Chapter 48: Chapter 47 – Preparations

"Recheck the systems!" Keshnar said, jiggling before a wide console, watching the constantly changing dials and numbers. One of his tentacles was glued to another monitor containing one of his eyes. He was watching the cameras' feeds, showing the Xanthe.

"Everything is green!" Axian replied with an excited voice.

They were on a newly built survey station, floating in the blackness of space. This was one of the Neo-Hegemony's systems, further back on the end of the Galaxy's spiral arm they occupied. It was an almost empty system, so far away from anything that some would say it was not even part of the Milky Way anymore. Only a lone star, caught in the Galaxy's sphere of influence. Looking around, it was weird to see so few stars on one side and so many on the other. It was as if you could look at the Milky Way from far away.

Around a month ago, multiple vessels arrived here and started assembling a small station equipped with the best sensors and analytic systems the Neo-Hegemony had. The system had no real name, but people began to call it 'Lone Star.' It only had one blue giant and a dozen planetoids orbiting it. This faraway place has become their testing grounds, far away from everything.

Right now, the Xanthe was floating at the system's edge, facing the emptiness of space between galaxies. It was Sylen who sat in it, ready to initiate the melding process. It was not her first time. She had already done so a few times to familiarize herself with Xanthe. It was an experience she could never forget, and since the first time, she was adamant that she pilots it, taking up on the promise of Omega.

"Is this… a good idea?" Miyon asked, nervous, constantly playing with his fingers, standing next to Omega on the observatory deck.

"Relax!" Mirian laughed. "This should be fine! Didn't Omega here pilot it and fight against our enemies?"

"Yes… but…” Miyon said, falling silent.

"A parent will always worry about his kin." Omega smiled, patting his shoulder. "Everything is going to be fine! The core is refilled, and everything is fixed up. We need to stress-test it! And this is the perfect opportunity for her to get a feel of it!"

"Just don't send her into battle afterward!" He said, looking at him with a pleading expression.

"I can't promise that," Omega said, shaking his head.

"You-!" Miyon opened his mouth.

"War will come for us," Mirian interjected solemnly. "And when that happens, she is going to have something she can protect herself with!" She turned her head, looking into his eyes. "She won't be defenseless. None of us will be."

As she said, Sylen, on the other hand, melded with Xanthe, and the Abyss Battery activated as soon as she did. Now, with full power, fixed and free of bugs, the Suit was much more nimble. Faster. Stronger. She couldn't contain her laughter as she danced around space, going more quickly than any fighters or small ships, leaving a golden streak behind.

"This is so awesome!" Her voice came through the speakers, followed by Xanthe's.

"Systems are at 100%. No malfunctions or failures were detected. Suit is back at combat readiness. Only needs rearming."

"About that!" Sylen agreed with her new 'friend.' "What about the weapons? Only these vibroblades remain?"

"For now," Keshnar answered. "We are building new ones, designed on railgun technology. But it needs time to get it right! I may improvise some ionic disruptors for the meantime, so you can open up enemies for your blades."

"Bummer." Answered not just Sylen but also Xanthe.

It seemed the Suit quickly acknowledged Sylen as her pilot, especially because her previous owner was also a woman.

"Get ready!" Keshnar interjected. "Dummy torpedoes are away. Let's test the maneuverability!"

"The what?!" Miyon yelped as they heard their conversation on the observation deck.

"Relax!" Mirian laughed. "They are dummies! There are no warheads on them!" She explained as they saw twelve of them being fired from the station, heading towards Xanthe.

"Wow!" Sylen's voice came suddenly. "This is… so… weird!"

"What?" Keshnar asked as they saw nothing bizarre on their sensors while the Xanthe simply dodged them like a ballerina dancing amongst the stars.

"I can see their path even before they come close! I can also predict where they would be a few seconds later, and I know if one of them explodes where I should be to avoid shrapnels! When did I become so good and smart?!" She laughed.

"Wonderful…." Keshnar jiggled, clearly happy and excited, already downloading Xanthe's internal recordings of her pilot's mind and feelings. He wanted to know everything.

"I told you." Omega smiled, "These things enhance you greatly."

"I want to try it out…." Mirian murmured, stealing a glance at Omega, looking at him like a little girl with big, pleading eyes.

"The bracelets are already manufactured." Omega nodded. "The suits are getting ready too. We only need the reactors to be built for them."

"That…" Keshnar interjected. "We have a slight problem that I did not tell you yet."

"What?" Mirian asked, furrowing her brows.

"We need to occupy a system with a white dwarf in it." He sighed. "It would greatly help us condense the required materials. Working with one would halve the time we need to build one Battery. It is not as strong as a black hole but strong enough for what we need it to be. We already worked out the process, which would help us manufacture and speed up refilling the Abyss Reactors. We have plans to build a station around one and make it the first Abyss Battery producing and refueling hub!"

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"But we have no such system…." Mirian replied, crossing her hands and biting her lips as she looked at Omega. He just smiled, which also smoothed out her expression. "So it begins… I know a system that has one, and it is nearby."

"Me too," Keshnar replied with a heavy voice.

"What is the sighing for?" Sylen asked, perturbed at the conversation on the other side of the open channel.

"It is under the hands of the Wuulfharn." Omega finished their thoughts. "It has an asteroid field around it, rich with rare minerals."

"Taking away a mining sector…." Mirian murmured, but then her eyes steeled themselves. "So be it! I am going to contact the Admiralty Board. You may have to work together with some old acquaintances." She grinned, looking up at Omega as Sylen's groan came through the speakers.

"I hate both the Major General and her bunny girl…."

…
….
…..

The Veil was docked outside the Neo-Hegemony's territory at a covert base in an asteroid field. It was a small outpost in an out-of-way system that had a brown dwarf in the middle of it. It was once a mining colony, maybe in the Hegemony's days. By now, it was empty of resources and nothing but a footnote in a travel guide. A few decades ago, the Neo-Hegemony secretly established a small outpost manned by a skeleton crew at all times. It was a base where the Veil could return and do some quick maintenance out of sight. At this moment, it was surrounded by hundreds of spinning rocks floating in space, going around the brown dwarf. It was anchored to a moon-sized, grey rock with a hidden base under the surface.

"I hope that this time it will be different traveling with you two," Rururin said as she faced Sylen, descending in an elevator to the base below. The technical sergeant was the one who greeted Omega and Sylen as they arrived on a small ship only a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, me too," Sylen answered, not backing down, rubbing the bracelet on her wrist with a slight smirk.

"Hmf." The bunny girl scoffed, seeing it as she looked at Omega, who was calmly watching them and letting Sylen do as she wished. "You played us well!" She said to him.

"You played yourselves," Omega answered, looking down at her eyes. "We came to you with an offering, and you took it farther than necessary. You are lucky to have something at all… and lucky that Mirian is the way she is."

"Is that a threat?" Rururin asked as the elevator stopped and the door opened before them, revealing a busy hangar. People were working, filling up containers with supplies, ready to be transferred to the Veil.

"No. They are facts." Omega answered, stepping out, not looking at her as his gaze was already focused on Parthen, who was waiting for them.

"We meet again." The Major General nodded at him.

"Mhm." Omega returned the 'greetings' while Sylen just scoffed, standing next to Omega.

Both wore simple, white uniforms, without any military insignia but with gold and purple decorations on their edges. They looked like a mix between a noble and a refined diplomat. Sylen especially loved her new clothes; it was the first for her to dress up like someone important. Her red hair was neatly tied behind her into a bun as she flashed a slight grin at Parthen, revealing her canines. The Major General ignored her gesture and simply led them into a private room, where they already had a projection show the system they were headed for soon.

"I have been briefed by the Admiral," Parthen said, walking to the table. "I have been told that you brought the Suit with you? And you are going to be the one piloting it?" He looked at Sylen, unsure of the idea.

"Teehee~" She chuckled, without a proper answer, enjoying his look, feeling vindicated for what had happened between them previously.

"Yes," Omega answered. They already went through this, and Sylen would be led by Omega through the whole mission. As to how nobody else was informed besides Mirian. It was related to his powers which were to remain a secret. "You will be surprised." He smiled, directing his words mostly towards Rururin, who just rolled her eyes, hearing that Sylen was a pilot. A good one at that. "The Wuulfharn ships are built around close-quarter battles and boarding parties. They prefer using torpedoes. They are bulky and slow." Omega continued, bringing up the intel they had.

The image above the table now showed around a dozen boxy, robust warships. They looked like bricks, with giant rocket-based propulsion and heavy weapon stations on their sides. They all had some kind of sharp, hook-like noses designed to ram into other ships and open them up like a can of tuna. By their knowledge, the enemy had four corvettes, four frigates, two destroyers, and a cruiser in place. Lastly, the central mining station also had its defensive platforms, armed with multiple weapon systems and a shield.

"So…" Rururin asked, with a doubtful voice, "We are to go in with the Veil, use our stealth systems to get as close as possible… and then launch the Suit at them?"

"As I said, she is a good pilot." Omega looked into Rururin's eyes.

"You'll see!" Sylen added with a proud voice, ready to prove herself.

Her confidence was not unwarranted. The tests she did were nearing the level that Marin had once. If Sylen had been born in those days, she would have been either under Marin's or Omega's command in their squads.

"Then," Omega continued before they started fighting. "She will draw out the ships from under the station's shields. With her agility and speed, she can run circles around them. Keshnar built a prototype ion rifle; this will be the test run. On paper, it could disturb their smaller ships' shields. Like the corvette and frigates."

"The Wuulfharns are not known to have great shields anyway. They rely more on their thick platings in naval combat." Parthen added, listening to him.

"Mhm." Omega agreed. "When we draw out as much as possible, the Veil can give the signal, and the main fleet will arrive."

"..." Parthen furrowed his brows a little. He knew the main fleet should be coming, led by Admiral Jankho himself. But he was not told from where or when. Did they discover a new Astropath? Because the only way in that they knew about was the side, they were coming from. Every other road leading in was from the world of Orashun. The Wuulfharn planet was in control of the nearby systems.

"After the fleet arrives, we will deal with the enemy. The Veil retrieves the Xanthe and joins in the assault of the station. We don't need to capture it. Destroying is fine."

"This will trigger a war…." Parthen whispered, watching the flickering holographic images.

"It will." Omega nodded, leaning forward, placing his hands on the table, and letting the bluish images reflect in his eyes coldly. "And for once, it will be you on the offense. Rejoice, Major General… The time for change has come…."

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