Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 43: Plans in Place

Steel wiped the sweat off his brow as he sighed. This was by far one of the hardest things he had to do. Not even Solisa was willing to help him out. That was how difficult it was, keeping in mind he was trying his best not to throw up.

"Woohoo!" Elena yelled in the pilot's seat. While her mother next to her looked as nervous as he felt but was doing better than he did at hiding it. "This is so fun. Why don't spacecraft have stick control like planes do?"

"Hahaha! It is because space is different from air. It is somewhat complex but basically spacecraft are made to operate with different mobility in mind." Her mother explained as her daughter tilted the plane turning on the preset course.

"Is it as fun to pilot a spacecraft as it is to fly a plane? Jace do you know?" Elena asked as she glanced back at him, giggling at his expression.

"I have no clue. I have only flown in simulations so I do not know the feeling." Steel explained as his health-stat had caught up again. He did not have to check to know that his health stat was increasing, mostly due to his airsickness.

"It is way better to fly a spacecraft, especially if it is flight capable in the atmosphere. You get more freedom of movement. While aircraft are more rigid in their design." Her mother explained.

Steel sighed and shook his head. He was missing his garage. He had completely finished the speeder bike prototype, he just had to get approval for a road test. He even finished all the engineering work he was assigned. Next up was mecha maintenance for the mercenaries.

It had only been a few weeks but they were having plenty of fun. The station was far more interesting and populated than he expected. After some initial scrap-ups with the underworld they had even made headway. Enough that they were handed some heavily wanted criminals with military bounties as a favor to avoid certain areas.

—---------------------

Nila sighed as she sat on the human bridge amongst a number of corpses. It was the crew of the human ship, most of them she believed were commanders from their shiny regalia. The humans liked to display elevated statuses with shiny and colorful metals.

Well at least this New Hexarian Republic did. Too bad they were far weaker than those in the Vexical Empire. She missed her chosen mate, she wanted to fight him again. Just remembering their short bout was enough to make her excited and… disappointed.

There was a shrill sound as her helmet piece notified her of an incoming transmission. She pulled a small device from her hip and held it up before activating it. Her friend, the High Priestess appeared, frowning with a disappointed look. She usually has the same look nowadays.

"Nila… I have been informed you boarded a human ship on your own… again." The High Priestess pointed out with a disappointed sigh. "I get you are bored because I won't let you go after your desired mate. But you do understand the reason at least?"

There was a clicking noise as Nila cursed in the Accer native tongue. "Yes your majesty, you are using the Vexical Empire as bait for our enemies. Since they will see it as a political triumph, unknowing that we are already considering an alliance simply because of their foot soldiers' strength and their unusual space battle tactics."

"Yes, Nila. But why are you-" Their talk was interrupted as the door to the bridge opened and Nila went invisible in response.

What walked in was a group of humans fully armored. Well… not to the standard of the Vexical Empire but it was decent enough to at least be considered armor. They used their lights to search the bridge while one of them walked toward the hologram of the high priestess.

They spoke in one of the more common human tongues. "Someone is still here. Intel suggested that their higher ranking members used holographic communicators."

"But sir there is no one-" The soldier did not get a chance to finish his sentence as Nila moved quickly around the room. With a single swing of her sword the man was beheaded.

She quickly raised the revolver in her other hand and fired. The bullet caused another of the soldier's heads to explode. Covering two of them in blood and causing them to panic as Nila rippled into existence for only a moment before she dashed away. A moment later the area was plastered with bolts of electrical energy and burning as the soldiers fired. Their green bolts scorched the wall.

As she moved she brought the sword in at another arc, cutting another soldier in half. Then once again as she bisected a soldier diagonally. The last three, two of which were covered and blinded by blood, were now firing erratically. No point in trying to avoid them, she walked up and fired another shot when she lined up the two blood covered soldiers and fired.

Both of their heads exploded and while the last one, the commander panicked as she disabled her invisibility walking up to the man as he raised his weapon. Before he had a chance to fire his weapon, Nila flicked her wrist and cut the man's hands off.

He began screaming in pain but Nila ignored him and looked over at the High Priestess who was watching. "What were we talking about?"

"Nila, stop playing with the humans. Your objective is to conquer half of the New Hexarian Republic. I want it completed before the Sima trigger their rebellion." The call cut out a second later and Nila clicked her tongue in annoyance.

—------------------

"Who did you send to kill the human?" Char asked the Tacole council member, he never bothered to learn any Tacole's name. They were all beneath him.

"My son." The Tacole nodded, "he has built up a military history. He also lusts over that Accer Imperial Guard, so he seeks to gain her favor by killing the human."

"Good, as soon as we get word that he is attacking the place where the human is, we will commit our other allied commanders to attacking the Vexical Empire. Then we will have gained the political advantage over the Accer and Mar'talic." Char confidently answered.

"Should we have our people rise up at the same time?"

"Yes, it will be a bit early but it will prevent the High Priestess from interfering in the conquest. I will take care of the assassination. Just make certain you kill that human and bring back his corpse as proof. We will need it to convince the council of our superiority." Char stalked away after talking, he needed to make preparations.

—--------------------

Salem sighed as she stretched her arms. She had just finished her daily workout and was going to head to the cafeteria. It had become her norm since the academy days. Now the routine helped her think.

Her squad was currently stationed in the Rena System which borders next to the Crystoph Federation. She was aboard the Exigency for Honor, a Valkyrie-Class spacecraft which meant it was lighter on hangers and onboard attack craft but it was quicker and built more for ship-to-ship battles. Her particular ship had only two Ospreys aboard for the four squads. The rest of the crew were either pilots or ship crew.

Her squad was called the Amazons, an all-female squad of soldiers. It was one of those traditional units that had special qualifications. They had fought both the Crystoph Federation and the Victorium.

None of her squad had perished during the initial battle. But many of her crew had died during the one time they were boarded by the Victorium. Thanks to her talent she was able to locate the enemy before they could kill her or her squad. The federation on the other hand was as easy to fight as the bugs.

"Cadet Wintry," a sergeant raised their voice as she walked past. She recognized him as the leader of another squad. "There is an open communication for you in private room number four. Someone wanted to arrange a private talk with you." His voice was suggestive, he was one of the more moronic people who believed the Amazons were being trained to spread their legs. He was also a count's son, so it was no surprise.

"Understood sir." Salem answered, saluting for only a moment before she briskly walked to the private room. She could hear the man snickering as she passed by.

She quickly arrived at the private room and walked into the room. Inside was a single podium with a blinking button. She walked up and clicked it once the door closed behind her. The room made another sound as it sealed and the full body hologram of a hooded figure appeared.

"Hello Cadet Wintry," The figure began. "You can call me Shepard, I am a Census Agent. How do you feel about the state of the military? Do you feel it is unfair or corrupt? You can be honest with me, it is merely a routine questionnaire."

Salem raised an eyebrow at recognizing the census agent as an undercover Union member. She will recognize he was at least knowledgeable about her abilities because he made certain to arrange a call instead of an in meeting where she could read his mind. She would play along for now.

"I feel that the military is for the most part not corrupted. But there are a few who clearly use their position for their own benefit, most of which are nobility or descended from nobility." Salem answered honestly, her ship had more nobility than most. She figured it was because it was a 'safe' posting or at least that is what she had heard. Ironically her entire squad consisted of non-nobles.

"How about in other parts of the empire are you dissatisfied with any portion? Like any nobles you encountered on your recent visit to the Arceus Station? I hear the Rena System which is under Archduke Arceus has particular issues with tyranny and abuse of power." The 'Census Agent' asked as he pulled out a tablet to take notes.

So the Union really was aiming for rebellion using the nobility as a reason. Which is contrary to the Imperial Guard she talked to last time. He was clearly a noble, she knew because she looked him up.

"Yes, for the most part the nobility uses status and power to pressure people. A baron actually attempted the same with another member of my squad into sex, fortunately that is one of the few things non-nobles will fight against no matter what. It does appear that the Archduke on the other hand has no such fears, I heard rumors that he pressured several women into sex and other activities before. Even rape and coverups are supposedly in his wheelhouse of tricks." Salem answered with some intelligence she gathered while on Arceus Station.

"Hmmm… it seems like you have an issue with the nobility as a whole. Would you like to help resolve the issue? There are like-minded people out there." Shepard responded by tapping the datapad.

"Yes, how can I help?" Salem responded. She thought they would be far more different with their recruiting approach. It would be far easier if they were all as slimy as that imperial guard.