S.P.E.C.T.O.R – [A Sci-fi space adventure with fantasy elements]

As Tephe flew overhead and Lorelie finished one song only to start another, the crowd below watched Spector Unit 6 streak across space.

Using its beam sabers to simultaneously slice up one or more enemy fighters or mechs before rotating around and spraying energy bolts from its shoulder-mounted Gatling gun at those further away, filling them with holes.

“He really is impressive, he’s defeating them all so easily,” Elemance remarked.

“Of course, did you expect anything different from the man I chose to be my husband?” Revi said proudly.

“Doesn’t he still have to accept your feelings?” Elemance asked in a teasing tone before turning serious and saying, “After you told me it was Adam who piloted the Black Knight, I originally thought his performance during the Siege of Fenix Nest was mostly down to his superior tech, since he came from two thousand years in the future.

And while that is partially true, that doesn’t account for the skill and expertise he is piloting the black knight with.

I think it’s safe to say that no mech has ever been able to move as fast as what the black knight is doing right now, yet he’s managing to control it and eliminate his enemies at such high speed.

One must understand that the faster something is, the harder it becomes to control.”

“He did have trouble controlling it just after the NDS activated,” Emma remarked.

“True, though he adapted very quickly, that’s not something just any mech pilot could do,” Elemance replied.

“Sounds like you’re becoming a fan,” Revi said in a teasing tone.

“I was already a fan of the black knight and its pilot, just like all other members of our race,” Elemance replied while turning to look at Adam, who still sat with his eyes closed while Maya sat atop his head, staring up at Tephe and the giant hologram.

“I can’t help but wonder once again what race was so advanced to even create all Adam’s tech, and why we haven’t heard of them,” Eri remarked.

“The universe is thought to be infinite after all, so it’s not all that far-fetched to think that there could be races out there that are more advanced than us,” Revi replied.

“It’s not like we’re going to drop off the edge of the universe if we keep going in one direction after all,” Elemance said with a smile.

“At one point in our history, we earthlings used to believe the Earth was flat and that we could fall over its edge,” Emma stated with a smile.

“For those races without a progenitor to teach them otherwise, that’s a common belief many of them reach early in their development,” Elemance remarked.

Suddenly, there was a roar from the crowd, causing the group of women to turn back to the projection, where they saw the cruiser-class ship being engulfed by the Imperial Down’s main cannon.

“The captain of the capital-class ship must be going ballistic. They brought fifteen ships to make sure they eliminated the Terran Princess and have so far lost eight of them,” Revi said smugly.

“Is the captain of the capital-class the one most likely in charge of their fleet then?” Emma asked curiously.

“Judging by how the ships seem to be coordinating with one another and are not just doing their own thing like pirates normally do,” Revi replied.

“Unless there is someone of admiral rank or higher in their fleet, the captain of the most advanced or largest ship is the one to normally take command,” Elemance explained.

“Assuming whatever organisation they’re fighting has admirals, fifteen ships is too small a number for one to be partaking,” Revi added.

“True,” Elemance said in agreement.

“Would somebody please explain to me what the fuck is going on?” The captain of the capital ship asked in rage as he bit into the inside of his cheek before continuing.

“We came here with enough ships to level a planet and yet we can’t even defeat two ships? One of which is only medium-class for fuck’s sake.

Not to mention the fact that we’ve already lost eight ships.”

“Sir, the Imperial Down is too well protected,” The commander replied before explaining. “We can’t keep track of that mech since it moves faster than our eyes can follow. By the time our weapons lock on, it’s no longer there and our mechs and fighters are simply no match for it.

As for the medium-class ship, our efforts are hindered by your orders to only capture it and not destroy it.”

“Are you suggesting this is my fault?” The captain asked in rage.

“No, sir, I’m simply pointing out that capturing a ship is more difficult than destroying it,” The commander replied as his eyes twitched before they forced themselves to continue in a calm tone.

“Both the mech’s and unmanned fighters’, as well as that ship’s attack power, far exceeded our expectations, which is how they were able to destroy our forces so quickly.

The ship is also being defended by those same unmanned fighters and that’s not to mention that strange weapon both the ship and mech used to tear a hole right through the hulls of two of our ships.”

“Fuck,” the captain cursed while rubbing his face and falling into thought for a few moments before asking, “If this keeps up, our chances of winning are going to vanish, aren’t they?”

“With all due respect, sir, our chances of winning vanished when that mech suddenly transformed,” The commander replied.

The captain turned to the sensor operator before asking, “What’s the status of the Imperial Down’s star and subspace drives?”

 “Both appear to still be offline,” The sensor operator replied.

“The destruction of the jump gate should have overloaded their subspace drive, and it will take them some time to fix it,” the commander added before continuing.

“As for the star drive, the Terran traitors obviously did their job as they were paid to do and should work to keep it offline until we board the ship.”

“Stupid Terran idiots, they actually believe we’re going to waste our time and risk our people’s lives by boarding the ship when we can do the same job just by destroying it?” The captain asked with a smirk.

“Well, credits blind people, Captain,” the commander replied before asking, “What are your orders?” 

“Pull our forces back,” the captain ordered, surprising the commander, who asked,

“Captain?”

The captain, however, ignored the commander’s question and turned to the weapons officer before ordering in a flat tone, “Prep a solar bomb.”

“Sir?” The weapons officer asked as he turned to the captain in shock.

“Captain, you can’t be serious?” The commander asked.

“Our primary objective is to kill Princess Tessa Terrana,” the captain began before continuing. “The Imperial Down’s FTL engines are offline while ours are still fully functional. We simply need to launch the solar bomb before escaping the system and let the resulting collapse of the sun eliminate the target.”

“Along with everything else in the system,” the sensor officer remarked.

“But what about capturing the Spector?” The commander asked.

“While it’s unfortunate, we’re going to have to let it be destroyed, or if by some miracle it does manage to escape, all the better, as we can just capture it in the future,” the captain replied.

“How will the higher-ups react upon learning that you authorised the use of a solar bomb?” The commander asked with a frown.

“They have no interest in this system. Why else do you think they ordered the operation to be enacted here instead of one of the other systems the Imperial Down passed through? This was always a contingency plan,” The Captain replied.

“You mean they’ve already authorised its deployment?” The commander asked.

“If we were unable to destroy the Imperial Down and kill the Terran Princess through conventional ship battle, I was authorised to use other means at my disposal,” The Captain replied.

“Understood, sir,” The commander and weapons officer replied before getting to work.

“Communications, inform the other ships of the plan and have them prepare to retreat.

Helm, bring the subspace drive online and prepare to jump into subspace as soon as the solar bomb is launched.

“Aye, captain,” the communications and helm officer replied.

“What’s the target, captain?” The weapons officer asked, although they already knew the answer and only asked it out of excitement at the thought of launching a solar system-level destruction weapon.

“The target is naturally this solar system’s sun,” The captain replied.