Yatta! I'm finally able to update! FF wouldn't let me on all morning. -pouts- Anyway, it's late due to reasons not under my control, but here is the second chapter of Eye of the Storm! Enjoy!
Sunlight glittered. It glittered off of sharp metal edges and reflected off of the clouds below. Stars glittered in the distance, their light adding to that of the sun and making everything glow. Just ahead, a large round metal space station floated in a steady orbit, various arms spiking off of it and connecting to a large number of smooth, sleek, silvery ships.
"Whoa!"
"That's amazing!"
Zero's group could barely contain their excitement as they stared out the shuttle windows at the ships glimmering outside.
"Which one's the Infinity?" Ren asked.
"Dunno, but we'll be docking close to it." Kite said.
"There!" Maru exclaimed, pointing at a ship as they passed close beside it. The word Infinity was painted in bold, black letters along the bottom edge of the ship's shining outer hull. Just above the name of the ship was the logo of the WBBA, in bright red and black. The bridge towered above the outer hull, sloping upwards in a graceful curve.
"Now docking at starship Infinity. Good luck, cadets." The pilot said as he landed in the wide open hangar bay of the ship.
"This still feels so weird. I can't believe that we're actually here!" Zero exclaimed as he and his friends stepped off the shuttle and found themselves standing, actually standing, inside a WBBA starship.
"None of the simulations we went through felt like this." Shinobu commented, looking around the busy area in awe.
"All new cadets please report to the bridge, repeat, all new cadets please report to the bridge." a voice said over the loudspeaker. "All crew members prepare for departure of the Infinity in approximately one hour."
"Off we go then. Probably an orientation." Kite said, leading the way towards one of the lifts nearby.
"Welcome, cadets. Please, have a seat. I am Captain Tsubasa Ootori of the Infinity. It is a pleasure to have you on board." A man with silver hair said. "Over the last few years, this ship has gained an entirely new crew. I myself have only been here for five years as Captain, and now you six are replacing the last group to retire from duty. Your positions will be mainly on the bridge with me, as you were all at the top of your class."
The group gasped. Tsubasa chuckled a bit at the surprised looks on their faces.
"You were trained for bridge positions, were you not?"
"Y-yes sir." Shinobu said.
"Good. Then you will all take the position you were assigned and prepare for launch."
"Yes sir!" the entire group exclaimed, getting up and moving into position as Tsubasa sat down in the captain's chair.
"This is Captain Ootori. Everyone prepare for departure." The silver-haired man said, then leaned back with a contented sigh. "We leave in a half hour. I suggest you all get your things to your quarters. They'll be down in the hangar bay and your keycards are by the door. Do not lose those cards, as they are your access to everything. Be back here ten minutes before launch."
"Yes sir, thank you sir!" Zero and the others replied in unison before picking up their cards and leaving.
"I didn't think we'd be in a command position!" Ren exclaimed.
"I know, right?! This is crazy…" Shinobu muttered.
"Crazy awesome!" Zero whooped. Eight and Maru laughed as the group continued walking down the hallway towards the lift.
"Welcome back, sir. The Eye awaits your command."
"Good. You heard of the attack on the WBBA graduation ceremony, correct?"
"Yes, of course."
"Good. We move in two hours. Have everyone ready."
"Yes sir."
"You wanted to see me, Commander?"
"Yes. We have gotten a report from the agents who were at the graduation ceremony, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"And?"
"The explosion failed to kill the commander."
The shadowed figure froze. "He's alive?"
"Yes sir."
"Then where is he?"
"We don't know sir. He escaped."
A sigh came from the shadowed figure. "Find him."
"Yes sir."
"He must pay… The traitor." a black gloved hand clenched tightly into a fist as the owner of said hand stared out the window in front of him at the nebulous matter around them. It shifted constantly, almost violently.
"A great hiding place, really." the commander chuckled. "Beautiful in your own way… Yet dangerous enough that nobody will really dare venture inside, nobody but us, that is. Nobody in their right mind would try to navigate a galactic storm such as this, and, if they knew what was lurking here, they wouldn't dare even come close. It's time to move... To conquer… Nothing will stand in the way of the Eye. All will fall... " A slight smirk appeared on his face as he looked slightly down and to his right, looking at the spiraling, almost sparkling eye that had so quickly become so feared. It gleamed in the small amount of light from its surroundings, surrounded by jet-black shadows.
" So this is what power feels like… The ability to destroy a planet, right in my hands... It's definitely a huge responsibility." the commander sighed deeply, then turned, his black boots clanking against the deck he stood on as he strode to a nearby, high-backed black chair and sat down.
"Prepare for departure. The Eye of the Storm has remained here for too long."
"Yes sir!" A chorus of voices replied in unison before a low rumbling noise filled the air, shaking the ground beneath them slightly.
"All crew members of the Infinity prepare for departure. Repeat, prepare for departure."
"You guys ready?" Tsubasa turned slightly in his chair to look at the group of young adults standing in position behind him.
Zero nodded slightly, feeling already nervous at the position he had been sort of thrust into.
"Let's begin then." Tsubasa leaned back in his chair. "Primary engines?"
"Online." Ren reported, pressing a button.
"Thrusters?"
"Clear." Shinobu said.
"Ship environment?"
"Steady and holding. Sealed off from the dock now." Kite said, adjusting his glasses.
"Ease us away, Zero."
"Yes sir." Zero nodded and slowly slid his fingers across the screen in front of him, feeling his heart skip a beat slightly as he felt the ship begin to move.
"A little more push on the starboard thrusters, Shinobu. We need to be clear in five minutes so that the dock can continue in its orbit." Tsubasa said.
Shinobu nodded and slid his fingers up his screen.
"Careful with that navigation, Zero. There's another ship directly in front of us. You have to give it at least five hundred meters of space so that it can dock."
"Yes sir." Zero said, trembling ever so slightly as he continued to move the Infinity away from the spacedock.
"Almost clear." Eight reported from his position.
"Shinobu you may now fire up the rear thrusters." Tsubasa said. "Fire the front starboard ones at full capacity and turn us outward."
"Yes sir." Shinobu said calmly, tapping the required areas on his screen before nodding at Zero, who took a deep breath and grabbed the control stick next to him.
"Easy now." Tsubasa said.
"No different than training, Zero." Ren said quietly, watching her screen carefully.
"We'll be clear in a few moments." Eight said.
"Good job guys." Tsubasa smiled.
"Starship Infinity, you are clear. Good luck. Command Central over and out."
"Thank you, Command Central." Tsubasa said. "Kite, plot a course for Pluto. We're going to start there."
"Start what there?" Maru asked.
"Looking." Tsubasa said.
"Huh? Looking for what?" Eight asked, watching Kite as the brunette charted their course.
"I'll tell you once we're underway." Tsubasa said.
"Course set, Captain." Kite reported.
"Good. Ren, allow the engines to go to full capacity."
"Yes sir." Ren nodded and slid a bar on her screen to the full setting.
"Kite, don't allow the thrusters to reach full capacity just yet."
Kite nodded.
"Zero, switch to autopilot."
"Done."
"Release the thrusters, Kite. Everyone brace yourselves." Tsubasa grinned.
Kite raised an eyebrow and did as he was told. The entire group yelped as they were nearly thrown to the ground as the Infinity lurched forwards, the pinpoints of starlight elongating until they were blurred streaks.
"We'll arrive at Pluto in three hours." Tsubasa said.
"What are we going to do there?" Ren asked.
"Begin our search."
"Our search for what?"
Tsubasa turned, grinning. "The Eye, of course."
The eyes of the others nearly popped out of their heads.
"What?!"
"But that's dangerous!"
"Aren't we not supposed to go after myths?"
"There's a substance behind the myth, if it is a myth. We do not have any official mission other than exploration and responding to any distress calls that come our way. Therefore, we are going to find out what this is and if there's any basis to the fear that everyone holds for it."
The group fell silent. Sure, they had wanted to look for the Eye, to find out what it was and perhaps take it down, but now that they were presented with the fact that they were going to do just that, they weren't so sure. Wishful thinking had suddenly become reality without warning, and Zero and his friends weren't sure they were ready.
"Well then, let's go!" Eight broke the silence.
"That's more like it." Tsubasa chuckled.
"Why start at Pluto?" Zero asked.
"It's the closest place that we know of that the Eye showed up at recently." Tsubasa replied, tapping on a screen and bringing up a galactic map on the window in front of them.
"Areas marked in red are areas that have reported being attacked by the Eye in the last ten years. Pluto was the first in that time frame to be attacked, but it's been attacked twice since then as well. We're starting there because they're the closest and they'll also have more information than the other places, which have only been attacked once each."
"My home planet…" Maru whispered, staring at a planet on the screen. "It's been attacked recently as well…"
"Hmm?" Tsubasa raised an eyebrow at the pink-haired girl.
"Maru's seen it…" Zero whispered. "She saw the Eye…"
"Care to tell us about it?" Tsubasa asked.
"I was only two.. But it was all shadows and blackness… Fire and death… The devastation was everywhere once it had passed… I saw it lurking in the shadow of the planet as the refugee ship I was on when I left, but I don't remember anything more than that eye…"
"What eye?"
"The Eye has an eye?" Kite blinked.
"Yeah, big surprise there. Were you paying any attention earlier when she told us about this?" Shinobu rolled his eyes.
"What did it look like?" Tsubasa asked.
"Just… A spiral… A regular eye shape, but a sort of starry stripe spiraling out of the center of it… It was frightening to see, to know that the Eye was so close… Especially since I was only about two years old at the time, and my parents were… Gone… I'm not sure what happened to them…"
"I'm sorry… But thank you for telling us that information. Now we have a partial description of it." Tsubasa said.
Maru nodded. "No problem…"
"Where are we going after Pluto?" Ren asked.
"Hmm…" Tsubasa looked at a map. "How about Clomb?"
"Aren't there some… Rather… Uhh… Not nice aliens there?" Kite asked.
"We'll avoid them." Tsubasa said. "There's also a WBBA outpost there, and we'll probably only go there."
"Alright."
Excitement began to rise in the hearts of the group as every second carried them closer and closer to Pluto. Every minute carried them closer to finding out what the Eye was. Every hour brought them closer to discovering the truth.
"The Eye is still moving smoothly, as usual…"
"Sir, the sensors have picked up something."
"What?"
"A small ship. Enemy origin."
"Activate our cloaking device."
"Done, sir."
"Good. Prepare for potential battle. Shields up. Perhaps it's time that another enemy fell prey to the Eye."
"Yes sir."
"Eye of the Storm, this is the commander… Attack."
A low rumbling noise, followed by a sudden burst of destructive power, was the last thing the enemy ship ever knew.