The Spider Queen

It was another typical day on this mysterious planet as the red sun shone high above in the sky and illuminated an endless sea of sand dunes.

A group of warriors possessing various outfits were currently lazily laying down on the sand or trying to use the shade behind large rocks for shelter.

These warriors were clearly not part of a unified group as they came from different species and the armour and weapons, they possessed varied wildly.

Some wore little more than fur rags and held primitive weapons such as spears that were made from a glowing metal that gleamed under the sunlight.

Others were clad in more modern battle suits with plasma rifles attached securely to their hips.

Harsh argumentative voices broke the peaceful atmosphere of the desert as the mercenaries bragged loudly to one another.

"By the All Father! I really hate this fucking planet."

"It was only a few weeks ago that an entire swarm of pesky little shits tried to eat me and my squad!"

"Fortunately, it was thanks to my bravery and valor in battle…. and my natural tremendous skill in fighting that I managed to survive!"

"So… err… where is the rest of your team?"

"They all died of course!"

"It was a real shame… there was this one chick with the biggest pair of tentacles… god… you should have seen what she could do…"

The sounds of laughter filled the air as the mercenaries joked and told stories about what they had experienced on this dangerous planet.

Sophie sat down on a nearby rock while casually listening in to the conversation.

This was one of the rare times that she was extremely grateful that Lily was unable to understand the Unovan language.

Otherwise, the innocent little girl would have overheard tale after tale of the sexual exploits that happened between the different squad members during the last few weeks.

This really wasn't anything too surprising.

Working as a mercenary was inherently a risky profession so many chose to live openly and freely as if each day was their last.

Perhaps this was even more the case for these poor and desperate warriors travelling to the frontier region to fight a losing war.

The Sun's Glory had promised in their recruitment that the government would offer rich rewards for any who bravely chose to stand and fight but that was a load of bullshit.

Giving the foolish men and women willing to act as cannon fodder a promise of endless wealth was an easy offer to make.

Especially considering that the loss of galaxies and resources to the Earth Federation would cause the value of the currency to plummet.

Lily squirmed around uncomfortably in her arms, so Sophie shifted her body slightly to give the little girl some more room.

The pair had attracted some unwelcome attention when they arrived just a few hours earlier, but the dangerous aura that Sophie displayed did a good job in scaring away any unwelcome flies.

The killing intent hidden behind Sophie's seemingly calm gaze was enough to send a chill down the spine of even the most battle-hardened mercenary.

Still, it was impossible to prevent the curious glances from flickering over every once in awhile, so Lily was once again wearing a long robe and a facial mask to hide her human features.

The silvery-white hoverbike had performed even better than Sophie had expected so the pair were able to get to the gathering point early in the morning.

Now the only thing she could do now was wait.

Judging by the number of mercenaries here… it seemed that other squads had also encountered life threatening situations.

Sophie took a quick sweep and mentally counted the number of warriors scattered around the gathering point.

Damn… only about forty percent of the mercenaries had survived.

That wasn't to say that there couldn't be any stragglers arriving a bit later, but it was unlikely that this number would even reach more than half of the initial amount.

The mercenaries laughed and joked without care but some of the quieter ones were mournfully tending to their injuries.

Missing arms, horns, ears, fins, wings….

Sophie even saw a plant-like creature with its entire lower body completely sliced off and leaking a purple fluid from the remains.

It was being held in the arms of another mercenary but was in a great deal of pain based on the contorted expression on its face.

Sophie's eyes widened as she saw the plant-like mercenary break free from its companion's grasp and grab the plasma rifle on her hip.

Bang!

There was a brief moment of silence as the corpse of the creature fell to the ground motionless.

From the moment that the creature had reacted strangely, Sophie had already closed Lily's eyes and prepared to move into action.

It was just that she never expected that the creature's true goal was itself….

The female warrior who just saw her companion kill itself, did not react in a heartbroken manner but rather a cold and calculating smile flashed across her face.

Ahh… so she didn't save it out of a sense of kindness.

Did she want to drive the creature to the point of desperation and despair?

Sophie didn't know the answer to that question and simply watched indifferently just like the rest of the mercenaries.

The conversations soon resumed as if nothing had happened.

Sophie no longer took any chances and turned Lily's body around so that the little girl was facing her chest.

Sophie had learnt just how brutal and unforgiving the universe really was even before her journey to planet Calypso with Cleo.

Laws were simply decided by who had the biggest fist and life was a cheap commodity easily bought or lost.

A significant reason why Sophie cultivated so diligently was to protect herself in a world where it was impossible to truly live when you were weak.

Power and strength went hand in hand.

Sophie had no doubt that it was only due to her father's cultivation skill and swordsmanship that he had managed to secure and protect his territories from other greedy and ambitious nobles.

Especially considering how crazy the situation must be now that the emperor had gone mad.

The last memory Sophie had of that fateful day was the teleportation circle glowing with power and then the room shifting into darkness, so she had no idea what had happened next.

But the high nobles would definitely not take too kindly to their heirs being sent to unknown locations.

Maybe there was already a civil war happening.

These were all concerns that Sophie had kept in the back of her mind but at this point no matter what the internal state of the Federation was…

She wanted to go back home.

Time crawled along as the sun gradually lowered as the hours passed.

There were a few more fights and other mercenaries reached the gathering points in various states of health but nothing particularly interesting happened.

The day slowly turned to night as the red sun sank closer and closer to the horizon.

Soon, the high temperature was replaced by a cold chill that made goosebumps appear on Sophie's arms.

Bleep! Bleep!

A sudden ringing noise came from the tablets and a holographic projection appeared simultaneously on all the devices with a clear message.

[Stay Clear Of The Landing Zone]

A dark shadow covered the ground as an enormous spaceship slowly descended from the atmosphere.

Sophie followed the rest of the mercenaries towards a safe distance away and watched eagerly as the shuttle landed smoothly.

Clearly the spacecraft had undergone some repairs by the mechanics onboard the vessel as two additional plasma cannons were now mounted on the left and right wings.

This was a vessel made entirely for combat from its sleek narrow design that was perfect for ducking and weaving through heavy fire to the multiple barrier generators located on key areas of the ship's exterior.

"Please enter the spacecraft in an orderly fashion," a dark whisper echoed in the minds of the mercenaries.

A hissing noise could be heard as a hole opened up in the underside of the vessel and a metalloid bridge was lowered to the ground.

Sophie could spot two pale-skinned crewmembers wearing purple robes with the emblem of a sun waiting patiently.

"Finally, we can leave this fucking shithole!" came an excited yell from the crowd.

Sophie chuckled softly because honestly….

She couldn't agree more.