The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xercpolisis)

This was perhaps one of the most beautiful planets that Sophie had ever seen. It was around three times the size of Earth with oceans that covered over fifty percent of its surface area.

The continents were filled with lush greenery, forests and bushes that were visible from space.

Two blue moons lazily rotated around the planet in addition to a smoky ring of dust particles created from micro-meteor collisions on the moons.

Planet Xercpolisis despite its perfect conditions for life was mainly used as a mining colony by certain financial groups.

It was the only source of a rare metal known as 'Ternieum'. This metal was only found deep within the planet's core and was mainly used to create expensive jewellery.

Currently there were over two hundred starships floating within a thousand-kilometer zone above the planet.

Sophie and her crew were one of the many mercenary ships ordered to the defense of this planet by the Unovan military.

There were a few military vessels mixed in the fleet but they were few and far between.

Soldiers assigned to this location had either offended the higher ups or were being punished for crimes.

Penshese had called this planet a 'death trap' for an important reason. There was no strategic value in defending it.

The metal extracted from the planet's inner core did not have any value save for its unique appearance and there were no important structures built on the planet's surface.

The only notable fact about Planet Xercpolisis was that it was directly in the path of the Federation's invasion.

Hence, the mercenaries that were sent here would mainly serve the purpose of sending out an early warning in case of an attack.

Their mission was to keep the invaders temporarily occupied while the rest of the main army relocated to a safer area.

Sophie had no plans to die gloriously for the Unovan army so she had ordered the two pilots to stealthily maneuver their starship to the back of the fleet.

Apparently she was not the only one with that idea but the unlucky crews that had gotten caught trying to get an easy position were immediately blown up by the military spacecraft vessels hidden in the fleet.

This warning had deterred many other crews with similar ideas but it would be impossible to say what would happen once the fighting begun.

Spatial warfare was extremely chaotic.

"Monitor the surroundings constantly and divert all power to the shields once we get any signs of the Federation," Sophie ordered in a calm tone.

"Our main goal is to survive for as long as possible and then leave the battlefield once the situation becomes unwinnable."

"It doesn't matter if we don't shoot down any enemy ships so just focus on evasion tactics."

Penshese and Lt. Shirren nodded firmly and begun to adjust certain buttons on their input units.

Sophie leaned back against the captain's chair and started to review all the information that she could remember.

Her true goal was to connect to the Earth Federation's virtual net but obviously things were not going smoothly on that front.

Sophie casually tilted her wrist communicator upwards and searched for any nearby signals only to once again be disappointed.

[No Network In Range]

Those familiar words flashed once again on the screen before Sophie turned the device off with a frustrated sigh.

It did make sense that the Imperial Army would not expand the range of the virtual net before their attack had even begun.

What else could she do? Sophie tried her best to think of a less dangerous plan but found no other possible option.

Sneaking pass the Imperial Army would be suicide since a foreign vessel would be most likely blown up on sight.

And reaching the Federation's army would only happen if their starship first escaped the spatial zone controlled by the Unovan forces undetected.

Sophie closed her eyes and sent out a series of messages to her mirror copies using the mental network that connected them together.

[When the fighting begins keep an eye on the two pilots to make sure that nothing goes wrong]

[I don't believe that they would be stupid enough to plot a mutiny while flying through an active battlefield so this is just a safeguard measure]

[One of you needs to stay with Lily in her room to make sure that she doesn't panic once the fighting starts]

Boom!

Sophie gripped the sides of the chair tightly as the starship spun out of control.

The bladed appendages on her back extended outwards and stabbed the floor in order to prevent her body from falling out of the chair.

"Arghh!" Penshese cried out as her slender body slammed against the control panel.

Lt. Shirren managed to stay in her seat but her already pale features seemed to whiten in fear.

She frantically begun to press a series of buttons until the starship gradually stabilised.

"What was that?" Sophie questioned after she took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Captain… captain… we have a problem," Penshese's voice trembled slightly. She inputted a series of commands and soon a holographic projection filled the room.

This projection displayed the ongoing situation outside the vessel and included additional information gathered by the starship's sensors.

Sophie's eyes widened in shock as several wormholes simultaneously manifested a few hundred kilometers away from the fleet.

Thousands of military spacecrafts with the Imperial Army's logo painted on the sides of their vessels poured out of the rifts.

The familiar design and models brought nothing but a feeling of despair to Sophie as she realised just how hazardous the situation had become.

Boom! Boom!

Without a moment of hesitation, heavy plasma fire rained down on the mercenary fleet that was caught unaware.

Boom! Boom!

Several spaceships were instantly blown to pieces as orbital cannons easily pierced through the weak defenses of their shields.

The intense heat from the blasts immediately disintegrated the corpses so that nothing was left but ash.

"Don't just hover in one spot!" Sophie roared as she saw both pilots freeze in fear.

"HIDE BEHIND THE CLOSEST SHIP!"

Sophie's angry voice pierced through the haze of fear that clouded the minds of the two pilots and allowed them to think clearly once more.

The starship swiftly hid behind a much larger spacecraft while secretly powering up the warp core in the engine room.

Sophie was prepared to jump to hyper space in order to retreat from the battlefield. The hybrid girl clenched her fist tightly before a sudden thought flashed across her mind.

The communicator!