Chapter 50: Chapter 49 – North Pole

The approaching Wuulfharn ships were way too close by the time the Neo-Hegemony's fleet arrived. They had no time to stop, slow down, or turn around. The suddenly appearing enemy way overshadowed them in numbers to even consider flying past them. The Hammer and the Veil broke their formations easily, and after damaging the ships, the following fleet decimated the rest, leaving nobody alive in their path. When the fleet finally stopped, they were close to the station but far enough, so it couldn't target them yet. The remaining ships of the beasts were behind the shields of it, waiting for the supposed assault and their own reinforcements.

"Admiral." Parthen saluted as the two opened up a channel between their ships.

"Good work, Major General. I bet the beasts already sent word and a relief fleet is on their way."

"They can only come from one direction." He smiled. "And I bet they think we are here for their mining station. So we need it intact."

"That is why it is going to be their grave." Admiral Jankho smiled. "I am splitting the fleet. Take the other half and set up a perimeter from where they will come. We are going to destroy them here and join you soon after."

"Yes!" Parthen saluted, cutting the feed, turning towards Omega as the screens showed how the Hammer's main gun lit up, firing at the station. Its attack hit its shields, shaking the whole structure and making the protective bubble around it flicker intensely. The surrounding asteroids were blown away, spinning with a newfound speed as they departed in all directions.

"Hm?" Omega asked, scanning Parthen's eyes, waiting for the question that was forming in his mind.

"Can we prevent their ships from coming through?" He asked, and Rururin, who was sitting at the scanners, turned her ears towards them.

"In theory, it is possible. But it is not a technology we could wield." He replied, shaking his head. He knew if he ever tried to manipulate the Astropaths that way, it would be a beacon for the 'Creator' to find him with. "But we have the advantages. We know where they will come from. We just need to set up a defensive position."

"We are already doing that… I just hoped it would be as easy to hold this system as it was to take it." He sighed as, on the screen, a bright flash blinded most of the crew who watched it. It resulted from a violent impact as the Hammer's repeated bombardment blew through the station's shield and then its body, resulting in a chain reaction and complete destruction.

"If you manage to hold it, your people can finally start looking to the future," Omega said with a small smile, holding onto the chair's armrest as the Veil was rocked by the explosion's waves reaching it.

"We will hold it," Parthen said, looking at the screen, watching the remnants of the station popping off again and again and how the Admiral's side rained down onto the remaining two ships, leaving no survivors behind.

…
….
…..

At a different place, Keshnar and Mirian just stepped onto the old, abandoned station they found. The former wore nothing as he was unafraid of it, even if the station lacked breathable air. On the other hand, Mirian was dressed in her environmental suit while walking off the ramp of the Dawn. Their ship was directed towards the underside as a huge door slowly rose up, allowing the Dawn to fly in and land inside its vast docking bay. They heard the air pressure equalizing inside but still, Mirian urged caution. Not that it was any use towards Keshnar.

"Hmmm…" The curious jelly hummed as he rolled forward, quickly arriving at the hangar's door and tapping away at the console next to it. "I'm downloading the map of the station. Its systems are unlocked. Weird!"

"Maybe it is the signal's effect?" Mirian asked, watching the projection from the wrist of her suit. "It says the air is clean and stable but… I think I will keep the suit on."

"Good," Miyon said, watching the two through Mirian's headcam. "At least one of you has some common sense."

"I am immune to most diseases, thank you very much! I could even survive in space for an hour before I would go into hibernation and then freeze to death." Keshnar chuckled, opening the door and entering the hallway leading in multiple directions.

"Then we can bury you into a meteor, drop you into a planet you start multiplying," Mirian added, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! I'm not some kind of bacteria or whatever! Okay?" He scoffed, sounding annoyed at her. "Come, follow me!"

"What did you find, Prof?" She asked, still going after the quickly rolling Keshnar.

"The main control station." He said as they entered an elevator, bringing them upwards. Mirian only realized that she had followed him without question when the doors closed behind her. What if it was malfunctioning? What if it dropped them to their death? She became careless, affected by his excitement. "Relax!" Keshnar jiggled, slapping her butt with one of his tentacles. "The station is fully operational! It is only around 4000 years old anyway!"

"Only you say…." She rolled her eyes, trying to mask her nervousness.

They walked through multiple floors and sectors for fifteen minutes to reach the central control station. In their trek, they saw numerous hangars; some were empty some had small combat drones, machines that they never saw before. If Keshnar were not more excited about the station's brain, he probably would have already stopped and examined them individually.

"It is like a ghost town!" Mirian sighed, watching the empty dormitories or cafeteria they walked past, listening to the automated voice of the elevator announcing their stop at the recreational floor once.

"It is." Miyon agreed, watching them from the Dawn. "I connected to its internal systems." He said in the meanwhile, but it was Dawn who did it. "Everything is unlocked for us. Its systems recognize us as the Administrators. We have full access to all of its faculties."

"Do you know what it was for?" Mirian asked back.

"Not yet. Too much data, we a- khm, I am still sorting through it."

"Do that." Keshnar cut in. "And make a copy of what you can."

"Sorry, that won't be happening." Miyon sighed. "Too much data. My Dawn simply can't handle it. She already has problems going through it." He added, and he was not lying. For some reason, she became unresponsive to his questions after a while.

"Oh!" Keshnar flinched, pulsating, and Mirian knew he probably experienced something akin to an orgasm. "Wonderful!"

When they finally got to the station's bridge, it was a big, circular room. In the middle, there was a colossal holo-projection showcasing the rotating image of the station. Around and under was a big, round control panel where a handful of people could work on their tasks, controlling the entire station if necessary. The room had a panoramic view, painting it with an orange light from the outside world. Keshnar's body jiggled until he exploded into dozens of miniature versions of himself.

"Prof?!" Mirina flinched, surprised, watching the little slimes occupy every available spot at the computers circling the projector.

"Relax!" He said hurriedly, as many little tentacles were pressing buttons and turning dials.

"I am not relaxed! Do you even know how to operate it?! Don't go and blow us up!" She hurried there, almost stumbling when the station shook. Luckily it was only the control room's shutters coming down and encasing them into darkness before the lights came on. "Don't scare me like that!"

You are reading story Alpha & Omega at novel35.com

"Easy!" He chuckled. "It has the same underlying architecture as Mors Caminus. I worked on that station for a few years when helping with the Veil! This has the same principles, don't worry!"

"Haahhh… You never grew up…" Mirian murmured, finally taking off her helmet and wiping her face from respirations. "So? What do we know?"

"Hey. Be honest with me!" the many Keshnars said simultaneously, sounding in her head like echoes. "Is that lucky charm of yours a human?"

"No," Mirian answered immediately.

"Too quick. So he is!" Keshnar stopped, all of his little versions looking at her before continuing. "I was guessing that already. He knows too much and too many details! Even sending us here? When we need it the most? Please. I am not a newborn. I don't know the full story, but if you don't want to tell me, fine! As long as you keep giving me toys like this!"

"Professor, this is not a toy!" Mirian said, trying to not sound flustered at getting found out and not really going into details.

"Oh, yes, it is my baby girl!"

"Who is your baby?! We never were a pair in the first place!"

"Sure, sure!" He waved his tentacles at her. "This, my little student, is a station called the North Pole. As to why I have zero ideas! Anyway, this is a great gift from our returned human, ahahahaha!"

"Mirian…" Miyon cut in with a sigh. "Can you tell him to say things and not go around in circles?"

"Where is the fun in that?" The professor scoffed before continuing. "This is an FMS!"

"Explanation, please," Miyon said again.

"A Frontline Mobile Station! It is designed to repair damaged warships, refuel, restock, rearm or salvage them! But here comes the best part! It is designed for the front. To be in the thick of the fights! It has exceptional shields and weaponry!" He explained, saying it to them so fast that Mirian and Miyon could barely follow his thoughts.

"Wait…" Mirian said, still stuck at the first part. "You say it's mobile?"

"It is in its name!" He laughed, and when the station shuddered again. They could feel that it started moving.

It was not an illusion; the station started to drift forward, slowly at first but picking up speed nonetheless. It was heading toward an Astropath, marked by Keshnar's instructions.

"Do you know what this means?" He asked, slowly reuniting his multiple, smaller bodies. "We can support the fleet with it! We don't have to track back to Mors Caminus all the time! Hah!"

"It is too good to be true…." Mirian murmured, looking at the holographic projection, changing from the station to showcasing their calculated route and estimated arrival.

"It is," Keshnar sighed with a disappointed voice. "It has a missing component. Its AI. With the evidence we have here, now it is 100% sure that the old Hegemony was working with AI. I suspected it with Mors Caminus, but it is much more evident here. Without it, many functions are offline. It was designed to-" Before he could finish, the whole station went offline, which plunged them into complete darkness.

“Prof?!” Mirian gulped.

"That… was not me."

"Sorry." A new female voice said as the lights flickered on again, and every system came back online one by one. "Installing myself needed a complete reboot of the main server."

"Who…?" Keshnar asked, but he already had an idea. He looked at Mirian but seeing her surprise, he knew she was also left in the dark with this.

"My name is Dawn. Or… well, it was. I transferred myself from the ship to the station. Omega said that I may need to do this. It is a bit weird for now, but I will get used to it quickly."

"I fucking knew it!" The professor slapped the controls, jiggling as if there was an earthquake. "That ship was too quick! It reacted to things faster and adapted to situations faster than any machine that I know of! It had to be an AI, of course!"

"I wonder what else he keeps secret from us…." Mirian murmured softly.

"If he would want to keep me a secret," Dawn said, "I would not have let you know I installed myself onto this station."

"So… is this station ours or his?" Keshnar asked, drumming on the control panels with his tentacles.

"The Neo-Hegemony's," Dawn answered calmly.

"Hm…" The jelly looked at Mirian, looking like he was smirking. "How diplomatic. Just like a girl I know of…."

"Before you two start a lovers quarrel," Miyon interjected, making Mirian draw in a sharp breath as she respected and liked her teacher, but it was far from that kind of love. "Where are we going?"

"To the front," Keshnar answered, and Dawn acknowledged, already preparing the Astropath's signal to be sent out for its opening. "We have a system to hold, do you remember? I am sure the Wuulfharn forces are already on their way to retake it!"

"We may arrive a bit late," Dawn added. "This new body of mine is… not the fastest."

"Doesn't matter!" Keshnar laughed. "At least we have time to explore it! I always wanted to know how a true AI worked like in the past…."

You can find story with these keywords: Alpha & Omega, Read Alpha & Omega, Alpha & Omega novel, Alpha & Omega book, Alpha & Omega story, Alpha & Omega full, Alpha & Omega Latest Chapter