The ship starts to roar as its main engines come online. The tram car we are in shakes a little as it makes its way toward the bridge. Stella giggles, enjoying the ride as the view over our head closes off and arrives at the final stop. As the tram comes to a stop, the doors open and Prince Dillon greets us on the other side. He smiles and kisses Stella gently on the cheek. They exchange a few words, then turn their attention to me. Dillon approaches and admires the rifle I now have mounted onto a magnetic strap on my back.
"I like it," he says.
Almost subconsciously, a smile grows a little. He spots it and nods his head before heading back to Stella.
"Come." He continues. "My sister waits for us."
He puts his arm around Stella and starts walking down the hall. I follow behind them. They start to joke a little. Stella pokes him in the side a little as Dillon tries to get away from her. He whispers something into her ear and her jaw drops to the ground. She laughs out loud along with Dillon before he quickly tries to calm her back down, struggling himself to do the same. We arrive at a door at the end covered by two guards. The window to my right opens out into the cloud and the top floors of several skyscrapers could be observed. I could even spot a family of five below us on the top floor. The family looked to be hanging out by a pool, the youngest child sat mesmerized by our starship. The doors open ahead and we enter the bridge.
It is massive, at least two stories tall. The entire bridge sat in a dome of a glass-like structure. There were no walls and everything was in open view. All of space can be viewed from all sides, even behind us. The only section blocked off is the back where the entrance and tram system sat. Judging by the location of where everything is, the bridge sits in the middle of the ship. The pilot's chairs sat toward the front but on the first floor. The captain's and co-captain's chairs sat on the first floor as well. The second floor is smaller than the first and stood further back. Anyone who stood in the front of the second floor could give off a sense of being in charge of the whole ship. Not to my surprise, there stood Cadence, sword in hand, glowing against the backlight and pointed at the ground. She looks around the ship, observing everyone who walks by before looking into the sky, checking the surroundings. You could see into space from up here. The stars peered through the atmosphere, showing their light through the glass below. Cadence spots us and waves for us. We walk up a flight of stairs in the center and stand alongside her.
"Cadence." Dillon says.
"Hello brother. Is everything ready?"
"The crews have been briefed and are waiting for your word."
"Very good. Are you sure you don't want to come?"
"I have things to take care of back home."
He turns to her and places both of his hands on her shoulders, then pulls her in and hugs her tightly.
"Be careful." He continues. "I don't want to lose you too."
"I will." She says.
She hugs him tightly and for a moment, they don't say anything. Finally he lets her go and walks toward me. He reaches out his hand to me.
"Keep her safe, ok?"
I grab his hand and shake it. It's really cold to the touch. He smiles as he lets go and walks away. Stella follows behind him but not before stopping next to me and giving me a hug.
"My offer still stands, Demi. I'll be here when you return."
"Thank you Stella."
She runs to Dillon who is already halfway down the stairs. I turn back to Cadence who is still facing the front of the ship. I walk up and stand next to her. For a moment she doesn't notice, or doesn't care, but she places her hand on my shoulder upon seeing me and nods.
"Welcome aboard, Demi. How are you liking the ship?"
"It's impressive."
"Like nothing you've ever seen before."
"Something like that."
Cadence observes the weapon on my back.
"Is that the AX-412?"
"Oh, yes."
"Good choice."
A man approaches us from behind. He sports a thick military suit. Black, like Cadence's. His skin is light and his face is clean shaven. He stands with confidence and looks at me for a moment, then smiles and keels before Cadence. I know this man. Where have I seen him before?
"Princess Cadence, the fleet awaits your call."
"Very good Maverick. Wait here Demi."
Cadence heads for the stairs. Maverick stands back on his feet and smiles at me again. He's from the "Rosa." What is he doing here?
"It's good to see you again, Demi." He says. "I am sorry about what happened to your Captain. I know you two were close."
"What brings you here?" I ask.
"Cadence asked me. I look forward to working together."
"But I am not commanding anything though."
"I know. I still do."
Cadence approaches from beneath the balcony and steps onto a platform below us. A voice plays as a holographic scan beams up and down her body. Several tracking points display across her body.
"New user detected. Immora, Cadence." it says.
Two huge blue lights beam up from below. Several faces appear on screen though I cannot make out who they are from here.
Cadence stands tall and speaks loud, projecting her voice for all to hear.
"I thank everyone for coming. I know that the circumstances for this gathering are not the best. The people have lost faith in me." She looks down into the floor, taking a deep breath and pausing for a moment before continuing. "I have lost faith in me…but no more. You know why we are here! Today we will make history! We will avenge what was taken from us. We will show them what Sulis is capable of!" She unsheaths her sword and jams it into the ground, standing against it like a cane, proud and tall. "I will show them what we are capable of. For our mother and father! Hail to the Empire!"
"Hail!" Everyone yells in unison.
"Take us upstairs!"
Everyone runs to their stations. The deep rumble of the engines began to rise. Suddenly I lose my footing as the ship tilts up and accelerates. The skyline pulls away from us and we rise out of the atmosphere in a matter of minutes. As the ship starts to slow down, Cadence turns to me and gestures from me to come downstairs. I head down the stairs and stand next to the platform. Cadence bends down and reaches her hand out to me.
"What are you doing down there? Come up here." She says.
I grab for her hand and she pulls me up to the platform. The voice plays again and the holographic scan beams up and down my body.
"New user detected. Nassa, Demi." It says.
What? The machine knew who I was. Cadence laughs at my surprised look as I turn to her.
"Surprise." She says.
"What is this?"
"Your chance. Show me what you can do, Captain Nassa."
Cadence exits the platform. The system scans me one last time then opens a set of displays in front of me. To my left were several displays of the nearby ships. It included frigates, fighter class ships, and personal cruisers. Each ship has to identify itself with the nearby planets and the information is getting relayed back to me. To my right were displays for the ship's internal systems.
Maverick approaches me and stands at attention, waiting for his next order. As I scan the rest of the room, the sentiment is the same. What is our next move? And I am to make it.
"Set a course for Ralia, 7 rings." I say.
"Prepare for jump, 7 rings." Maverick echoes.
Siren's blare across the bridge. The lights start to dim as a shade of red circles the room from left to right over and over again. The sound of organized chaos is all that is heard, accompanied only by the roar of the engines as they grow louder every second. The pilots in the front grab keys from the center and place them into the consoles in front of them. Cadence approaches from behind me and places a key into the socket below where I previously stood. The pilot counts down from three then they all turn at the same time. The rumble grows louder. Several pillars both in front and behind start to open up. A blue light emits from the top of each pillar and lightning bolts occasionally dash from pillar to pillar. They were in pairs of two and ran the entire length of the ship. The lightning grows stronger as time goes by.
Everyone at this point is either in their seat and strapped in or are preparing to be. I spot Cadence in a set of large chairs behind me. She waves for me to come over and sit. The rumble begins. Suddenly it's impossible to walk as I start losing balance and falling over. Eventually I make it to my seat and strap in. Seconds later, a beam of light is fired into the sky. The first distortion ring is formed, then multiplied, just like the Boseman. First 1, then 3, 5, and finally 7. The ship starts to shake violently now. Everyone grabs on to what they can as the countdown begins from the pilot.
"Entering jump space in five…four…three…two…one."