Chapter 43: Chapter 42 – First Contact (1)

8 years went by in a flash. By now the military was building their new ships with the new Keelan drive, which was three to four times faster than anything from before. The new technology was also slowly trickling down to commercial use too, speeding up the trading between the Hegemony’s systems. Keelan was especially proud that Alpha let him name the new drive system, even letting him take all the credit for coming up with it. Since that day he was literally worshiping him and calling him ‘Master’, to Alpha’s biggest dismay. 

“What is the long face for?” Keelan asked, walking into the main office of the Hephaestus base where Lizzy was there, lazing on the leather couch, sipping wine from a bottle. It was close to midnight and she was clearly under the influence of it.

“I’m just… worried for them!” She sighed. 

“They have grown up! You can’t keep them in a shelter, tucked away in some underground base!” 

“Why not?” She moaned, turning to his back. “They are my babies! I made both of them!” She groaned which made Keelan falter, dropping the dozens of datapads from his hand, looking at her, stuttering.

“They are… siblings?” He asked, stunned by the ‘revelation’.

“Huh?” Lizzy sat up, leaning against the couch’s back. “I never thought about it like that…” She murmured, further raising the misunderstanding in Keelan who just sighed.

“That would be a big scandal! Anyway, let’s keep that a secret, okay? Don’t worry! I won’t tell and make sure you also keep your drunk mouth shut! So no more wine!” He walked up to her, taking the bottle away from her.

“Noooo~ Gimme baaaack!” She groaned loudly, falling off from the couch while Keelan just leaned down with a sigh. He was picking her up, struggling with the drunk body of hers. 

“Damn it… Stop hitting me! I’m going to take you home, you are horrible when drunk! I don’t want to let you blabber around to anybody else! Hmf! Geniuses have their quirks anyway! All the old royal families enjoyed a little bit of incest, hah! No biggie!” He said, walking out from the office with Lizzy in his embrace.

“Acho!” Alpha sneezed, sitting up in his bed.

“Mhm… What is it?” Marin moaned as she followed suit, snuggling up to him from behind. Both of them were naked as she caressed his chest, enjoying the warmth of his body. 

“I felt like someone was badmouthing us.”

“Heh, maybe the grunts?” She giggled.

“Then as their commanding officer, you should punish them accordingly!” Alpha said, leaning back, hugging her in their bed.

They were on a newly built warship, called Charon. It was the first battleship, outfitted with 13 Keelan drives, giving it a speed that was comparable to a cruiser’s. Its length from the top of its wedge-shaped nose to its wide backside, was almost 19 kilometers long. It was a massive beast, housing the first, fully equipped strike squadron, made out of not fighter planes but Suits of Areses. It had enough firepower to take on a smaller fleet by itself and withstand their attacks. Even if its shields would fail, the thick plating on its massive body would still pose a difficult hurdle to overcome to any enemy.

This was its first outing, traveling to the edge of the Hegemony’s border worlds, bringing along its newest weapons. Its mission was to give the first live tests to the pilots and their new suits. Marin was made the young pilots’ commanding officer years ago, while Alpha became her second in command. Right now, there were a hundred, excited individuals, ready for their first action, barely able to sleep.

“I never thought I would one day become a real Warrior Princess!” She grinned, looking into Alpha’s violet eyes.

“No wonder you named your suit Luxia.” He smiled, playing with her hair. “But don’t forget, these are not the holos of old!” 

“I know!” She nodded. “I’m not that naive! Didn’t I mature already?”

“Well…” He grinned, looking under the blanket.

“See? Unlike you~” She laughed, letting him have a good look, as always. “Did you read the briefing? Or did you come up with something new again and missed it?” She asked in the meanwhile.

“I did… I mean I did read it! A colony and a survey ship goes silent. No contact for a year. What did the locals say? Mine had nothing about that.”

“The species first inhabiting this part of the Galaxy say that these parts were always cursed systems. They warned us but we didn’t believe in their folklore. Now, the Stargods have eaten our people!” She said in a mysterious voice before laughing. “Suuuure! My bet is on either on the beasts or some slaver fucks!” 

“I can’t understand the beasts!” Alpha sighed “Some of them are happy to live with us, some are like rabid dogs… I don’t get it…”

“Neither do I, so I don’t question it!” Marin shrugged. “What do you think we are going to find there?”

“A new species.” He said after a brief pause.

“Oh? Really? Want to make a bet?” She asked, licking her lips.

“What are you thinking of?” Alpha asked, showing great interest. 

“If you are right, you are going to turn me into a mother~” She said, climbing atop of him.

“And if you win?” He asked, not even resisting.

“I will turn you into a father~” She grinned, telling him clearly that by now, it was the same for her as it was for her mother all those years ago… she couldn’t wait anymore… and she decided to turn to ‘gene manipulation’ in the old school way. 

…

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When the Charon came out of the Astropath, it did so at the edge of a binary star system. It had four planets. Three of them were small and rocky worlds but the last one had a hot, humid but breathable atmosphere. It was around the size of Earth and its lands were covered with lush, thick jungles. The Hegemony established a colony on it 20 years ago, containing around 100 to 200 thousand souls. They developed slowly but surely. Yet in the past cycle, they failed to report in and the survey ship sent to investigate, had also disappeared. Two incidents right after the other made a cause and the Hegemony sent their newly established team to investigate. They were not really here to find the missing colonists but to see how the Suits operate when not in a simulated, controlled environment. 

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The bridge of the Charon was elegant and stylish. It had a multi-layered outline, silver walls and golden outlines. Even if it was a warship they didn’t forsake style and comfort. The pilots, numbering four in total, were sitting at the front at a U shaped console, in cushioned, leather seats. Two were solely responsible for the engines, their power output and their reactor status, while one was responsible for their speed and another steered the ship itself. Behind them, on an elevated position, in the middle of the bridge sat the captain. Next to his right was a seat for his first officer and on the left he had a now empty chair for the ship’s appointed diplomat. If it had any assigned to it. The rest of the crew, those who were responsible for the shields and the different weapon systems, had their own positions either behind, above or below them. The weapon officers were in their own ‘bubbles’, having access to a 360 field of view in a virtual space, capable of reacting to any situations. There were six teams, responsible for different parts of the giant ship, manning the many weapon clusters on its surface. Both at the top and the bottom. Their numbers alone reached 60, working in groups of 10. Behind the captain, the silver walls and their arched battlestations were where the officers, responsible for the shields and sensors took place as everyone’s work was helped out by a personal AI, streamlining all the data flows between them. 

The captain was an experienced man, serving for 60 years by now. His short hair had silver lines in it but his brown eyes were filled with youthful fire. He was sitting in his chair, his white uniform prim and proper as he was watching the planetary system come into view. 

“Captain Daokus,” his second in command, a woman named Ursha said, turning towards him. “We have no energy readings from the colony.” She was a dark-skinned woman, with long, braided, black hair and deep, blue eyes. She was frowning as she read the reports, coming in from the crew.

“Are they offline?” He asked, furrowing his brows. Even if they were, the colony’s generators should still have a noticeable output of heat or radio waves. Something that their scanners would pick up on.

“No.” She answered, fixing her sitting position. “No signs of any human activity, Captain.”

“That means they went offline at least 6 to 7 months ago.” He whispered, resting his chin on the top of his palm. “What about the Karius? Any signs of it?”

“No. We swept the system twice already.” She answered. “No signs of the survey team. No distress beacons either. Not on any of the planets nor in space.”

“Spooky.” Daokus smiled, watching the image of the sole, habitable planet getting enlarged on their screens. “How many Astropaths lead to this system?”

“We only have the knowledge of three.” Ursha replied.

“From the one we came is safe, so we can cross it out.” He said, tapping on the armrest of his chair. As far as we know, no other species can travel them both ways…” He continued to think out loudly. “Which of the other two are leading inwards?” 

“Only one.” Ursha answered after checking it for a moment. 

“Where is the other one leading to?”

“To an unknown system. It was on the lists to survey and explore later on. That is why the colony was established in the first place, Captain.”

“Okay!” Daokus clapped. “Place the ship, facing the Astropath leading inwards! Send the Suits out! I want half of them to go to the colony, the other half to set up a perimeter at the third Astropath! The first team should investigate and search for clues and I want live feed at all times!”

“Yes Sir!” She nodded while Daokus continued.

“Start putting out a standard distress call but keep it contained in this system only.”

“Captain?” She looked at him, a bit puzzled.

“I want to know if anyone is listening in…” He smiled, clearly expecting trouble.

…

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When the squadrons of the Suits of Areses launched it was like bees swarming out from their hive. Half of them were quickly gone, heading towards their position to set up a blockade at the other Astropath, while the other half, with Marin at their lead, was approaching the abandoned planet. Marin’s Suit was painted silver and blue, prompting the colors of her favorite Warrior Princess’ armors. Next to her was Alpha’s suit, painted black and violet, a stark contrast to hers. 

In this new battlegroup, everyone had the freedom to name and decorate their suits. It became apparent very quickly that when a pilot first melded with his or her machine, it formed a kind of symbiotic bond between the two. Their reflexes and senses were enhanced, beyond any human limits and the machines were capable of acting like their pilots. Even without conscious instructions. They were mimicking their temperaments, style and attitudes. This made every pilot unique and in turn, every suit also stood out from each other.

“Listen up!” Marin said into an open channel. “The first squad is going to descend down to the surface with me and we are to investigate what happened to the colony!” She said firmly as nine ‘yes’ echoed immediately, without questions. “I want the third and fourth squad to stay at a high altitude and sweep the planet! Go around and scan for any clues! Second squad is to stay above orbit and monitor the situation!”

“Yes.” Alpha answered as he was the appointed captain of the second squad at this moment. 

None of the young pilots voiced any questions, following her orders sternly. She was not just the best pilot on paper but when they were conducting their mock battles only her husband could keep up with her amongst the hundreds of pilots. Anyone who came close to the 3rd place behind the two, were considered a true Ace amongst them. Now, conducting their first, real mission, everyone wanted to give their best.

“Do you see this?” Marin’s voice arrived as Alpha let her ‘eyes’ transmit the image over, right into his mind. 

What he saw was that the buildings on the surface were covered in an organic, brownish mass. It was hardened up, sealing them away from the outside. It was as if everything was encased in a weird cocoon, just waiting to hatch. 

“I hate to say…” Marin said with a tangible grimace on her face. “That you were right…”

“I don’t feel any survivors.” Alpha said and it was enough for her to let out a low curse. “And we have incoming guests.” He added as his head snapped towards the same Astropath that the Charon was facing. 

“Call back everyone!” Marin ordered them all before the Charon could. “Get ready for battle!” 

On the other side of the system, Captain Daokus was watching as the blue Astropath opened up and dozens of meteor-like, organic ships were emerging from it.

“Raise shields!” He said with a small smile. “Focus on defense.”

“Captain?” Ursha asked.

“Let the suits deal with them.” He said. “We need the test of true flames of battle. Or they remain nothing but fancy toys. The headquarters orders were simple; If there is a confrontation, let them deal with it. Losses are acceptable.”

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