Hello back to the story! Previously on…The Empire launches it's attack on the Technocrats HQ. Faced with these odds, Goddesses help to defend the facility, while again faced with another Imperial Knight. In the midst of what seemed like another lost battle, Vert managed to regain her power and defeat EVEa. What followed, was a complete collapse of Imperial forces on the moon of Sanghill. What will happen next? Read and find out.
But before we go on, reviews.
To end5: Oh yup. Just a first step in what's to come. And yeah, this only shows how loyal Imperial Knights are to their mother and the nation. No matter what you do, they will not yield. And thank you, as always.
Okay, with that, let's go.
Chapter 15
April 13, 2257 G.C.
13:12
Unbreakable Ore HQ
It's been nearly two months since the events that transpired on Sanghill. Since then, the Gamindustrian System have been engulfed in a real guerilla warfare, as all resistance cells of the system, encouraged by the victories in February, quickly went into action, striking the enemies whenever they could. It was still far from a straight up, regular war, but now, resistance cells didn't have to act from hiding and could fight openly. Currently, the VA-Techs-UO alliance, as it was called in Imperial media, controlled only few moons around the gas giants, as they utilized the chaos that erupted in Machine Union following the death of Affimojas and The META came into action, placing Zingo in charge of the MU, causing basically all of the Machine Union forces to switch sides basically overnight.
As of now, however, the whole situation looked more like a cold war, as both sides prepared for an actual, regular strikes against each other. It was just a matter of time, before the war would openly erupt across the system.
Goddesses were currently walking down the corridors of the HQ. In the past two months, the surroundings became similarly better, just like the resistance controlled space. Corridors were cleaner, more systems were operational and more resources flowed in, thanks to the allied forces. People rustled and bustled around, as they tried their best to make the military HQ of basically the entire resistance look the part.
"Wow, now that's what I can go with."Neptune said."Love what they did with the place."
"We have to agree with you."Noire said."Following the events on Sanghill, the situation seems to slowly turn around in our favor."
"True."Blanc said."We're closer to our goal than before, but it's still far from achieving our main goal."
"You worry too much."Vert stated."At this rate, we're gonna be at Gamindustri in no time."
They all looked at her.
"Hey, Vert…"Neptune said.
"Yeah?"
"We didn't have time to ask because of all the chaos and the tension these past few months…"Noire said.
"…but how did you regain your power?"Blanc finished.
Vert frowned.
"Isn't that obvious? Because of the great inflow of Share Energy that certainly took place in the facility."she replied.
"But…if that was the case…"Blanc rubbed her chin."…the we would feel them as well."
Goddess of Leanbox looked at the other three.
"You didn't feel it?"she asked.
They shook their heads.
"Hm. You know, I have a theory then."Goddess of Lowee said."That might be a better explanation here."
They looked at her.
"Okay, speak up."Neptune said.
"What if us unlocking our powers again isn't because we get enough Shares?"she guessed."What if what's blocking our powers is actually something deep inside us?"
"Like what?"Vert asked, crossing her arms.
"That's where my theory ends."Blanc sighed."Maybe it's our fear of letting everyone down again? Or the trauma of losing and leaving everything for the Imperials to have fun with? I honestly don't know. But what matters, is that we're slowly regaining these powers."
"Wanna bet which one of us will be next?"Neptune asked with a defiant grin.
"No."Blanc replied shortly.
"Aww, bollocks."Neptune pouted.
As they were walking, their communicators suddenly came to life. In them, they could hear Artisan's voice:
"Goddesses, there's a thing I'd like to discuss with you. Could you come to the command center?"
"Sure thing. Be right there."Neptune said."Finally, there will be something to do."
"Let's just hope it will be worth it."Blanc said.
"If it gets us closer to beating the Empire, then everything is worth it."Noire said.
With that, the four made their way to the command center.
April 13
13:46
Command center, UO HQ
The four entered the command center and immediately saw Artisan, Tiller and Tashima siblings standing by the holo-table in the center of the room. They approached it and joined them.
"Yo."Neptune said casually.
"Yo."Artisan replied.
"Okay, maybe let's not get so casual yet."Tiller said."We still have a war here."
"Still, it's better than it used to be, right?"Goddess of Planeptune asked.
"But still not good enough."Tashima said, crossing his arms.
Goddesses looked at them.
"So, what is it?"Noire asked.
"We have new job for you."Artisan said."Two, actually."
"Oooh, do tell."Neptune said, rubbing her hands.
Artisan nodded.
"As you know, the past few months were quite busy for everyone, so we didn't have time for you to go on another mission to gain support for us."she explained."Additionally, there is a request from Veterans Alliance that they would like you to partake in."
"Great."Noire said.
"Let's go over the support gaining mission."leader of Unbreakable Ore continued."Our next target are the Anonimals."
Goddesses looked at each other.
"You mean these freedom fighting hackers?"Vert asked."The ones that always show up in masks whenever they make any announcement?"
"Same ones."Tiller confirmed.
"But from what we know, they are super illusive."Blanc pointed out."It will be hard to find them."
"Indeed."
"Uhh…Boss?"one of the analysts at the console said."We have…something here…"
Artisan looked in his direction and frowned.
"What is it?"she asked.
"Something's…"
Before he could finish, all lights in the command center turned off, causing people to panic slightly. Not long after, the lights lit up again. But this time, the screens were giving off a green hue and on the screens, they could see a single thing.
A white mask with a mustache.
"Welcome, Unbreakable Ore."a distorted voice said.
Artisan and Tiller looked at each other.
"Anonimals."they both said.
"Indeed."the voice said again."And we come to you with a proposal."
"Proposal?"Noire asked.
"Yes. We are aware of your actions. You're trying to create a coalition of resistance cells to overthrow the Empire. A cause we wholeheartedly support. This is why we would like to propose our support."
There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone looked at each other.
"Wait. You're simply asking to join?"Blanc asked.
"Yes, Goddess Blanc."Anonimals replied."We are all fighting for freedom of the people of Gamindustri. So it's logical that we would like to join you in the fight. We debated about it for a long time among each other, but now, we finally came to consensus."
"Oh, then, um…"Artisan scratched the back of her head."Welcome in our alliance. Your help will be highly appreciated."
"Good to know we have an understanding. We're leaving a way for you to contact us whenever you need us. Goodbye for now."
With that, the masks and green light disappeared, replaced by normal data streams shown on the screens. Everyone looked at each other.
"Well, that was…interesting."Noire said.
"At least one task can be crossed off the list, right?"Yuko shrugged.
"Indeed."Tiller said.
"So…Can we go to that VA request?"Neptune asked.
"Yes."Artisan said."Recently, the General filed in a request for you to take part in operation planned by the VA."
"What operation is it?"
"It's simple. They're gonna steal a fleet."Artisan replied.
"They're gonna steal a what?"Neptune asked.
"According to the information the VA gave us, it turns out, that after The Day, Imps didn't scrap our fleets. They just repainted our ships and for some reason, they hid it in a secret anchorage somewhere in the interplanetary space."Tiller explained.
"Imagine this."Tashima said."Hundreds of warships, all waiting to be easy pickings."
Goddesses saw that image and they immediately smiled.
"That would certainly tilt the scales towards us."Blanc said."We would at least have more chances of actually starting any offensive operations of bigger scale."
"That's not all."Tiller continued."According to VA contact, Imps not only just changed the paintjob. They also outfitted all these ships with their hyperspace drives."
Everyone gasped. Now if they could put their hands on these ships, they would be able to actually tip the scales. They wouldn't be limited by the travel speed of the ships. Instead, they could jump around just like Imperials did.
"Then what are we waiting for?"Vert asked."Let's get it done!"
"Good to see you're so eager."Artisan said."VA ship will be here soon to get our answer. You can go with them."
"Well, so I guess that settles it."Noire said."We are gonna get ourselves the fleet."
"Yeah!"everyone exclaimed.
Few hours later, the VA ship arrived at the base and Goddesses were already waiting to board it. Satisfied with the answer, the VA representatives took Goddesses and Tashima with them. Yuko stayed behind this time, because it was not a diplomatic/intelligence gathering mission. Soon, they were on their way to meet with the rest of forces that would take part in the operation.
April 14
19:21
Day's Break
After a day long journey through the resistance-controlled space, the ship reached VA's 1st Fleet. Since the last time they saw it, the fleet replenished it's losses and when they came aboard, they saw basically no signs of the battles that were fought here the last time. It seemed that the VA, except of being good at making Imperial lives harder, were also good at repairing the damage caused by said actions.
Once they disembarked, they were led by a VA's soldier through the corridors of the ship towards the bridge. Once there, they saw Rand already waiting for them.
"Long time no see, general."Neptune said.
"Indeed it was."Rand replied with a smile."Good to see that you came."
"If it means making Imperial lives harder, we will always come and help."Goddess of Planeptune smiled.
The General nodded and signaled to them to follow him. They approached the holo-table in the middle of the bridge.
"Alright, let's get straight to the business."Rand said."You know what our request is, right?"
"Yes. You want us to help stealing a fleet."Noire said.
"Exactly. A fleet of hundreds of ships nonetheless."the General continued."Which means that this mission requiers upmost care and planning."
"I have a question."Blanc said.
"Yes?"
"We're talking about hundreds of warships."Goddess of Lowee said."And we all know our manpower is kinda limited. So how are we gonna crew all of them?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. We already talked with the Technos."
"So…they're gonna supply the crews?"Vert asked.
"No. They will remotely take the ships over and help us lead them out of the anchorage. But before that, someone must get aboard one of those ships and allow the connection to be established between them all. And this is where you and your team come in. You're gonna sneak aboard one of the ships, establish a connection and then get out of here."
"Sounds easy enough."Noire said."What's the catch?"
Rand winced.
"The catch is…"He pressed a button."…this thing."
A hologram appeared in the air.
"Holy…"Tashima said.
"What the fu…?"Blanc said.
The hologram showed an enormous, star-shaped vessel. It had a five arm construction, each arm full of guns and missile launchers. There was a smaller hologram of Day's Break next to it, but it might've as well not be there, because it was so small it looked like an ant in comparison.
"What the heck is this thing?"Neptune asked.
"Imperial Adronius-class defense platform."Rand replied."As far as we know, this is the only vessel of it's type in the system. And it was placed as a protection of the anchorage itself. Making sure nobody steals any ships."
"How do we deal with this thing then?"Neptune asked."We have a giant ship, bigger than any battleship we ever saw, which will constantly breath down our necks. And I guess if it notices us, it will most likely blast us into oblivion?"
"Pretty much."Rand confirmed."This thing has a very sensitive sensor suite. This is why there will be two teams on this mission. One team will infiltrate the fleet and the second will get aboard the Adronius and disable it."
"And how are we gonna sneak past these super sensitive sensors?"Vert asked.
"Here come our secret weapons."The General smiled."We have to Stealth corvettes at the ready to get you there."
"Oh, fancy."Neptune stated.
"These two were our secret weapon for a long time."Rand continued."We held them in hiding just in case an operation like this would ever come to be. And thanks to you, we finally have a chance."
"Oh, you flatterer."Neptune said.
"Could you be more serious about it?"Noire growled and looked at Rand again."Where exactly is this anchorage?"
Rand pressed some more buttons on the table and the hologram changed to show the map of the system. There was a blinking red dot in space between Nintendus and the asteroid belt separating outer and inner planets.
"Somewhere here. Just outside the inner belt. Which will make it easier for us to approach unnoticed. Currently, even though Imperials won't admit it, the inner belt is basically a borderline separating our two sides. It's no secret that whoever finds the courage to cross it first, will have the advantage."
Chill went down everyone's spine. Rand's words were really…motivating.
"So. When do we begin?"Tashima asked.
April 22
12:39
Near the secret anchorage
As it turned out, they begun immediately. Rand told them to join their teams aboard the two Stealth corvettes basically immediately after the meeting. So they did and quickly made their way to the ships and soldiers waiting for them. It was surprising to see that the VA actually committed nearly two hundred soldiers for it. Which meant that the insides of the ships will be crowded. And they were. Even though soldiers didn't say it out-loud, it was hard for them to sit squeezed like that. But they had a mission to do and that was what they had to focus on.
So the two ships set out on the journey towards the anchorage, sneaking through the asteroid belt. It was confirmed that the Empire was sending scouts into the borderline between two sides and the ships met some of them on their way. Fortunately, they managed to sneak past them and at this point, they were just outside the anchorage.
Aboard both ships, Goddesses were asked to come to the bridge. It was decided that Noire and Neptune will lead the team tasked with boarding the ships, while Blanc and Vert would take charge of the Adronius team.
As they both entered the bridges, the ship pilots showed them the screens, which presented the views from the ships' telescopes. More precisely, it showed rows upon rows upon rows of mooring arms and hundreds of ships attached to them. The looked at it and Neptune whistled.
"Looks even more impressive than I anticipated."she admited.
"Yeah…"Noire said.
Goddess of Planeptune noticed her tone.
"Is everything alright, Noire?"she asked.
"I've just been wondering…Why are the Imperials just keeping Gamindustrian ships in a place like this, instead of scrapping it and using the metal to build more of their own ships? Moreover, why would they upgrade them with hyperspace drives? Something's wrong here…and I don't like it."
"I think you're overthinking things."Neptune stated.
"If I were you, I wouldn't ignore it."Goddess of Lastation growled."It might come up sooner or later again."
"Still, we will worry about when it does. For now, let's focus on the mission. We take the ships, we dip, we fight. Got it?"
"When did you take charge?"
"Uhh…At the start of this whole thing?"
Noire just glared at her and rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go."she said."The sooner we take care of this, the better."
"Right behind ya."Neptune said.
The two quickly made their way back into the troop compartment of the ship, where a hundred VA Marines were crowded, checking their weapons and other gear before battle. Hearing the two walk in, they looked at them.
"Alright people. You know what we're gonna be facing?"Noire asked.
"Yes, ma'am."Marines replied.
"Good. Because this will be a high-tension and high-risk mission. Enemy may not have a lot here, but what they have is certainly enough to make our lives harder out there. So we gotta be quick and we gotta be careful."
"Yes, ma'am!"they all exclaimed.
"Now get ready. We're starting soon."
Soldier nodded and picked up speed on making sure their gear was ready.
Meanwhile, two ships split up, making way towards their targets. The enormous shape of Adronius loomed in the distance, as Vert-Blanc team was making it's way towards it. Station was slowly spinning around it's axis, as if it scanned the area with it's eyes only. It was something creepy in the sight of it.
"Okay, so, how do we do it?"one of Marines asked Blanc and Vert.
"Our plan is simple."Goddess of Lowee said.
She pressed a button on the side of her helmet and a window appeared on the HUDs of Marine helmets. It showed the outlines of the station.
"As you may know, we have our men aboard the station."Blanc said."And through means we're not fully aware yet, they managed to put their hands on some high-powered explosives. They planted them for the past few days and will detonate them on our mark. When that happens, we use the breaches to get aboard. We make our way to the bridge, take it over and either we take the station with us and if that isn't possible, we either destroy or send it flying through space to never be seen again."
"Sounds like a solid plan."someone said.
"Next, we make our way to the cargo hold and there, we'll be picked up by the ship."She finished by patting the wall next to her.
Marines looked at each other and started murmuring.
"Sounds solid."Vert said."Additionally, with my rediscovered power, it will be much easier."
"Just watch these fat sacks to not get in your way."
Vert looked at her.
"Really? At this point, it just gets boring."
Blanc didn't respond.
"We're almost at the place!"pilot said in the PA.
"You heard it. Move up!"Blanc ordered.
Soldiers quickly made their way to the airlock as the vessel approached the side of the station, undetected. The airlock was opened and the soldiers, by Blanc's ordered, started jumping out, slowly descending towards the station's armor. They activated their magnetic boots and attached themselves to it. After making sure everyone was present, Blanc connected back to the ship.
"Okay, we're here. You can go and hide."she said.
"Copy that, ma'am."the corvette's pilot replied.
The ship than quickly bucked away from the station. This left the assault team to slowly march through the surface of it, trying to make as little noise as possible, not to be heard on the inside. Otherwise, it could get very ugly. They jumped from one place to another, slowly approaching the target zone. Only thing Blanc could hear was her breathing in the helmet she was wearing. She was taking deep breaths, preparing herself to what's gonna come once they get aboard the station.
After a few minutes, she got a notification on her HUD.
"Here."she said."Stop."
All Marines quickly stopped. Vert approached her fellow Goddess.
"Okay, so we enter now?"she asked.
"Yes."Blanc replied and found the right frequency."Veil, do you hear me? This is Drag."
Veil was the nickname used by the VA operative aboard the Adronius. After a few seconds, the answer came:
"Drag, this is Veil. Awaiting your signal."
"Alright. Detonate in 3…2…1…Now!"
"Detonating."
Few seconds later, a row of explosions ripped through the side of the station on various levels. The whole construction creaked and shook from shock and stress put on it by the explosions. Not long after, when the whole fire from the explosion vanished, the decompression came. Air, everything not nailed to the floor and people started getting sucked out into space through the holes. Marines and Goddesses watched it with no comment or emotion shown. They waited until the initial wave of decompression passed.
"Now!"Blanc ordered."Move in!"
"Ooorah!"Marines exclaimed.
They quickly started performing the order, moving in to board the station through the breach. The section they were boarding through was the armory of the station, so they flew through numerous gun racks and bodies of enemy soldiers who were in the armory by the time the decompression happened. As they floated through the death and destruction, they were surprised to see some enemies who actually survived it by having their combat gear on. They immediately proceeded to take these out.
"Clear."Marines reported.
"Good. Now, let's get out of here."Vert said.
One of the Marines made their way forward, to the control panel at the door. He quickly took the main plate off and connected to it.
"Seems like emergency shutters didn't work here."he said."Let me fix that."
He pressed something on his hand terminal and everyone could hear the sound of emergency shutters closing behind them. Immediately when that happened, gravity was restored and everyone dropped on the floor. Fortunately, due to training, all Marines landed on their feet.
"Can you see what's behind this door?"Blanc asked.
The hacker looked at his terminal.
"I'm already in their cameras."he said."They show that everything's clear behind them. No sign of enemy troops."
"Good. Open."Blanc ordered.
Marine nodded and quickly got to work. Few seconds later, the door was opened and immediately, Marines flooded out of the room and into the corridor, aiming their weapons everywhere, but not finding any sign of enemy forces around.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
After confirming, Blanc and Vert left the armor and entered the corridor as well.
"Okay, we're in, do your thing."Goddess of Lowee said.
Vert smirked.
"I thought you'd never ask."she said, taking her helmet off.
She handed it to one of the Marines who quickly placed it in his backpack. Then, in a flash of light, Green Heart appeared in where Vert stood.
"Good."Blanc said."Let's get that bridge now."
"Yes, ma'am!"Marines replied.
And so, the whole group started making their way towards the bridge of Adronius.
April 22
12:59
As this was taking place, the second group already made their way to their landing zone. For the main target of their operation, they chose the biggest ship in the anchorage, the Lastation's battleship Noire. First of it's class, this ship was supposed to be the first ever type of warships to be equipped with hyperdrives when they entered mass production and would spearhead the expansion of Lastation outside the system. But just like with everything else, the whole plan was thrown into the bin when Imperials arrived.
The group made their way to a hatch near the aft of the ship and after hacking into it, they opened it and went inside. After few minutes, they were all inside, securing the area of engine room they entered through. Noire did the same thing as Vert and transformed into Black Heart. Next, after leaving behind a group of twenty Marines under the command of Tashima, who was with them on the operation, to secure the room, they started making their way towards the bridge.
As they were passing through the corridors, meeting seemingly no resistance, they didn't let their guard down. But Neptune, of course, had a thing to say.
"Noire, I have a question."she said.
"What is it?"Black Heart replied.
"Is your ego really that big that you had to name this ship, and subsequently it's class, after yourself?"
Black Heart looked at her with bored expression.
"It wasn't my idea, got it?"she replied."It's all the officials who came up with it. To 'honor the Goddess that leads Lastation to a new era'. I myself didn't see the point in naming the ship after me."
"Huh. If you say so."Neptune replied."How far until we reach the bridge?"
One of the Marine technicians who had the map of the ship on his hand terminal looked at it.
"We're just a few hundred meters from it."he replied."Soon we…"
His words were cut off when he rounded the corner and was greeted by a series from a ceiling-hanging turret. Lasers slammed into his body, throwing him back into the wall, with smoking holes in his chest.
"Shit!"Neptune and Black Heart exclaimed.
Everyone looked at them.
"What?"Black Heart asked."We're people too."
"First time I hear Goddesses swear."one Marine said.
Black Heart moved to the front of the group and stuck the blade of her sword out the corner. In it's perfectly polished surface, she could see the reflection of a turret hanging on the ceiling. It scanned the area.
"Well, seems like Imps did some upgrades to the place."she said.
"We can see that."another Marine said, looking at what was left of their comrade.
"So, how do we deal with this?"
"Leave it to me."Black Heart said.
Before they could say anything, she rushed around the corner and seconds later, a sound of sliced metal was heard and then, the turret slammed into the ground, sparking and destroyed. Hearing this, everyone left their hiding spot and came forth. They looked first at the destroyed turret and then at the dead Marine.
"Poor Harry."one of the Marines said."Swipes. Copy the map from his terminal and you'll lead us."
"Yessir."another Marine replied.
As the Marine did what he was told, everyone else looked at Black Heart.
"That was fast."Neptune said.
"You should know yourself how fast can we move."Goddess of Lastation replied."Now let's go. I'm pretty sure the other team is already working their way through the battle station. We have to hurry if we want to keep up with them."
"Right behind ya."Neptune replied.
After the Marine copied the map from Harry's device, the group was on the move again, securing rooms and corridors just in case.
April 22
13:24
Blanc just evaded another shot from Imperial Marine and after closing the distance between her and him, she slammed her hammer into his head, sending him flying, while Marines continued to exchange fire with the other enemies. Vert was to Blanc's right, slicing and dicing enemy soldiers, which tried to hold them off.
On their way to the station's bridge, they ran into a mess hall, which was, unfortunately, filled with enemies. What was even more unfortunate, was that all of them had their weapons. Seeing the invading force, they quickly stopped eating and a firefight ensued soon after. Fortunately, on the other hand, VA Marines were easily dispatching the enemies, especially with the help of Goddesses.
There was just a small bunch of enemy soldiers left and they were slowly realizing that the situation was not in their favor. They started falling back from the room, firing back at the VA troops, pinning them down and laying covering fire for the rest of them to retreat. Vert managed to get to another, before all of them left the mess hall.
"You, you, you and you."Blanc said, pointing at four random Marines."Secure that exit. And make sure nobody enters. Another four, do the same with the door we came through."
"Yes, ma'am."they replied and immediately went to do as they were told.
Green Heart floated next to Blanc.
"Everything seems to be going smoothly."she said.
"Don't say it. It brings bad luck."Blanc replied.
"You believe stuff like that?"
"Being overconfident can lead to bad outcomes. I read enough books on ancient history to know that."
Green Heart rolled her eyes.
"Come on. They didn't see us coming and were completely caught off guard. At this point, what can stop us?"
Blanc was not as positive. For some, it may have seemed like that because she was jealous that it was Vert who first regained her powers, knowing their rivalry. But truth be told, she was worried, that something could go wrong at any moment. Especially with how easy this whole thing was going.
April 22
13:29
Stellaria stood on the bridge of the Andronius, observing the camera view of the mess hall, with enemy soldiers in it. Her eyes were mostly glued to Blanc. After all, it was her that Stellaria beat three years ago. And now that she was back, she knew that she had to do something about it.
The reason Imperial Knight of Lowee was here, was an inspection ordered by her mother to make sure everything was running smoothly. What she didn't expect, was that she would run into an attack by the enemy. She sighed. As always, her bad luck was not on her side. Or maybe it wasn't…?
"Captain."she said.
The panicked man looked at her.
"Y-Yes…?"he asked.
"Be ready. On my mark, you separate her from the others."Saying that, she pointed at Blanc on the screen.
Captain looked at the screen, confused.
"Just do as I say."
"Yes, Lady Stellaria!"captain replied, saluting.
Imperial Knight looked at the screen again. She could, of course, go and slaughter the enemy soldiers…if not the presence of Green Heart. Truth be told, the presence of transformed Goddess filled her with a bit of fear. After all, even if for the first time, they managed to beat them, they were aware that they prevailed only because of element of surprise. Now, Tacoma and EVEa were dead, killed by the Goddesses they previously beat so easily. So if she had to be truthful to her feelings, she would rather avoid that.
But taking one of the Goddesses into custody again? Why the heck not?
April 22
13:59
Another turret fell to the blade of Black Heart, allowing the soldiers to move forward. It was seventh turret they ran into and the last one, before spotting the door leading into the bridge. They quickly approached it and the hacker started doing his magic, after which the door opened. They all ran inside, sighing with relief, seeing that the room was not defended. Goddesses placed guards at the door, while they themselves approached the pilot's console. Neptune pulled out a memory stick from her pocket.
"Let's do the magic."she said with a smirk.
She placed the memory stick in an appropriate port. Immediately, a green light lit up on the tip of it.
For few seconds, nothing happened. But then, all lights on the bridge lit up. Same happened with lights across the hull of the vessel, chaining through all ships, whose lights started turning on as well. Soon, all ships that were moored at the anchorage turned on, their engines coming to life and the mooring clams letting them go. Hundreds of warships were slowly leaving their positions, turning to run away.
"Okay, we got it."a voice said in Black Heart's radio. It most likely belonged to the Technocrat hacker who now controlled the fleet."Now let's get out of here before that station decided to remind us of it's existence."
"Good."Black Heart replied."How is the other team doing?"
April 22
14:21
Blanc was closing the line of the Marines, while Green Heart was in the front. They decided that was the best choice, with Green Heart being the first to engage and Blanc would command from the back. It was more of a Marines' idea, as they thought it would be more effective. After all, it was Blanc who was in charge, so it was only natural for her to be more in the back. Even though she didn't agree.
"How far until we reach the bridge?"Green Heart asked.
"Just a kilometer."Marine with map replied.
"Just a kilometer?"Marines commander asked."Damn. This thing really is big."
"Welcome to the Empire."another Marine, a former Imperial, said."We like it big."
"That would explain why your Empress' tits are so huge!"another said.
Everyone erupted in laughter, even Blanc and Green Heart. Honestly, Goddess of Lowee was happy to see them all in such high spirits, even though their current circumstances were not the greatest.
"Alright. Once we reach the bridge, we…"Blanc started.
Her words were cut off by an armored door closing on her, cutting her off from everyone else. Hearing the metallic clank, Marines and Green Heart stopped and turned, their eyes wide from surprise. Green Heart quickly flew up to the door and started hitting them with her spear, bu they didn't budge.
"Blanc?!"she exclaimed."Can you hear me?!"
"Barely!"Blanc's faint response came."Go on! I'll find a way!"
"But…!"
"No buts! Just go, don't worry about me, you fat sacks!"
Green Heart just shook her head, as she heard that. Yup, she was alright.
"Just watch out out there, will you?"she asked.
"I will! Now go, damn it!"
Goddess of Leanbox looked at the Marines.
"Let's go. She said she'll be fine."she said.
"Yes, ma'am."they replied.
Soon, they were on their way again.
Behind the door, Blanc looked behind her. Honestly, she didn't know if she'll be fine, since what she didn't tell them was that another set of armored doors closed behind her. She was blocked from two sides. She summoned her hammer and approached the door. She swung it and slammed it. Didn't even dent. She did it a few more times. Still nothing. She cursed under her breath and just sat there, thinking what to do. She closed her eyes and was lost in thoughts. What the hell did they make these doors from?
A sudden hiss torn her out of thought. She opened her eyes and widened them, seeing the whole area filling with a green gas.
"Shit!"she exclaimed.
The whole area was almost filled and she already breathed in some of it. She grabbed her throat as she started feeling sleepy. She tried to keep her eyes open, but that didn't work as she wanted. She slowly fell to the ground, loosing her consciousness.
Right then, the door that closed behind her opened. She could hear quick footsteps as three figures emerged from the gas cloud. Two were Imperial Marines wearing gas masks and a third one, wearing an armor resembling the ones used by Goddesses.
"You think she's still alive, Lady Stellaria?"one of the Marines asked.
"Yes. And I'm sure she can hear us."Stellaria replied."I fear you have to come with us."
Saying that, Stellaria picked Blanc up and tossed her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Let's go back to Stellar Jade."Stellaria said."And let's get out of here."
"We're not staying to help, ma'am?"second Marine asked.
"I fear not."Stellaria sighed."I loved my sisters…but I don't hurry to meet them in the afterlife."
"Solid copy."
Next, they all turned and walked away.
April 22
14:56
"No!"Adronius'scaptain exclaimed.
His pleading fell on deaf ears, when Green Heart's spear slammed into his chest and went out through the back of his seat. Marines poured into the bridge and immediately started eliminating both enemy soldiers and crew members. Even though they tried to resist, they didn't stand a chance and soon, the whole bridge was clear.
"Take the controls."Green Heart said to the hacker.
Marine nodded and quickly approached the control panel and took it over by attaching a cable to it. Once he did it, he quickly activated the engines of the battlestation, sending it flying into space.
"Done."he said.
"Good. Let's now go and…"Green Heart stopped.
Her eyes fell on a security camera view. On one of the screens, she could see a battleship docked to the station. And next to it, she could see a figure wearing an all too familiar type of armor.
Another Imperial Knight. And…Green Heart's eyes widened, when she saw who the Imperial Knight was carrying.
Blanc.
Tightening the grip on her spear, she looked at the Marines' commander.
"Major, take everyone to the exfil point."she ordered.
"What about you?"he asked.
"I have a friend to save."
With that, Green Heart flew out of the bridge and towards the mooring arms.
April 22
15:11
Mooring Arm 15
Few minutes later, after being led by the Marine hacker, Green Heart was already at the Mooring Arm 15, where the battleship was moored. She passed by the enormous shape of the warship and quickly approached the place where she saw Imperial Knight and Blanc. She saw it there, still open, soldiers moving aboard.
Imperial Knight stood there, Blanc still slung over her arm.
"You!"Green Heart exclaimed.
Stellaria looked at her.
"Let her go!"Goddess of Leanbox demanded.
"I really would like to… "Stellaria said."…but my mother would not be pleased. Goodbye. Lisam, take care of her."
Green Heart then glanced at the bulky soldier next to Stellaria. He reached to his back and pulled out a long sword hilt. He pointed it at her and two laser blades emerged from both ends. Green Heart rolled her eyes.
"Really? Evil henchman? You think that will stop me?"she asked."I played enough games to know how it will go."
"It's worth a try."Stellaria shrugged.
With that, Imperial Knight and two other enemy soldiers quickly climbed up the ramp and into the ship. Green Heart looked at the escaping Knight and at the evil henchman she left behind. She shook her head and charged at him.
Before Lisam could react, Green Heart's speartip touched his throat and slid it open. Surprised man grabbed his throat and fell to the ground. With that taken care of, she looked at the already hidden boarding ramp and cursed under her breath, when the ship started leaving the mooring arm. Before she could do anything else, the battleship was already on the way out of the station.
"Fuck."Green Heart cursed and immediately turned on her communicator."This is Green Heart to everyone. Enemy have captured Blanc!"
"They did what?!"Neptune exclaimed.
"Can you pursue them?"Black Heart asked.
"Negative. They're already out of the station."
"We can see them."Black Heart said.
Right then, Green Heart saw numerous flaps open on top of the battleship and blue lightning arcing around it. She cursed once more, as the battleship jumped into hyperspace. This additionally made her think about something. Until now, she only saw Imperial battleships belonging to the Imperial Knights using their hyperdrives. Meanwhile, other ships still didn't do it. It was truly mind boggling, that Empire had an access to such a clear technological advantage and yet, they almost never used it. Just…why?
She then contacted the corvette they came here on. Few minutes later, after picking up rest of the assault team from another place, the ship came to the Mooring Arm 15 and picked up Green Heart. Not long after, the fleet of stolen warships made it's way out of the anchorage by jumping into hyperspace, while the corvettes would quickly make their way towards the Unbreakable Ore's HQ, while the strongest Imperial battlestation continued to fly into the vastness of space to never be seen again.
April 25
Unknown time
Unknown location
The ringing in the head stopped. Darkness slowly vanished, as she opened her eyes. Massaging her head, she slowly sat up and looked around. She was sitting in a metal room with bars for one of the walls. It was a prison cell, that was for sure. She growled and tried to summon her weapon, but discovered that she just can't.
"I wouldn't try it if I were you."a voice said.
It was only now that she noticed, that she's not alone. There was another person, standing in the shadow. The person then left the shadow and fully showed herself to her. Seeing her, she had a dangerous flash in her eyes.
"You…"she growled.
The other person smiled.
"Welcome, Goddess Blanc."Empress Keya Aristos of the Aristian Empire said."We have much to discuss."
XXX
And this is it for today. As always, feel free to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!
See you!