Chapter 13 : Templars on the move
While the rifters were trying to find a way to enter the flagship, I was busy examining the smaller ships all around the hangar.
Each of them had the size of human fighters jets, they didn't seem to have a cockpit or any cabins for someone to control them. We identified two kinds of ships beside the flagship : the first were interceptors designed for dogfighting and fast skirmish, they had the same triangular shape as the flagship and they were not longer than 15 meters, while the others were bigger, bulkier, and looked heavily armored for ships of their size. They were around 25 meters long, and from the specs we could identify, they were probably used for bombing, escort or transport purposes.
While I was gathering information, I heard Alice's voice in my head.
'Leader, I've found a way to enter the flagship.'
'Good, I'll join you soon.'
'Roger.'
Before checking what Alice found out, I was focused on a certain interceptor. Just under its reactors was a tiny ball, the size of a jewel, made of an exotic metal that both Gladia and I couldn't recognize.
The ball was sky blue and perfectly round. For some reason, I couldn't help but be absorbed in its beauty.
'It reminds me Earth… I don't have many memories remainings, but one scene I would never be able to forget is how my planet was beautiful seen from space. Covered with water as clear as its sky, with its continents so different yet so beautiful. From arid deserts, humid forests, cold tundra to fine sandy beaches...'
[I do miss my old world as well Jun…but now is not the time to feel sad, we have a lot of work waiting for us.]
'I know.'
Until now I've never felt a sense of longing to Earth, forgetting my previous life probably helped me to not feel bad about it. I decided to keep this little jewel as a means to remind me where I come from.
After keeping the jewel inside my black armor, I started walking to the place where Alice found an entrance to the flagship.
Once I arrived on-site, I was amazed to see my squad had already found a way to open it and they were all waiting for me before entering.
"Did you scout the inside ?"
"We didn't, but we did spread our consciousness to scan the ship and we didn't find any hostile presences."
"Alright, Jerome you come with me. The other, keep exploring the area. Alice, check out every buildings ruins to see if you can find something useful. Kat and Douglas, I want you to count the numbers of ships in the hangar, and make a list of all their specs."
Everyone nodded and started moving before I entered the flagship with Jerome.
The entrance was weird, it was a trap under the lower part of the ship hull to which you get transported. You just have to put yourself under the entrance and a strange force will attract you and make you fly vertically to the ship.
The first thing we did when we were inside was to activate our energy sword and be on guard. The ship was huge, Gladia previously calculated its size to be 1,600 meters long (5,200 ft).
We would need to spend a good amount of time to completely explore it.
"Jerome, let's move."
"Affirmative."
___
After a week passed, we finally had a full map of both the hangar and the flagship. In theory, the hangar is big enough to accommodate a whole squadron of these flagships. We called it flagship because of the impression it left us when we saw it for the first time, but in reality, it was probably a kind of destroyer or cruiser in the ancient beings' navy.
If a ship of this size is only in the middle tier of their navy, I can't imagine how big were their battleships and other capital ships. They would probably not pale out in comparison to the continent-sized Scylla mothership.
During this week, we discovered many important things.
First, the ship is in a perfect state and had hardly been used. All of its components were made in special kinds of materials that do not seem to age at all. This was probably the best news for us, it meant that if we could make this ship work and get it out of this hangar, we would be able to escape this planet.
Secondly, the flagship armament was extremely powerful. I have no idea of the beings those ancient guys were fighting for them to equip such powerful weapons on a middle-sized ship, but now I could understand, if this civilization went extinct it was probably because of those they were fighting.
In my mind, the most powerful and mysterious beings I met were the Scyllas, and yet I am almost sure that even they have no access to such powerful weapons, or else they wouldn't need to develop Void Rifters corps to fight in their stead.
Inside the flagship were thousands of battle-ready drones ready to be deployed, we counted 2500 of them.
Ranging from the simple reconnaissance drones which were small floating balls stuffed with sensors, means of transmission, detection, and electronic warfare, to heavy combat drones; quadruped metal drones, each 2m tall, possessing weapons still unknown to us but whose power Gladia has evaluated capable of destroying Jerome's black armor, the toughest of us, in a single shot.
There were also 500 organic clones resting in cryo capsules looking a lot like humans but without any special characteristics. They had longer limbs and they lacked human visage features such as eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. We called them 'Reapers' because of their frightening appearance.
Lastly, we found the command center of the ship and its core. Surprisingly, it was a huge assemblage of Netherite coupled with another material we don't know yet, which acted as an infinite power supplier. Gladia found a way to take control of both the flagship and all the automatons it commanded, from the battle drones to the automated fighters. However, it required her to link herself to the flagship core and she estimated that at least a year would be needed for the core to charge up enough power, ten months at the earliest.
The ancient civilization used intelligent AI, but for some reason, we didn't find any in the core or anywhere else in the hangar. It was weird to take so much effort preparing a fully armed flagship with its army of drones, clones, and interceptors ready for battle and not even adding an AI to the ship core or any other kind of defense mechanism.
What if the hangar was invaded by the swarmlings, and an intelligent being from the Hive took control of such huge firepower ?
We were once again lucky, I guess. We just have to wait for Gladia to link herself to the core, and for the core to charge up, to be able to control this ancient army.
I took out the blue jewel I found earlier and started to think about this situation. It made no sense to me.
Doesn't this look too good to be real ?
___
Meanwhile, on the planet of another system in the singularity border, a huge battle was taking place.
To slow down the Void Legions, the Scyllas sent thousands of specimens and low lethality vector rifters. While being rifters like their peers, they were expendable and so they were the perfect cannon fodder for the Scyllas.
Even if they were outnumbered by the void legions, the rifters all fought until their very last breath, no matter their race or species.
They received orders to kill as many enemies as possible, and that is what they do.
The mind control the Scyllas used to do on their newly abducted specimens is probably one of the most important pieces in their plan. They perfected it until the specimens forget everything and they are not able to contest the Scylla's orders.
Despite how they fought until the end, they can not beat the legions formed of Void natives, and they all ended up decimated in a few days only.
Watching the scene in the control room, Legatus couldn't help but feel anxious. They planned to use the low-quality rifters to delay the legions and give them enough time to solidify their defense in the mother system, but the Void Legions were advancing too swiftly, as if someone or something was guiding them through the singularity to avoid the trap the scyllas placed on their way.
At this rate, they might reach the mother system sooner than expected and the Scyllas aren't ready yet, unless they deploy their clone and join the fight themselves. This is supposed to be one of their last cards to play in a dire situation, they can't afford to use it now.
"Sir…we lost contact with the last low lethality corp we sent."
"Fasten the transfer of our ressources to the mother system, I need to inform our leader."
"As you wish."
Legatus teleported himself directly in his Leader hall and hurriedly said.
"My Lord...The situation is ciritical. Everything is going in a direction we never expected."
"How far from the mother system are the legions ?"
"Only three year-light, my lord."
"How did they advance so fast ?! We expected them in five years, and here they come with 2 years of advance !"
"I am sorry my Lord, but it seems that they have a way to get information from inside our ranks..."
"What do you mean, Legatus ? I hope for you to weight the words you are about to say."
"I do, my Lord. Unless they have access to a highly advanced technology able to detect our forces from much further than we can detect them, which is very unlikely, I estimated that the most probable is for them to have have an intel source in our ranks."
"Even if you are right, those kinds of information are only shared between us, even if a rifter would somehow bypass our mind control and be able to be a spy for the Void, he wouldn't be able to get this kind of intel.
Legatus, are you implying that one of our brothers betrayed us ?"
"No…I don't, my Lord. I am just concerned of how they can avoid our traps so easily, dispatch only the required numbers of troops to deal with the guerillas units we sent to them or even abandoning the planets we do not care about to focus our strategic strongholds we spend so much efforts to hide..."
"Hm..."
Primus One, like every time he needs to organize his thoughts, went closer to the giant black ball floating in the middle of his hall.
"We can not take the risk to fail our mother.
Legatus, it is time."
After hearing his leader's words, Legatus instantly understood what he meant and tried to change his mind.
"My Lord, please reconsider ! We still have time and we can find other options. If you decide to send the fleet to the Singularity with a Scyllas bataillon, we might get attacked in this dimension ! This could be what the ennemy is looking for !"
"Who said to send only a bataillon ?"
Legatus kept his silence, he couldn't believe what his leader was planning to do, and Primus continued explaining.
"Legatus, we are too close to the end of our research to delay it longer. We are too close to finally allowing our Revered Mother to cross dimensions and destroy the shackles who bound her for so long, we can not fail here against a few legions of vulgar heretics !
We are going to war, I want you to prepare all of our Templar clones.
We will show these barbarians the true might of the Scyllas, the loyal servants of the Revered Mother !"
The next day, dozen of Scyllas ships teleported to the singularity. Even if the scyllas themselves couldn't enter the singularity, long ago they invented a way to transfer their soul to what they call 'Templar clones', which are war clones made of both organic and non-organic materials.
They can not use the maximum of their power while in their clones and if their clones die, the soul inside would dissipate in the singularity ; the scyllas, almost invincible in their etheric form, are killable in their clones.
The Scyllas never intended to use their Templar clones and join the battle themselves, but they couldn't take the risk of letting these legions harm their Revered Mother, not when they are so close to their lifetime goal.
And so began the events that would forever change both universes, from both sides of the Singularity and the Void.
And so started what will be called The Last Invasions, tales which will still be told millenniums later.
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