I woke up from my sleep completely alone. it seems that Nova had not returned from her mission at all last night. I knew that she had a very important mission to do; and I hope that she will return from her mission safely.
When I set up in the bed, I noticed that the room was quite messy because I had a few drinks last night before I went to bed in celebration of the peace that I had given our race with The Vordonians.
The first thing that I felt was a mild headache, but I knew that I still had to do my job today. Whatever task the House of Lupus had asked of my strike force team without complaining.
Since I was quite eager to begin the next mission, I quickly checked the refrigerator to see if Nova had left me anything to eat and the only thing that I saw that looked eatable at this moment was some cold pork.
I grabbed a plate from the cupboard to the left of the fridge and put the extra piece of cooked pork on it, and put it in the microwave to heat up for only two and a half minutes.
When the food was done, I ate it, and it tasted quite good as I took every bite of the meat. This reminded me of the first meal that Nova had made me after I saved her from Donivon the first day that we met.
Then I placed my plate and fork in the sink before leaving the house and heading towards the strike force building that was in the middle ring of town.
Right before I entered the building, I saw in a group of people that were wearing purely black body armor. carrying a blue colored box in haste from the building.
After they left and I saw an opening that allowed me to enter the building so that I could find out what my next mission assignment was going to be. Before I made it to the stairs, I heard Raven call my name.
"Danny, there you are; I was wondering how long it was going to take you to get here. we have already been given our mission, and I will help explain the details of it to you on the way to the unique form of transportation that we will be using for the mission." she said to me as she tapped me on the right shoulder at the base of the stairs.
"So, did I miss the meeting or something?" I asked her as I started to follow her out of the building.
"Technically, yes, but no at the same time. we were given a special request from the head of the House of Lupus and by his son, and they said that they would explain all the details while we were on the journey." she said to me as we were walking down the main road.
"What is it exactly that you can tell me about the mission before we board this secondary form of transportation?" I asked her as I started to follow her.
"Well, I'm assuming that since you were late coming in, you saw the box that was being carried by a group of men that were wearing black armor?"
"Yes, I did is the thing that they were carrying part of our mission objective?"
"That is our mission objective. we are to guard it on transport to the world of Beltran. It is a world that is used for research mostly, but it is on the edge of our border with The Undead Council. That is why they thought that it would be important to hire a strike force team to guard the valuable item inside on his journey." she said as we entered a building that was behind the spaceport.
This building was very simply designed compared to the spaceport in front of it. the building only had two floors. When we made it inside, I noticed that there was only one form of transportation out of the building. despite the simplicity of the setup, it was guarded as if the ruler of House of Lupus was about to show up.
"We will need your identification for you to proceed any further please". the guard that had the most decorations on his armor said to Raven and I.
The other guards pointed their weapons towards us as if they were ready to fire so that we knew that they meant business.
After Raven and I both had shown them our identification information, they allowed us to pass through and apologize to us if they had done anything rude to us.
When I made my way past the guards, I saw that William, Trent, and Sid were waiting on us in front of the vehicle.
"Be careful with that box. the item it contains is worth more to us as a race than your life. " a man that was wearing merchant-like clothes said as the box was being carried onto the vehicle that we were going to be using to transport it.
This vehicle was quite simplistic and looked. it also did not have the official symbol of The Terran Collective or any strike force squad symbols on it. that told me that this vessel was most likely privately funded; or it was a vehicle that was going to be used to avoid drawing attention while in transit to the planet where the mission was supposed to end.
This vehicle was composed of four different compartments that were linked together, and each component had a pair of thrusters on each side with one at the front and one at the rear of it.
Also, instead of being made from the traditional material that was used on our ships, it was made of titanium and did not have energy shields around it.
"They definitely were trying to go the cheap route, weren't they. you would think that if this mineral is as valuable as they say it is that they would provide us with the best kind of ship for the job." I whispered to Raven so that the merchant wouldn't hear what I said since I thought that he would not approve of my opinions about the ship.
"I agree with you, Danny, but I bet they did it in order to draw less attention when traveling in space if you ask me." Raven whispered back to me as we finally made it to where everyone else from our team was standing.
"Since everything is now set up; and all of you are now here, I will need you to meet me inside the ship to discuss all the details of the mission." the leader of the men who were wearing black armor said to all of us shortly after Raven and I had arrived.
I followed the group into the ship and waited to hear the leader of the guard's instructions about our next mission.
He snapped his fingers, and the lights went dim to where I could barely see more than two feet in front of me.
After the room went dark, the leader of the guards pressed a button on the center terminal, and a Galaxy map showed up that field the entire room.
It was my first time taking a full look at the Galaxy map and it made me appreciate all the progress that our race had made in exploring and colonizing our section of this galaxy while we are at war.
"Now we will be taking the northeastern hyperspace lane to our destination. while it will make the journey take a bit longer, it is the safest route to the stopping point of our mission." he said as he began to move his hand along the pathway that we were to follow until he stopped at a world and then zoomed in to show where our journey was supposed to come to an end.
"I'm assuming that you know that this world is on the edge of the border that we share with The Undead Council. So, is that why we have been tasked with protecting the cargo?" Trent asked as he pointed at the border and how close our destination was to it on the map.
"Yes, that is why I requested a strike force that the leader of the House of Lupus trusted for this mission." he said to Trent.
"We will fulfill our mission objective at all costs. We live to serve The House of Lupus and whatever desires they may have for this galaxy." Trent said as he bowed to the leader of the guards.
After he bowed, I noticed that everyone else did the same so I quickly did as they did so that I would not be singled out for not following some apparent protocol as everyone even though I was not aware of such a regulation.
"Since there are five of us and five of you, why don't we pair up to ensure that our defense will be balanced throughout the ship." Trent said in a kind tone to the leader of the guards.
"Then I will go with this lady." one of the guards said as he took off his helmet and walked over to where Raven was standing.
This man was completely bald and had dark blue eyes. his appearance made him look middle-aged, but he was quite fit, I suppose, due to his training as a guard.
"Then if he is going to go with her, then let me have the man in the corner over there." the second one said as he pointed at William and chose not to remove his helmet.
"I guess that means that you are with me." I heard a female voice say as she walked over to me and removed her helmet.
As soon as she removed her helmet, I noticed that her hair was as black as the night sky, and it was tightly braided so that it would not go down beneath her shoulders. after I looked at her hair, I noticed that her eyes were also quite stunning they were a set of colors. her eyes occasionally changed from green to a bluish color depending on the lighting of the area that she was standing in.
After she took off her helmet, she offered her hand for me to shake, and so I did out of respect.
When we finished shaking hands, she began to walk towards the back part of the ship, and I followed her since we were both going to be guarding the same area of the ship on this mission.
The ship's interior looked a lot nicer than the exterior. it had white metal trimming at the base of it. the flooring was carpeted by a two-color design with the outside being colored black and the interior part of the carpet being colored white.
I made it through the automatic sliding door that led to the rear room where I was supposed to guard. when I made it to the room, I saw the female who was supposed to be guarding it with me sitting down relaxed as if she had not a single care in the world while this ship was moving.
"Don't we need to be vigilant and aware of the smallest sound or change in the environment around us on this mission?" I asked her seriously as I set down on the bench beside her.
"We are in human space, so you need to just relax and enjoy the ride. if we are aware once we finish warping and make it to our destination, then you will be fine. " she said to me as she started to slouch when the ship began to move.
As the ship began to move, I felt free once again as if we were not bound by the gravity of this world and that we could go anywhere if we wanted to.
"My name is Sarah; what is yours?" she asked me as she rested her helmet on the bench in between the two of us.
"My name is Danny." I told her with confidence as we began to make our way through the planet's atmosphere.
I waited until the ship had finally left the world and activated our warp drive before I rose from my seat and walked to the back of the vehicle.
At the end of the vehicle there was a balcony outside and the only thing that was protecting it from the vacuum of space and the factors of space travel was a purple-colored shield that was placed at both the front and the back of the ship.
I made my way to the balcony while I was lost in thought, the only thing that was crossing my mind was that I could not wait to see Nova again as well as my future daughter when I made it home from this mission.
Would this mission go without a hitch like the a few of them had, or would this be the one mission that would go wrong and someone would come back so gravely injured that it was beyond the abilities of my healing talents. the thought of failing this mission worried me as we were moving through the hyperspace lane at the speed of light.