From the bridge and through a massive armored glass window, I watched a world die.
Molten comets streaked down from the void, glowing red hot as they seared through the atmosphere to bombard the surface of the planet below. Mushroom clouds billowed upward, blooming and covering the world in thick, gray smoke. The orbital impacts were so enormous that they caused entire tectonic shifts, cracking the mantle open. The dying planet was bleeding out, red-hot magma bubbling from ruptured veins. From up here, it looked as if the whole world was on fire, bathed in extreme heat and pummeled by titanic blows.
But even as the murderous fleet pummeled the beleaguered planet, they were being slaughtered in return. Lights blinked across consoles, automated AIs displaying vectors and trajectories across holographic screens and running countless simulations. Torpedoes flooded the void, piercing armored hulls and detonating deep within alien-looking ships that resembled colossal crocodilians, complete with sharp tails at the aft. Laser batteries spat out blinking rays to intercept the projectiles, but there were so many that they got past the defensive screens of ruby fore to slam into the guts of mortally wounded ships.
Lances of blinding light stabbed out, illuminating the blackness of vacuum and linking ships in a deathly embrace, leaving molten craters across metallic surfaces. Plasma cannons regurgitated massive streams of superheated matter across vast distances, gutting reptilian ships that were busily occupied with murdering the world below. The enemy was not without teeth, though – literally. The rearguard was now desperately turning about now, launching fangs.
No, not fangs. Torpedoes, but unlike the streamlined figures of the projectiles launched from the ship I was on, as well as its brother ships in what was presumably the same fleet, the torpedoes of the crocodilian ships resembled teeth. Magma lances arced out, volcanic beams fiercer and more incandescent than the laser volleys from the assaulting fleet, but shorter in range. Not that it mattered. The enemy fleet was dying, punished for their genocidal bombardment.
However, vengeance was hollow. Infernos flared from the planet below, and to my amazement, I saw hundreds, maybe thousands of gleaming pods being launched from the dying world. Refugees? They differed in shapes and sizes, a variety of what appeared to be organisms fleeing a ravaged habitat.
Propelled in all directions, they disappeared into the void. I didn't know why, but I felt like I had to find them. Each and every one of them.
A warning signal drew my attention to one of the consoles. Turning my head, I saw that something had just appeared on our radar. Reinforcements for the mauled reptilian fleet?
Scanning through the viewport, I caught sight of a moon drifting toward the two dueling fleets. No, not a moon. It was a satellite, yes, but an artificial one, spherical in shape and massive. Like the city, it was composed totally out of metal, with what looked like crevices and coiling cables spread across its smooth surface.
"That's no moon," I muttered under my breath. "It's a space station!"
The moon…ahem, space station was massive, dwarfing even the kilometers-long ships that had gathered in the skies of the cremated planet. It was clearly artificial, yet defied all sense of scale. There was no way anyone could construct such an enormous satellite.
Now that I thought about it, this wasn't the first time I was having this…dream. Yeah, this was a dream, wasn't it? It had to be. It felt so real, so…lucid that I almost thought I was awake, but as my mind struggled to process the silent void war unfolding across the transparent screen in front, I realized that this wasn't the first time I was witnessing such a vast scale of planetary destruction and the death of countless ships. And the spherical space station too. I wasn't talking about the famous science fiction franchise whose sequel trilogy was ruined by the supergiant company whose mascot is a mouse.
"…it's not time yet…it's still too early. Don't look for us yet."
I raised an eyebrow. The voice was faint, and I strained to hear it, but I was sure someone had spoken out. It had to be someone. The only alternative was that I was going mad from my solitary presence in the bridge of a clearly empty ship.
"Where are you?"
"I'm here."
I blinked and raised my head once more. Was the voice coming from the space station? And it sounded so different…a lot deeper. More like an adult man's now. And very familiar. Where had I heard that voice before?
"Eh?"
The colossal space station was slowing turning around now, and its other side sported a face. A face I knew very well. He was grinning before his mouth opened and spoke again.
"Time to wake up, Tian Xing!"
And I woke up. Sitting up with a gasp, my eyes flew wide open and I fumbled around, trying to grab my glasses. The Ian Douglas book I was reading last night fell off my blanket and onto the floor. Standing over my bed was my dad, chuckling as he watched me struggle to put my glasses on.
"Come on now, son. If you don't wake up, you'll be late for school."
"Huh? Oh, right."
"I know you've been studying hard for Kao Gao, but it'll all be for naught if you miss class."
"R…right. I'm awake, I'm awake. Give me a second."
I shut my eyes, still trying to squeeze the drowsiness out of them for the moment. Coughing, I shook my head and stretched myself before reluctantly hopping out of bed and picking up my novel.
Dad nodded in satisfaction before leaving my room. I glanced at the other bed and saw that my younger brother, Tian Yang, was already awake. After putting my science fiction novel on my desk and washing up, I joined my family at the dining table for a quick breakfast. Mom had already brewed some coffee, dad was seated and eating, and Tian Yang had already finished his toast.
"Why are you always so fast?" I asked, my eyes wide. Tian Yang rolled his eyes as he dropped his plate into the sink.
"Why are you always so slow?"
Ouch. I had no counter to that.
"Now, now." Dad waved a hand. "It's fine to do things at your pace. As long as you aren't late for school."
"You have about thirty minutes left," mom reminded me. I nodded, grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster and began spreading butter over it. after placing cheese and bacon atop the slice, I munched on it.
"If you eat as fast as Tian Yang, it'll be fine if you wake up later, but you're so slow." Mom sighed, watching me. "And you're supposed to be the older brother."
"Sorry."
"As long as he makes it to school in time, it's fine. You know he's been studying hard for Kao Gao. I'm confident Tian Xing will make it to P University."
"Can't I go to the national university in Country Xing instead?"
"You can if you pass the exams there and get a scholarship." Dad smirked. "The Li family might not be rich, but we'll always support you."
"I'll do my best." Even though I was supposed to be at the prime of my youth at 18, the third year of my high school was spent studying for entrance exams for university. I had a couple of universities in mind, but I should focus on actually passing my exams first or my dreams would be shattered.
Speaking of dreams…
"Help me…"
That voice…it sounded familiar somewhat. Like I had heard it somewhere before too. Not my dad, not my mom, not my brother, but…
…oh, right.
As I slowly chewed my toast and swallowed it with a gulp of milk, I heard another voice. This time, it wasn't from the depths of my dream, but judging from my parents' lack of reaction, it was something only I could hear. A voice from somewhere in my mind. The same one who told me not to look for "them."
"Countdown to training session: 24 minutes 58 seconds."
"Ah, crap! I'm going to be late!"
"Huh? There should still be some time left." Dad stared at me, puzzled. I shook my head sheepishly.
"Um, no, I'm just doing some preschool activities before classes."
He frowned in disapproval. "You should focus on the Gao Kao. Don't get distracted by anything else. It's only a few months till the exams. Once you've passed the final stretch, you can do whatever you want."
"It's not that," I assured him hastily. "I'm just going for a run. Some exercise. Even if I'm studying for exams, it helps to stay healthy, right? Keeping fit improves concentration and allows me to study better."
"Fair enough," dad said, though he looked unconvinced. "But what brought about this change?"
"Yeah," mom agreed, looking suspicious. "You were never the sporty type before. In the past, you usually stay at home and spend all your time either reading or playing games. Why are you suddenly interested in exercising and keeping fit all of a sudden?"
"I hit a block when studying one day, and suddenly found out that my concentration improved after a good workout. And isn't reading a good hobby? It helps to expand my knowledge. Also, the games I play are strategy games, so they actually help with creative thinking."
"Oh? Really." Mom cocked her head to the side, but dad snorted.
"You read all those weird science fiction military novels that have nothing to do with your studies. Don't try to bluff us."
"I'm a literature student, and science fiction is considered a valid genre in serious academic study, okay?"
"Whatever you say, son." Dad rolled his eyes. "Pass the Gao Kao first, and you can study whatever you want. But stop reading those science fiction stories, stop playing games and focus on the exams. Just for these few months, all right? Once you pass the exams, you're free to do whatever you want, whether it's games or reading novels."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do my best."
My parents still seemed skeptical, but whatever. It wasn't my job to persuade them the merits of exercise and the rewards of strategy games. As long as I delivered the results, they wouldn't give me a hard time. Of course, that was assuming I was able to provide the results.
"Don't think too much about it and please focus on the training regimen for now, Commander. I will guarantee you the results."
That voice again. Almost mechanical…almost robotic. Monotonous with a slight feminine touch. My parents didn't seem to notice at all. They hadn't for the last six months I had been hearing it. Since the first time I had that dream.
I wondered if I was going mad. Whatever the case, I was going to finish my breakfast quickly and do whatever the voice told me to do just to shut it up.
*
Honestly, I wasn't that late for school. By all accounts, I was actually very early, arriving around 7am and way before classes or even morning assembly started.
There was a reason for it.
The voice.
"Run 5km around the school track, then we will proceed with close combat practice." The voice appeared to speak directly into my mind and I winced. When it first started instructing me half a year ago, I was only asked to run 2.5km, but the distance slowly increased.
At least the voice wasn't unreasonable. My invisible instructor knew about physical conditioning. She (I assumed she was female) was strict but didn't give impossible tasks. She pushed me to my limits, but didn't break me.
"Huff…huff…"
After 5km, I was ordered to adopt several stances. I wasn't sure what martial arts they were, but then again, I wasn't experienced in martial arts. Perhaps my dad might have an idea, but they didn't seem like karate or whatever techniques I was used to seeing in movies.
Then again, films weren't exactly a good reference for identifying what martial art the Voice was teaching me.
After stances, which turned into punches and kicks, the voice then told me to practice swinging. I had to pick up a slender branch and swing it, and despite feeling like a fool, I went through with it. I didn't want the Voice nagging at me.
"What the hell is that nerd doing?"
"Is he trying to practice kendo…with a tree branch?"
"Lame."
I winced when I heard my fellow students mock me from a distance. By now, it was almost 8am. I had reached the end of my training session, and more and more of my schoolmates were flooding into school, a few rushing in to make it in time for morning assembly.
"Li Tian Xing! What are you doing?"
I heard a familiar giggle and paused in my stance to glance at the owner of the voice. A beautiful girl approached me, her shoulder length hair fluttering and her lovely features bright with a smile.
Huang Xiang Jun. The girl I had a crush on, and the vice-president of the student council. Not just me, but a lot of guys in my school were in love with her. I rarely saw her because we weren't in the same class, but we had several interactions when I helped out the student council with major school events before.
"Just practicing."
"Oh? Interesting. I didn't know you have an interest in kendo."
"Kendo? Oh…yeah." I glanced at the wooden stick in my hand, feeling a little stupid. "Yeah, I was reading a manhua and I thought it would be cool."
"Heh…" Huang Xiang Jun laughed, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. She gave me a thumb's up. "Keep up the good work! I think you look really cool!"
"R…really?" I felt a little embarrassed. C'mon, being told that you look cool from a girl you had a crush on…anyone would be over the moon. "Thanks."
"But don't take too long! Morning assembly is going to start soon, and you can't be late for that!"
She whirled around and gave me a wave. I watched her, dazed, and then shook myself back to reality when the Voice reminded me that I wasn't done.
"Please complete your practice. You still have fifteen swings remaining."
"Fine, fine. I'll do it, okay?"
I quickly finished the last few repetitions before heading for the showers to wash up before assembly. As I made my way to the room behind the gymnasium, though, I was suddenly sidetracked by a commotion in the courtyard.
"What the?"
Ever the curious person, I skidded to a stop and turned to watch the scene unfolding in the space between the assembly square and school garden. Apparently, a trio of students were cornering a cowering classmate, their expressions thunderous and filled with the promise of violence.
Stifling a sigh, I hurried forward to break the fight up before anyone could get hurt.