The journey to the outpost we had located wasn’t long. After giving roughly a half hour for everyone to recover from the rather unusual phenomena I had a conversation with the Deus Ex, wondering why they did not mention that little side-effect. The answer I got back was… something I should have expected.

“It was not within our predictions that organics would have difficulty after experiencing the warp.” The commander of one of the vessels joining us spoke in a calm tone. “Apologies, but we were not aware that such displays of light would hinder your people.”

“It’s… okay.” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. It was still believable that they had yet to learn everything about us. No matter what, they have only been dealing with organic lifeforms for a few years, and most of that they have still been focusing on themselves.

“Very well. Now, perhaps we should discuss a battle strategy for when we arrive?” The commander suggested.

“I would like to do that. However, we aren’t quite sure what the full power of any of our vessels are. The best that I can offer is to attempt to use the new weapons to take out the assault ships, and then move on to the shield ships. Aside from that, we will need to assess the situation as it occurs.”

The Deus Ex commander pondered that for a moment, before nodding his head. “Very well. Judging by your ship’s previous capabilities, we should be entering scanning range of our destination within minutes.”

I gave a silent nod at that as the call abruptly ended. Our scanning systems were already top of the line, something that Celeste had pulled from future schematics, so they weren’t among the systems that had been upgraded while we were at Gerin. Of course, that also meant that they had not been improved, but they were still all that we would need.

And sure enough, it was only a few minutes later when the dog-eared beastman spoke up. “We are within range of long distance scans now.” After that, he hit a few buttons, waiting for a moment before delivering the report. “I’m detecting numerous large energy signatures in the vicinity of the planet. It is impossible to give an exact estimate at this time, but judging by the previous readings, there should be between three and seven enemy ships.”

“How long until you can get a detailed reading?” I asked, looking towards him.

“Fifteen more minutes, sir. But, by that time they will likely be able to detect us as well.” I nodded when I heard his report, turning and pressing a button to transmit my voice to the fleet.

We were still roughly a half hour away from our destination, so there was plenty of time for a warning. “We are approaching our target zone. In an estimated thirty minutes, we will begin the attack. It is advised for all non-combat personnel to seek a safe area.”

Well… safe area was fairly relative at this point. I mused to myself. If the ship explodes, there really won’t be anywhere safe but the escape pods, and those would be shot down before there was any hope of actually getting away. The safest place would simply be somewhere away from the exterior of the ship, where they wouldn’t have to worry about getting injured if the ship shook in the battle.

Leaning back in my chair, I took a deep breath to calm myself. This was going to be an important battle, but not the biggest that we would have to face. Judging from the preliminary scans, there was almost no way that this was their primary base of operations. Otherwise, there would be far more energy readings.

Instead, this was important for a different reason. This would be the first battle that we had using our new ship systems. No matter how many simulations or theories we made, however many strategies, it all meant nothing in the face of an actual combat test. Though… just to be safe. “Celeste, how long does it take to charge the warp cores and input the necessary coordinates?”

She looked at me curiously for a moment, before making a sound of understanding. “Ahh.. Well, to sum it up, no. You wouldn’t be able to use them for a hasty retreat if things turn bad. It takes at least thirty seconds to power the warp cores, after which they need to be used within one minute. Longer than that in the Deus Ex simulations, and the cores begin to degrade. As for the calculations needed, that depends on the distance, but they would generally take longer than the charging process, and would need to begin first so that there was time to enter the coordinates.”

I nodded my head a bit reluctantly at that news. I had been hoping that we could simply designate a safe point and warp away if things got bad. However, if it would take almost a full minute just to charge the core, that meant it would be impossible to use in the middle of a battle. After all, just a few seconds can be enough for a bad situation to spiral out of control.

With that out of the way, I simply waited patiently, tapping my foot impatiently while we approached the site. Think that’s a contradiction? Well, it’s the best you’re going to get! I was already started to feel annoyed by the long wait, but at least it wasn’t as long as it seemed.

“Sir, we have a more detailed image of the situation now. Shall I display it on the screen?” The dog-eared beastman spoke up suddenly, and I nodded quickly in response. Moments later, a holographic image appeared at the front of the bridge.

On the image, we could distinctly make out the form of a planet, though the details were a bit blurred. Likewise, around the planet, there were five vague white shapes. Judging by their characteristics, I assumed two to be shield ships, with the other three being assault ships. This configuration made the most sense, as well, since it allowed the two shield ships to accurately defend the assault ships in a fight. Finally, off behind the planet, I could vaguely make out a metallic ring hovering in space, likely the warp gate that the New Human Empire set up here.

“Are there any unusual energy readings, such as from the moon or the planet? Anything that would suggest a hidden surprise?” Although this base was a bit better defended than the first one we hit, I wasn’t sure if that was because it was an important location or if they had simply had more time to reinforce their bases.

If it was the former, than they might have set up a situation like the last place we hit, where they installed a station nearby to destroy the planet. Or, they might have simply placed a bomb within the core of the planet, or something like that. However, that all depended on how important this base was to them. If it was just a normal research center, than that would be best for us. Of course, the first research station we found had been hidden by a holographic field literally the size of a planet, so I wasn’t prepared to dismiss anything.

“I’m not picking up any unusual energy signals. Aside from the orbiting ships, there are simply negligible readings from the surface, likely to be whatever base they have set up at this location. Wait, hold on, there is something.” He said with a slightly surprised voice, hitting a few more keys before the image on the screen shifted.

This time, the image excluded the planet, and focused on the ring of metal around the planet. I thought that he was about to point out the obvious warp gate, but then the image zoomed in further, to the top of the gate. Just above it, there was another metallic shape, far smaller than a ship. “I am picking up energy readings and intermittent transmissions from this structure. From its design, my best guess is that it is a communications relay.”

That was… surprising. Typically, I would expect them to use the system communication for long distances. For there to be a structure relay, it could only mean one of two things. Either they had already perfected warp travel to the point of having transmissions capable of traveling such distances, or they had other bases within a short distance from this one.

“Okay, guys. We have a new secondary objective.” I said with a small grin on my face. “After we take out the assault ships, I want someone to secure the communications relay. With any luck, it will have either a black box, or even just coordinates for the areas it transmits to. Either way, it will help us narrow down more bases.”

After saying that, I got in touch with the Deus Ex. After the commander’s face appeared on the screen, I immediately asked. “Do your people have any way to interrupt the transmissions from that structure during the fight?” If they could jam the transmissions, they could prevent the relay from requesting aid or warning whatever other settlements were nearby.

However, the Deus Ex simply shook his head. “I am afraid that is not within our capabilities. After analyzing the available samples of technology that the enemy employs, it is highly likely that they utilize advanced forms of magic in this relay. We still do not fully grasp the possibilities behind such applications, so it is impossible for us to create a means of fully disabling the relay unless we have a deep scan to show us the required information. However, even for your ship, such a scan could only be achieved when in close proximity to the device.”

That was… unfortunate. “I see… Well, it was worth asking.”

Without the ability to jam their communications, there was only a few things that we could do. Turning to Celeste, I once again gave out instructions. “Celeste, I want you to stay behind and command the ship for the battle. I need you to make sure everything goes smoothly.” given her nature, she probably knew more about this ship and its abilities than I did, especially after these new upgrades.

She opened her mouth as if she was about to protest, but I didn’t give her the chance. “I’ll be going down with Sharon, Yin, and Yo once we get within range. While we are down there, you need to make sure to take out the enemy assault ships, disable the warp gate, and preferably retrieve the communications relay.”

None of these objectives were any less important than the others, so I could only leave this job to her. Celeste hesitated for a few moments, before nodding her head reluctantly. “Alright, John… I’ll do it. But, does that mean I get to sit in the chair?” A small, mischievous smile formed on her face as she asked that. She knew how much I liked this chair.

“...Fine. You can sit on the chair while I’m gone.” I said, shaking my head with a slight chuckle. “Keep the ship safe for me.” After saying that, I stood up, followed by the two women at my side. “We’ll be hitting the area soon, so we’ll go ahead and get in the clones.” No way in hell are we going down in our real bodies when there is the threat of the ships simply bombing the site from orbit.

Celeste nodded her head at that, clearing her throat and stepping up. I could hear her beginning to give out orders as we walked out of the bridge. On our way to the medbay, I went ahead and called Yo, letting her know the plan. She said that she would meet us there.

To my surprise, not only Yo, but even Yang was waiting for us when we arrived at the medbay. I looked at the bird girl with a complicated expression, knowing that I couldn’t take her with us even if she wanted to go. She had a crafting class, not a combat one, so she wasn’t really that suited for fighting. Even if she did manage to use her voice to turn a group of assassins into living meatballs.

She seemed to understand something from how I looked at her, and shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. “I don’t want to go with you, Master. I just want to see you all off.” As she spoke, she stepped up towards Yin, giving her a tight hug.

I could see Yin’s face soften at Yang’s show of affection. It really wasn’t normal for her to see us off like this, and for a moment I questioned it. However, a quick check of her with my senses told me that there was absolutely nothing strange about her, whether it was her aura, soul, or whatever. At most, she just appeared to be worried about us.

After Yin reached up and patted her on the back, I heard her speak in a quiet voice. “We’ll be back soon.” She said, reassuring her sister. Yang only nodded, stepping back before giving similar hugs to the rest of us.

“Master.” She called out to me before I could access my clone, stopping me after I sat down. When I looked at her curiously, she smiled slightly. “I’ll give you something good when you get back, so be safe.”

Pardon me while I go drag my mind out of the gutter. Even if she spoke some rather… suggestive words, her tone and expression did not hint at anything but a sincere gift. Most likely, she had crafted something good and wanted to show me. As such, I nodded my head with a smile. “Show me when I get back then.”

And thus, the dramatic moment was ruined after I got in my clone, only to sit up on the medical bed behind Yang. Coughing awkwardly, I stood up and made my way to the door, hearing Sharon laugh slightly behind me. “Well, we’ll be off then.”

After that, then we finally moved to the teleport bay, waiting for the ship to drop out of subspace. Of course, I didn’t feel like just sitting there and waiting. Celeste, mind sharing vision so I can see what’s going on until we leave?