Okay, here I come to you with another chapter. Last time we met, we saw Resistance troops taking back New Corinth and ending the Battle of Catharsis System. But also, we witnessed team of Navy SEALs breaking into secret HO facility on the planet and discovering a giant satellite dish. And what could be the Holy Order weapon, which destroyed TF08? Well, read to learn.
XXX
July 12, 2150
09:56
Ga'Raf System
Ga'Raf System was one of elder Nashini colonies. Colonized in year 3064 of Nashini calendar, it was a home to number of research facilities, as well as shipyards, navy bases and anchorages. It was also a place, where Ga'Raf Sector Defense Force HQ resided, an organization in Nashini military acting as National Guard in United States. Since the war begun and rest of Republic was lost, Ga'Raf and several other systems along Nashini-Human border held strong as the last Republican bastion. Many ships going to battle beyond the Nashini Free Line, as these systems were called, stopped here to refuel.
And today was no different.
A space distortion appeared behind one of the system's moons and soon, familiar shape of RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower jumped out of hyperspace. Heavy Cruiser continued it's flight, pushed by the force of inertia.
"We're in Ga'Raf System, sir."Egon reported to Eriksson.
"Good. Now, let's contact the anchorage in Ga'Raf II orbit."Erikssons aid to the communication officer.
He nodded and turned to his console.
"This is Heavy Cruiser Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ga'Raf II Anchorage, requesting permission to dock."he said.
However, what he got in answer, was static. He looked at captain and back at the consol.
"Anchorage, respond."
Again, nothing. This shouldn't be like that. Even in times of war, this system was lively and many trade and military ships were visiting the anchorage. Yet all military ships should have priority in these times and anchorage was supposed to immediately reply.
"I don't like it."Egon said.
Eriksson just sighed. They barely entered the system and already, they had problems. He just massaged his head.
"Flight control, send someone to investigate this. We will stay behind the moon, just in case."he ordered.
"Yes, sir!"flight controller replied and turned to his console.
Few minutes later…
Members of the White Squadron gathered in the hangar as a result of sudden call. They were supposed to just sit and do nothing, while Ike had to refuel in the system and jump back to where rest of TF03 was stationed.
"Why can't we have one peaceful day?"Yuko asked, pouting.
"Oh, come on. We had entire peaceful week."Dora replied."We did nothing since Catharsis."
"I know, but I still wanted to play some more games."the Japanese argued.
Ester sighed.
"Girls, it will be a quick scout flight."she said."After we finish it, we will get back and you can play games by rest of the day."
Immediately, large smile appeared on Yuko's face. She barely had any time to play games, especially during important operations. But well. War is war.
"Oh, and S4ra."Yuko turned to the Battle Doll."You're ready for your first flight?"
S4ra stretched her uniform and nodded.
"Yes."she said.
"Great. So, let's get to the business."Ester said.
The group entered the hangar, where hangar crews were finishing the final refueling and rearming.
"Is it ready?"Ester asked.
"Yes, sir."one of them replied."Fuel is 100%, as well as ammo, missiles and bombs."
"Great, thank you."White Squadron leader said.
With these words, hangar crews finished last things and left, allowing the squadron members to now get into their planes. TT-9 rolled towards Ester.
"I know you wanted to have longer rest too, but sorry. Orders are orders."Ester stated.
Astromechanical just made some sounds and had no other way, but to agree. He rolled under the fighter and was soon placed in his nest behind Ester's cockpit. Ester entered the cockpit and closed the canopy. Other squadron members also quickly put on their helmets, climbed up the ladders and were inside their cockpits, where they closed the canopies. Next, they all turned on the engines.
Fighters started hovering over the hangar floor and turned around to face the exit from the hangar. Next, they all slowly flew out. Once outside, they activated the standard mode and fighters were no flying low over the moon's surface.
"So, our mission is simple."Ester said in the radio."Ga'Raf II Anchorage is not responding to calls. We have to go there and investigate, what is going on and assist if needed."
"I have a bad feeling about this."Trude said.
"And who doesn't?"Ester replied."Just keep close and have your weapons ready."
"Understood."everyone replied.
Next, they continued to fly.
Ga'Raf II's moon was bigger than the Earth's moon, so flying around it was taking a bit more time. But with the fighter engines giving their fullest, they were going to fly around the moon in few minutes.
"I'm nervous."S4ra said."I mean, about what are we going to find."
"We all are."Ana said.
"Yeah, so don't worry."Arlette said."Whatever is behind this moon and even if it's Holy Order fleet, we will just call some reinforcements and deal with it."
"I just hope it's nothing bad."Emiko said.
"Easy, whatever Holies have, we'll deal with it."Liz assured her.
"Okay, we're about to see the planet. Get ready."Dora reported.
Everyone tightened their rips on their rudders and waited for what they were going to see. They were sure to see Holy Order.
But nothing could prepare them for what they saw, once their fighters flew around the moon and when planet came into their view.
"Holy shit…"Dora said.
"By anything that's holy…"Anastasia said.
"No…"Ester said.
Hell. That's how it could be described. Entire planet of Ga'Raf II looked like burning rock. It's surface was still red, cooling down after something, what basically burned the surface down.
"It's…not how this planet looked like, right?"Trude asked.
"No."Yuko replied and clicked some buttons in her cockpit.
Soon, hologram appeared in Trude's cockpit, signed Ga'Raf II. It showed lush planet, with supercontinent in the middle and number of island chains around it. Continent was surrounded by blue oceans, which covered entire southern hemisphere. So nothing like the burned rock in front of them.
"Yeah, I see."Trude said.
"How many people lived on this planet?"Arlette asked.
"Around four billion."Ana said.
"You think anyone escaped?"S4ra asked.
"Honestly? I doubt it."Ester stated."But one question remains."
"What could do something like that?"Liz asked.
"Exactly."Dora agreed.
Right then, TT-9 made some sounds in everyone's radios. However, not everyone were able to understand what he wanted to say. Fortunately, Ester could.
"What? You see something?"she asked.
Robot made few more sounds, before showing them zoomed fragment of the planet. For few seconds, they had no idea, what he tried to show them. However, after closer inspection, they finally understood.
A dark, triangular shape was clearly visible on the background of fire surface of the planet. It must have been large, as it was clearly visible from this far. Nobody knew what it was and truly, not everyone wanted to know what could it be. Because whatever it was, it had power to simply bur the surface of a planet to the ground.
"I don't like this."Jackie said.
"Nor do I."Ester said."But I think, that we need to get closer."
"WHAT?!"everyone exclaimed.
"You can't be serious. What if it's…something dangerous?"Suvi stated.
"It surely is."Ester said."But we can't just go away from here, before finding out, what this triangle in fact is."she stated and turned to TT-9."TT, tell us, when we will be in zoom range, which will allow us to see this thing clearly."
Droid replied with series of mechanical sounds.
"Okay, here goes nothing."Ester stated.
She activated her afterburners and fighter started speeding towards the planet. Rest of the squadron had to follow her, because they just couldn't leave their squadron leader alone, especially in face of the unknown. Soon, all fighters were speeding towards the planet.
"I'm getting stressed."Aquexymeva said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we all do."Trude said.
"Well…But in my case, it can end pretty bad…"the Tertan said.
Witch frowned.
"What do you mean?"she asked.
"Well, when Tertans gets too stressed, it can result in damage of some of our internal organs, or even death."Aqi explained.
"Wait. Really?"Trude asked.
"Yeah."Jackie confirmed."I can confirm it happens. And my advice, never take Tertan to cinema for horror movies."
Trude raised an eyebrow and decided to not ask anymore.
"Okay, TT say, that we are in good enough range. Let's see this thing from up close."Ester said, setting Witch's mind back on track."Okay, here we come."
TT confirmed and again, the zoomed screen appeared on everyone's canopies. And when it did, everyone gasped in surprise, shock and fear.
"What the hell…?"Dora said.
"Bloody hell…"Liz said.
"E-Eek…"Emiko squeaked.
"I knew I won't like what I will see."Suvi said.
What they saw, was a ship. But not any normal ship. It was enormous. They could tell, as it was flanked by a number of Cruisers, Destroyers and Battleships. And they still looked like ants in comparison. Vessel also had some king of ball structure in the middle and long open space between two bows.
"What is that thing?"Trude asked.
"I have no idea."Ester replied."I never saw anything like it. At least, not in active service."
"What?"
"Well…"
Suddenly, everyone's cockpits were painted red by the number of alarms which started playing inside. Not long after, radars were filled with number of enemy signals in form of fighters, missiles and ships. All of that speeding in the direction of White Squadron with only one goal in mind.
TT-9 made some sounds.
"Incoming Holy Order? Yeah, I noticed!"Ester replied."But more importantly, you got the photo of that thing?"
More sounds.
"Good. This needs to be enough."she stated."Everyone, turn around and get back on Ike. We can't stay here any longer.
"Finally one smart thing said!"Yuko stated.
All thirteen fighters turned around and started quickly running away from chasing Holy Order units. But enemy fighters were faster than Cyclones and were easily catching up to them, what made everyone that much nervous.
"They really are keen on getting us."S4ra said.
"As always."Ester said.
"What do we do with them?"Dora asked.
"How many of them are there, TT-9?"Ester turned to her droid.
It made even more sounds.
"Just twelve?"Ester replied."Okay, I think we can handle this. Right?"
"Right."everyone replied.
"Okay."White Squadron leader said."White Squadron, engage!"
All fighters turned around, much to the HO's pilots surprise. But they quickly shook themselves and decided to take the challenge. Soon, both sides were engaged in dogfight.
Aquexymeva dropped behind Holy Order fighter and fired her plasma guns at the enemy. Overheated energy simply melted through it's armor and soon left the empty shell of the fighter in it's place. She was followed by Yuko, which used short-range missile to destroy enemy fighter-bomber and made him explode. S4ra and Arlette managed to sandwich another enemy fighter and after destroying it, decided to help the others in their fighting. Trude managed to easily dispatch another enemy fighter, followed by Dora and Ester.
Soon, in blink of an eye, from twelve fighters, half was destroyed without any form of chance to repay. Remaining six decided, that this was enough and started running away to their fleet.
"Ha! It was actually pretty easy."Yuko said.
"I know."Dora said."Low morale is nothing new in HO."
"True."Ester agreed."But now, let's get back on the ship. We need to report this to captain Eriksson and after that, to admiral Chesterfield."
Everyone agreed and White Squadron quickly came back to Ike. Immediately after leaving their fighters, Ester demanded to meet with captain Eriksson.
11:07
RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower, bridge
Soon, White Squadron members arrived at the bridge, where Ester told TT-9 to connect to the holo-table in the middle of the bridge. After that, she looked through his memory and showed the holographic image of photo of giant enemy ship.
Seeing this, everyone from the bridge crew widened their eyes.
"What is that…?"radar operator asked.
"How could they even…"weapons operator asked.
"Is that the thing that…?"main engineer asked, pointing in the direction of the planet.
Captain Eriksson lifted his hand to silence them. Immediately, everyone on the bridge stopped talking and waited to Eriksson to speak.
"Whatever this thing is, we need to come back to the rest of the fleet and talk it through with admiral Chesterfield. She will have to then tell about it to HQ on Earth and then, we will know, what we have to do. So don't panic. We're not gonna fight that thing as long, as admiralty won't tell us to."captain explained.
People around calmed down a little, but were still looking at the photo of giant vessel in planet's orbit.
"Let's get out of here."captain said.
"Of course."helmsman replied.
"Let's get out of here."Eriksson added, also looking at the photo.
Everybody on the bridge started doing their tasks and soon, Heavy Cruiser turned around and activated it's hyperspace drive, jumping out of the system.
Meanwhile, aboard the Holy Order super weapon known as HOS Hegemon, captain Selvaria Site tracked the enemy ship running with tail between it's leg's with smile on her face. She liked that feeling. Feeling of power this ship was giving to her. She was basically undefeated and she knew it. It did not matter, that building of this ship was rushed by Supreme Leader himself. It still was a destructive weapon, which could not be equaled by anyone.
"Sir, what should we do now?"radar operator asked.
Site just threw up her arms.
"Let's get out of here. We don't have nothing to look for here anymore."she replied.
"Of course."main engineer said.
He turned to his console and pressed some buttons. Ship then started to turn around, along with it's escort fleet. Soon, entire fleet jumped into hyperspace, leaving the scorched surface of Ga'Raf II behind.
15:34
Angier System, Angier Prime orbit
After leaving Ga'Raf System, Ike returned back to Angier System, where rest of the fleet was still stationed. Angier Station was still being repaired, with works at it's finishing phase, so some ships still could not dock on it. This is why ships from Task Force 03 were or on patrol around the system or in the orbit of Angier Prime.
Heavy Cruiser returning to the system so fast was a big surprise for actually everyone in the fleet. Eriksson contacted admiral and demanded a meeting with all more important commanders of the fleet, to discuss a very important matter. Admiral agreed and several ship captains and Marines commanders of the fleet met aboard fleet's flagship Milky Way.
When they all arrived, Eriksson came with Ester and TT-9. White Squadron leader quickly connected TT-9 to the screen in Escort Carrier's conference room, what allowed her to show the photos that were in the droid's memory. She then showed the photo of the giant ship in Ga'Raf II orbit.
Seeing the said ship, everyone were speechless. It was first time for them, seeing such enormous warship.
Finally, after short period of silence, admiral Chesterfield finally got her voice back:
"Are you sure this thing destroyed the planet?"
"Yes."Ester replied."And I think, that it had something to do with that ball module in the middle."
She zoomed the said fragment, showing ball shaped structure on the ship.
"Yeah, I can see it."admiral said.
"What do we do then?"colonel Uki'Oparla, commander of Nashini Marines, asked.
"I have no actual idea."Ester said."Do we even have anything, that could destroy such a thing?"
Entire room fell silent, as people started thinking.
"We could retrofit one of Enean ships we found."one of captains said.
Everyone looked at him and then at each other. He was not talking complete nonsense. Across the Galaxy, a number of Enean ships were found, sitting on the planets or in their orbits. And as they all knew, these Enean ships were around the same size as the ship showed to them by Ester and Eriksson.
However, people shook their heads.
"I think it wouldn't be possible."colonel Gefid Magar of Shakayan Marines said, shaking his head.
"Why? There a few of these wrecks."same captain said.
"Exactly, wrecks."Chesterfield said."All Enean ships we found, were simple wrecks, with all their systems not working or completely destroyed. And even if we wanted to use these ships, their repair and retrofitting would take too much time. A time we don't have."
Captain lowered his head and nodded.
People continued to look at the photo, thinking about the solution of their newly surfaced problem. Finally, colonel Greatfor, commander of TF03 Navy SEALs noticed something. This did not escape Chesterfield's attention.
"Is there something, colonel?"she asked.
"Yes…"Greatfor said."Can you zoom the ball thing?"
"Sure."Ester said.
Image zoomed, until the ball structure in the middle of the vessel was the central point on the screen. Greatfor smiled, seeing, that he was right. He then pulled a memory stick and inserted it into the table, making another photo appear next to the giant ship.
"I was right."he said, with everyone else not quite getting it.
Photo he had, showed giant satellite dish, which sat within giant construction hall he and his team infiltrated on Catharsis V.
"Is this what I think it is?"Chesterfield asked.
"Yes."Greatfor said."It's the same thing from Catharsis V. Our researchers are still deducing, what might such a big satellite dish do, but I think, that I found the answer."
"What do you mean?"Ester asked.
Ins response, Greatfor started doing something at the table. After he pressed some buttons, a part of the photo from Ester was marked and zoomed even more. And after looking at that part of the photo he marked and his photo, everyone understood, what it was.
"It's the same."Eriksson said.
"Exactly. We found the goal of that giant satellite dish."Greatfor said."It's part of that giant ship."
Chesterfield nodded.
"Good to know, but how do we learn, what ship is it?"she asked.
"Well, we captured several scientists working on that thing. We could ask them."colonel proposed.
Admiral nodded.
"Good idea. Colonel Oparla."she turned to the Nashini colonel."Could I ask you and your interrogation specialists to get us the needed information?"
Nashini colonel nodded and saluted.
"Great. We expect results."Chesterfield pointed out.
"Just get me these scientists and we can start."Uki'Oparla assured.
"It might take some time."Greatfor said."We put these scientists on a prison planet some light years away from here."
"Don't worry, we will wait."Nashini said.
Chesterfield nodded.
"So we have at least first part of the plan. Until we get any information regarding that thing, I will give our basic findings to HQ."she said."You are all dismissed."
Everyone saluted, turned on their heel and left the room.
July 14
12:43
RNS Milky Way
Corridor was barely lighted with lamps on the ceiling. Sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor, as three people walked down it. Two of them were Human Resistance Marines, while third was also Human, but instead of battle uniform, he was dressed in orange prisoner suit. They walked down towards the door.
"Why am I even brought here?"the scientist asked.
Soldiers just looked at him, but did not answer. They just opened the door and pushed him inside. The door closed with shoving sound. Scientist looked around the room, still wondering, why was he here. Room was also barely lighted, like corridor, and it was not easy to see anything.
"Hello, doc!"voice said from the darkness.
Startled by the sudden voice, scientist almost jumped up. He looked towards the source of the voice and after his eyes got used to the half-darkness, he had a disgusted face, seeing Nashini sitting at the table, with his legs on it. He had a smile on his face.
"Please, take a seat."Nashini said.
Scientist was reluctant for the beginning, but he had no choice. He would sit down, or the guards would deal with him. So he just did what he was told.
He and Nashini eyed each other other for few seconds, before scientist asked:
"Whoa are you?"
Smile immediately vanished from Nashini's face.
"I'm the one asking questions."he said."But I will answer this one time."He cleared his throat."Captain Gya'Lokist, Nashini Republic Intelligence Service."
"So you are a spy?"scientist asked.
"I said I will be asking questions and my name was the only answer I will give you."Gya reminded firmly.
He grabbed his datapad and looked at it. Scientist did not have to look at it. He knew, what data the Nashini was looking at.
"Doctor Michael Drekis."Gya read."Sixty three years, born in Denver, USA. You finished physics on Richmond University. After that, you left Earth to work on number of projects for UNSA. You was really praised by your superiors."
With every word from Gya's mouth, Michael was wincing even more.
"However."Gya said, looking at the doctor."You are a declared anti-xenoist. You often said, that what SDF stood for was right and Humans should start gaining control over the alien races in the Galaxy, if they had to survive as a specie. You even tried to murder a Nashini diplomat, which arrived at one of your work sites. Fortunately for you, you managed to put the fault on someone else, what saved your ass. Then, Holy Order came and declared their support for them and defected."Nashini put the datapad down."Did I miss something?"
Michael looked at the alien and was thinking, what he should say.
"Yes."he simply said.
"Great. Since your defection, you worked on several HO projects. And then, you got captured by Navy SEALs on Catharsis V. Now, there is one thing, that interests us."Gya leaned forward."That giant ship, which is ravaging across the Galaxy. What is it?"
Hearing about the giant ship, scientist smiled and looked at Nashini with superiority. This time, he put his legs on the table.
"So you finally saw the Hegemon?"he asked.
"Hegemon?"Gya asked.
"The ultimate weapon of space warfare. A weapon, that will throw your pathetic Resistance to the knees. A weapon to surpass everything ever used in space warfare."Drekis explained.
Nashini agent narrowed his eyes. He listened to what his superiors had to tell him through his earphone. He slightly nodded, but not much, so doctor couldn't notice.
"Well then, I would be really happy, if you could tell me of any of this thing's weaknesses."Gya said.
What he got in response, was Michael's laugh.
"You really think, that I would say anything to the stupid, lowly alien such as yourself? You can kiss my ass."he stated.
"Be more polite."Gya said."Besides, we didn't thought you would tell this to us willingly."
Michael risen his eyebrow.
"What do you mean by this?"he asked.
The door then opened and another Nashini walked in. In his hands, he held a small, metal box. He placed it on the table and walked out. Smile appeared on Gya's face.
"What do you know about Republic's interrogation methods?"he asked.
Doctor narrowed his eyes, thinking.
"Not much. But I know, that you have one of the most successful interrogators in the Galaxy."he stated.
"Exactly. And you know, how are we doing it?"Nashini continued to ask.
"No."Michael replied shortly.
"Let me show you then."
Without saying anything else, Nashini opened the box. From there, he pulled out a squid-like creature, with one black eye on it's head. Eye seemed to look straight at Drekis. Doctor gulped, seeing the creature.
"What is it?"he asked.
"The secret of our effectiveness. A little creature we call Mind Fixers."Gya explained with smile on his face. The smile itself gave creeps to Michael.
"What it does?"doctor asked.
"It's simple. We put it on you, it attaches to your skin and sends impulses to your brain, which blocks any parts responsible for lying. In short, you can tell only truth."Nashini explained.
Michael looked at the creature again. It blinked.
"What if I try to lie?"he asked.
"Then, get ready for being hit by around five thousand volts of electricity."Gya said.
Doctor immediately started feeling his blood running cold. Nashini noticed the look on his face and picked up the Mind Fixer.
"Let's start, shall we?"Gya asked.
July 15
13:32
RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower, briefing room
As it turned out, the interrogation of Holy Order scientist was pretty profitable. Thanks to Nashini's interrogation methods, doctor said everything Resistance wanted to know about Hegemon. Now, the only thing left, was to make a plan of destroying the ship and to execute it as soon as possible.
Currently, White Squadron was sitting in the briefing room of the ship, waiting for the flight controller to do the briefing. As they were waiting, they were chatting among themselves.
"By the way, I'm interested."Trude said."How many races live in the Galaxy? And how many are on each side?"
Jackie, which she directed the question to, started pondering.
"Who knows? Nobody never counted them all. But it's estimated, that currently, there are one and a half thousand sapient races in the Galaxy."Minenian replied.
"That's a lot."Witch stated."This means, that there are as many countries in the Galaxy?"
"No, several races are in borders of others, while sometimes, two or more races come from the same planet."Jackie continued.
Trude nodded.
Right then, the door opened and flight controller entered. He came up to the podium and looked at the pilots in front of him.
"Welcome again, ladies."he said."Let's get straight to this, without pleasantries."
He picked up his controller and turned on the screen. Next, he pressed some more buttons and photo they took of Holy Order new super weapon appeared in front of their eyes. Immediately, they felt thrills, just thinking about that thing.
"As you probably heard, thanks to Nashini and their interrogation methods, we managed to get a lot, and I mean a LOT, of information regarding this thing."flight controller said."This, is HOS Hegemon."
"Appropriate name."Yuko said.
"Why?"S4ra asked.
"Because he is about to have hegemony over us."Yuko explained.
S4ra nodded.
"Coming back."flight controller said."Hegemon is equipped with new kind of super laser, able to burn the crust of a planet. Just like it did with Ga'Raf II."
"Can you stop reminding us of it?"Ester asked.
"Sorry."flight controller said."Anyway. We also found out, that this thing is equipped with number of AA guns and several hundred cannons to defend itself from enemy ships. But there is one thing you should see."
He pressed another button and photo zoomed even more. What the flight controller was referring to, was a line of holes in the side of Hegemon. Everyone risen their eyebrows, seeing them.
"What are these holes for?"Liz asked.
"They're not simple holes. They're hangars."flight controller said.
Everyone looked at him.
"Hangars?"Lena asked.
"Yes, hangars. And for something we actually wouldn't expect on a ship. Take a closer look at them."
He pressed the button again and photo zoomed even more, showing the hangars. There, White Squadron members could see something in them.
"Wait. This seems familiar…"Ester said, as it struck her."Oh…"
She was not the only one.
"These hangars…"Anastasia said.
"…are big enough…"Yuko continued.
"…to fill entire sips…"Aquexymeva finished.
Flight controller nodded.
"Exactly. These hangars are estimated to be big enough to transport ships sizing from Heavy Cruisers all the way to Battleships and possibly even Super Carriers."he said.
"Then how do you expect us to destroy this thing?"Arlette asked.
"Allow me to explain then."
Photo returned to it's normal size and another thing appeared next to it. It was shaped like a bomb.
"Wait, is that EMP bomb?"Lena asked.
"Yes."flight controller said.
Trude leaned to Jackie.
"What is EMP bomb?"she asked.
"Electromagnetic pulse bomb."Jackie replied."Such bombs and other similar devices are designed with one purpose only: to rid enemy of all electronics in EMP's range."Jackie explained.
Witch nodded.
"According to the plan the HQ came up with, first strike on the Holy Order ship is to be performed with EMP bombs, which will, hopefully, render it inactive for some time."flight controller said.
"And why is that?"Aquexymeva asked.
"According to the information we gathered thanks to Nashini, HOS Hegemon's armor is impenetrable from the outside."flight controller replied."And only way to destroy this thing is from the inside, by destroying the main reactor, which is supposed to be in the middle of this ball-shaped structure."
He stopped talking and allowed the words he just said to sink in the minds of White Squadron members. And when they did, they widened their eyes.
"Wait a minute."Trude said."If I understand it correctly, you want us to deactivate the ship. After that, we have to fly inside it and destroy that main reactor?"
"Exactly."flight controller said.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Okay. I think this is the best option anyway."Ester said.
"We performed simulations with different plans, but all ended the same, in failure. Except this one."flight controller stated.
"When is the operation starting?"Dora asked.
"We don't know. We first need to locate the fella. Until then, get enough rest and make sure you are ready for anything that might happen."flight controller said."So now, dismissed."
Everyone stood up and saluted. Next, they walked out of the briefing room.
Two days later…
12:22
RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower, hangar, hyperspace lane between Hives and Lookout systems
Two days after White Squadron's briefing about the Hegemon, operation was given a green light to commence. As it turned out, said ship was not so hard to find. In fact, it looked like it did not even hide. It was found in Lookout System, which was a neighbor to Hives System, a place where Resistance fleet gathered before moving to Catharsis System.
Cartographers and navigators were wondering, why the ship was so close to the Local Sector, as sector of Human Space, where Sol, Alpha Centauri and several other systems were located was called. Then everyone remembered, that this ship had no problem to break through Resistance defenses and get so close. But what terrified everyone more, was the probable goal of the giant vessel.
Every people which took care of marking space routes was agreeing to this. The ship was coming towards Earth. And if Resistance lost Earth, they would lose the war. This is why it had to be stopped.
Inside the Ike's hangar, Ester watched ship's ground crews attaching weapons o her fighter's wings. Four of missiles were EMP, half of what Cyclone could carry. Three were conventional. And one was armed with the most powerful weapon (well, before Hegemon was discovered) ever made by Human hand.
Each fighter taking part in the operation had to be armed the same. Four EMPs, three conventional and one nuclear, so everybody had a chance to destroy the enemy ship's main reactor.
Many was put on this mission, mainly the survival of Resistance and all free Galaxy. Except of Task Force 03, they were also supported by Task Forces 09, 45 and 96. Together, over one hundred fifty ships and over three hundred fighters. If this wouldn't be enough, nobody knew what will.
"Carefully, or you will blows us all up!"Lena said to the mechanics attaching the missiles to the fighters.
"Yes, ma'am!"one of mechanics replied.
They moved the missile under Lena's Cyclone wing and started attaching it. Lena helped them in places where the help was needed and soon, the nuclear missile was in it's place. Two mechanics walked away and Lena came up to Ester.
"I don't know where such ground crews will take us in a long run."Lena stated.
"Remember, that most of the veterans is long dead and training is accelerated."Ester said."It's not their fault, that they are not as good as they should be."
"I know, but still."the Russian stated."I think that one day, they will let a missile fall and blow us up with a nuke."
White Squadron leader patted Lena's arm and smiled.
"As long as you watch them, nothing like that will happen."she stated.
Lena returned the smile.
"Thanks for the trust you put into me."she said.
"Always."Ester said.
"Okay, I will go and check some more things in my machine now."Lena said and walked back to her fighter.
As Ester watched her do, she was approached by Trude.
"You good?"Ester asked.
"What do you mean?"Witch replied.
"You know, we are going to attack thirty kilometer long ship, which can burn planets."Ester stated."I want to know, how do you feel."
Trude scratched back of her head.
"I will be honest with you, I actually am scared."she stated."Now I really start to think, that in comparison to all this, Neuroi are the least dangerous choice."
"I can only believe you by word."Ester stated."Now, get your fighter ready. We are going to leave hyperspace pretty soon."
"Will do."Trude replied and walked to her fighter.
Ester sighed and did the same thing.
Meanwhile…
Lookout System
Whoever lived on the planet below, would think, that the world was ending. Who wouldn't, when thirty kilometer long beast of a ship literally blocked the sunlight? But if the people on the planet knew, what the ship known as Hegemon is capable of, the panic would be even bigger.
In Holy Order fleet, mood was different. Crew members of the ships, Marines and pilots just walked around, thinking and dreaming about how they use their ship's superweapon on Earth, finally marking the end of Resistance and winning the war, all in the name of Supreme Leader Broke.
Captain of the Hegemon, Selvaria Site, sat in her chair, reading some magazines, which Holy Order used to spread across space controlled by the them. It was mainly propaganda and press praising the holy mission of the Order and antagonizing the Resistance member states.
"Captain."radar operator said.
Site stopped reading the magazine and looked at the man.
"What is it, Dima?"she asked.
"We're detecting some distortions at the edge of our detection range."Dima replied.
Site stood up and walked up to the radar. She looked at it and noticed the same thing as Dima. A large number of weak signals, right at the edge of detection range. She didn't had to think long to know, what they were dealing with.
Site grabbed the microphone and spoke to it:
"All personnel, we're detecting enemy fleet approaching our position. Get to your battle stations immediately."
She put the microphone down returned to her chair. Her First Officer looked at her.
"You don't seem to be really concerned about it."he stated.
"I have one big reason why I'm not."Site replied.
"And what might it be?"
"We're inside of it."
A slight smile appeared on FO's face.
Right then, space distortions started appearing on mass, when Resistance fleet exited the hyperspace in front of Holy Order ships. Immediately, HO fleet moved to intercept them. Both sides started launching fighters, which started flying at each other.
Back with Resistance…
"Everything okay?"Ester asked rest of her squadron.
"All systems green."everyone replied.
"Good."
Right then, all pilots heard the voice of flight controller in their communicators:
"This is flight control to all pilots. Radars are detecting a large number of enemy fighters and bombers approaching you. Prepare to engage."
"You heard the guy."some other pilot said."Get your stuff ready."
Trude tightened the grip on her joysticks, looking at her radar. It was fully filled with enemy signals. Even at Catharsis, there wasn't as many enemy craft as here.
"What plan do we have?"she asked.
"I guess it's simple."Arlette replied.
"Yeah."S4ra said.
"Just shoot down as many of them and then, make our way towards the Hegemon."Ester replied."I'm sure you can manage to do it, right?"
"Right."Witch replied.
Both sides were quickly approaching each other, both fighters, bombers and ships. And finally, they met each other, signaling the start of the fight.
Trude landed behind Holy Order MiG and fired her gun at it. She knew, that with just three conventional missiles, she needed to save them and use them wisely. After several hits, MiG fell apart into little pieces.
Jackie managed to sit on tail of Hadadrian heavy fighter and fired her gun at it. Hadadrian pilot managed to evade almost her every shot, until one of friendly pilots managed to score a hit on the fighter's top side, which managed to also disable one of it's engines and ripped a lot of it's armor. Jackie then fired her 50mm into the gap in armor, changing the fighter into a scrap.
Right then, she got warnings about incoming missiles and immediately used her flares to fool them.
"That was too close."she said.
S4ra and Yuko then managed to sandwich another enemy fighter, this time Nakatan. It's wreck collided with another, destroying it.
"You're better and better at this."Yuko praised the android.
"Thank you."S4ra replied with smile in her voice.
The two then split up to search fro individual targets. S4ra quickly put her eyes on enemy fighter-bomber, which approached Resistance ships. She landed behind it and fired a long series at it. Bullets pierced the armor and managed to easily take care of the bomber. It exploded into nothingness.
As this was happening, Resistance ships already engaged with Holy Order vessels, which came in range of cannons. Fire exchange was really a sight to behold, but nobody had the time to watch it. Most of them were thinking about winning and surviving the battle.
Trude dropped behind enemy MiG and fired her gun at it, easily taking care of the enemy, which crashed into nearby HO ship. Witch then proceeded to take care of the said ship, as she made a turn and, evading enemy AA guns, locked onto the ship's bridge and fired at it. Missiles made it through the point defense and managed to hit the bridge.
Without bridge, ship started to change it's course and crashed into another enemy Heavy Cruiser, which happened to pass by. Next, both ships changed into a new start for a few seconds, before vanishing.
"Wow."Anastasia said.
"Thank you."Trude replied.
"That was just a show off."Dora said.
"But you have to agree, that was awesome."Arlette said.
Dora did not reply. She just turned towards the another enemy fighter and quickly followed it, shooting it down.
Trude watched her doing it, thinking.
"What did I ever do to her?"she thought."I will find out sooner or later."
Next, she turned towards another enemy fighter.
Battle soon became pretty one sided. Resistance fighters and ships were quickly taking care of enemy forces, thinning them out left, right and center. Soon, some Holy Order pilots and ships even started deserting.
"Cowards!"Site shouted on her bridge.
Everyone around looked at their commander, like she lost her mind.
"Sir, they can't hear you."one of radar controllers said.
Site looked at him. If she could kill with eyes, the controller would already be dead. Radar controller just looked away, not saying anything.
"Are they in range of our weapons?"Site asked.
"No, sir. They are still keeping away from us."weapons officer said.
Holy Order captain just hit her chair with her fist.
Back in the battle, Ester just shot down another Holy Order fighter and proceeded to take care of the enemy fighter-bomber. Soon, it was also changed into the pile of scrap it was ought to be since it's creation.
"Major Barkhorn, this is air control."
"What is it?"Ester replied.
"Enemy forces were reduced to just twenty percent strength. You have a clear way to take out remaining enemy ships and then, take care of the Hegemon."air control said.
"Understood."Ester said and turned to the rest of her team."You heard that, ladies?"
"We did."Jackie said."Let's destroy some ships."
All of White Squadron then made it's way towards enemy Battleship, which wanted to turn away and run from the battle. However, the thirteen members of the squadron were faster by it and after activating VTOL mode, they started circling around the vessel, firing at it.
"East this!"Yuko said, firing missile at the hyperspace generators.
Missiles, bullets and shells were flying at the enemy Battleship, tearing it's armor and other parts apart. Thirteen fighters were fast, maneuverable and hard to hit by the AA fire, as they circled around. Soon, hyperspace generators were completely destroyed, while AA guns and main cannons were basically non existent anymore.
"This should be enough."Ester stated."It won't do anything anymore."
Seeing what happened to the Battleship, remaining Holy Order ships started turning and following already deserting allies.
"This should do it for them."Suvi said.
"Yes."Ester agreed.
"All fighters, now focus on the Hegemon. Go to the next phase."air controller from TF03 flagship said.
"Copy that."Ester said."You heard the guy? Let's make this ship defenseless."
"On it!"everyone replied.
Resistance fighters quickly turned in the direction of their main target. Entire swarm of remaining machines quickly locked onto the Hegemon and had their fingers on the triggers. They were coming closer and closer to the giant beast in front of them.
"Captain."radar controller said to Site."Enemy fighters are approaching us. What do we do?"
Site just gave an evil grin.
"Simple. If they enter AA range, shoot them down. If they decide to turn away, then we will just chase after them."Site explained.
"As you order, sir."radar controller said.
But what Selvaria did not know, was that Resistance counted for exactly that.
Resistance fighters with Ester in lead, were coming closer and closer, soon to enter giant ship's anti-air range. They had to work fast.
"Ester, how can we be sure, that they won't just shoot our missiles down?"Trude asked.
"Stealth missiles. Invisible for radar."Ester replied."But now, focus. We're about to reach AA range."
She was right. On their radars, everyone could see wide cone of enemy AA defense range. All pilots were equally stressed and determined to win this battle, so Holy Order would not win the war.
"Entering AA range in 3…"air controller said"…2…1…"
"Now!"Ester exclaimed.
As she said that, all fighters fired their Stealth EMP missiles, which flew in the direction of the Hegemon.
"Hard up!"Ester ordered.
Every fighter then turned hard up, just at the edge of AA range.
"Sir, they're turning!"radar officer on Hegemon exclaimed.
"I told you."Site said."Now, follow and destroy them…"
However, right as she said that, bridge was suddenly shaken and Site barely stopped herself from falling over. Lights started to flicker, until they finally turned off, forcing back up generators of the bridge to turn on.
"What the hell was that?"Site demanded to know.
Main engineer looked at his screen and widened his eyes in fear and disbelief.
"Sir, all our systems have turned off!"he exclaimed.
"How?"the captain asked.
"It appears, that we've been hit bu a large number of EMP weapons!"main engineer replied.
"EMP? HOW?!"
"Probably they used Stealth missiles."weapon systems officer said.
Everyone looked at each other.
"What about the life support systems on other decks?"Site asked.
Main engineer looked at his screen and gulped.
"All are off."he said."That means…"
"…that we just lost most of the crew, except here, on the bridge."someone else finished.
Site fell on her chair. It wasn't like she care for the crew or something. She just realized, that with majority of the crew dead, the ship won't be able to operate and reach Earth. If she makes it through this, she will personally write a report, in which all fault for failing the mission will be thrown at the crew that died because of life support turning off.
"Sir, enemy fighters are turning back towards us!"radar officer informed.
"AA?"Selvaria said to the weapons operator.
"None."he replied."All affected by the EMP."
Hegemon's captain just slammed her fist into her chair. With no weapons available, they could only wait for whatever Resistance had prepared for them. And whatever it was, it surely was not pleasant for them.
Meanwhile, Resistance fighters quickly made their way towards the back part of the giant ship. There, they turned towards the inactive engines, which now served as simple tunnels leading all the way to the main reactor.
"Is everyone ready to get into the beast's belly?"Ester asked.
"Yes!"all pilots replied.
"You are ready too, girls?"she turned to her squadron.
"Sure!"White Squadron members replied.
"Trude?"Ester turned to the Witch.
"Of course."Trude replied.
"We're going in then."
With these words, the armada of Resistance fighters flew inside the giant ship. But as they did it, they did not notice a certain fighter squadron, which quickly turned in their direction and slowly started following them.
As Resistance fighters were making their way down the Hegemon's engines, they were looking around, impressed. They never before flew inside a ship using their fighters, so they just looked at the tones of steel around them, thinking about what madman could design and then build something like this.
"It's still impressive."Trude said.
"Yeah."Jackie said."If it wasn't a war, I would say this thing is beautiful."
"Took the words right outta my mouth."Lena said.
"Okay, cut the chit-chat, ladies."Ester said."We are approaching the main reactor, so get ready."
Everyone quickly tightened their grips on their pilot sticks.
And soon, they reached the main reactor chamber. It was a giant, round room, surely several hundred meters tall. In the middle of it were two tower like structures, which held some kind of energy ball in the middle.
"That's the reactor?"Trude asked.
"It…seems so…"Ester replied, reluctantly.
Witch noticed this.
"Something wrong?"Trude asked.
"Well…"Lena said."We never saw a reactor like this. A ball of energy held by two towers from top and bottom? That's new."
"But I'm sure it can be destroyed as easily as the other types of reactors."Dora said.
"Yeah."Ester said."Okay people! Get your nukes ready! We're blasting this thing to hell!"
Fighters quickly started forming into one group, preparing their nuclear missiles. Pilots held their fingers on the triggers, as everyone entered VTOL mode and waited for the order to destroy the core.
"On my mark!"Ester said."Open fi…!"
Several Resistance fighters exploded and started falling down towards the bottom of the reactor chamber. Seeing this, remaining fighters quickly flew in various directions, wanting to evade being shot down.
"What the hell was that?!"one pilot asked.
"Who was shooting?!"another wanted to know.
"Where the hell is that coming from?!"
Ester looked at her radar and noticed nine red dots on it. She started looking around and finally noticed the enemies. Nine MiG-67s, painted in gold-purple pattern, with dragon's head pierced by sword painted on their back stabilizers.
"Dragon Slayers."Ester said.
"Them again?"Liz whined.
"I don't wanna…"Emiko said.
"We didn't even know, that they were in this battle…"Anastasia said.
"Shit."Aqi said.
Dragon Slayers then destroyed more Resistance fighters. Ester tightened the grip on her stick.
"Everyone."she said in the radio."Spread out and watch your sides. We will take care of the Dragon Slayers."
"Roger!"all pilots replied.
Soon, the compact group of Resistance fighters broke up and all of them spread into all directions. Dragon Slayers, seeing that, started simply hunting them down, one by one. However, because there were so many of them, it was not that easy, as it would seem.
Meanwhile, White Squadron members quickly sat on the tails of Dragon Slayers and started firing their guns at them. Holy Order top aces quickly evaded their fire and started flying in different directions. They still remembered what happened on Alvus V and some of them really didn't want it to happen again.
"Why do we have to fight them again?"Dragon Slayer 4 asked.
"I have no idea."new Dragon Slayer 1 said.
"But this time, we will come up on top."new Dragon Slayer 2 stated.
Everyone agreed and the fight began.
Jackie landed behind Dragon Slayer 7 and fired her gun at him. Holy Order pilot, however, managed to evade this and after doing an Immelman Turn, he landed behind Jackie and started firing his guns at her. Fortunately, Jackie was also good enough and evaded his lasers. Same was with Yuko, who also found herself on the receiving end of Holy Order pilot's weapons. Fortunately, S4ra came to her rescue and easily scared the enemy pilot away.
"Thanks!"Yuko said.
"No problem!"the B-Doll replied.
Next, she flew after Dragon Slayer 9, while Yuko followed Dragon Slayer 7.
Aqi landed behind Dragon Slayer 6 and fired her plasma guns at him. She scored several hits on him, leaving burn marks on his machine. But enemy pilot got aid from one of his teammates, forcing the Tertan to brake off from the fight.
But Dragon Slayer 5, which supported Dragon Slayer 6, was not so lucky for long. Before he could notice, Trude landed behind him and fired her missiles at him. Before Dragon Slayer 5 could react to that, Trude's missiles reached the fighter and made it explode. The wreck just started falling, trailing smoke with it.
"Damn it, we just lost 5!"Dragon Slayer 3 exclaimed.
Dragon Slayer one hit his console with his fist. That was what he was scared of the most. That again, they will start losing pilots from these bitches! And here it already started.
"Continue with what you're doing."Dragon Slayer 1 said."And kill them all!"
"Yes, sir!"other pilots replied.
Dragon Slayer 4 landed behind Arlette and fired his lasers at her, managing to score several hits. However, the French quickly bounced left, what allowed Ana to suddenly appear in front of the Dragon Slayer 4 and fire her gun at him, destroying his cockpit and killing the pilot, making him join 5.
Same fate met Dragon Slayer 11, which was chasing after Emiko. Youngest member of White Squadron was doing her best to not get shot down, but this task was not easy, as HO pilots were really keen on shooting them all down. Emiko managed to evade everything he threw at her for some time.
"Just die, you bitch!"he shouted.
Because he was too focused on Emiko, he did not notice a blip of Liz's fighter appearing on his radar. Using this time of inattention, she flew over the Dragon Slayer 11 and dived towards him, locking onto him and firing missile at him. Hit in the upper part of the machine, Dragon Slayer 11 was torn into pieces as the missile exploded.
"Are you okay?"Liz asked her step-sister.
"Yes…"Emiko replied quietly.
This was enough, even for Dragon Slayer one. They, just like that, lost three pilots. Just how? They were supposed to be the top aces of Holy Order! Yet, they were being killed by a bunch of teenage girls! What the hell?!
"Sir, they are too good! What should we do?!"Dragon Slayer 7 asked.
It was last thing he did, as Arlette landed behind him and simply obliterated him with gunfire, changing his plane to scrap. This was enough, even for Dragon Slayer 1.
"Fuck it! We're getting out of here!"he ordered.
Seven remaining fighters turned around and started flying out of the chamber. Dragon Slayer 1 knew, that this already sealed his fate, but he didn't care. He wanted to save his skin and live just few more hours, before Supreme Leader's assassin gets him.
"Ha! We scared them away!"S4ra said.
"Yes."Ester confirmed. She soon turned serious again."But we have a job to do now. Let's destroy this thing."
"Aye!"all pilots replied.
Resistance fighters lined up again and waited for White Squadron. When they also took their places, they were ready and locked onto the core.
"Fire!"Ester ordered.
All fighters fired their nuclear warheads. In the original plan, they had to use only one, fired by random pilot, but to make sure this unknown reactor type will be destroyed, they decided to use everything they had. Just in case.
"Okay, let's get out of here!"Ester said.
All fighters quickly turned their tails and started leaving the reactor chamber as fast as they could to not get caught by the explosion. As they flew out of the chamber, missiles reached their target and detonated, shaking the reactor and reducing it's stability to absolute zero. Ball o0f energy exploded, disintegrating everything in it's path.
On the bridge, captain Site looked at the live transmission from the reactor chamber and felt thrills run down her spine, seeing the nukes hitting the reactor and it exploding. She took off her captain's cap and looked at what remained of the ship's crew.
"We lost…"she whispered.
As she said that, the energy of the reactor reached the bridge.
Back with Resistance fighters, they already managed to fly out of the giant ship and make it as far as they could. What they then saw, was enormous ball of energy, which consumed the middle part of the giant vessel. Not long after, the ball of energy vanished, with middle part gone and with only back and frontal parts still floating in space. Resistance pilots were speechless.
"We did it…"one of them finally said."By fucking God, we did it!"
"We destroyed that thing!"another pilot shouted.
"Resistance! Resistance! Resistance!"third chanted.
All pilots erupted in cheers, as they watched destroyed behemoth and what remained of Holy Order forces defending it.
"What about them?"Dora asked, referring to fleeing HO forces.
"Let them be."Ester said."They already lost enough today. And I guess they are not keen on fighting us to the last now."
"Yeah."White Squadron second-in-command agreed.
"Now, let's go back to our ships."Ester transmitted to everyone."We have celebrations to do."
Pilots agreed and followed the White Squadron as they made it buck to the Resistance fleet awaiting them.
Later…
RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower, mess hall
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Early in the morning!
Sailors, Marines and pilots around were dancing, singing shanties, drinking and eating. Already some of them were laying under or on the tables, after taking too much alcohol to their organisms. Others were still up and running, fueled by happiness from the fact, that Resistance destroyed Hegemon.
White Squadron members were sitting more on the side, watching and enjoying the victory.
"Well, I must say, that we did pretty well."Suvi said.
"Suvi, you know, that it's not only our merit for destroying that thing."Liz said."We mainly took care of Dragon Slayers."
"Yeah, yeah."Suvi replied.
"Can I sit?"a voice asked.
Everyone looked towards the voice and saw Egon standing next to their table.
"Sure."Trude said and moved a little.
"Thanks."ship's first officer said.
He sat down with them and also looked in the direction of the crew, which still continued to sing their shanties.
Oh, the wing was foul and the sea ran high
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
She shipped it green and none went by.
And it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.
Even the alien members of the crew decided to join in and sing the shanties with the crew. But their accents were a bit off putting when it came to that.
"You were really good out there."Egon said to the girls.
"We have to live up to our name, don't we?"Ester replied."Besides, you did well as well, keeping the enemy fleet at bay."
"But it wasn't as important as what you did."first officer replied.
Everyone then took a sip of what they had in their cups.
"But I guess, that you did not come to only tell us how good we were out there?"Trude asked.
Egon shook his head.
"Nope. I came to give you information from captain Eriksson."he said.
"What is it?"Yuko asked, as everyone leaned towards him.
"Well."Egon said, taking another sip."Seeing how hard you and other pilots are working, captain decided to give you a time off to visit your homes."
"Really?!"they all shouted in unison.
"Yes. You can go to your homeworlds and see your friends and families, if you want, of course."first officer explained.
"'If' we want? Dude, we sure will go!"Ester said.
"Yeah, I didn't visited Mars for some time."Suvi said."It will be awesome!"
"Sure. Have fun."Jackie said with gloomy expression.
Silence hung over the table. It was now, that they all realized, how Jackie must feel. Most of them came from Solar System, with Anastasia maybe being from beyond it, but she still felt a strong connection to Earth. Aqi and S4ra, although not from Earth (S4ra came from factory on Jupiter's moon) treated the planet as their temporary homeworld. And Jackie? She was fighting for Earth, true. But for her, Minenia Prime was her only true home.
"Sorry, that we got too excited."Liz said.
"No, I don't mind, really."Jackie replied."It just feels unfair."
"We know."Ester said and idea appeared in her head."Then why won't you simply come with us to Earth? You could see some places and maybe meet new people."
Jackie spun her cup, thinking.
"You think it's a good idea?"she asked.
"Well, sure. Besides, I think, that you could take some time off from us."Yuko said with the blink.
"Actually, why not."Jackie said."Besides, I always wanted to see the Great Canyon."
"See, told you?"Ester said.
"Okay, then vacation it is."Dora said.
"Even you are up for that?"Arlette said.
"You know, I also get tired of constantly killing Holies."Dora replied.
"Well then. Let's go on vacation!"Suvi exclaimed.
"Yeah!"everyone exclaimed and made a toast.
XXX
Well, here is the next chapter. Hegemon is destroyed and Resistance is safe from superweapons. At least for now…Anyway, as it was just said, we are going to Solar System soon! Home and birthplace of Human race. It may be a back line system, but well. War is still able to reach it…But I won't gonna tell anything more, except that I plan the next chapter to be a calmer one.
So, I have nothing more to say. See you in the next one!