The day of the departure finally arrived and the long awaited freedom was approaching.
That morning they went to activate the sequence to overload the reactor and turn off the safety features.
The countdown started and to be sure that nobody could stop it Simon removed the console from the reactor.
Now they had 20 hours to get out of there before it went boom.
They entered their ships and started the preflight check.
It took over an hour to finish it all but finally they were ready.
They chose the morning for launch because there were less dumpster ships on that day and none of them came down in the morning.
To get this pattern they spent two months analyzing the incoming ships and now it paid off as there was no ship anywhere close to the planet.
Some ships were visible on long range sensors entering the system but it would take hours for them to get to the planet.
When they all confirmed all systems green,the Phenix was the first to launch and it took to the air with a roar of its engines.
The Dragon was next in line and it lifted off,less than five minutes after the Phenix.
The Basilisk was the last to leave the ground so Simon watched as his companions got into space and held position in orbit waiting for him.
Only when he was sure that they both made it he also initiated the launch sequence and with a slight vibration his ship went into the air,moved its bow up and used its engines power to go to the stars.
When the Basilisk finally reached the orbit,Simon did a pressure check and the systems check just to be sure that everything was in order.
-Basilisk this is Fenix all systems are a go for the next phase the same for the Dragon what's your status?
Mikael asked using the coms.
-My status is green across the board fifteen minutes til the phase 2.
Simon answered.
-Copy that over and out.
They had to go around the planet to get to the best position for breaking orbit and going into an FTL.
In the meantime Simon dropped the probes that would contact them via subspace to send the images and data about what was happening on the ground and if someone was going after them.
When their task was done they were programmed to do a reentry and burn themselves up.
The trio wasn't taking any chances of someone finding out about their departure.
The time went fast and they broke the orbit at full burn in the direction of the nearest border.
They needed twenty minutes to get out into the clear and jump away.
It was a nervous wait especially after just escaping the planet and they didn't want to mess up anything.
Finally the sensor array sent the clear for jump message and a moment later all three of them went into FTL jump and disappeared into the vastness of space.
They could finally breathe a sigh of relief,they have done it and so far everything went according to plan.
The ten hours were long but they finally reached their destination but there was a surprise waiting for them in the system.
As soon as they jumped into the normal space their sensors detected a ship in the system.
A few seconds later they were hailed with voice only no video.
-This is captain Verix from the Zendari patrol ship Derxius.
You are trespassing on the Zendari territory, leave immediately.
Simon asked the others to remain silent and he answered.
-This is Colonel O'Neill from the Tauri system and I apologize for the intrusion but this system is marked as unclaimed on the maps we just received from the federation and we hoped to refuel here,will that be a problem?
-Colonel O'Neill I see no problem with you refueling in this system but I need confirmation that you won't stake a claim to this system.
Verix answered with a much calmer voice.
-I assure you, Captain, that we don't want this system just some time to refuel my ships and we will be on our way.
-Then I give you permission to refuel under the Zendari authority.
-Thank you captain.
Simon said and the connection ended.
They scanned the system and there was a buildup of helium 3 on the moon of the fourth planet.
After informing the Zendari captain of their find they were permitted to collect the fuel.
They got to work and started filling their tanks with the help of specially designed drones.
They got the signal from the probes they left behind and according to what they saw no one had discovered their disappearance yet or no one cared.
Twenty minutes later the reactor went critical and exploded with the force of a nuclear warhead.
Everything in a 5 kilometer radius was annihilated and the shock wave destroyed everything within over 40 kilometer radius.
They saw that one of the dumpster ships got hit by the shock wave and was flown like a tossed toy and ended up crash landing on the planet.
-Kid,did you just set off a nuke?
Mikael asked in shock over the coms.
-It sure looks like it.
Simon answered.
-Is this something your people can do?
Steuner asked in shock and horror.
-We have weapons that can do the same thing on our planet.
But we all have similar power at our disposal in our weapon systems.
If you Fired an MAC directly to the planet, you would have a similar effect.
Simon explained.
And his explanation shocked his companions as they never expected that the weapons on their ships could have such devastating power if used on a planet.
-That's why i always told you to fire MAC's when there is nothing behind your target or when there is an enemy behind the target.
I don't want to destroy a city by accident.
They both listened and were even more afraid of the power they now possessed.
-Why do we need so much fire power?
Mikael asked, finally understanding just how much fire power he had.
-We need the power to have a chance against anyone who would attack us and for your information our enemies will have the same firepower or even more.
So you have to get used to heaving the power to destroy a small country in a matter of minutes at your fingertips.
Like the wise man said:With great power comes great responsibility.