Corpo Age - Chapter 183: All Aboard (Patreon)

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Our team split off into several escape pods and shot straight out of Nova Tech’s facility. Each pod had almost a dozen of us when it was meant to only carry six. The trip was short, so it wasn’t too bad, but it didn’t change the fact of how cramped it was.

Once we shot out from the Nova Tech facility, I faced the man currently in charge.

“So commander, do you—”

“It’s platoon leader, or you can just call me Loo,” the commander said.

“Okay, Loo. Do you think I’ll be able to talk to your employer once we get back?”

He gave me a look before shaking his head.

“Not my department. I don’t know anything about that.”

I continued asking tasteful questions to learn more about these so-called allies of mine, to no avail. Loo was tight-lipped and refused to answer anything unrelated to his mission. The only time he spoke more than a few words was when I asked about his weapons. Even then, I could tell he held himself back.

With the conversation providing no useful information, I turned to Thorne instead.

“Did you hear anything from Titus or anyone else about what happens next? Since he acted, I assume he’s coming back to keep Nova Tech in check?”

“I think they mentioned something like that. I didn’t bother asking too much as long as they were willing to dispatch people to come get you. Otherwise, your dumb plan to help randomly help those test subjects would probably get you shipped off elsewhere.”

“It wouldn’t be a big deal. I could always just sneak out again if they did. Those guys had some serious miscommunication and didn’t check for my cybernetics at all. They thought their advanced scans were all they needed when dealing with an upstart street rat like me.”

“Yes, leave it up to chance when we were in the perfect position to meticulously plan things out.”

“...You’re right in that regard. I thought I had to act to help those people out and also force Nova Tech to show their hand. Even though I did get to see their trump card, which were warships. I had to sacrifice many lives of innocent people to do so.”

Now that things had calmed down, it didn’t escape from my mind that my plan had likely gotten many people killed. Even though Thorne and his helpers came to the rescue, it wouldn’t be surprising to have casualties just from the opening barrage those test subjects endured.

Even now, they told me they were still fighting on their ships. It wasn’t realistic to expect no casualties.

As we made our way back onto their ship, I pondered the things that had happened. Ways I could improve my plan, things I had missed. 

Reviewing and identifying causes and effects could help me in the future. Experiences were just as valuable, if not more so compared to the experience points my system provided.

Like that, we soon reached their massive warship. The images of the ship outside made me feel like I was on a small raft coming up to an aircraft carrier. 

Our escape pod still had enough fuel to maneuver around, so we did just that. Loo and his men accurately put our escape pod’s path right up to their hangar. It was just like the one on base, where we could peer into it. Only the shimmering blue field acted as a window between the interior and the vacuum of space.

“Command says our pods aren’t allowed onboard. Get ready to dock with one of our transports coming out.”

Despite their warning, I didn’t have an extra spacesuit or something, so I could only blankly sit there. I enviously glanced over at Thorne and Andrew, who both sported my company’s power armor.

“...Sir, did you want to use my power armor?” Andrew perceptively deciphered my gaze.

“It’s fine. There’s no room here for us to really change. Anyway, it’s rare to see you away from Peng. Did Thorne here force the mission on you or something?”

“No sir,” he saluted while remaining seated. “We couldn’t bring too many people, and I thought he wouldn’t be suited to this mission that required more finesse than usual.”

“I see. Well, thanks for coming.”

We couldn’t converse further as Loo’s men were moving around in the cramped space, preparing to transfer over to their ship. We watched on and stayed out of the way. Soon, the hatch opened, and after a short jump over; we boarded their shuttle. 

We were literally right next to their hangar, so we arrived in no time. I was a little caught off guard when the shift from microgravity to gravity didn’t happen. I expected it to be the same as the hangar in Nova Tech’s base, but it seemed I was expecting too much. It did seem wasteful to install artificial gravity generators on spaceships. I didn’t even know how much those costs, so I couldn’t complain.

So far, only the base and the Ceres Station had artificial gravity. The ships I had been on never did.

As soon as we disembarked, a squad of security officers awaited us. Loo floated over and greeted their commanding officer.

“Chief Officer Jones, we have successfully carried out the mission with minimal losses. Requesting permission for the boys to take the day off.”

“Granted. You can hand in your report anytime before we arrive at Aegis. Good job, Platoon Leader. You and your men may take your leave. We’ll take over from here.”

Loo offered a salute and quickly left, leaving me and my employees alone with the chief officer.

“Rollo Halls, I presume?”

“That’s right. Nice to meet you, Chief Officer Jones,” I offered a handshake, which he reciprocated.

“I am not your officer. You can just call me Jones. Anyway, the battle is still ongoing, so we’ll have to keep this short. The captain wants to see you. Please follow me to the bridge.”

He turned around without waiting for my response and we quickly found his guards surrounding us. We exited the hangar and followed the man down the long corridors. I couldn’t say I was confident in my zero-g maneuvering skills, but I at least had some experience in it.

Thankfully, the corridors had these handles that pulled you along, as if you were on a conveyor belt. We quickly floated across the hull. After passing by half a dozen security checkpoints, we finally made it to the bridge.

It wasn’t as spacious as I had thought. Only a dozen crew members were there, sitting on their terminals. These were the people controlling the ship. There was one chair facing away from me that was in an elevated position. It oversaw the rest of the people in the room, so it was easy to guess it was the captain’s seat.

My guess was verified when the large metal chair turned to us. A middle-aged woman with light-brown hair smiled kindly at us. Her gentle gesture failed to hide her aura of authority.

“It is good to see you unharmed, Rollo Halls. I am Captain Diaz. As much as I would like to chat with you, we’re still in the middle of combat. Our conversion will have to wait until we get out of this area. For now, please take a seat beside me. A certain personage may want to talk to you after this is over.”

Right, my guardian angel. Let’s hope he’s nice.

I nodded and moved over to the chair she gestured toward. It was below hers, and likely meant for the second-in-command.

Thorne and Andrew took up position beside me, and we observed as the crew continued to bark out various reports.

“Team Theta is requesting med vac! They say the enemy are holing up in their bridge, and setting off hidden explosives everywhere.”

“Team Epsilon is requesting for reinforcements. The enemy boarding party is using the civilians as cover, and they don’t have the numbers to overwhelm them without harming the non-combatants.”

“Heat signature from the enemy base remains consistent, but we’re still within range of their guns. We will lose weapons lock in thirty seconds as we turn around.”

“Fire in ten! Destroy all enemy armaments!” the captain ordered.

Watching this was fascinating. I didn’t have a naval background and was a complete beginner. I had ambitions to expand out into space one day, and I would need ships of my own in order to do so. Otherwise, I’d be tied down to Aegis. There were so many untapped resources out in space, and it would be foolish to ignore them.

“You learn anything from them?” I whispered over to Thorne.

“Yeah. I learned naval command was not my thing.”

“...Well, it’d be more surprising if it were.”

“What are you trying to say…”

“Nevermind. Let’s—”

Before I could finish my sentence, an explosion suddenly rocked the ship. Both Thorne and Andrew went down on one knee despite being in their power armor. I was grateful I was seated, or I would’ve been thrown against the hull.

“Report!” Captain Diaz shouted.

Several seconds went by as her men scrambled around on their terminal to gather information. Then one of them responded with a shaky voice.

“Captain! Enemy boarders detected! They somehow managed to breach our hull and are currently running amok!”

“...Stealth ships. Have all security personnel on the ship mobilized and close off the relevant security doors. We’re on security protocol Red.”

An alarm loudly rang out, following the captain’s order. I began hearing the loud mechanical noise behind me, so I turned to see what it was. It turned out to be a set of giant metal bulkheads closing, isolating the bridge from the rest of the ship.

However, before it could fully close, another explosion rang out. This time, it was shockingly close. It happened just outside those large metal gates. Its effect was immediate. The bulkheads slowed before it came to a total halt.

“Crew! Battle stations!”

I immediately exchanged glances with my employees. This wasn’t good seeing the staff officers take up arms. Thankfully, we had extra escorts who were watching over me, so we at least had some capable allies on our side.

Those reliable allies took the lead and rushed to set up a defensive position right at the half-closed bulkheads.

I didn’t dare to sit around nonchalantly, and quickly positioned myself behind Thorne’s power armor.

“You don’t suppose Nova Tech has elite spec ops that are better than our allies, right?”

“I’m not sure. I just know that our own special forces are already deployed on the various enemy ships. Platoon Leader Loo’s team is the only other one remaining, but they’re not here right now. Prepare yourself.”

I let out a sigh at the thought of what was to come. A professional boarding party that managed to escape detection, going up against a bunch of staff officers that normally gave out commands. Even with how powerful my allies appeared to be, it was hard to have unwavering confidence in them.

That was why I texted my employees to prepare to join the battle. Our only advantage was stealth, so we had to be prepared to make use of it.

“You don’t suppose you brought my gear with you, did you?”

“No, you’ll have to make do with what you have,” he replied.

I could tell he was happy my lack of equipment meant I would be forced to take a backseat here. He was right, but I refuse to be reactive. I wanted to be proactive in these situations.

I quickly deployed my Nyes to get ahold of the situation. We first needed information before we could plan. Our winning conditions heavily relied on enemy composition and our allies’ position. If the ship’s elite security teams were on their way, we only needed to hold them off. Otherwise, we’d have to get creative…