Jake was in a dilemma over what to do, The Atlas suggested a few ways they could try and leave however all had an element of risk and Jake could not take that chance if it meant something happening to his loved ones.
"Jake here." Grace took out a folded page and handed it to him. "What's this?" Jake asked as he opened and examined the paper.
"Clarence was in charge of the security on Naru, which meant he had special privileges. In the event of an attack or an emergency, VIPs are given codes which will override or allow them to escape the planet unharmed. These codes essentially force the terminal to turn a blind eye to ships carrying it.
In the case of a terrorist or enemy takeover, the code is sent directly to the mainframe, bypassing any alerts or operators in charge of the port." Grace explained the codes to Jake.
(With this, the defences will turn blind to our ship and we'll be able to leave, however, we will still be visible to other ships and independent scanners as well as manually operated weapons. Still, it's our best chance of survival.)
Without a second thought, Jake inputted the code into the ship's panel, sending a message to the operator.
He worried if the port would pick it up, however, nothing happened. He sighed in relief before switching on the engines onboard.
"Buckle up everyone, we might have some turbulence." Jake turned and spoke to the others onboard who put on their harnesses.
"Where are we going, Jake?" It was Aria who voiced her question as Jake smiled and looked at her.
"We're leaving the system, and then refueling at the next before heading to GOE territory. We'll be safe there." Jake spoke to Aria who calmed down as she understood the plan.
"Ship, activate all defensive Weapons and set energy priorities to the engines and shields. Although transporters were common, they still had a decent shield and strong armour for landings.
'ORDERS CONFIRMED CAPTAIN, ACTIVATING DEFENSIVE WEAPONS AND PRIORITISING SHIP ENGINE AND ENERGY SHIELDS' The ship's computer sounded as the engines primed.
(Jake, I've plotted a route for least visibility. Follow it and we'll be out of the system soon) The Atlas spoke as information rushed to Jake's mind, the route calculated made sense as Jake inputted them as the ship took off.
The ship took off fast heading at an angle to avoid being seen by people below. Since the ship was still inside the artificial atmosphere and was still in the moon's gravitational pull, the ship could not get its maximum speed.
Main Bridge of the Surovikin- NCSF TANGO Class Corvette:
"Sir, the squads we sent to the Avalon residence picked up traces of a ship departure a few hundred metres away from their position. We believe they may have escaped." A junior officer reported to a middle-aged man with a short white beard sitting in the captain's chair.
The man's expression was calm and collected, his chin resting on his hand seemingly bored. "And what of the others?" The man asked the junior officer.
"Of the two squads we sent to pick up the Main target, one had locked down the mine while the other was sent in to apprehend them. However, a large explosion occurred deep in the tunnels and we lost contact with Team 1.
We've sent two additional teams to assess the situation and are waiting on reports as the main elevator shaft was damaged greatly." The young officer answered nervously before waiting for the man's response.
"Headquarters will cover it up, and what of the Winters'?" He asked curiously, a smirk on his face.
The junior officer hesitated before speaking up "We have not heard back from them, your orders were to operate in complete radio silence in case of information leaking out."
"What did you say? We sent our two best squads ahead of time so we could deal with the other two targets without worry. Why did you not try contacting them?!" The captain shouted in anger, the junior officer was frightened, and taking a few steps back.
"My apologies captain, I will send another team now." The young officer quickly replied.
"They're dead already, still send a recovery team for the bodies." The captain spoke with a solemn expression.
"Orders understood captain." The young officer saluted before departing the bridge.
"Hah" The captain slumped in his chair and sighed 'Just what the hell do headquarters want from these people'.
(Jake we're about to leave the artificial atmosphere, we'll see whether the defenses target us or not.)
'Guess there's one way to find out' Jake spoke to the Atlas, the transporter finally about to breach the restricted airspace.
Jake saw the nervousness in everyone's eyes but pushed forward. Grace although trusted her husband, was still afraid for her daughter and herself closing her eyes the moment they breached.
Ten seconds passed, then a minute, Grace finally mustered up the courage and opened her eyes. Nothing, the transporter was leaving the moon and no alarms nor radar was going off.
She looked over at Jake, who was smiling, "It's okay Aunt Grace, the starport is repeatedly trying to hail us but I'm ignoring it, they must be confused as to why we're not getting blown up in the sky."
His words calmed Grace's heart as she looked at her daughter, still deeply affected by her father's situation, sighing inside, she knew she had a mountain of problems to deal with but her daughter would always be her priority.
Jake had already explained the situation to his mother, who had joined the other children to ease their nerves as well.
(Jake we're about to enable supercruise, this might be the last time you see Naru in a while...)
Jake knew what the Atlas meant and turned to look at the moon, which became his home for the last time.
He thought about the sacrifices of his father, Uncle Clarence and his home, although he would never accept it, the memories he made with his family would still be there which made him feel worse than he thought I would be.
But Jake knew with the Atlas, the picture he found in that ship and the ChronoScribe, his life had already changed forever and could not dwell on these thoughts now. He will have many more things to do to protect his family, so he turned his head straight before speaking, "Engage Super Cruise."
The ship's thrusters let out a loud whine, before the transporter zoomed ahead, flinging past Serena B in seconds as they made their way to the hyperplane on the other side of the system.
Although they journeyed to Naru, the Avalon family were not used to frequent space travel with most of Jake's family feeling queasy, however, Jake had the Atlas, nullifying any unpleasant experiences.
In less than 20 minutes, they had made their way to the hyper lane, guarded by a few GOE Heavy Cruisers and half a dozen destroyers.
The GOE heavily invested in all their borders, leaving smaller tactical groups to protect against piracy, smuggling and any other illegal activities, while in a war they would serve as early warning responders, holding their own until their main fleets which sat at shipyards or large planets could be deployed to them.
'VESSEL TL294G YOU ARE UNDERGOING A SCAN, PLEASE WAIT UNTIL SCAN IS COMPLETED BEFORE ENTERING HYPERLANE'
An automated voice sounded in the ship as they were scanned before being allowed to pass through.
As the scans were completed the transporter made its way to the dedicated Hyper Lane, Jake saw Thousands of vessels moving in and out, the lane being much larger than Port Gideon, serving essentially as a sort of port for the entire system, even the space station present looked impressive, the Heavy Cruisers intimidating to say the least.
(We will need to refuel soon, however, we'll do that when we crossover to the next system.)
'I agree Atlas, it's too risky for us to take a break right now.'
Jake's siblings as well as Lyra quietly watched the ships pass by. "Mom, Aunt Grace, we will refuel when we pass through, however, we won't rest till we get to Iona so if you want to rest you should do it now, the lane will take an hour or two to pass through." Jake spoke, he could see the drowsiness on the women's faces.
Grace was the first to speak "No I'm fine Jake, there should be someone awake to sit with you." Grace didn't want her mind to wander if she ended up sleeping but Elizabeth already knew what she was thinking.
She put her hand on Grace's shoulder "You are a brave woman Grace, but you need to rest, your daughter needs you right now and Aria will take care of Iris, have a rest, please." Elizabeth spoke to Grace, Grace smiled before muttering "Thank you Elizabeth, I will."
She rose from her seat and hugged her daughter, speaking to her as Lyra snuggled up with her, Grace also had small talk with Aria and Iris and soon enough all were sleeping as they travelled through the hyper lane.
"I'm proud of you Jake." Those words from his mother were enough as The Atlas also released Jake's emotions, he hugged her tightly as he wept in her arms, Elizabeth smiled and patted his back, happy her son was releasing his emotions.