In just an hour, an extravagant and lavish party was prepared to celebrate the arrival of Emery and the others to Nexus Station. The group was swiftly led by Otto into a huge hall where the feast had been prepared.
Much to their surprise, there were hundreds of people dressed in formal outfits and dresses already inside the hall, and all of them seemed to be waiting for their arrival. The moment Emery and the others entered the venue, everyone welcomed them with a smile.
“Please let me introduce you to some of our nobles,” said the Minister of Science in a respectful manner.
Apparently, everyone who attended this welcoming feast were all high-ranking citizens of the Nexus faction, and most of them gave Emery and the others a friendly and warm welcome. These people enjoyed the feast heartily as numerous laughs echoed across the hall.
Still worried about the entire situation, Emery swept his gaze over the hall and carefully observed everyone his eyes cast upon. Julian started to do his job by talking and networking to these people, while Chumo separated from the group as he roamed around and inspected the entire place.
“I will go and inspect the food!” Thrax said before his figure disappeared, darting towards a nearby table filled with food and drinks, leaving Klea looking all smiling as she approached and tucked Emery’s arm into hers.
Klea smiled sweetly and said, “It’s a feast so let’s check out what they have in store.” Still maintaining his vigilance, Emery nodded his head at the offer.
Most of the food available at the feast was unfamiliar to the two, but that didn’t deter them from trying them out. When he tried at least one bite, Emery couldn’t help but be interested to know how they could make such delicacies on a space station.
“We made the food using something we call Replicator,” answered Otto when Emery inquired about his curiosity. “It is considered as one of our best inventions, a fact of which we are very proud.” The middle-aged man added.
Noticing the curious look on Emery’s face, the minister led the two to the Replicator. It looked as unassuming as it could be with its ordinary frame stuck to the wall, but its capabilities were not to be scorned. If what Minister Otto said was true, it was capable of replicating items using a person’s memory if supplied with enough energy source.
“This invention is also what saved our faction from extinction.”
Saying those words, the minister’s face turned serious for a moment before a smile returned once again.
“This is certainly a great invention, Mister Otto,” remarked Klea after she tried to create some of the Egyptian dishes she missed. Although she had somewhat expected it, Klea was still surprised that the taste of the dish this Replicator made was almost the same as the one in her memory.
While Klea was busy trying out the machine, Emery focused his attention on the minister as he noticed the change of expression the latter had earlier. Moments later, the middle-aged man spoke once again, this time in a serious manner.
“Actually, the rebels managed to steal one of these machines from us.”
The minister explained that with the Replicators stolen, the rebels managed to create weapons to wreak havoc to the Nexus colonies on the yellow planet.
Emery realized that this missing Replicator was the secondary mission given by the alliance.
…
The welcoming party had been going on for hours, and it didn’t look like it would end soon if Julian didn’t insist that the group had to leave because they were on a tight schedule. Naturally, they also discussed their mission with the Principal who was present in the hall.
“Yes, you may report to General Kobe in the Nexus colony. The man will brief the operation on my behalf.”
Now that they knew what they should do next and were given clearance from the Principal, the group swiftly headed back to their spaceship and left for the yellow planet on the far horizon. What they didn’t expect was the fact that the person who welcomed them earlier, Minister of Science Otto, had joined them to oversee the mission.
[Intercepter 117, you’re cleared to enter the Nexus planet]
Under Julian’s control, the spaceship took off from Section One and entered the yellow planet’s atmosphere.
As the ship entered the stratosphere of the planet, Emery and the others felt the interior shake as it entered some turbulence. Noticing Thrax getting nervous, Julian put his hands on the wheel and announced loudly.
“We must go on manual, guys! Hang on tight!” Immediately after, Julian began to maneuver the ship so that the shaking intensified, causing the Thracian to wobble here and there before eventually banging his head against a nearby piece of furniture.
As one would expect, a loud angry roar followed after.
“What the fuck!!? Guys! Stop that Lunatic!”
While Julian was laughing heartily in the pilot’s seat, Emery and Chumo both had to work together to keep the annoyed Thrax from charging into the cockpit.
Klea had a wide smile on her face as she watched the unfolding slapstick, while the other person present in the ship was looking at everything with a dumbfounded look. It seemed that he was shocked by the sight.
Noticing the look on the middle-aged man’s face, Klea chuckled softly. “You don’t have to look so surprised. Don’t worry. They were just joking around.”
However, as if trying to refute her words, the situation on the back only got even more chaotic.
“Calm down Thrax!!”
“Stop the ship! GET ME OUT!!”
The chaotic situation persisted until the ship was finally brought through the sky below the atmosphere and flew freely above the sandy planet, heading towards a huge stronghold seen in the distance.
[Intercepter 117, welcome to Nexus Colony One]
To Emery’s surprise, from above, the colony looked more like a military base if anything. A huge fortified stronghold surrounded by dozens of big warehouses and a field full of shiny black panels facing the sky.
“What is that, minister?” Emery asked, pointing at the black panels.
“That’s our Sun Panel. It’s an instrument we use to generate energy from sunlight, the faction’s main source of power”
The ship landed on an empty clearing prepared in the colony, and when the ship’s hatch opened, the group was immediately greeted by a gust of arid wind from the dry, hot planet filled with sand dust.
They could see the thick walls covering the entire base, defensive weapons installed on them, and of course the dozens of the Mechanical Soldiers. As they made their way towards the main building of the base, Emery saw that beyond the entrance gate made of metal bars were hundreds of people, all staring at them.
When these people caught sight of Emery’s group, they started chanting loudly.
“Anhera! Anahera!”
Emery was slightly surprised when he discovered that he couldn’t understand what they were saying. It seemed that the database didn’t have the knowledge of this language as the translation device installed on his bracelet didn’t work.
Not knowing what these people were saying, he decided to turn to the only person who might know.
“What did they say, minister?”
“Angels.. They are calling you all angels.”
Hearing that, Emery once again looked towards the people beyond the gate. He quickly noticed that their clothes were mostly tattered, while their skin had burn marks. On this discovery, he once again asked the Minister of Science.
“Who are these people?”
The minister was silent for a second before saying, “They… are the indigenous inhabitants of this planet”
Took Emery seconds to connect things together and realize that if these people were the rebels that had been mentioned about, then their mission might not be as easy as they previously thought.