot by either a hostile or a friendly would not hit me. ¡°My lord you did it, communications with the fighter squadrons and the hangar bay have been re-established.¡± shouted an excited Amanda over the comms. ¡°I¡¯ll patch you-¡± a blood-curdling scream tore through the channel. ¡°This is Frank from the hangar bay, the enemy is boarding the hangar bay, I repeat the enemy is AAAAH¡± The line went cold and an ice-cold feeling spread through my veins. ¡°Xander I need you and your team to move to the hangar bay immediately to reinforce our forces there.¡± ¡°They''re already on their way there Commander.¡± It seemed the talk had helped the old vet get back into action. As the drones focused on repairing and I communed with what was left of our fighters I had an idea. Releying my thoughts to a few of the fighters, I saw one of our Rafarin fighters head to the spot we had designated. Three bronze moon curved shaped ships followed the Rafarian eagle fighter hot on its tail. The eagle fighter got closer to the station''s exterior, and the hostile fighters followed suit. A second later the eagle fighter pushed up immediately with everything it had while our trap was sprung. ¡°Execute [Boarding Routine] for Drone group 1!¡± [Enaging [Boarding Routine] for Drone Group 1] Drone Group 1 simultaneously let their mechanical limbs go and engaged their upward thrusters at max setting, the result was spectacular. Various construction drones crashed into the three fighters, most didn¡¯t survive the impact, but for the ones that did the new [Boarding Routine] I had created would start wreaking havoc on the enemy fighters. Their limbs were told to hold onto the enemy craft that they landed on and then proceed with their basic harvesting function. In short, we were deconstructing the ships while they flew. I couldn¡¯t resist as I pumped my right fist into the vacuum and let out a ¡°Hell yes!¡± as one of the enemy fighters crashed into the station. We pulled this trick off successfully three more times, after which we stopped due to the lack of drones. Seven hostile fighters were now non-functional. But the enemy got wise to our trick, as they stopped coming near the station. Alright time to get back inside. I got close to the airlock, but my fingers slipped on one of the footholds. I engaged the suit''s small atmospheric thrusters to get close,r but stray bombs hit the station causing shockwaves that pushed me off the station. As I got farther and farther from the station I saw it. No wonder we didn¡¯t get any message from the command center. The command center and all its fifty-plus personnel, all wearing their neat green and grey uniforms were drifting away from the station. The big carrier got closer and closer, releasing what looked to be endless waves of presumably boarding shuttles mixed in with reserve fighters. All of them heading for what was left of our once proud station. Further away from both the station and the big carrier lights began to coalesce as a familiar FTL pattern began to tear through reality. Leaving behind an all too familiar carrier-shaped pirate vessel. Chapter 8 - To Battle part 3 As I drifted away looking at the newly arrived and all too familiar pirate carrier I resigned myself to my fate. We could barely take on one big carrier and now its smaller counterpart is here as well. There¡¯s no way they aren¡¯t both pirates. We were wrong, they noticed our scouting activity and laid a trap accordingly. I furrowed my brow. But how did the pirates know of the trade convoy, and besides that it still makes no sense to come all the way out here just for that... There is literally nothing else of value in this system. So why come here at all? The fuel alone must have cost them more than this entire operation, and that was before the losses they were taking here. No there has to be another reason¡­ It doesn¡¯t matter. Not anymore. For one last time, I looked over at Rafar, my home. I hoped that one day I could see past the endless toxic clouds that covered the planet like a sick blanket. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± ¡°Like hell it is!¡± said a voice through the A.V.N. I felt something hug me from behind and saw. ¡°Xander?! What the hell are you doing out here?¡± ¡°Saving my friend¡¯s idiot son from nihilism.¡± Said Xander, who pulled us back towards the station with the long safety cord he had attached to himself. ¡°Look around Xander we can¡¯t deal with that second carrier.¡± ¡°I could say the same to you, look around, what do you see!¡± ¡°A broken station, about one fighter squadron we¡¯ve got left, and probably a dozen injured workers.¡± ¡°Wrong, we have a half-functioning station, a full fighter squadron that is still kicking their ass, and more than a dozen men and women fighting for Rafars future. A future that is still within our grasp.¡± As we reentered the station and the airlock closed behind us I took a deep breath of recycled air. ¡°Thanks, Xander.¡± I said sincerely. ¡°Thank me when we¡¯ve won, now start using that head of yours to think of solutions not problems.¡± ¡°Okay, first off how are things in the hangar currently?¡± Xander had a grim look. ¡°Henry the engineers, fighter pilots, royal guards, and other station crew are fighting tooth and nail to retake the hangar, right now it¡¯s a stale mate, but if other reinforcements come from the second carrier we¡¯ll be overrun.¡± I nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s make a run for the hangar, get all but two of the remaining royal guards guarding the engineers to come with us.¡± We made the best speed possible towards the hangar. [15 minutes later - Rafarian Space Station ¡°Miranda¡¯s Hope¡± - Hangarbay] Shots ricocheted all throughout the hangar bay from every direction. I ducked for a floating piece of cover and clung to it. Xander and the other four remaining royal guards followed suit and found their own cover. Amanda updated us as we went. ¡°My Lord, our last fighter squadron is fighting viciously against the three pirate fighter squadrons, it seems to be the last of their forces as no more fighters are coming from the carrier.¡± Well, that¡¯s a relief. ¡°Understood how are the defense platforms holding up and what is the state of their EMP weapon?¡± I took a peak over the cover and spotted Henry and the other Rafarian forces holding the pirates back but not being able to push them further out either. Since when do pirates have such sturdy-looking equipment? ¡°Two out of the four defense platforms remain functional and are providing cover for our fighters, the charge status of the EMP weapon is unknown however we are not detecting any energy build-up.¡± so we have some time. ¡°Royal guards, advance help our forces hold them off and lock them in that place.¡± Without question, Xander and the guards moved out, while in the meantime I contacted one of our remaining fighters. Heavy gunfighting and brawls continued in zero-g as both sides kept up the fight for what felt like hours. I had sent various construction drones to harass the enemy in key positions, pushing them further back to their ships. When they were in range I ordered all forces to keep them suppressed. A minute later one of our fighters did a driveby and began unleashing its fighter weapons upon both the hangar bay and our enemy tearing through both like a knife through butter. After that, we made short work of them. ¡°Gather the wounded to the sick bay or engineering where it¡¯s safe, The rest of you that are still fighting prepare equipment for a second wave!¡± Xander shouted over the comms network. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Henry came up to me and we shared a brief blood-covered hug. ¡±Henry you son of a bitch, your alive!¡± Henry grinned. ¡°I could say the same about you Jason, so got any plans to get us out of this mess?¡± I scanned the constant stream of data the engineering now-turned command center sent us. ¡°We need to find a way to take out the big carrier before its EMP weapon charges up for another shot. And since most of their fighter and boarding squads are dead I¡¯m gonna assume that they have run out of most of their manpower, however, we have to prepare for the second wave coming from the smaller carrier.¡± I focused on comms again. ¡°Amanda a few minutes ago you said the smaller carrier was releasing more boarding shuttles, how long till they reach us.¡± the link was silent for a bit. ¡°Amanda? Is everything al-¡± ¡°Everyone, the small pirate carrier is in fact under General Thalia¡¯s control! They won the fight and took control of the vessel. Whilst we were fighting off the boarders the general''s forces have made their way into the big carrier!¡± a big cheer went up as everyone rejoiced at the big news. Whilst the cheering and cleanup was underway Amanda sent me a private link. ¡°My Lord the General has requested aid, as her forces seemed to have taken heavy casualties during the skirmish with the former occupants of the small carrier. I thought it best to relay this privately.¡± ¡°Good call Amanda, tell her help will be on the way.¡± I called over Henry and Xander and opened a private comms link between the two. ¡°The general has requested our aid in seizing the big ship, it seems her forces were still battered and under-strengthed when they launched the assault on the carrier, I want us to join her, how many vehicles are left functional?¡± Henry shook his head. ¡°During the fight just now we lost the last of our ships, the only functional ones left are the pirates boarding vessels.¡± I eyed Xander. ¡°Get everyone that is able-bodied and willing to get some vengeance ready for the attack, Henry and I will get the transports going.¡± Xander sprinted into action immediately forming a group. I and Henry stormed off towards the vessels. Once inside we tried accessing the controls, only to find that we were locked out of the system. ¡°Shit!¡± Henry cursed. ¡°Tell me Henry does this equipment look like that of pirates.¡± Henry¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t this is far too much for mere pirates.¡± we tried breaking into the system but as minutes passed no progress was made. When I was about to snap I tried a different approach. ¡°Designate this vessel as my subordinate.¡± [!!ERROR!! The vessel has refused to be your subordinate] ¡°Designate this vessel as my subordinate.¡± I tried again. [!!ERROR!! The vessel has refused to be your subordinate] ¡°Designate this vessel as my subordinate.¡± and again. [!!ERROR!! The vessel has refused to be your-] ¡°Designate this vessel as my subordinate.¡± and again. [!!ERROR!! The vessel has refused to be-] ¡°Designate this vessel as my subordinate.¡± I tried over and over. [!!ERROR!! The vessel has refuse-] Even though I knew it was futile, I kept going, I needed to avenge those who had fallen due to someone¡¯s cowardly scheme, and I refused and spit on any chance that they might salvage some kind of win from this. Hateful thoughts occupied my mind as I kept trying to break into the system. [Unique function formed due to user''s need and desire.] [User can now access the [SUBJUGATE] Function from the Administration Skills system.] [The [SUBJUGATE] Function allows the user to force a mechanical system to become your subordinate.] I barely registered that a new function had formed as I kept pressing my intent into the system to just SUBMIT! [The [Boarding vessel 03] has been subjugated, you now have control over the vessel.] And as the system said the ship finally gave in. ¡°Holy shit Jason, what did you do.¡± ¡°I kept hitting it till it relented, now decide whether you''re coming with me or not.¡± Henry grabbed two guns. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m coming with you! These bastards have hell to pay for!¡± I keyed Xander. ¡°Xander is everyone ready.¡± without missing a beat I got a reply. ¡°We are ready, Lord Jason, what about the vessel?¡± I quickly looked over at Henry and pointed my nose at the console. He gave me a thumbs-up. ¡°It¡¯s ready. And Henry can fly it.¡± The vessel soon filled up with those that wanted to execute some vengeance on these so-called ¡®pirates¡¯. The remaining fighter squadron provided what cover they could, and now joined by General Thalia¡¯s corvette the ride went quite smooth so far. As I leaned against my seat rifle in hand I felt a pressure on my shoulder, looking over I saw Xander¡¯s hand. ¡°Hey kid, how you holding up?¡± Asked Xander in our private channel. ¡°Good..¡± Xander shook his head. ¡°Kid don¡¯t lie to me, forget about ranks, forget about being a prince, I¡¯ve been in enough war to know when I see a tired and broken soul, I won¡¯t tell you to get rest right, but focus on seeing this through, then let the old guard handle it okay?¡± I nodded. ¡°Thanks, Xander.¡± Shouts came over the channel, mentioning that we were getting close to the big carrier¡¯s hangar. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Now make sure not to die, now let¡¯s give these bastards hell.¡± The boarding vessel nearly crashed to a halt inside the hangar bay. We were now inside the belly of the beast. Chapter 9 - To Battle Finale! We charged out of the ship and dove for cover as bullets were tearing through the boarding vessel''s hull. To us, the vessel had already served its purpose. ¡°Squad 1onemove to the flanks! Squad two provides suppressive fire for squad one!¡± Shouted Xander as he unleashed his own rounds of suppressive fire on the pirate scum. ¡°Crawl back to hell!¡± shouted the soldier next to me, which turned out to be his last words as his head caved in like a watermelon, covering me in blood, viscera, and brain matter. ¡°Enemy sniper!¡± screamed one of our guys, I stood there stunned. My vision changed from upright to falling as I got tackled from behind, thereby dodging the incoming fire that would have popped open my head as well. ¡°Jason get it together! We need to push them back, are you with us.¡± Said Henry. ¡°Sorry about that, any idea where the sniper is at?!¡± Henry shook his head at my question. Then it¡¯s time to use the tools we brought. ¡°Activate Drone group 3.¡± [[Drone Group 3] is online and awaiting your command.] I began instructing the last of the construction drones I had brought from the engineering bay to spread out and maneuver themselves toward the ceiling. Thanks to the current shootout the drones made their way unnoticed among the commotion of blood, gunpowder, and screams. There! I found the bastard. Upon finding the sniper I had a few drones sneak up right above him and then release themselves whilst engaging their thrusters for extra speed. From afar we saw a fountain of blood spring forth from between what used to be a whole pirate, luckily the spectacle was too far away to see all the gory details. As the battle progressed I continued to make use of [REMOTE CONTROL] to launch surprise attacks with the construction drones on unsuspecting pirates. As we slowly whittled down their forces and pushed them back we saw gunfire come from behind the pirates. Our local comms was joined by friendlies. ¡°This Ferus from Squad C under General Thalia, we¡¯re flaking the enemy from behind!¡± We pressed the advantage as we unleashed a deafening war cry within the stronghold of our enemy. ¡°Die pirate scum!¡± ¡°Rafar will never fall!¡± ¡°This is for killing my friends!¡± soon the fighting ceased and we met up with Ferus and Squad C. Ferus shook hands with Xander. ¡°We¡¯re glad to see you boys here, we need to keep pushing towards the command center, they are preparing to FTL jump, we already destroyed their coms center so they won¡¯t be able to report back to their superiors.¡± Xander nodded. ¡°Then the general also suspects that these pirates are more than they seem.¡± We quickly followed behind Ferus as we charged through the large ship. Along the way we encountered Rafarian Squad B being pinned down in the cafeteria, we charged the enemy from behind, making short work of them. Leading Squad B was. ¡°Belleran is that you?¡± I said as I offered the man my hand. Belleran took it and looked at me in stunned surprise. ¡°My Lord what are you doing here??¡± I flicked my head in the direction of the recently deceased pirates. ¡°Same things as you, making sure these bastards won¡¯t be threatening Rafar again.¡± Belleran was about to apologize for his earlier outburst a few weeks back but I cut him off. ¡°You''re forgiven, but if you feel the need to still apologize then watch my back as we end them.¡± Belleran saluted. ¡°Yes, your Highness.¡± As we moved on we encouraged many other splinter pockets of resistance, but unable to slow down any further for fear that the FTL charge would finish we instead split off parts of our force to help out each group, eventually leaving only me, Xander, Henry, Belleran and four other Rafarian soldiers to charge towards the command center. We knew where to go as the heaviest sounds of conflict led us forward. Breaching through the door I saw General Thalia fighting in close knife combat with two other pirates, one of which looked to be the captain. Many Rafarians lay dead or dying on the slowly turning blood-red floor and in a glance, I estimated that about twelve pirates were still left standing. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°For Rafar!¡± I shouted as I and my companions charged forward. ¡°Die lowborn scum!¡± Shouted what looked to be an officer as he and his fighters met our charge head-on. Almost immediately the ranged fire ceased as a heavy melee began. Knifes, punches, kicks any dirty trick in the book, and then some we used to gain the upper hand. I ducked right before a fist my head had been, and a second later I retaliated by punching the lady between the nether region. Another pirate jumped on my back, making us both crash to the blood-soaked floor. I tried to wiggle him off me with no success. And a second later a gunshot rang above my head, as the weight on my back went slack. I immediately got out under the now dead weight and was helped up by Belleran who quickly reupholstered his smoking gun. I gave him an approving nod before we both rejoined the fray. Henry and Xander were barely holding off four attackers on their own while four of our soldiers duked it out between five other pirates. The general was still fighting valiantly against the captain and another soldier but was steadily losing ground as she was being worn down. I pointed Bellarn in the direction of Henry and Xander while I got out my personal pistol, switched on to automatic firing mode, and shouted ¡°General Duck!!¡± over our comms. The General did as I told and a second later the air above her was filled with lead, the captain escaped most of the bullets, but his pirate companion hadn¡¯t been so lucky as the lead pinned the pirate to one of the command consoles. A clicking sound rang out as no more lead could be found within the pistol''s metal chamber. I rushed forward to cover the still-getting-up General and faced off against the captain. We exchanged blows but soon our arms and hands locked together as we tried to grapple one another to the ground. ¡°If it isn¡¯t the dirt-born prince, what a pleasure it will be to ransom you off!¡± Sneered the captain. In his moment of derision, I let a bit of my pushing power go, letting him get nice and close so I could spit in his eye, stunning him which gave me the opportunity I needed to sucker punch him with a left hook. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll give you you¡¯re own fucking locker in which you can rot away the rest of your miserable existence!¡± The captain¡¯s nose bled furiously, and his eyes looked wild. ¡°You commoner-loving of filth! How dare you touch me!¡± He screamed. Once again we were locked in stalemate. ¡°Your no pirates are you, tell me scum, who do you work for!¡± The captain answered by kicking me in the side of my leg causing me to stagger. Thinking he now had the upper hand he pressed his advantage. With his momentary surge forward I angled us towards the side, causing us to crash into the floor with our sides. Disorientated as I was I still managed to get up first, which is when I noticed one of the pirates working on the console. I rushed the man, took out my trusty pistol by the barrel, and whipped it straight across the side of his head. As the man crumpled down I soon screamed as I felt the knife pierce through and embed itself into my left shoulder, followed up by a meaty blow on the right side of my frontal lobe. The captain turned me around and I had a split second the see just in time the next punch that broke my nose. Red liquid dripped from my nose, and I tried to dampen the force of the blows coming my way with my arms... But my left arm would not respond any more thanks to the captain¡¯s knife. The captain pulled out more knives from who knows where, he nailed my left arm into the console with one whilst using another to stab me in the sides. I wanted the horrible blood-curdling screams of battle to fade. Only to momentarily realize that those screams came from my own throat as the captain forcibly pulled me forward, causing the connective tissue and bones between my left shoulder and arm to snap. Falling to the ground with less weight than before did nothing to stop the air from escaping my lungs. I tried to gasp for more air while I screamed, but both attempts were cut short as two hands choked the life out of me. ¡°What a shame, that I won¡¯t be able to ransom you off! But I¡¯m sure your body will be worth something to those lowborn parents of yours!¡± Said the captain. The edges of my vision began to grow dark and close in, as I struggled in vain to get this pretentious monster off of me. That is when the captain fell to the sides as a long steel-covered military boot crushed his precious jewels. Revealing a tired and battered yet standing proud General Thalia. Behind her, I saw Rafarian soldiers join the fight. I closed my eyes in temporary relief, instinctively I tried wiping the blood off my face with my left hand, but for some reason, it never showed up. ¡°Your Highness! Jason!¡± Screamed familiar voices, but they seemed to grow farther away even as I lay still. There was only one thing I wanted right now, which was to rest and for all of this to be over. The sounds stopped, I felt cold, and the light went out. Chapter 10 - May the flowers light the way The fire is everywhere. Floating helplessly in the void I saw Rafar''s once proud space station broken, scattered, and on fire. The remains of the once proud structure fell down to Rafar, where they too began to burn. Only brief moments of light showed as the debris entered the toxic atmosphere of my homeworld. Clouds covered up any trace of existence the debris might have had. I felt a pull on my foot and as I looked down I saw countless souls climbing onto me. ¡°Save us!¡± shouted one. ¡°Where were you when we needed you!¡± shouted another. ¡±Why did we have to die!¡± each soul wailed in agony as they climbed up my legs. Overwhelmed by the utter sensation of hopelessness and death I looked around for anything and anyone that could help. And then I saw it. The big carrier stared me down, as it released countless pirate bombers at the station, each letting loose a devastating package of tnt. Every time a bomb hit, the station further cracked, until eventually the whole structure collapsed. More bodies ejected from between the flames as the station fell down to join Rafar¡¯s wastes. The souls were now grasping at my hands, and with tears streaming down my face I pleaded for mercy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry for not saving you! I¡¯M SORRY!¡± I felt sweat covering every inch of my body as my eyes shook open. Taking a minute to breathe I noticed that I was in what looked to be a medical bed in one of Rafar¡¯s medical bays.¡¯ Besides the bare essentials and some weak lights, the room was empty. After recovering for a minute I tried heaving myself up and fell face-first onto the hard sterilized ground. I was not yet used to only having one arm. As I tried recalling how I lost my left arm memories flooded back to me, of the General¡¯s assault, of the pirate attack some hours later. Of the extreme loss of life and damage to the station. I hugged myself and instinctively went into the fetal position. After an unknown amount of time, I slowly and steadily helped myself up. Looking around I found a spare set of clothes and began putting them on. It was hard to close the buttons with one hand but I did what I could before moving out of the room. As the door opened I was greeted by a bewildered guard. ¡°My lord!¡± Saluted the guard. That voice sounds familiar. ¡°Do I know you, soldier?¡± I asked groggily. The soldier nodded, and then suddenly he seemed to fall to the ground. As the soldier caught me a second later I realized it was not him that had almost fallen. ¡°Thank you¡­ uh..¡± ¡°It¡¯s Belleran, my Lord.¡± ¡°Ahh, I remember now, so Belleran. Did we avenge.. Was it Hugo?¡± I squinted. My vision wouldn¡¯t clear no matter how many times I blinked. ¡°Almost right my Lord.¡° Belleran said with a sad smile. Or was it a normal one? ¡±It was Haruk. But more importantly, right now we need to get you a doctor. So let¡¯s bring you back to bed for now.¡± I shook my head weakly. ¡°No I need to know what happened Belleran, did we win? How many were dead how... Uh. were¡­ I¡­¡± Having trouble holding my head upright my vision angled down. Where I spotted something unusual. The drab metal floor of the medical facility had gotten a nice dark red paint job, though it seemed the painter had done a haphazard job, as much of the floor was left unpainted. A second later I found out that I was the painter, and the blood coming out of my mouth was the paint. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°MEDIC!¡± shouted Belleran. And then all went back to black. When I opened my eyes again I saw a familiar metal grey tiled ceiling. My head felt empty yet heavy. ¡°Doctor he¡¯s awake again!¡± Said an excited Belleran, making me instinctively use my hands to cover my ears, only to be reminded of what I lost. ¡°Please keep your voice down..¡± I groaned. ¡°Sorry, My Lord..¡± said a much quieter Belleran. As footsteps approached I looked over. ¡°And you are..¡± ¡°Greetings your Highness, I¡¯m Gustaf, the doctor assigned to you.¡± He then took a step back to reveal a woman wearing a nurse outfit. ¡°And this is my assistant Emily.¡± Emily gave an easy smile a wave and went back to work in one smoothly trained motion. I plunged my head back into the soft embrace of my pillow. ¡°How long was I out for doc.¡± The doctor and Belleran shared a look. ¡°Give it to me straight doc¡­ no bullshit.¡± The doctor sighed.¡±You¡¯ve been out for a week and a half. Your condition wasn¡¯t looking great and we were debating whether or not we were going to implement more extreme measures, but last Saturday you suddenly woke up.¡± I nodded ¡°That¡¯s when I met Belleran in the hallway.¡± The doctor nodded. ¡°Precisely. You moved your body when it wasn¡¯t in a condition to move, and the excessive strain caused your body to shut down. Thanks to Belleran¡¯s swift actions we were able to stabilize you just in time. Ever since then, we¡¯ve been more careful in monitoring you.¡± ¡°First of all thank you Belleran for saving my life.¡± I said as I gave or at least tried to give Belleran a heartfelt smile. ¡°Now doctor going back for a second you mentioned we, who exactly were you debating with?¡± The doctor smiled. ¡°Ah that¡¯s right you weren¡¯t there to hear the good news. Your parents have made a full recovery.¡± Emily chimed in. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten word back from Lord and Lady Rafar, they are on their way to see you now.¡± I felt a weight leave my shoulders upon hearing the first good bit of news in what felt like forever¡­ Time passed as I chatted a bit more with doctor Gustaf and nurse Emily to inquire about my condition, once it was clear that I was stable Emily went out to get some more medical supplies while the doctor went to one of his screens to more carefully monitor my condition. Belleran in the meantime caught me up on what has happened so far. Those whom I knew by name had both survived and recovered from their injuries. However the same could not be said for the rest of our comrades. ¡°So they¡¯ve been laid to rest.¡± Belleran nodded solemnly. ¡°It was a beautiful funeral, the resting flowers have already begun to sprout from their remains. Lord and Lady Rafar have brought forth the healthiest soil we have to honor our fallen heroes.¡± I nodded solemnly as I let his words sink in. ¡°Belleran. I¡¯m asking this from one human being to another. Would you help me perform a quick prayer for our fallen comrades?¡± Belleran offered a bow. ¡°It would be an honor..¡± Bellaran¡¯s hand moved and soon covered the left side of my mouth from my jawline to my nose, my right hand did the same on the right side of my mouth. I closed my eyes and the praying could begin. Dear Virja, let what remains of our comrades bloom into a beautiful sight so that we might see them shine one last time, as they follow your flowery path into the afterlife. Virza. I opened my eyes as both of our hands moved away. ¡°Thank you Belleran.¡± He nodded in silence. We remained quiet for a while, at least until the door opened again. Belleran took that as his cue to stand guard outside. Emily got nearly pushed aside as both my father and mother rushed to my bed and tackled me in a hug. ¡°Jason your alive!!¡± My father said with tears rolling down his eyes, my mother gently caressed my face as carefully as she could, worried that I might fall like a sandcastle would. Her teddy bear-colored eyes, the same ones that I inherited worked overtime to deal with the excessive fluid leaving her tear ducts. The hug we shared conveyed so much more than those stuck-up Autarch nobles would ever give credit for. I let this feeling of safety and warm comfort nourish me, in a way that only family could. And for a few precious minutes, I could finally let go of the world and all my worries. Chapter 11 - The Aftermath As we all let each other go I took a good look at my parents. Their former gaunt and sickly-looking skin was nowhere to be found, as they now sported a healthy physique again. Unlike most Rafarians who had pale skin, theirs was what was considered normal by people living on more habitable planets. It was the one thing that set my parents apart from being true Rafrians, as we only got light through artificial means. Looking closely at my dad I saw that he even sported a black well-kempt beard again, and Mom¡¯s short brown hair was let loose. Of course, they also carried several scars on their military-trained bodies, each harkening back to their days serving in the armies of the Autarch Union. I still remember the bedtime stories they told me of that time when I was a kid. Most of their scars were hidden from sight and covered up beneath their fine clothes colored in Rafarian grey, mixed in with a few strands of embroidered gold. Mom once explained to me that the color signified their ruling stance. This meant that while they were Rafars rulers and so wore bits of gold, they too walked among their populace with pride. Seeing the grey far outweigh the gold strands told one their true allegiance. While examining them I spotted something from out of the corner of my eye. Looking over I could see a large man trying to blend into the shadows. ¡°Hey there Xander.¡± I smiled. Xander smiled back for once. ¡°Hey kid, glad to see you up again.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s back to kid again huh?¡± Xander grinned. ¡°Yup.¡± I shook my head and ignored him. My parents caught me up on everything that happened while I was under. In the meantime, doctor Gustaf prepared a final set of examinations to make sure I was alright to leave. ¡°Our engineers managed to save the station from complete collapse, and with the help of these new construction drones of yours, the repair work seems to be going smoothly.¡± My mom explained. ¡°And that¡¯s not all!¡± My dad began excitedly. ¡°Thanks to that boarding action of you, General Thalia, and the rest of the brave souls who joined, we managed to capture both ships intact. The most urgent damage has been fixed so that they don¡¯t fall apart while the station is being repaired, but as soon as that¡¯s done we can fix them up and bolster our navy!¡± His smile dropped. ¡°We¡¯re going to make sure that the sacrifices everyone made that day mean something.¡± His shoulders slumped. ¡°Even so, too much blood has already been spilled.¡± Mom laid a hand on my dad¡¯s shoulder as I asked him a question. ¡°I heard you gave the healthiest soil we have to our fallen?¡± Father nodded. ¡°Of course, not doing so hadn¡¯t even crossed our minds. But how did you? Ah, Belleran.¡± I affirmed his guess. ¡°We¡¯ve been caught up on what¡¯s been happening while we were gone. After you were interned at the hospital, Belleran personally requested to help guard you as soon as he was healed. Your actions have left a mark on the man.¡± Mom smiled. ¡°And not just them, almost everyone here spoke highly of you. Even our usually staunch Xander.¡± I turned to look at the suspect in question, who was firmly looking away from me and watching the door for any potential intruders. ¡°But to get back on track, we¡¯ve personally compensated each family for their loss. It will put more strain on our current resources, but it will make our souls lighter.¡± Dad said. ¡°Luckily we¡¯ve managed to gain quite a few credits after that last battle.¡± Said mom. I cocked an eyebrow at her. ¡°How?¡± Mom showed a predatory grin. ¡°After going through everything that¡¯s been happening, me and my dearie Talis found out that these ¡®pirates¡¯ had quite the bounty on their head. So we went ahead and called the Galactic Bounty Board in the A.U. to have a nice long chat. It seems they¡¯ve been to quite a few places over the years. So when we collected on their bounties there was quite the payout. Of course, the G.B.B. wanted to curb the reward payout, but I still have quite a few friends within the Union. Angry friends who would make sure that the G.B.B.¡¯s reputation will never recover if they crossed us.¡± I gulped. I almost pity the fools. Almost. ¡°I see... Well, at least that¡¯s good news.¡± We talked a bit more about some things here and there until finally, doctor Gustaf gave the all-clear sign. Xander and my Dad helped me up and together we walked out of the door and further into the medical ward. Belleran followed in behind us. I sent a private message to Dad as we walked. ¡°Since when is Xander okay with Belleran?¡± ¡°Since he¡¯s the one who kept you stabilized after the fight on the carrier. He¡¯s taken the young man under his wing. It seems that it has helped him find a new purpose after what happened to his friends on the scout ship. Besides that, he has proven himself to be loyal and is learning at a rapid pace. We don¡¯t usually find someone who is this suited to be a royal guard. And it¡¯s about time we got you a new one.¡± ¡°I agree. If he wanted me dead he had every chance during that fight.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry we checked E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. We won¡¯t let traitors into our ranks again, let alone ¡®guard¡¯ you.¡± ¡°That reminds me, dad. once we are done extracting intel from the pirates we might want to do to them what we did to the traitors. At least then they are of some use to us.¡± ¡°That is not a bad idea, I¡¯ll let Grim know to prepare the equipment.¡± As we continued walking I noticed people stopped to look at us, no to be more specific me with respect? Besides that, I also noticed that there were still quite a lot of wounded... ¡°I¡¯ve been out for a week and a half right Dad?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°How are there still so many wounded left then?¡± ¡°As I said, enough blood has already been spilled¡­¡± ¡°Hey are those, children¡­ How?¡± ¡°Some parents snuck their children aboard to let them see the stars. They wanted to give them a sight they would never forget¡­ some of the staff allowed it to raise morale, besides that, they figured that it would be safe so long as they stayed inside since there is never anything dangerous up there anyway¡­¡± Besides returning some stares and greetings we remained quiet during our walk back to the vehicle. [Rafarian Royal palace - Rulers office] Once the doors of the ruler''s office closed I asked the question that had been burning a hole through my soul. ¡°So who the hell are these guys, because they sure as shit ain¡¯t pirates!¡± I nearly growled out with gnashed teeth. Xander answered before Mom could. ¡°Their from the A.U.¡± I looked at him stunned. ¡°From the Union? Why? What worth is there in this corner of the galaxy that justifies two carriers, an EMP cannon, and dozens of fighter squadrons and bomber wings?!¡± I tried very hard to keep my anger in check. ¡°Well ¡¯Apparently¡¯, it was still cheaper than having to pay our current price for dropping waste on Rafar.¡± Though Xander''s face looked calm and collected, his clenched fists looked ready to punch a certain group of prisoners to death. Meanwhile, I felt my blood go cold as my brain kept trying to wrap my head around the information Xander just provided. ¡°I¡¯m sorry did I mishear? They went to fucking war, killed hundreds of civilians nearly blew up our station just to lower the dumping price? We don¡¯t even let anyone dump their waste here anymore!¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. My father nodded. ¡°It turns out that a certain Autarch named Zerrik Gar would love to add our system to his portfolio. Or at the very least to have his dumping grounds back again, since it seems no other world is eager to become the next Rafar.¡± ¡°And It gets worse.¡± Xander warned. ¡°How? How can it get worse than that.¡± I wondered aloud. Xander looked like he didn¡¯t want to be the messenger here, so my father said what needed to be said. ¡°We found the traitor in the trade alliance.¡± I looked around as my mom, dad, and Xander carefully seemed to gauge my reaction. ¡°Well spit it out! Who was it? Which bastard sold us out!¡± My mom tore off the proverbial bandaid. ¡°It was your former friend and fiancee, Romira Firanta Della Borg.¡± What? ¡°She was offered a simple deal by Zerrik Gar: Turn traitor and get paid, or stay loyal and face the wrath of the Garrian Alliance Fleet. That¡¯s all the info we could find from both the two carrier ship¡¯s logs and by interrogating what¡¯s left of Zerrik¡¯s undercover pirate fleet.¡± I sank into my chair too stunned for words. First came the sense of betrayal, then sadness, which turned into pain, the pain turned into rage and then those feelings kept looping for a while. After some amount of time, I did not bother tracking I managed to collect myself enough to push those feelings down deep. As deep as I could keep them, I took out a key locked the door to my heart, and threw it away. The time for feelings would come later. Taking a deep deep breath I felt a cold focus settle in. Xander and my parents waited for my response, seemingly unsure of what to do in this case, so I helped them. ¡°Is the trade alliance informed of her actions?¡± They all nodded. ¡°So what about the trade convoy?¡± Though their facial expressions didn¡¯t change, the mood grew sourer by the minute. Even so, my Dad answered. ¡°When we summoned the alliance and revealed Romira¡¯s wrongdoings she immediately left the virtual meeting. She has since forced everyone who was involved with the trade alliance out of her system. And since we can¡¯t inform the A.U. about what¡¯s been happening here without risking another Autarch like Zerrik showing up we can¡¯t punish her let alone Zerrik and his forces.¡± He took a breath before continuing. ¡°With all that¡¯s happened here, and no way to protect any trade convoy the alliance has been dissolved as too many members are scared of losing their investments again. Everyone is on their own again.¡± No, this can¡¯t be it... After all the sacrifices we made, all the years my parents worked to get this alliance off the ground. To have a chance to better ourselves, IT CAN¡¯T HAVE ALL BEEN FOR NOTHING. Without another word, I got up from my seat and walked off and out of the office to go towards an old storage room that almost no one uses. Belleran quietly followed me as I exited the office. No one stopped me as I made my way there. After finally reaching the storage room I gave Belleran one order without looking at him. ¡°Guard the exit, let no one in.¡± I barely heard a ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± as I closed the office door behind me. Once I had made sure that truly no one was here I loosed my restraints. The first thing I grabbed was some kind of small sculpture, I couldn¡¯t tell what it was because, in the next moment, it became a million shards of stone as it broke against the wall. They killed our people for a FUCKING PRICE DROP! I grabbed a small wooden stool, a material that was rare on our planet, and smashed it against one of the filecases until all that was left was one of its legs. I TRUSTED HER! I began kicking against more of the filing cases, as I did papers flew out everywhere around me. THOSE CHILD MURDERING SONS OF BITCHES!! I let it all out. THOSE FOOLISH COWARDS! DON¡¯T THEY SEE THAT THINGS WILL STAY THE SAME UNLESS WE TAKE RISKS! As long as it was still standing I tried to destroy it. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! ¡°FUCK!!!¡± I screamed. Eventually, even anger could not keep me going as I collapsed to the ground. I¡¯m tired of being pushed around by others. I¡¯m tired of losing people. I¡¯m tired of eating insect protein bars. I¡¯m tired of acid rain¡­ I¡¯m tired of drinking nasty-tasting recycled water. I¡¯m tired of living under ground. I¡¯m tired of not seeing the sun. I¡¯m tired of it all¡­ No matter what I, my family, or our people do our home is still a polluted mess. I just laid there. Not thinking, not feeling, just laying there on the cold steel ground between all of the splinters, bent metal, and dusty papers. I heard footsteps walk towards me. Its Belleran. He watched me, closed the door, and joined me on the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, nor will I pretend to understand the ones I do. But one thing I do understand is the feeling of losing everything you¡¯ve ever loved and worked towards.¡± ¡°I am no genius, frankly I¡¯m as dumb as they get, but Haruk and some other buddies were there for me. They helped me learn, they helped me get up when I fell. Of course, they aren¡¯t here now. But I like to think that their still watching over me. To assure me that my purpose here ain¡¯t done yet.¡± ¡°How..¡± ¡°How what My Lord?¡± ¡°How can you keep going despite it all..¡± Belleran looked thoughtful for but a moment before smiling down at me. ¡°A few weeks ago I couldn¡¯t I went mad, I should have died. But some young lord saw to it that I wasn¡¯t killed, and helped me avenge my loved ones. After that, I realized my new purpose.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Well sorry to disappoint you, but I think your faith in me is displaced, I mean looked around you. Is this what a lord would do? Are these the actions of someone that can lift up their people from this shit hole we call home?¡± Belleran quietly kept listening to my rambling. ¡°Belleran, everything I¡¯ve worked on all these years to help better our planet and society has been but a piss in the ocean, absolutely nothing has changed. And nothing will change because there is nothing I or anyone else here can do to change our situation. We were screwed from the moment that we were born here.¡± The storage room remained quiet as Belleran and I took in the quiet. ¡°Respectfully My Lord. Get off your stupidly fucking high horse.¡±Belleran said as he forced me to look him in the eyes.¡±Of course, no one man or woman can change a situation like ours in all but a few decades. If it were that easy hell we¡¯d be living like kings. But no it¡¯s not easy and no it won¡¯t happen overnight or maybe even in a couple of decades. But the moment we give up we¡¯re not just saying fuck you to our future, we¡¯re also spitting on every hope, dream, and sacrifice our ancestors have made to even give us a chance at a better future.¡± ¡°And what the hell was that shit about ¡®you not being able to change a single thing and everything you¡¯ve worked on has been for nothing¡¯ look around you! I¡¯m standing here because of YOU! The men, women, and children recovering in the hospital are there because YOU made sure our navy and defenses were ready in case an attack happened. It was YOU who plugged some ancient ass tech into their head to give us a shot at a better future.¡± I had never been helpfully cussed out before by someone who didn¡¯t care that I was a Lord¡¯s son. ¡°So no my faith hasn¡¯t been misplaced, No I¡¯m not giving up on the man who helped me get pay back for my comrades. The man who has and will continue to save many more lives. So get up, scream kick, and do what you have to do to get all of this anger out!¡± Belleran¡¯s voice quieted down. ¡°And then rest. Tomorrow you will begin making a plan. A plan that no one here has thought of before, a plan that will seem ludicrous at first. But it will be one more plan of many more to come that will eventually see us rise from our underground shelters and make us walk back onto the surface to take in our sun, without wearing any suits. But until that day comes, I am here. And I am ready to do my part.¡± My head felt clear. ¡°I need rest. Food. A shower. And a new arm. But after that, I will start planning. So, please. Help me get back to my quarters.¡± Belleran helped me up without complaint and we started walking off. Chapter 12 - The Path to Tread It¡¯s a wonder what a good night''s sleep can do for one¡¯s health. Both physically and mentally. Getting out of bed I headed over to the shower and enjoyed the warm recycled water for it¡¯s warmth. Because the smell and taste would be better to keep unmentioned. Once done I put on one of my grey colored shirts, it wasn¡¯t anything special, but it was easily replaceable and was okay to get dirty. As I walked out of my quarters to get some breakfast I found Belleran standing there. ¡°You do sleep right?¡± Belleran smiled. ¡°Never needed much of it.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Lucky bastard.¡± After our brief interaction, we went to get breakfast. If you ate quickly enough you wouldn¡¯t have time to really taste the insect bar. As one of the more wealthy inhabitants of our world we did have access to other food choices like fish and shrimp, man I love shrimp. But the bulk of what we ate was the same as everyone else. We headed over to the engineering bay, specifically Grimar¡¯s workshop. Coming through the door to engineering I saw the workshop was overflowing with life. Hundreds of engineers, construction drones, and other mechanical life walked, flew, or climbed all over the place. Each being more busier than the last. ¡°It¡¯s a madhouse..¡± Belleran quietly muttered. I laughed. ¡°Nope, it¡¯s just your normal work day here.¡± As we looked for an opening in the crowd to squeeze through people began to take notice of us and the surrounding mood slowly began to change. The sounds of hustle and bustle in our surroundings grew quiet as everyone stood still and stared. Taking that as our cue we began walking towards Grim¡¯s workshop. As we did I started a private comms channel with Belleran. ¡°Why is everyone bowing and looking at us like that?¡± ¡°They''re not looking at us, they''re looking at you, My Lord.¡± Upon closer inspection, it seemed he was right. ¡°Why though?¡± I heard Belleran chuckle in the channel, quite the juxtaposition compared to his stoic guard expression.¡°It¡¯s not that weird if you think about it. Tell me My Lord how many royals or rulers do you know that would not only risk life and limb to stand side by side with their citizens in their defense, but then also lead a devastating counterattack by boarding the enemy ship.¡± ¡°No one in particular comes to mind. Also, call me Jason in private, I¡¯m getting really tired of the My Lord expression. Especially while I¡¯m not holding that station.¡± ¡°Of course My Lord.¡± Teased Belleran. ¡°But even if you discount all that there are still the other actions you took during your month as Lord. From bringing new technology in the form of construction drones to our industries, to the expansion of our navy and the deployment of new defenses around our station. You have proven to your citizens that you have both the strength and will to lead us forward. So it¡¯s not strange that they look up to you now.¡± ¡°But that wasn¡¯t all me, without Henry the idea to repurpose the wrecks would have never come up, without General Thalia¡¯s work the soldiers wouldn¡¯t be ready in time to use the ships and the list goes on.¡± ¡°While they definitely deserve credit for their work, you shouldn¡¯t overlook the fact that you initiated all of this. Without you, we would have just added a few extra defenses to the station and called it quits.¡± We came to a stop as the engineers stopped us. Belleran made sure to watch for any suspicious behavior as we were surrounded by everyone, but he seemed relaxed as if he knew something I didn¡¯t. From within the crowd stepped two familiar faces. Grim and Henry each carried something hidden under a piece of cloth as they came forward. Grim broke the silence first. ¡°Milord, we de engineerz thank ye for ye¡¯s service during ze last month. You¡¯re foresight prepared us for a battle we would not ave been ready to face. You¡¯ve shown bravery and commitment in da face of danger to both us and ze rest of Rafar. You¡¯ve sacrificed with and for us and shown ze enemy dat were are not to be trifled with. I speak for ze all of us when I¡¯z say you have our thankz and loyalty for whatz ever is to come next. Deze are a token of our gratitude.¡± Lifting the cloth Grimar revealed a beautifully crafted pistol and shiny black leathered holster. The weapon felt smooth to the touch. They even had pieces of gold worked into it. ¡°It¡¯z from all of uz, we¡¯ve heard you lost yer weapon in da fight, so wez made you a new one.¡± Grimar stepped back and let Henry take the floor. ¡°I still remember the years you put into making this.¡± Henry showed off his mechanical hand. ¡°You told me back then that this was not just to pay me back for my sacrifice, but to pay it forward, by giving me not just a new hand, but new possibilities.¡± Henry¡¯s hand expanded revealing the many floating cables hidden within, it was one of the many features I had added. ¡°You said it was time to reclaim not just what had been, but to move beyond and show what we could be. And now it is our time to pay it forward.¡± returning his hand to its normal form he took the cloth off to reveal a shining golden arm and hand. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I holstered the gun so that I could touch the arm, my new arm. ¡°I.. How did you get this?¡± Everyone smiled as gravity pushed down my tears. ¡°We¡¯ve all chipped in. Because we believe in the future that you will bring.¡± I had wondered why the doctor had installed a mechanical nerve center on the stump of my left shoulder so early, But to expect this¡­ Henry and the others helped me connect the new arm to my socket. As it connected orange light glowed within the grooves of the golden arm and hand. [Detecting new input method. Expanding options, calculation progress 0%] If I didn¡¯t close my mouth soon then three generations of flies would have settled in. ¡°You knew about this didn¡¯t you.¡± I said more than asked Belleran. He just smiled. ¡°Everyone, from the bottom of my heart thank you. I promise to continue to dedicate everything I have to change our lives for the better!¡± A message came over the intercom as everyone cheered. ¡°The funeral procession will begin in two hours, please make the necessary preparations for the ceremony.¡± Everyone went their separate way to prepare for the ceremony. As I and Belleran went to do our own preparations my mind kept racing as slowly a plan started to form. [Rafarian Royal palace - Rulers office] As I strode into the office wearing proper black military funeral attire I saw my parents wearing the same kind of dress style. ¡°Ah Jason, I see you¡¯ve gotten our people¡¯s thanks.¡± I nodded. ¡°Father we have to talk. Now.¡± My mom and dad¡¯s expressions got serious. ¡°You have ten minutes.¡± Without further ado, I began. ¡°The trade alliance has been dissolved and if nothing is done we will soon face a food crisis, and that is even with the extreme loss calculated in.¡± They nodded. ¡°Therefore I propose a simple plan. We will continue the trade plan, but not with the alliance but instead with a specific number of members with whom you have built up a good rapport over the years.¡± ¡°And how do you propose we convince them to come all the way out here then?¡± Asked my mother. I shook my head. ¡°We don¡¯t. Instead, we will come to them.¡± They shared a look. ¡°Let me guess¡± My father began. ¡°You want to take the big carrier ship we just captured.¡± I nodded. ¡°And what if you get attacked by Zerrik or some other ship?¡± I raised an eyebrow in confusion. ¡°Then we fight back.¡± My father shook his head. ¡°We can¡¯t risk losing more personnel or resources on a venture that might fail, not this soon.¡± I let out a dry laugh. ¡°And do what instead? Sit here and starve to death?¡± I let out an exasperated sigh. ¡°The carrier can deal with any threat that comes its way once we have modified it to bear more turrets and other weaponry. Besides that we will have a minimal amount of fighter squads onboard and some bombers so we should be able to scare off any wanna-be pirates or other threats out here. And if anything worse does show up then we can just use the EMP cannon and then run away. According to General Thalia, the weapon still works.¡± Their eyes went wide when I mentioned the General¡¯s name. ¡°So it¡¯s not just you huh? The General is in on this too.¡± I looked at the clock, only two minutes were left and yet both still didn¡¯t look convinced. ¡°We can¡¯t continue like this. For decades our family has been playing it safe, and yet nearly all our hard work was almost wiped out in the blink of an eye! We need to start taking big risks, or nothing will change.¡± My father looked angry. ¡°Do you think we haven¡¯t considered taking more risky actions? From the start we wanted to make bigger moves, but do you know how precarious our position was when we got here? The populace had just lost their revolution against the authorities before we came along. And let me tell you, us not being natives and coming from the A.U. certainly endeared us to them back then! If we slipped up for even a moment everything would have fallen apart! And now after all our hard work to provide peace and stability and to have the populace trust us, you dare suggest throw all of that away!¡± I gritted my teeth. ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying at all you stubborn old man!¡± I shouted. ¡°Our position is rock solid, the people know that we care for them. And now that people have seen that we can defend ourselves, the time has come to invest and take risks for a better future.¡± My father just laughed. ¡°Our position is rock solid? Don¡¯t make me laugh! It is you who is blind my beloved son. What do you think will happen to us once the food stocks and water supply run dry? Do you think they won¡¯t blame us, do you think they won¡¯t drag us out like animals!? No, it¡¯s better to play it safe and find alternative solutions to our food and water problems.¡± I slammed my fist on the delicate desk, leaving my own mark on it. ¡°Our slow and steady plans nearly cost us our one and only chance at a future! If it hadn¡¯t been for the actions we took that day we would have lost everything! Why didn¡¯t you expand our borders to claim new resources?! Why didn¡¯t you expand our navy so that we could defend ourselves and run our own trade convoys?! Why are you still scared of the Union!¡± It was now my father¡¯s turn to slam the desk as he too stood up to look me straight in the eye. ¡°Because they could crush us all if we so much as show even a hint of aggression! Our diplomatic ties with our friends in the Union are what kept us safe from invaders for all these years! And now you¡¯re planning to risk all of it without even considering the wider implications your actions might have! Do you think for even a second that the Autarchs from the Union will let us expand without any repercussions? And what if war breaks out again between the Union and the Psionic Enclave, who will protect us then!¡± I stared daggers into my father¡¯s eyes. ¡°Well guess what, even though we abided by those rules the Union still came and waged war on us! I said while waving my new arm around. ¡°And we beat them! Without any additional help!¡± ¡°ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!¡± My mother said with cold steel in her voice. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this! We have to go to the funeral. We can discuss all of it later. Right now we have to attend to our fallen heroes, we owe them that much at least.¡± On that, we could all agree. The Car ride to the temple was quiet. Chapter 13 - Let Hope Bloom Anew [Rafar - Temple of Virja, Funeral Garden] Like my parents, I inspected the temple walls to distract myself. The walls displayed the story of Virja, our goddess of flowers and passing. Each hallway was shaped in such a way that flower petals could easily flow through them. Only a certain path in the temple was lit with candles so that if our fallen lost Virja¡¯s flowery path then they would still have a chance to find their way back into her embrace. to not shackle the spirits of our fallen with memories of the technology they had in life, for each deserved their blessed rest after their rough lives on Rafar. A clergy member had waited for us. Their mechanical eyes were one of the only ways to navigate the darkness of this sacred place. As we followed him from behind in the darkness, I remembered the nightmare. Where we failed in our defense, where the damned souls of our fallen wailed in agony. Where everything was on fire. I won¡¯t let these dreams come to pass. I solemnly swore in my heart. As we entered the graveyard where both our young and old lay buried I could see hundreds of growing corpse flower buds nearly ready to bloom. The more devout amongst us refer to them as Virja¡¯s grace. Some saw our ways as barbaric, but they didn¡¯t understand, that by returning our dead back to the earth, we gave a piece of ourselves back to Rafar. This was our penance and way to atone for the deterioration of our home¡¯s ecosystem. It was hard to find places not contaminated even down here beneath the earth. We kept fresh soil from other worlds with which we mixed our Rafarian dirt. That way both our deceased and the planet could move on within the next cycle of life. Many visitors had come to witness the ceremony. We stood behind the raised podium, each of us had prepared a speech as was expected of us as rulers. My father went first. ¡°I speak for our warriors when I say that it is with a heavy heart that we have gathered here today, to say our final goodbyes to our heroes. Each of them fought brilliantly against our assailants during the most dire of occasions. It is because of their sacrifice that both Rafar¡¯s future and way of life are preserved.¡± I heard the beautifully chosen words of my father. But I didn¡¯t feel them. My father finished his speech and went back down. Next up was my mother. ¡°I speak for our civilians who got swept up in the massacre, like our heroes, none of them deserved a fate such as this. And yet despite it all, they too stood by our brothers and sisters as the world around them crumbled. We too will etch their names in the annals of our history, so that we may look back at their sacrifice to inspire us to greatness. May Virja embrace you.¡± the prayer echoed as hundreds of whispered prayers were let loose. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As I walked up to the podium I looked around and saw hundreds of our people watch me with batted breath. There was not a single soul on our planet who was not participating in the prayer. Whether they were at home or at church everyone watched and listened to our speech. Minutes went by until finally, I took out the speech I had prepared with my parents beforehand. And then in the silence of the temple hall, the ripping sounds of the torn papers echoed all around us. The crowd looked on in bewilderment, which is when I began my speech. ¡°I am tired. Tired of seeing my people lose their loved ones. Tired of having my friends and family subsist on recycled food and water. Tired of seeing our home deteriorate. Tired of being looked down upon by those who would see us crushed under their foot.¡± I took a breath. ¡°When outsiders speak of us they say we are nothing but filthy scavengers who only live off the work of others. They are wrong. We are artists. We breathe life into that which they cannot. When faced by foes with superior numbers and firepower it was not they who came on top, it was us!¡± I slammed my new golden fist onto the podium. ¡°I will not speak for anyone else here but me.¡± I looked forward resolutely. ¡°I am done with playing it safe. I am done playing by the rules created by those who would stop at nothing to prevent our glory from rising beneath the waste. The wastes that they helped create!¡± ¡°In the days to come, I want you all to decide for yourselves. Are you content with our current way of life? The path we need to walk for a better future is fraught with sacrifice. It will be hard and lives not unlike those of our comrades lying here will be lost. But I swear to both you and our fallen that our time will come, starting today we will prove our worth to the galaxy and show them that we are more than mere scavengers. For Rafar! For our future!¡± I roared with my new arm raised high. ¡°For Rafar!!! For our future!!¡± the crowd echoed. And seemingly our fallen agreed with us, as the entire room lit up with the blooming light of hundreds of corpse flowers, each displaying their own unique color. Petals swirled around us, and the roars kept going even as I exited from the podium. My parents watched in shock as I walked up to them. ¡°I understand why you played it safe, but I can no longer follow that path. Rafar needs change and we have long explored the peaceful and pacifist options that were available to us. But they are no longer sufficient, where once they provided growth they now stifle it. Without taking some kind of risk we cannot claim a brighter future than what we have right now. And what we have in the here and now is not enough.¡± I faced my father. ¡°You are right, a time may come when they resent and blame me. Lives will be lost and I will be to blame for that. And if a time comes when they drag me out into the streets and butcher me then so be it. But until then I will not sit back and watch our people starve to death. Not when I can do something about it.¡± A couple of military escorts led by Belleran came and helped escort me out as we left my parents behind to ponder my words. Chapter 14 - The Expansion Department Three days later. [Rafar - Military base - ????] ¡°How has the repair work on the carrier been going, General?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going slow but steady. While the station repairs are still underway our friends in the engineering department have been fudging the numbers a bit, Grimar hasn¡¯t caught up yet to your friend''s actions.¡± ¡°Henry knows what¡¯s at stake. For now, we have kept Grim in the dark so as to not alert our presence to Talis, as her loyalty lies first and foremost to my mother. But given a few weeks I expect her to be open to our expansion plans.¡± ¡°How bad is our current food situation?¡± Asked the General. I grimaced in response. ¡°During the time that I was under the consumption department sent the royal family a rapport. In that rapport, it¡¯s stated that an additional twenty-five percent of our food-growing capabilities have collapsed. The reasons vary but the main problem is that our farming soil is running out of nutrients, nutrients that we cannot get from our planet. Because of that, we had more bad harvests this month. And it gets worse. Our water filtration system is overburdened, it¡¯s still holding for now, but the rapport states it is nearing collapse. If nothing is done soon we will die of thirst before we can grow hungry.¡± ¡°What was the royal response?¡± ¡°Lord and Lady Rafar hope to stabilize and recover from the damage by using the newly developed crops and fish made by the gene division. They are also working behind the scenes to get some of their Union friends to bring us new batches of soil and water supplies. But talks have been slow, as it seems our communications are being more heavily monitored from multiple sources within the Union.¡± ¡°So we¡¯ve truly hit a dead end.¡± The General said with sorrow in her voice. I simply nodded. ¡°How long do we have till we¡¯ve completely run out of food and water?¡± ¡°Three months. And that is with further rationing in place. Does the military have enough supplies for our trade plan?¡± ¡°If we truly have to we can arrange for food and water for two week¡¯s worth of space travel. But that includes the assumption that the crew will have to go hungry on some days. Depending on however we have to go it might not be enough.¡± As our discussion went on to prepare for the plan I was interrupted by a message from my mother. ¡°What¡¯s wrong my lord?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a message from Lord Rafar, it states ¡®Where our secrets lie buried, our future will be decided.¡¯¡± The General looked utterly confused. ¡°It¡¯s a secret place only my family knows of. My father is asking to meet me there, alone.¡± I explained. ¡°Are they preparing to take you into custody? Should I send some guards with you?¡± I shook my head. ¡°The place where I¡¯m going to there will be no guards, there are secrets that should only stay with us.¡± I took a breath. ¡°Whatever may happen General I want you to proceed as planned. I already got Orik from domestic affairs to arrange the minimum amount of traders, diplomats, and trade goods we need to get the operation underway, I¡¯ve sent you the coordinates now to their locations. it is up to you to get them sequestered away before Talis notices what¡¯s up. Our future is at stake. May Voreck''s luck and ingenuity prepare for the road ahead.¡± The General saluted back. ¡°And may Vaal¡¯s strength and perseverance be with you for the battles to come.¡± [Rafar - ???? - ???????] As I entered the shadowed chamber I spotted my parents standing ready and waiting. ¡°I¡¯m glad you came, Son.¡± My dad said. ¡°Of course Father. I may not agree with the path you two wish to take, but I hold no hatred for either of you.¡± ¡°And neither do we.¡± My mother stated. We studied each other before my father broke the silence. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about our options, and come to the conclusion that the time has come to show you the real reason why we are afraid to act.¡± Without further ado, he and Mom walked down the passageway going even deeper underground. I followed behind. ¡°Tell us Jason, what do you remember about this place.¡± ¡°I remember that this is where we keep our most dangerous secrets, secrets that even I remain yet unaware of.¡± Eventually, we came upon a vault door. As it opened I saw gold, silver, and other shiny jewelry. My parents ignored them and walked onwards. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of a piece of wall. It didn¡¯t look any different from its surrounding walls save for the word. ¡°Remember¡± is scratched in small letters near one of its corners. As my parents placed their hands on the wall they waited. And after minutes of waiting when I was about to ask what was supposed to happen, I heard a small *Click* as the wall parted. Walking inside I saw a massive pyramid that looked to have been built naturally, that was radiating with purple luminescent light. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°What is this..¡± ¡°This, this is a Psionic Nexus. If used correctly it can awaken a living being''s psionic potential. Decades ago when we first arrived here we found this. The former rulers of Rafar, or rather Hajer as it was known back then, were Psionic users who had rejected the ways of the enclave, they sought to study and harness this nexus¡¯s power. However, their tyrannical rule caused the populace to overthrow them before they could make use of it. Neither the Enclave nor the Union knows of this place, because neither would allow this power to persist in our hands, and so we kept the secret.¡± My father explained turning around he looked at my mother. ¡°There are two more secrets we carry. Jason, what do you know of the founding tales of the Autarch Union?¡± I blinked a bit thrown off by the question. ¡°Uhh if I remember correctly, the founding of the A.U. began when our great, great ancestor''s ships had a malfunction in their faster-than-light drives, causing them to jump away from their home sector and end up stranding each of them in the Karis sector. After that Merrick Thaal, the uniter began seeking out our other long-lost brothers and sisters eventually banding together to form the Union.¡± ¡°However soon after that, the Union encountered the Psionic Enclave. It was from that point on that each member of the union began experiencing outbreaks of people awakening their psionic powers. Soon those individuals banded together and threatened to overthrow the governments for reasons that remain unknown to us. This eventually led every society within the union to change to the only viable solution left, autocracy. The actions of the union against their psionic population is what sparked the first sector war, which cemented both factions as absolute powers within our sectors.¡± Even now on most worlds within the Union psi users are still being hunted when their abilities are uncovered. My parents nodded. ¡°You remember history well, however, that history holds many lies. During the war, we encountered a group of psionic refugees onboard a ship. We were ordered to shoot them, but before we even had the chance the refugees shared their memories with us through telepathic links. After viewing their memories we noticed many contradictions compared to what the Union had told us. Before we could really process all of this our captain ordered us to have them killed, which is when most of us rebelled. After that with the help of the refugees we managed to cover up what was done as us ¡®Heroicily fighting off against the psi users who so dastardly dared to take over the captain and some of our other comrades'' minds.¡¯¡¯ My mother continued on. ¡°For our deeds, we got promoted, and soon we had more encounters with other psionic users, eventually through those meetings and looking through the many documents our newly promoted stations now allowed us access to we pieced together the truth.¡± ¡°Before the Union became the Autarch Union there were a variety of differing societies that had been building up over our many long years of isolation from one another. When everyone got together they encountered the last collection of worlds colonized by our long-lost brothers and sisters. Those members were the Psionic Enclave. At first peace and prosperity reigned, but it didn¡¯t last, as the enclave helped awaken people on different worlds in the union, under the justification of evolving beyond our mortal constraints. Most people can¡¯t survive the awakening process. The Union did nothing as they sought to use their newly awakened psionic users to further their own agendas. Some psi users were furious at their treatment under the Union or for allowing the Enclave to do as they wished to them and their loved ones, causing them to revolt. Eventually, this allowed most if not all power power-hungry factions within the union to claim dominance over their own societies as Autarchs.¡± My father took over from there. ¡°Of course, those power-hungry bastards grew paranoid after fighting off a continuous stream of newly revolting psi users within their population. They asked the Enclave to stop awakening more of their populace. The Enclave did not stop, as they quote ¡®Would not prevent their brothers and sisters from ascending.¡¯ These are the real reasons behind the first sector war.¡± I looked confused. ¡°Okay I understand how important all of this is, but what does all of this currently have to do with you two fearing the A.U. so much?¡± My father pointed towards a device I only now saw installed atop the nexus. ¡°That is a psi emitter. The Enclave used them to forcibly awaken people. The Union got their hands on this one and almost managed to weaponize it. If they were successful it would have allowed to union to cause all the psionic users on a planet to go mad when activated. We stole and modified it, now it prevents any psionic user from activating their powers while on Rafar. It also prevents people from awakening despite being so close to a psionic nexus. The war had been going on for decades. And finally just as peace talks were almost done the Union was about to unleash this, further perpetuating the cycles of violence. So we together with other members in the Union and psionic members not part of the enclave managed to steal it and cover up what happened.¡± My mother sighed. ¡°However at some point, someone slipped up¡­ Luckily the Union at that moment was too bloodied to fight against us. Especially since they were not certain how many allies of ours they would have to fight. Ever since then, they have been watching us. Making sure that we did not step out of line. That my son is why we¡¯ve been so scared. Over time most within the Union have forgotten about us and what we¡¯ve done, as they are too occupied with their internal squabbling and power games. But if even one of them remembers and tries to uncover the truth we could face the entire wrath of both the A.U. and the P.E.¡± That was a lot to take in¡­ ¡°Even with all that said if we continue on the path that we are going now we risk losing everything, you¡¯ve seen the rapport from the consumption department and the aftermath of our battle. If we don¡¯t take risks we will die either way.¡± My parents looked at one another and then back at me and let out a resigned sigh. ¡°We agree. We¡¯ve tried and exhausted every option, but after defeating those so-called pirates we can longer count on help from our allies. Not without risking their exposure. And so we will support your plan, Jason.¡± My father handed me a medal. The medal was shaped like a shield and had a robotic fist raised high. ¡°As of today, you are the head of our newly formed Expansion department, your mission is to expand our influence and find new ways to increase the lives of our citizens. We will give you access to our secret royal reserves to complete your first mission. We¡¯ve managed to set up one trade partner that will allow you to buy more food and supplies to help buy us time for further expansion plans.¡± I dropped my informal stance and hugged them. ¡°Thank you for believing in me, and sorry for going behind your back.¡± They hugged back. ¡°We understand and we are sorry that it had to come to this.¡± As we walked the way we came and up towards the service I stopped for one moment as a question still lingered in my mind. ¡°Before we go I have one more question to ask. You said that the former rulers of Hajer were studying these nexus, so do you know who built them?¡± They both looked back at the nexus and then at me with a worried gaze. ¡°We don¡¯t know son. And that scares us.¡± Chapter 15 - The Journey Begins [1 Month later.] As the shuttle left Miranda¡¯s Hope station I looked back at its broken state. Our engineers managed to bring the station back up to an operational state right before my parents made me the head of the expansion department. In time the station would be brought back to its proper state, but work on the big carrier had to come first. By combining the secret food stash my parents had built up over the years with the food General Thalia had prepared for the operation, we gained two precious months. One month was used to retrofit the big carrier into a mothership, which was relatively easy to do luckily as it had barely taken any damage during the battle. The other half would be used for the journey, leaving us with enough food for our trip to Pragia and back to Rafar without having to resort to rationing. Many preparations had to be made during this month, but we managed to do it. I could feel the shuttle¡¯s landing gear deploy. Stepping out of the vehicle I saw the insides of the hangar bay of our new mothership the Indomitable. A tired-looking Talis greeted me. ¡°Greetings, Captain Jason.¡± I nodded back with a smile ¡°Greetings to you too Talis, how are you holding up?¡± She showed a tired smile. ¡°The entire resource department now practically lives inside of our offices thanks to the amount of work that idea of yours has generated.¡± I grinned while raising an eyebrow. ¡°So how many people invested?¡± Though she was tired her eyes still shone with excitement. ¡°Estimates range around sixty to seventy-five percent of the entire population has invested. The department has noted however that most of our investors took out a loan.¡± I furrowed my brows. ¡°So if we don¡¯t succeed people will lose their savings.¡± Talis nodded. ¡°Which gives us even more reason to succeed, with this extra capital we will be able to buy more goods from Pragia than expected.¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°Talis I want you to Increase our food budget, we need all the food we can get our hands on from our friends at Pragia.¡± Pragia isn¡¯t that remarkable of a planet, however, it¡¯s the only nearby system that is both able and willing to export any substantial amount of food. It was a good thing my parents had established good relations with them all those years ago. Food is the one thing Pragia has in abundance, as their world is blessed with farmland and plentiful oceans but lacks many minerals. With the dissolution of the trade alliance, they were quite willing to accept our new trade offer, they even threw in quite a few discounts to both compensate us for the amount of risk we were taking and to show us goodwill. It¡¯s a good thing they don¡¯t know about our corp failures though. So now not only Rafar but also Pragia was counting on us. Failure meant a slow painful death for Rafar. But on the other end if this mission succeeded we would be able to buy time to not only recover but to also grow beyond our current sorry state. We finished our talk and as we did Talis split off and headed off to the residence of our traders, diplomats, and other crew departments that are vital to establish future trade operations with Pragia. I soon made it to the bridge. ¡°Captain¡¯s on deck!¡± Reported one of the soldiers as I came in, the bridge crew immediately stood up in salute. ¡°At ease.¡± I ordered, and everyone went back to their assigned post. I looked over my shoulder at Belleran, who had now become the new head of my royal guard, and a reliable friend. Over the last month, he and a few other volunteers were trained and vetted extensively by Xander to achieve in his words ¡°The minimum level.¡± For the first time in over seven years, I had my own royal guards again. A young woman with freckles and brown curled hair walked up to me, she wore the new expansion department uniform, which held streaks of red, grey, and a few strands of yellow with the expansion department''s risen fist emblem. ¡°Ummm, my, my lord.¡± she stammered. ¡°Hello Amanda. Still nervous?¡± She took a breath. ¡°Well, it¡¯s way easier talking to your prince when you''re too worried about dying in space. And then after all of that, you suddenly get promoted to his second in command!¡± She looked like one of Rafar¡¯s Warry Fish, where her head was constantly looking around for danger. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine Amanda,¡± I assured her. ¡°Besides I¡¯m a captain here not a royal.¡± Amanda gave me a shaky smile that did not inspire confidence. I sighed. Only so much you can do in a month I suppose. I steeled my expression and walked over to my command post. ¡°This is Command to all stations, report in.¡± Various channels began responding. ¡°This is Emanual from Communications. Command we hear you loud and clear and are ready to deliver your orders.¡± ¡°This is Chief Engineer Henry from Engineering and Maintenance, all systems are green and we are ready to work!¡± ¡°This is Security Chief Wigun from the Barracks, weapons are loaded and we¡¯re ready to serve!¡± ¡°This is Military Commander Forick from the hangar, all combat craft are prepped and ready for launch.¡± ¡°This is Head researcher Elijah from Research & Development, all staff is ready to innovate.¡± ¡°This is Head Doctor Sarrah from Medical, we stand ready to treat all that ails us.¡± ¡°This is Quartermaster Bagrund from Logistics, all goods and crew are accounted for. We¡¯re ready to make the big bucks.¡± ¡°This is Head Diplomat Talis from Foreign Relations, we stand ready to deliver the good word.¡± Now that everyone was ready for takeoff I ordered Emanual to begin the short broadcast. ¡°Today marks the first of many voyages to come between us and our allies on Pragia. Together with my brothers and sisters on board the Indomitable we will open the way forward towards a new path of growth for us all.¡± As the speech ended I got a private message from Talis reading. ¡°Nice speech cap, even if it was a bit stiff. But we will work on that.¡± I stifled a groan, the last month had not been kind to my sleep or sanity, but her lessons will be necessary for the coming days. ¡°This is Command to all stations, we will initiate FTL jump in five minutes, be ready.¡± The Command Center began buzzing with life as my command was relayed to the various stations onboard the ship. ¡°Jason, a question if I may.¡± Asked Belleran. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°What was the point of the speech? Doesn¡¯t everyone already know that this was going to happen?¡± ¡°Ahh, well thanks to Talis¡¯s lessons I can answer. First, we want to improve the morale of everyone involved in this operation both on and off the ship. The loss of the trade convoy was a major blow to everyone, so now even more pressure and expectations are laid upon us to make up for that loss. We want to keep morale high to take off some of the pressure on all sides. The second point is to assure our new investors on both Rafar and Pragia that everything¡¯s on schedule, that way we can create a reputation for being reliable which will help with our future endeavors.¡± Belleran nodded in understanding. ¡°Mm makes sense.¡± ¡°One minute left till FTL.¡± Amanda¡¯s voice echoed over the comms. Hmm, maybe I have time to check if the chip is finally done processing my new arm. I should chec- I began hugging my seat for dear life as reality began to compress and fold into itself, my senses went dark, and colors across time and space coalesced into a living breathing artwork, live itself began racing towards what felt as both the beginning and ends of time as we sling hosted ourselves across the void. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ***** Sighs of relief went off all around me as we entered back into real space, where reality had mended itself back together again. Looking over my shoulder I saw Belleran trying to stand on shaking legs. ¡°I¡¯d advise against standing for a few more minutes, your body is still unsure whether you are alive or not.¡± You could train for many things, but FTL travel has to be experienced. While Belleran and most of the other crew were busy trying to get their grip on reality back I inspected something I had been holding off on for a while now. ¡°Display chip repair status.¡± [Chip Repair progress at 50%] [Adminstration system function - [TACTICAL OVERVIEW] - Unlocked] [The [TACTICAL OVERVIEW] Function allows the user to know and visualize each position of his subordinates that have been designated as military assets in any given space.] [New blueprints for the construction system unlocked] A list of blueprints quickly displayed themselves, most were too old to be of any use to us, but three of them stood out to me. I gave my next command. ¡°Amanda please let Elijah and the R&D team know that I and Chief Engineer Henry will be coming over in the next few minutes to discuss some of their ongoing projects.¡± Amanda nodded and began relaying the orders to the communications center, at least to the ones that weren¡¯t pouring the contents of their stomachs out. ¡°Display arm synchronization progress.¡± [Arm synchronization progress at 100%] [Arm integration with A.V. system complete.] [The arm has access to all 3 A.V. sub-systems. If modified the arm can be used to strengthen existing functions and unlock new ones. Currently, the arm can be used as a local comms center by expanding the strength and range of the A.V. network. NOTE: The efficiency and power of these abilities depend on the hardware capabilities of the cybernetic arm.] I got out of my chair and began to walk out of the command center, only stopping when my Royal Guard implored me to stop. ¡°My lord, I can¡¯t let you go unguarded, ugh¡­¡± Croaked a sickly-looking Belleran. ¡°Belleran you and the rest of the royal guards should report to Medical first. Besides I doubt there is anyone here trying to kill me, and if they were they are probably experiencing same the pleasantness that you are called FTL sickness. So I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Belleran tried to protest again but promptly had to stop as bile began coming up his throat. Boy, am I glad that it¡¯s only this bad on the first jump. If an enemy had showed up at our destination we¡¯d be dead before firing our first shot. As I navigated through the Indomintables corridors I soon met up with Henry, who was held upright by his fiance Linda. ¡°Linda always a pleasure.¡± She gave a short nod. ¡°Likewise Captain Jason.¡± Henry managed to ask a question between fits of throwing up. ¡°How is it that you¡¯re both still fine? Ugh..¡± I smirked extra sweetly at him. ¡°Because I used to go on diplomatic trips with my parents, so I¡¯ve been through it before, now you too get to experience it.¡± Linda looked a bit worried. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any side effects.¡± I looked her over, she didn¡¯t show any erratic behavior or other known FTLS symptoms. ¡°For the time being I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. However I still want you to report to medical after helping me bring this guy over to R&D. Though rare some people do experience side effects at a later time, so it¡¯s better to have you there in case something happens.¡± I took the other side of Henry and we began moving again towards R&D. On the way there we encountered several crewmates, each with their own variety of FTL sickness. Most luckily were just throwing up their lunch, but there were a few who cradled themselves in a fetal position whilst rambling. I should give my regards to Doctor Muller later. ¡°Should, should we help them?¡± Asked Linda. I shook my head. ¡°Right now they are in a very volatile state. Until they somewhat recover their grasp on reality, there is no telling what they might when exposed to new stimuli.¡± She nodded and we moved on, eventually reaching R&D where most crewmates had since left for Medical from the looks of it. Linda left with a crewmate I called to escort her to Medical in case a side effect did happen on the way there. ¡°Ah Jason, a pleasure to see you again after such a long time.¡± Said Head Researcher Elijah, his familiar dreadlocks and relaxed attitude made him stand out from the usually stoic researcher crowd. I took his hand and shook it. ¡°Likewise Elijah, I hope you like the new place I arranged for you and your team.¡± he smiled. ¡°It is most excellent. You have me and my teams thanks for arranging it. The same goes for you and your team Henry, for finishing our facility on such a tight deadline.¡± Henry gave a quick thumbs up as he took some medicine to alleviate some of the sickness. ¡°Alright, then gentleman, with the pleasantries out of the way it is time to discuss work. Let¡¯s start with the projects you¡¯ve been working on and then we will move on to some new projects I have for the both of you. ¡±They both nodded. ¡°First off what¡¯s the status of the EMP cannon project?¡± Elijah fiddled with his lab coat and pushed up his glasses, which usually meant bad news. ¡°Unfortunately the progress on downscaling the cannon for smaller ships is still quite slow. My team and I remain optimistic that it can be done, but we cannot say when.¡± I looked over at Henry who shook his head. ¡°Engineering has been unable to provide much help to R&D on that front as we have been occupied with working on the ship¡¯s many retrofitting operations, however, we did make sure that the EMP cannon is fully functional should we need it.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good. Elijah, how is Project FROST coming along?¡± Elijah just sighed. ¡°We¡¯ve been working hard on that, however, the heating systems we are working on are still insufficient to support a mining colony on Ameria. And I¡¯d take way too long for us to find a solution to it I¡¯m afraid.¡± I grimaced. ¡°Well I knew it was a long shot going in, but if progress is that bad then we have to switch priorities. Project Frost will be put on hold for now, instead, I want you to work on another project I have in the works called ASTRA.¡± I sent over the details as I began explaining. ¡°Project ASTRA or Autonomous, Space, Terrain, Resource, Acquisition is focused on turning the construction drones into a larger mining variant that we can use to extract ore from asteroids. The end goal will be to acquire the materials we need to repair Miranda station and then to grow our fleet and orbital defenses. Besides that, we will also be able to acquire fresh water if we¡¯re lucky by mining the ice found in some asteroids.¡± at the mention of fresh water the two men¡¯s eyes began looking serious and so I pushed on. ¡°If you two can manage this I will personally see to it that you both get the first batch of fresh water.¡± They nodded. ¡°Good, now onto the new projects I mentioned.¡± Henry got excited. ¡°Got any more goodies for us like those construction drones? Like a battlecruiser blueprint?¡± I shook my head with a sigh. ¡°Even if I did I wouldn¡¯t give them to you. You would wreak havoc on us all.¡± Henry looked affronted. ¡°What? Jason, when was the last time I ever messed something up?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°There was that time you nearly blew yourself up because you wanted to give Linda a bike?¡± Henry began whistling innocently. ¡°Hey, stuff happens. Sometimes it¡¯s out of my control.¡± I gave him a straight look. ¡°Most people don¡¯t try to weaponize their toaster into a heat ray either.¡± Henry took a theatric pose as he covered his face with his hand. ¡°Alas, most folks lack my spark of creativity!¡± Elijah snorted. After a brief moment of more jokes, we got back on track. I sent over the new blueprints I got from the A.V. chip. Henry¡¯s eyes nearly burst out of his sockets.¡°Holy shit Jason. Are these schematics for an exo suit!?¡± Elijah looked confused. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t get it. What do you want us to do with this century¡¯s old tech? Even our fixed-up atmospheric suits are better than this.¡± Henry turned to Elijah. ¡°We can use this to make our own atmospheric suits! For a long time, we¡¯ve been stuck with fixing up ones we could buy or scavenge, but with this, we now have a foundation to work off!¡± I nodded ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone else on Rafar to nearly end up dead like my parents by using old suits, that there is something else I¡¯ve been thinking about. During the pirate attack, they boarded Miranda station, back then we couldn¡¯t risk pushing them back as aggressively without losing our own. If we had some of our own exo-war suits like those in the Union have then we could have ended the fight earlier, both on the station and on the ship we now occupy.¡± Henry nodded thoughtfully.¡°Agreed, so I¡¯m guessing these suits have to be mass-producible, any other requirement?¡± I thought about it. ¡°If possible I want the suits to use a modular system, if we can use modules then we can repurpose the suits to be used in construction work, war, or anything else that we might require, whilst also being easily repairable by virtue of just replacing modules.¡± We went over some other stuff but soon called the meeting done. The next two weeks flew by in a flurry of activity, and soon we exited from FTL into Pragian space. Chapter 16 - Pragia It took me a few minutes to realize that this was not one of my recurring nightmares, Harvest station, the one orbiting over, Pragia was under attack. ¡°This is Command. Comms make immediate contact with Harvest station. Commander Forrick have our fighters join in the fight with our Pragian allies, Talis you and the rest of the envoys are ordered to retreat from the hangar bay to your quarters and hunker down until this blows over. Everyone else prepares for battle stations!¡± At my command, the crew sprung back into action. A minute later our call to Harvest station got through. On the bridge screen came the live feed from Harvest station, explosions, and chaos reigned in the background as a worried-looking man with various insignias on his military uniform greeted us through the screen. ¡°Greetings Rafarians I am station commander William, as you can see we are currently under attack and are in dire need of assistance, can you help us?¡± ¡°Greetings Commander William, this is Captain Jason from the Rafarian trade convoy. Our fighters are already scrambling to join the fight. Do you have any idea who they are?¡± William¡¯s former worried face morphed into a scowl. ¡°Pirates, they came out of nowhere an hour ago, they¡¯ve been attacking us ever since and were winning, at least until you showed up. They currently outmatch our defense force three to one. I¡¯m sending all the data we have on them over to you now, including our own friendly ID tags so that we can better coordinate.¡± I gave an appreciative nod back. ¡°Good, we will send our Fighter IDs as well.¡± I added Military Commander Forrick into the conversation. ¡±Forrick how long till our fighters join the fight!¡± Forrick gave a quick salute. ¡°Sir we have two fighter squadrons leaving the hangar bay as we speak! We are bringing in more as fast as we can.¡± I looked out of the bridge view. The blackness of the void could not hide the small streaks of light left by each side''s fighter engines as the Pragians and the pirates fought against one another in a desperate struggle to stay alive. Each new light in the void became a new signal that another life had been extinguished. Something feels familiarly wrong about this. I thought as I looked at the carnage out there. ¡°Captain!¡± said Amanda. I had never seen the woman so angry before. ¡°Our engineers had a look at the data Commander William sent over. These designs are the same as the ones used by the pirates that attacked our station!¡± I could feel my teeth grind against each other and the immediate need to strangle something with my hands. Now it¡¯s personal. I made some preparations before I ordered comms to begin a mass broadcast to everyone in our nearby vicinity.¡° This is Jason El Rafar from the Indomitable. Nearly two months ago you pirate bastards butchered hundreds of my kin, whilst leaving them in the void. If you have any gods I would pray to them, for we will not show you mercy.¡± As I ended the broadcast I heard various shouts of anger and calls for murder come through all the fighter and ship station frequencies at the revelation of our hated foe. I looked over to Amanda. ¡°It''s ready captain,¡± she said curtly with ice-covered words and fires of vengeance in her eyes. I replied in kind with one word. ¡°FIRE.¡± A second later the indomitable colored the void with a brief flash of blinding blue light. As it vanished, so did all the light from the pirate¡¯s carrier. Harvest station sent various boarding ships towards the vessel while a squad of six Rafarian gunships surrounded them to provide cover against pirate bomber and fighter squadrons. We also launched a second assault squad made up of Rafarian boarding vessels and gunships toward the carrier to ensure that one way or another we¡¯d get some hostages. And then we can find out what the hell they are doing out here. The pirate fighters were still disorientated from the Indomitable EMP cannon¡¯s attack. Now the tables were turned as it was three of ours against one of theirs. But I still had one card to play, as I connected my newly upgraded mechanical arm to the command console. Henry had modified it so that it could be integrated with other machinery while also boosting the A.V. network range and power. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Activate [Tactical Overview]¡± At my command all the data coming from our allied forces was routed through me and the ship, the A.V. chip quickly sorted it and in less than a few seconds our battle map was getting constant real-time updates on the positions of our allies and enemies. With this data, I and the bridge staff helped coordinate our fighters, which allowed them to push our advantages even further. From the few times we could hear their comms they looked to be in complete disarray, as they thought they cornered our fighters multiple times, only for them to end up surrounded and killed. While our fighters were making short work of the pirates our two boarding teams were swiftly approaching the enemy carrier. The Rafarian boarding team was a bit behind the Pragian team, who had just begun entering the carrier¡¯s hangar bay. As the boarding team shared their camera feed with us, we could see the front ship tanking an incoming missile, whilst being peppered with machine gun fire. Right now the boarding team was a sitting duck, luckily I had prepared for such an occasion after the last time I tried to board. From the bridge, I began activating [Remote Control], and a second later our new drones stopped clinging to the underbelly of the boarding ships. Hundreds of small drones the size of a hand began rushing over towards various enemy emplacements. At first, the enemy was only firing haphazardly at the drones, as they seemed to only be a minor annoyance. They changed their mind as they saw their comrades explode. With the help of our newly made suicide drones, the Pragian boarding team got their opening. The drones had first been put on our gunships, and when they got close during the escort of the boarding vessels they jumped ship. Now it would only be a matter of minutes before the Rafarian boarding team arrived to support them. I turned to Commander William. ¡°Unless they got a specialist to handle their EMP damage I¡¯d say we still have a few minutes left before their systems come back online. Unless they got more surprises I think we got them.¡± William let out a sigh of relief. ¡°We¡¯re in agreement there, though I¡¯ll relax when we have found out what they are doing all the way out here, there seems to be more going on than we thought. Zerrik Gar is an ambitious man, but he is not without his own enemy what makes him so bold to send these attacks now?¡± A thought occurred to me. ¡°William, do you happen to know how long it takes to travel from here to Zerrik Gar¡¯s territory?¡± William looked a bit worried. ¡°Are you planning to attack him directly?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Mm well to answer your question, I¡¯d say around five months?¡± Replied William. ¡°After the last pirate attack on our station, we were wondering how the pirates made it all the way here without alerting anyone in the outer colonies. We might not be the most up-to-date on the findings out there, but multiple carrier ships like this don¡¯t exactly go unnoticed.¡± William scratched his chin. ¡°So they must have a base somewhere to hide and rearm.¡± I nodded. Warning claxons went off signaling a nearby FTL jump signature. I looked at William with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Are you expecting anyone else besides us?¡± He steeled his face. ¡°No.¡± A second later the new arrivals made themselves known, as a pirate battlecruiser entered into the fray only a few kilometers away from the Indomitable. ¡°I am the pirate lord Furek Tar. Your continued defiance has been noted, prepare to die.¡± I gave a worried glance towards Amanda. ¡°How long till the EMP cannon is recharged?¡± She stood there in fear. ¡°Amanda!¡± she stood there shell shocked. Dammit, I¡¯ll get it myself! I directed the A.V. system toward finding the status of the EMP cannon, and a few seconds later I got my answer. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 75%] Looking back at the tactical map, I found our sensors picking up multiple fast-approaching vessels, however, they looked weird. More like flying tubes than ships, I shared the data with William. ¡°Those are boarding vessels!¡± With William¡¯s recognition of the boarding tubes, I scrambled to predict their flight paths. They were three-fourths of the way here when I finished my calculations, as they quickly tore across the void. ¡°This is Command to Engineering, Logistics, and Recreation, prepare for combat! Boarders are on the way!¡± I looked over towards Belleran. ¡°We¡¯re prepped and ready sir, we already secured the entryways.¡± Good one less thing to worry about. When they got close enough our turrets showered them with lead. Multiple boarding tubes were pierced and quickly imploded, leaking their former inhabitants out like a crushed can of bloodied soup. However, more than half made it past the turrets. I looked back at the EMP status. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 80%] Gunfire and violence came over the comms as multiple stations onboard the Indomitable were now engaged in close-quarters combat. ¡°Angle the ship towards the battlecruiser! I want to be ready to fire the EMP cannon when it¡¯s finished charging.¡± Whilst my command rang out across the bridge I refocused my attention on one of our own anti-boarding tools, as I brought the damned online. Chapter 17 - Repelling Boarders Belleran and the royal guards together with the security team on the bridge were busy fortifying our position in case the enemy tried to charge in. Various stations reported reported hull breaches in their area. The boarding tubes would first ram into the outer hull before digging themselves further inside, once far enough they would seal the cracks around the boarding tube to re-pressurize the area before the invaders got out. Looking out across the various camera feeds I saw Henry join the fight with his engineers with our new experimental exosuits, these had been made for construction and mining rock, but their bulky mechanical frame and big metal claws proved to be equally as effective against flesh as the engineers tore apart the screaming mass of pirate boarders. Switching over to the rec room I saw security chief Wigun backed up against an upturned pool table, with various of his defenders doing the same with other furniture. The fight seemed to be a stalemate, after the last fight we had stolen and adapted the pirate¡¯s weaponry for our own needs. Until the damned arrived to reinforce their position nothing seemed to change any time soon. Logistics had it easier than the other areas, as the damned were stored near there. The horrified screams and death wails of the pirates echoed around them in the small storage chamber, as the former pirates that attacked Rafar, now layed into their successors with cyberneticly enhanced strength. The lobotomized pirates now called the damned were making short work of them. There is a reason why we call Grimar Grim. His work never disappoints. I still had mixed feelings about the damned. On one hand what we did was clearly inhuman, on the other they killed so many innocents on Miranda¡¯s hope that I did mind their current state too much. And then there was the practical aspect of needing more weapons of war for these dangerous times. We can¡¯t let the Pragians discover them though. That is why I kept the damned on our ship for now. I checked in with the EMP cannon again. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 85%] Within a few minutes we would be lined up for a shot against the pirate battlecruiser, already reports came from the assault teams on the pirate carrier, soon they would conclude their fight as they were now near the bridge. If things proceeded as they were we would soon have the upper hand, and the enemy knew that as well. Shots from the battlecruiser rammed themselves into the Indomintable¡¯s hull, looking for any advantage they could gain, for our part there wasn¡¯t much we could do against a battlecruiser-type ship. Well, there was still one thing. As the battlecruiser got closer I contacted Forrick. ¡°Forrick are the drone corvettes ready?¡± He gave me a quick thumbs up on the holo screen before going back to ordering his men. I accessed the drone corvette through the [Remote Control] function, and a few minutes later five drone corvets took off towards the carrier at my command. The battlecruiser''s formidable defenses had already shot down one of the corvets in the time it took for them to go near the ship, as they got in combat range we lost another one. Finally, however, the payloads could be released. Hundreds of drone missiles were let loose against the battlecruiser, some carried explosives, whilst others carried deconstructor drones, which were modified construction drones that could only deconstruct, but they could do so at rapid speeds. The drones began stripping away the battlecruiser''s exterior to target the various systems lying underneath the hull. The enemy seemed content to keep shooting at both us and the drones, with the payload of our corvette now gone I ordered them to charge into the main cannons of the ship. Further reducing their firepower. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 90%] Soon we would be ready to unleash hell against our foes, and it was at this moment that I got careless, as I heard a gunshot tearing through flesh right near my left ear. Belleran had shot a pirate who was about to end me dead. Flickers of light popped in all around the bridge as exo-combat suit-wearing pirates teleported inside. With not a moment to spare I jumped over the command console and hunkered down for cover whilst drawing my pistol out of its holster. Chaos reigned inside the room, as every which way sounds of battle and the smell of blood and iron filled the room. After a few minutes, the pirates seemed to focus on me. Belleran and the royal guards quickly proved their worth, as their training under Xander paid off in spades. However, both their and the crew''s weaponry were simply no match for the pirate''s combat armor, as they effortlessly shrugged off the damage. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. When the opportunity presented itself I dashed for the bridge¡¯s exit, holding up my mechanical arm in hopes of shielding myself from some of the damage as the pirates ruthlessly fired the weaponry at me. To provide me cover the royal guards engaged the pirates in melee. As I went around the corner I could hear the metal door behind me screech as it was torn open, soon the thundering steps of the pirate''s suits could be heard stampeding behind me. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 95%] Luckily some of the damned had finally made their way towards my location, immediately I sprung them on the enemy. Like before their weapons did nothing, but they did manage to hold up the enemy. I looked at the EMP cannon charge status with desperate longing. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 95.5%] Son of a- I quickly ducked behind the next corridor as a hole the size of my torso was created into the corridor wall. I ran for dear life to the engineering bay. By the time I got there Henry and his team who had bravely fought off the boarders were ready to assist. A moment later one of the pirates burst through the door, only to be smashed to smithereens by the Rafarian exo suits of Henry and two of his engineers. The other pirates for their part seemed unfazed by the death of their comrade, as they threw three grenades our way. Our new exo suit''s bulky armored frame held against the blast, however in the moments of smoke it provided the advantage of surprise was now lost. We held them at bay by throwing everything we had at them, from the construction drones in the bay, to work tools anything and everything was used to buy time, until finally. [EMP CANNON CHARGE STATUS 99.5%] Just before we were ready to fire the pirates were surrounded by light, as they were teleported back to the battlecruiser, which was engaging its FTL drive. ¡°I hope your life was worth it little prince, as it is now worth an extra hundred souls lost from your heathen gods embrace,¡± said Furek Tar as he and his ship jumped away. The battle was now over, and our forces had won. No one cheered, however, as the damage was once again too much to call it a victory. We spent the next half hour treating our most injured and repairing our most critical systems. With the bridge now functional again thanks to our engineers I reestablished contact with Commander Williams. ¡°How is Harvest station holding up?¡± Williams took in his surroundings with a solemn look. ¡°It¡¯s standing thanks to you and your help. If only I could say the same for our loss of life.¡± I nodded. Pragia like us didn¡¯t have a big navy, at most they had two fighter squads and that was it. How they managed to hold on for an hour was nothing short of a miracle. ¡°We can let our traders and diplomats handle the details, but I feel that it¡¯s better to tear off the band-aid now. In return for any info we can find, the help we have provided so far, and our help in repairing your station I want that carrier.¡± ¡°Done,¡± said William. I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Just like that.¡± William shrugged. ¡°We don¡¯t have the materials, manpower, or military training to crew it anyway so it¡¯s useless to us. I have heard of those defense platforms you¡¯ve made at home, I would ask that we get those.¡± I gave him a thumbs up. As we were collecting our data we got a collective call from the boarding team, they called for me specifically. [Enemy Pirate Carrier - Prison] As I walked through the now blood-soaked corridors of the pirate ship I kept wondering why no one had told me the details of what they found. I gave Belleran a look of concern. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Milord, we got your back.¡± A nice sentiment, but not one that felt too comforting as he and his guards carried many fresh battle scars with them. After a few more steps we finally made it to the area that the boarding team wanted to show me. The guards covered the entrance and as we made it inside I began noticing the interior. To call it a prison would be charitable. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was better that we couldn¡¯t see the flies and excrement through the darkness, as the gut-wrenching smell fueled one¡¯s imagination in the worst ways possible. Like a prison the cells were tiny, one barely had enough room for a toilet and a bed. At the end of the hallway in which we stood was the one prison cell with an occupant left. The woman was barely recognizable under the many bruises that seemed to cover every part of her skin. Her eyes had a lifeless grey look in them that sought death. I was at a loss for words, describing the scene as hellish or a tragedy would not do it justice. It was under those circumstances that I found the traitor of the trade alliance. Lady Elanor Romira, the princess of Romira and my former friend and Fiancee. The End of Scavenged Empire I wanted to properly announce that I am not continuing the story of Scavenged Empire. The reason for this is twofold. 1. I simply don''t think that this is the story I want to tell right now. I might return to it in the future, but during this writing process, I found out what aspects I did and did not like about the story. 2. I couldn''t keep up with the Writathon. For the last few weeks I have been working day and night to keep up with the writathon, however, this cost me quite a lot of sleep and in addition, I had to make up for lost time whenever I felt unable to write due to being sick. This in turn caused more stress when trying to keep up with the writathon. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Overall I am glad I tried doing the Writathon (and perhaps I might finish one in the future) and it taught me many lessons that I will use going forward. For now, I''ll be focusing on some other stuff and recovering for a bit. I do plan on returning with a new series that uses some of the ideas I tried exploring with SE. All in all thank you for reading this story so far and hopefully see you next time. - Werhunter