Beyond Light

Armed and Supplied.

After the airlock, the Beyond Light’s cargo bay was an ample area of 80km² wide filled with containers of all sizes, forklifts transporting materials from one side to another, workers, vigilance drones, and supervisors hurriedly moving from one side to another. It was a whole storage house for the biggest commercial mall.

“What’s all of this?” asked John. “Seems like we’ll be carrying too much weight with us.”

“These are mainly supplies, Commander,” responded Admiral Frost. “Your mission is going to be a long one, and you’ll be left out in space most likely without any sources of renewable materials. You’ll certainly want to keep with you as many supplies as possible.”

Mike whistled. They had surely made all logistic preparations. What surprised John the most was how big the ship was from inside. That cargo bay alone was the size of almost 5 soccer fields!

Although the Beyond Light was big from the outside and nothing impressive compared to other vessels of similar classes, what made her stand out was her width, which was twice as large as a regular frigate. Her height was also a curious characteristic: She was at least two times shorter than a standard frigate or a light cruiser.

They reached the end of the cargo bay after minutes of observing and bypassing the moving machinery in the area. A giant gate full of lights, valves, hydraulic pipes, and cables was at the end. One worker typed a series of codes on the panel at its side to open it for them. It began to spread.

“What’s on the other side, Admiral?” asked John.

“The hangars and the vehicle deposit,” responded William. “There is a whole arsenal of ground vehicles, light aircraft, combat drones, robosentries, and some others aboard.”

“Some are awesome,” commented Mike. “Wait ‘till you see the Paladin mechs. If I’m not riding one of those I’m not going!”

“I didn’t think we were going to need such arsenal for a special operation like this,” said John. “isn’t our mission exclusively a naval one?”

“Hawking-616a possesses various rocky bodies, John,” said William. “One of them, in particular, shows strong signs of habitability potential. If that’s the case, and the Eternity of Return is still under attack, then it’s likely that they’ll use that world as a temporary shelter. I’m sure LIBRA and the rest of the crew will put you more to date about the system.”

The gate finally opened. The other side was another wide field of at least 40km², divided into various sections. The first one had a row of two helipads on each side, with eight TT-22 Firefly choppers stationed on them. Various technicals and assistance drones strolled around.

At least six K0-v Tortoise tanks were on the right side of the next section, each one as wide as six meters and as tall as five. On the left side, four of the drivable superexoskeletons that Mike spoke stood straight, being six meters tall each.

The DEFENDER.v4 Potentiated Heavy Platform, or Paladin in short. Armed with rotatory kinetic cannons on each claw and a deployable missile pod in the back, the giant also possessed a fusion-powered version of the standard energy shields in normal infantry suits. It could also move relatively fast, reaching speeds of 60 km/h, be pressurized for extra-atmospheric operations, and had integrated thrusters that allowed it to leap up to 30 meters.

“Such beauties, aren’t they?” Mike looked at them in awe. “tell me you don’t want to get into one of them right now.”

“Each cost 753’000 solar units,” said Admiral Frost. “the equivalent of 19 Tortoise Tanks”

“It seems like the budget was not an obstacle for the project, despite how risky it’s gonna be,” said John.

“Well, son, if I told you more info about that I’d be violating the confidentiality code, but I’ll tell you that both union and federation are interested to discover more about what happened on the other side.”

They reached the last section, where various V99m’s —the military version of the V99— were being given maintenance by mini-drones. At the bottom of the deposit, the most eccentric vehicle aboard stood: the M1-SMV or ‘Hamsterball’ as commonly called.

Needless to say, the vehicle was a single platform of two cannon arms that used a ball made of six armored rings to move. It had full freedom to turn around in every direction on its axis, making it able of doing sudden turns in virtually every direction. John wondered what they would use it for; outside of scouting purposes, it was more of a gimmicky unit used against light aircraft.

A workshop surrounded by all kinds of mechanical parts was at the edge. Various workers came in and out, carrying pieces and tools. A tall, muscular figure wearing the green army uniform and a welding mask came out of it and approached.

“Be at ease,” said Mike. “Don’t be scared by the big guy."

The two-meters tall man's exposed, muscular shoulders and hands were all covered in grease. He put off his mask, and his whitish blonde hair was the same. Although he had the face of someone in his 50s, his physique was the one of a younger man. “Admiral Frost? Nice to you see here!” he made the salute in a casual way. “What are you doing in such a dirty place like here?”

“You see, showing around your new captain his new ship and crew," responded William. "Commander, this is Sargeant Major Derek Williams. On-Board Troops Coordinator, and Supply and Armory Chief.”

“So, you’re the commander everyone’s been talking about, huh?” Derek looked down and stretched his hand. John gripped it, and it got enveloped by his engulfing grip. “Nice to meet you, sonny. I’ve heard you’re a sharp one for tactics.”

“I do what I can,” replied John. “Nice to meet you too. I hope we make a good team.”

“You know something?” The man said, cleaning the sweat off his forehead. “I never thought I would say it, but for the first time in my military career, I’m eager to work with a Navy lad.”

John giggled and frowned. What was that supposed to mean? rivalries between both branches had not died a little bit for centuries. Teasings would not come unexpected, but he liked the man. He didn’t seem to be like other clowns of the Army he had to work with in the last months.

“Oh, c’mon, muscles,” mocked Mike. “you army guys just can’t let go your last four losses in the Military Games. Even Civic Security beat you!”

“Hey, that’s to be seen this year,” responded Derek. “we’re all gonna crush you so hard you won’t want to play again! You’ll all go crying back to your flying cans.”

John chuckled. He didn’t expect the man to be so playful in character. Although he was a non-commissioned officer, and John was his commanding officer from another branch, the man technically had a rank that took longer and harder to achieve than the rank of commander under the navy.

He respected that. How many scars were on his arms and neck? the man had clearly been battle-hardened, which contrasted with his open personality. Other veterans John had met before were serious and reserved, if not grumpy and aloof. Admiral Frost also told him that Derek used to be a Drill Sargeant. Imagining someone of his size angry and yelling at you was not something John would have enjoyed. He realized his hand was all covered in grease.

They took the elevators and advanced to the second deck of the ship. As they continued, Admiral Frost wanted John to meet Medbay Chief Doctor Heinrich Winslow, but the man was busy in the middle of a molar extraction. Nevertheless, they saw him through the glass of the medbay, and he was nothing like the person he imagined to be the medic of the ship.

Winslow had a bald head covered by tattoos that extended down to his arms, as well as the look of a criminal taken out of a high-security prison. Even if they could not hear anything through the glass of the medbay, John could swear that he had been laughing at his patient’s pain.

Why wasn’t he using anesthesia? He definitively needed to talk with him later. The last thing John wanted was to need medical attention over something painful and end up under the care of a maniac.

They continued. Admiral Frost said that they needed to hurry up, as the PFSR presidents were anxious to watch the Beyond Light make her first successful leap. John would have to meet the other parts of the ship later on his own.

They passed by the main laboratory. There was a certain person that William wanted John to meet. The Engineering Chief would also likely be there at that moment. He would inform John detailedly about what their EPAL was capable of.