Chapter 267: A New Beginning

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(King's Island- Spaceport- Hangar 21)

King's Island was located directly at the equator of Planet Xerciam Prime where it only took five minutes for a standard spacecraft to enter or exit the atmospheric zone.

The spaceport was built with the funds invested from all the major financial groups currently operating on the planet.

This was a neutral venue where all rivalries and feuds had to be left at the entrance as the careful monitoring and security units would prevent significant damage from occurring.

Planet Xerciam Prime was a developing colony so there was a healthy amount of traffic both entering and exiting the spaceport.

Multiple hangars were built to store the various models of spacecrafts and at peak capacity the spaceport could house around two thousand ships.

Inside one of these hangars was a group of disorganized warriors impatiently waiting for their vessel to arrive.

"You want to fight or something?"

"Come any closer and I'll cut out that insolent tongue of yours!"

"Anyone got any drinks?"

"Forget drinks… baby do you want to be with a real man?"

"Where? Do you know one?"

A hybrid girl leaned against a nearby wall and took a small sip of nutrient solution as the sounds of arguing and fighting echoed around the room.

Sophie was holding Lily tightly in her arms as the little girl was currently fast asleep with drool leaking down the sides of her mouth.

Two days had passed since Sophie had talked to the recruiter and she had not spent that time in vain.

Only three other mercenary groups were willing to travel to the frontier zone and all highly valued background checks and blood samples.

And more importantly, they planned to wait a few more months to see how the situation developed in the frontier zone before leaving.

This left 'The Sun's Glory' as the only option left.

Investigating this organization was a lot easier than what Sophie had expected but the information she got raised more questions than answers.

Apparently 'The Sun's Glory' was a side branch of a religious cult whose real name was unknown.

No one was sure how many members were part of this cult, but the mercenary group it funded could only be rated as a relatively skilled.

Not enough to be considered a top mercenary group but more in the middle.

Despite its decent reputation, it was more infamous for its reputation of underpaying its employees and contractors.

Sophie tried to find out more about the religious order funding the group, but no one seemed to know any concrete information.

Despite her suspicions, it seemed that this was her best choice to leave the planet.

She had not forgotten about the terrible vision but with no clue on when or where she would encounter this opponent, the only thing Sophie could do was cultivate furiously.

"Oi! What are you looking at bitch?" a loud growl snapped Sophie out of her thoughts.

A massive bulky feline-like creature towered over Sophie with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

He was dressed in simple tribe clothing with a heavy axe strapped across his chest.

His fur was a snow-white colour and thick braids ran down the sides of his cheeks.

The physique of his body was mostly humanoid, but the noticeable bumps and boils hidden beneath his fur made Sophie recoil in disgust.

Sophie casually glanced up at the muscular alien and spat out two words,

"Fuck off."

There was a moment of silence in the hangar as even the other mercenaries arguing noticed the rising tension.

"What did you say to me?" the feline creature muttered and reached for the battle axe strapped across his chest.

Sophie rolled her eyes and simply launched a punch with her right hand straight into the stomach of the alien.

She didn't use much force behind her blow, so the feline creature merely flew backwards and crashed into the opposite wall.

Thud!

The unconscious body of the thug fell to the ground and his head banged against a nearby table as he collapsed.

Sophie narrowed her eyes and stared at the remaining mercenaries in the room with a silent warning in her gaze.

Warriors like these only respected strength.

The noise quickly resumed once Sophie returned to her relaxed posture but there was now a noticeable bubble around her location as none dared to approach.

Lily leaned into Sophie's ear and quietly whispered, "Big sister you were amazing."

She had been woken up by the growl of the feline creature and saw Sophie's fearsome punch.

Sophie smirked proudly as she felt the love and admiration from the little girl in her arms.

Unfortunately, Lily's follow up question immediately sent her cheerful mood into a panic,

"But what does 'fuck off' mean?"

The wheels in Sophie's mind had never turned faster as the hybrid girl hurriedly thought of possible explanations she could give.

The only saving grace was that Sophie had uttered that slur in the language of the Unova Syndicate so the words Lily had repeated sounded more like a series of clicks.

After a few moments of thinking, Sophie decided to reply with a small lie in order to preserve Lily's innocence.

"It means don't be rude."

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(One hour later)

Buzz! Buzz!

The mechanical doors to the hangar opened up and a medium sized space shuttle flew into the room.

Sophie squinted slightly to observe the body of the spacecraft carefully.

This particular model was not one she had ever seen before but at least from the outside it looked okay.

Five heavy plasma cannons were mounted along key areas of the vessel and two barrier devices generated a passive forcefield.

The vessel was around the size of a two-story building and had a sleek narrow design that was perfect for weaving through obstacles.

It was not the most impressive spaceship that Sophie had ever seen but at least there seemed to be no obvious problems.

The ship was a light grey colour was a phrase carved into the side of the vessel that read, 'Mesa kon et shriumea.'

Sophie had no clue what that phrase meant but the numerous symbols painted near the phrase probably signified its importance.

"Is everyone ready to depart?" a cold whisper echoed in the minds of the mercenary warriors.

A hole opened in the side of the spacecraft and a thin metalloid bridge slowly extended downwards until it reached the floor.

One could observe a pale-skinned creature with long slender limbs standing in the doorway.

Sophie recognized the alien as the same species as the recruiter she had met just two days earlier.

Was he the one who sent the mental transmission?

Or was it someone else onboard?

Well now was not the time to be solving that mystery so Sophie just picked up Lily and moved towards the bridge.

The mercenaries in the room soon followed her lead but some were getting anxious the nearer they got to the bridge.

Many knew that it was highly likely that their lives would be lost in the frontier zone. War was nothing more than a fancy word for a slaughterhouse.

Still the warriors who had accepted the offer were either desperate….

Or insane.

Sophie cautiously stepped twice on the first step of the bridge to make sure it was sturdy before confidently walking up.

It was time for the dangerous journey to begin.