Beyond Light

Going Silent.

The due time passed, and the Beyond Light entered the magnetosphere of Hawking-616e, accompanied by the trio of Soku vessels, which spread to reach their destinations. John could not help but feel anxious, as so did everyone aboard. They barely escaped the claws of the Absorber less than one week ago and were now venturing to the same place where they got attacked, and the deluded AI ship probably was still in.

They had to be fast. Activating those generators was all that mattered. John felt the hunch about it. This time, Goliath was likely not going to let them go it caught them. Other much more advanced vessels had fallen to it before like flies against a lamp.

"Commander, look, there is that giant water ball," said Mike, moving the Beyond Light into the glowing rings of Vita Nova.

John got closer to the windows of the cockpit, and the aquatic moon appeared as clear as Jupiter could be seen from the surface of Callisto or Ganymede. Hawking-616e II. Despite its size, it resembled Neptune a lot, in the sense that both had a strong blue coloration, but the moon was all covered by white streams and swirls of clouds.

"Reminds me of Neptune," said Jeffrey Emmerson. "makes me feel nostalgic of my granny's home,"

"I'd almost feel at ease if that giant monster weren't lurking around somewhere," said Mike.

"Well, time to rock," John adjusted his aerodynamic nightingale helmet. "You know the procedure. Mike, prepare for orbital deployment. Then stay in low orbit and await for orders shall anything happen. Hide if Goliath shows up."

"Aye aye, Commander. Ready to play cat and mouse if needed."

"Jeffrey, Xi, keep our eyes and ears sharp. Look over the local system for anything of Interest. Contact me immediately if the giant bastard appears."

"Understood, Commander," both men responded.

John nodded and left. His next stop was the vehicle deposit in the first deck. His team waited for him there and the vehicle they were going to use to move on. With no land surfaces, the only possibility was that the generator was located underwater. And so it was.

Jeffrey and Doctor Weiber had detected artificial radiation and static coming below the water. Building an underwater complex for the Masdians was likely nothing for them. They were the same alien spaces that once united an important portion of the galaxy and created Aleos itself.

John and his team would be left near the moon's atmosphere. Once there, a Swordfish, a modified version of the Firefly VTOL capable of diving into water mass down to 2000 meters would take them to the underwater base. John had almost confused it for one of the standard choppers. In appearance, the only thing that differentiated it from the common fat and long Firefly was its bluish, dark grey color.

It was still a prototype specifically designed to be used on submarine operations that required quick shifts between water and air. It was mainly used on Earth and Mars, two of the only worlds in the Solar System with water masses large enough to be effective.

Sergeant Major Derek Williams launched John a military salute as he approached, loading cargo into the swordfish. INA soldiers and some drones helped him out. "Everything's ready to go, cap. Got your weapons onboard too. You say it and we're leaving."

"Good," John passed next to him. "Mike and the boys on the bridge got their instructions. LIBRA's working at full too. Let's go," he climbed the vehicle and sat, picking his TR6 and holding it close. The drones got inside their grooves, and the other eight soldiers sat on the row next to him.

Derek entered last and stood facing the door instead of sitting down, holding himself from the handrails on the ceiling.

The last person on their team arrived before the swordfish sealed. "Leaving without me?" Doctor Winslow got inside and sat next to John. "Gotta say you disappoint me, guys. I've been dying for some action and you want me to stay caged like that furry cockroach the weirdos at the lab keep."

The swordfish sealed its hatches and moved to the airlock. Taking-off operations began, and they left the Beyond Light near the shining and fuming exosphere of the moon. The circular windows got covered by dazzles of orange, red, and light.

"Commander?" the image of Com. Officer Emmerson appeared in John's HUD. "Team Bravo and Charlie have reached the surfaces of Hawking-616e I and III. The Soku wish you good luck. They'll go silent in short to avoid attention.

"Very well," John nodded. "tell them the same about us. Anything else?"

"Yes. It's about Team Charlie and Hawking-616e I. Besides the huge radiation levels and the strong magnetosphere of the moon, some artificial interference doesn't let us read anything. Charlie will be quiet and unable to communicate until they finish."

"Good. We'll go quiet down there too. The water will make communication hard once there too. Keep attentive for anything."

"We'll do. Good luck, Commander. Beyond Light out," his image disappeared from the HUD and the com. channel closed.

"ETA for objective in 10 minutes," informed the Pilot. "Get ready, everyone. Diving in 12."

The soldiers nodded and picked up their weapons, reloading them, or checking if their inner mechanisms worked correctly. John looked through the windows. The heat dazzle had disappeared, revealing the chaotic landscape the moon was. It was dark everywhere one could look, as nights lasted 32 days on the tidally locked moon. Being on the dark side also didn't help.

John activated the night vision filters on his Helmet and adjusted them, revealing the maritime world they were in high detail. The sky was almost covered in its totality by dark grey clouds, which thundered and launched lighting at the violent tides and waves that made the vast ocean extending everywhere where the eye could see.

"Damn it," cursed Heinrich. "It's almost as violent as the periodic storms that hit Saturn in the danger zone."

"I hope you like it because we're diving below this ocean," said John. "Be prepared. This moon will either save us or become our tomb."

He almost wondered who was crazy enough to build something inside that panorama of Poseidonian violence surrounding them, but humans had already built their homes in even more chaotic gas giants. Was there life below all that water? That would amaze him, but he would not feel surprised. Vita Nova was something else. The Masdians had designed it to be.