The blinking dim red light was all the source of lightning there was. The alarm was blaring loudly. Despite the discipline the crew of the mighty warship had, panic was felt in their attitude, smelt in the air as fear, seen in their posture.
Death was present but unseen. The corpses in those sections where radiation was already too deadly or fire were consuming people alive, or that air vented all life, gates had been shut.
The bridge, however, was eerily silent, save for the urging alarm. Sparks erupted here and there; cables exploded and were torn away. Only the captain and another officer remained there, looking in the void, their face, serious as statues of stones.
It has come to an end.
Yes, it has.
They have stopped firing.
They probably think we lost navigation when they saw the first escape pod eject.
The unseen officer frowned,
Any risk of capture?
Very low.
The officer sighed in relief, smiled.
Extended a hand to the captain. They shook hand, they smiled, a sad smile, filled with emotions.
Stood at attention. Salute. Salute returned.
Captain.
Lieutenant commander.
Captain, it has been a pleasure to serve with you.
Lieutenant commander, without your talent, the revolution would never have been propelled toward victory so fast. You have my thanks.
The lieutenant commander nodded, interrupting him from any more speech,
Captain if you could I know it is not my place to say this. Please, dont take this as an insult. But I strongly wish for you to abandon this vessel with your men.
The captain shook his head
Direct hit! We have lost the starboard engine!
The captain jumped from his chair, Xing never saw anyone moving that fast. But he admitted it, he, was surprised.
What happened? Who shot on us!?
Unknown! Damages are heavy, estimated causalities, 35! We have lost contact with engineering!
The captain sped toward the view port, looked at the starboard, and saw to his dismay, immense smoking debris effectively being shred away from his vessel. What sort of firepower was that
Helm, skyward! We will retreat for the ti
The ship rocked violently, the captain nearly fell down, but Xing rose up to help him. Sparks erupted from the fragile electronic equipments, screen dimmed and came back online.
Direct hit again!!! Massive hull breach close to the nuclear warhead tubes! Sir, all our starboard nuclear weapons have been rendered useless!
What!? Where did the hit came from!!
From below us, sir!
The main screen flickered, showing the image; an immense canon pointed toward them.
A planetary gauss canon!
How did they know of their position!
Wo si le yi hou wo hai xu yao ni bang zhu wo men de she huei zhu yi de zhun due (When my death shall come I will need you to help our Coalition army)
Bie hai pa. Wo yi zhi hue zai ni hou bian ban ni de. Bie wan ji. (Dont be afraid. I shall always be by your side. Dont forget.)
But Yue didnt want him to go. She couldnt stand to lose him
Bu nib u xu dei gen wo yi qi lai! (no you must come with me!)
Xing smiled calmly, and sat down on the captain chair. Pushed a button, the manual commands unlocked.
Im sorry Yue. Someone must do this last task. Comrade captain, please do this last task for me
The captain nodded, and gently, but firmly escorted a crying Yue Fei out of the bridge, toward the last escape pod
Weve known me as Xing von Branstein Zoldark.
Born of Chinese mother, Rheinland father. Created from a forbidden relation.
The loyal servant of my Fatherland, Rheinland.
The proud servant of my new Motherland, JiangXi.
I am lieutenant commander Xing Ke Si.
Tonight, I join the stars, the thousand constellations of our ancestors final nest.
Farewell.
Xing drew the sword out of its sheath, and admired its quality. Despite thousand of years of existence, the regeneration process it underwent kept the blade in a pristine condition.
He smiled, as he kept the handle next to his heart. My ancestors. Here I come.
He kicked in the afterburner.
Zhong hua reng ming, wuan sue, wuan wuan sue!
--
NOO!!
A blinding flash.
Everyone covered their eyes, as the view ports of the cruiser were automatically shielded, heavy plates of metals covering them.
But through the external camera, they saw everything.
A super sonic boom, ravaging the surface of the planet, a nuclear mushroom like theyve never seen, but in the movies The immensity of the disaster
N-98? Isnt that the libertonian anti matter research complex? Yue asked, somewhat surprised.
Yes. Weve found its location. Xing answered, smiling calmly. A hint of pride could be seen in his eyes however, something unusual for the man.
You are joking right? Yue said, fully knowing it was serious. N-98! The legendary antimatter research center where Liberty apparently developed the newest power source for every of their weapon systems
Amazing this is incredible!
Xing nodded, and walked around, seemingly excited.
Take a guess where it is.
Yue thought for a moment;
We combed all their possible location. It is highly improbable they hid the facility on a planet. Way too risked, would there be an accident, it would be the Texas incident number two. They cant afford that in time of tension with Rheinland.
The senior lieutenant commander nodded, pleased at her thinking process.
This leaves Alaska, which we havent explored very much. But I have my doubts here too. Theres too high a chance of detection by the Order, or simple destruction by the nomads.
She thought for a few seconds
But we know Liberty has very long arms. So independent border world.
Xing nodded, smiling.
The facility needs immense place, obviously. They need immense source of power. Building a space station using solar panel would be reckless, meaning a planet. This leaves, Curaco, and Atka.
Atka is a largely political controversy. With Rheinland, Im not sure theyd dear to play such a dangerous game. But at a same time, Curaco is completely madness. The thousands of tourists going by there would notice something was wrong if the navy build anything around. It would bring suspicion.
She shook her head.
But, maybe hiding their complex on a place no one would think possible, was exactly the plan
Xing stopped her, smiling, proud of her.
Atka. It is Atka.
--
Xing nodded calmly.
But this is we cant just blow it up! All the energy problems on the PARTISAN line prototypes, would immediately be fixed with such an immense power core!
Yue browsed through her pile of paper, displayed graphics, reports, made her best effort to convince the older lieutenant commander. But it was of no use.
The risks at being taken are too high. I cant risk losing a commando squad on this one.
Xing sighed,
Me too, I really wish to recuperate these plans for the revolution, Yue. But, sometime, risks are just too high to be taken lightly. And leaving such a terrible technology in the hand of the liberty empire is out of question.
Tears were still running on her cheek as she held firmly to the security handle of the small pod. They couldnt see outside, but they felt the supersonic boom go off, hitting them and sending them off course.
The captain and herself were thrown everywhere in the cramped space like ping pong balls
She didnt knew for how long they flew through space, but eventually the automated engines of the escape pod made them land on a non-radiated land of the frozen planet
It took Yue a long time to gain consciousness. She noticed her helm was crackled, slightly, but still managed to hold.
The man in front of her, the captain that saved her life, wasnt so lucky. Blood stained his uniform.
She looked away from the dead, her heart heavy, not aware of anything around her, nothing but the sorrow she felt
--
The explosion was followed by various confusing act, with Rheinland suddenly popping up 3 warship battlegroups apparently ready all the time behind the Hamburg gate, while Liberty charged to the area with as much crafts they could possibly divert from their standard patrol. Smelling blood, Rogues kicked in with Xenos and even some Unioners basically, a free for all where Liberty and Rheinland tried their best (or so) not to shoot at their own people.
To add up on the three thousands dead down there, nearly a hundred up here.
And of course, the smugglers, and these unscrupulous people who took any occasion to sneak past their merchandise of evil
It happened one of them passed behind planet Atka, and got the signal of a crashed escape pod that didnt managed to make it in hyperspace. Damaged?
It happened the captain of the smuggling ship was curious, and liked a thrill here and there. And it happened, a life form was aboard!
She didnt realise the pod being tractored in or being thrown in a cargo haul until someone decided to open the seal of the pod. She jumped in surprise, but didnt say a word.
Someone entered, pointing a menacing blaster at her. A very evil grin in his face.
She didnt know how to react. She was too shocked to be able to do anything, otherwise, the grin would have been a yell of horror as her knife was thrown in his throat.
But right now her body wouldnt move.
Well well come out of there, friend sounds quite cold a place to stay, huh? Cmon! Get out of here! the man said, gesturing with his blaster.
Yue obeyed, not that much fearing for her life than her brain incapable of deciding for herself at the moment.
She was pushed on the ground, an accomplice of the smuggler came to her and removed her helmet, cursed in surprise,
A girl! he said,
Kusarese! the other one answered, gleeful,
Ooh, thats a nice catch definitively! Alright Bob, scrap off whatever salvageable of the pod, and the suit of that dead guy in it. And the girl suit too, doesnt matter if she freezes a bit in the pen with the others.
His eyes turned to his prize, nowhere sexually aroused like that of his Bob henchman, but calculator and greedy. He had long given up on satisfying his loins, finding credits a much more pleasant companion
Alright, lets get these done! he said, as he lifted the canon of his blaster and bought it down violently.
And Yue felt intense pain in her head before passing out again.
![[Image: audrey03a.png]](http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/7610/audrey03a.png)