After the call ended, the fairy tapped into the space in front of her.
More than a hundred screens glowed for a few seconds before activating. "Yes, Your Highness."
"How is the progress?"
"We have more than a dozen rank 4 captains willing to risk it all. We suspect they're used by the rank 5s to test the waters."
"The army spies?"
"There must be a few."
"No worries," Hazel's green eyes glowed. "The army is not monolithic. The loyal faction is the largest but also the most exposed."
A dozen spaceships were returning from different parts of the duchy. Their immediate superiors gave them sudden missions, forcing them to scatter throughout the region.
The rank 2s and rank 3s thought it was just another mission to suppress the rebels and kill the deserters. But the rank 4 captains guessed it was something else.
[Confirm the coordinates [13A.223, ZA22.837, 99X.231824]]
Every spaceship recieved one of the few coordinates and headed there, treating it as an immediate mission.
What they found in those locations were rugged spaceships.
Preprogrammed and on autopilot.
[Get into the spaceships.]
The rank 4 captain, six rank 3 squad leaders and thirty-six rank 2 soldiers all got onto the spaceship.
The AI of the ship informed them cooly.
[If you wish for the travel to be successful, follow the instructions. Do not try to outsmart the system.]
[What was that?]
Hearing the confused voice of his commander, a rank 4 captain said. "Sir…is this the rumored spaceship that'll take us to a far away land where the duchy can't reach out?"
[Your job is to verify it, captain.]
The captain took a deep breath. "But my wife and children…"
[If you succeed, they can follow you. If you fail, they can at least stay safe and have pensions.]
"Alright. It's just, the spaceship will soon block the amount of information I can send you, commander." The captain read through the floating screen of instructions and said. "I won't be able to send you the location or even ask for help. But you will be able to get our biometric data and be updated about our conditions."
[Can't you override the AI?]
The captain looked at his deflated team. "We dare not. One overreach and it'll stop the travel. More importantly, the AI is not normal."
Far away in the solar system, Boo sneezed. "Who's praising Boo behind Boo's back?"
The journey began for the captain and his team. The spaceship first created an isolation barrier that'd prevent any of them from detecing their current location.
It wasn't capable of stopping them if they wanted to desroy the barrier. But it was capable of self-destruction if that did happen.
A few minutes later, the spaceship shuttled through the inner space, travelling great distances from the duchy.
Two soldiers were impatient and wanted to contact others. They would have did it had the captain not warned them again.
Since their devices were rendered useless, the team had no idea where they were taken. There wasn't a star system nearby to pick any clues.
If they were space awakeners, they might have been able to pick some clues. But they were all gravity awakeners—all soldiers in the duchy were.
When faced with the endless dark space that looked same in all six directions, they gave up trying to guess where they were headed.
After an hour long journey, the spaceship informed them in its robotic voice.
[Entering the space crack in ten minutes. Once it happens, you can no longer return to this place.]
"W-What?!"
"Bullshit!"
The soldiers grew agitated and raised their weapons, ready to destroy the spaceship.
[The Zion duchy is unable to reach this location. It will be incapable of asking you, the deserters, for extradition. You will all be safe in this new land.]
A silence permeated the hall. Some soldiers struggled while some accepted.
The captain took a deep breath and asked. "What about the ones that come after us? Will they be sent to the same place?"
[Ambigious. Might or might not. But rest assured, every place is a safe place.]
The memories filled with his wife and children surfaced in the captain's mind. At the same time, the fate of duchy filled his thoughts. He's one of the few who knew why a star system suddenly got destroyed.
Staying here, the captain saw no future for himself. But leaving this place, what about his wife and children?
The captain struggled for a long time before sighing.
[You are allowed to leave at this point. In case you haven't noticed, we have returned to the place where you were picked up.]
Instead of surprising, the message relieved him.
"Let's leave, boys." The captain walked towards the opened exit. When he was about to step about, he realized only two were following him.
"Boys?"
"Captain, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives in fear."
"Yes, even if we escape to the nearby duchy, we'll be punished for deserting."
"This is the only chance we have, captain."
"My wife is cheating on me and that child isn't mine. I don't care if they die here. I just don't care!"
The soldiers began to voice out their reasons but they were clear in what they wanted.
[Please note that once you step out, you can never step into any of the spaceships.]
The robotic voice stuck him like a hammer.
The captain closed his eyes and considered his options.
He could easily live for 400 more years. How should he spend those years?
Groveling every day in a duchy that's bankrupt or performing in a place where his talents could get appreciated?
"Can I contact my superior for a moment?"
[…Positive. But your words will be verified first before being allowed to be transmitted.]
The captain nodded and tapped his watch.
[Captain Psuzak! Are you safe? How is that new place?]
"Commander, I'm going to that place."
[What are the coordinates? Which duchy is it? Is it at the other end of the gala—]
"Tell my wife and children that I'm dead. Do the same for the rest." The captain exhaled. "We are going to a better place for a better future."
[W-Wait! At least tell some deta—]
The call ended.
The captain returned back but he quickly noticed the two that followed him didn't.
"C-Captain, we want to return. I can't leave my parents behind."
"I love my wife. I'd rather die with her."
[For every person who leaves, the mission will be aborted by one month.]
The captain's eyes flashed with a thick killing intent.
Boom! Boom!
The two soldiers exploded. The rest watched on indifferently. Even though they fought alongside, they wouldn't sacrifice their future now.
The spaceship took off into the inner space again. This time, there was no chatter inside. Only an uncomfortable, ugly, and selfish silence.
[Entering space crack in 100, 99, 98…]
Everyone held their breaths and awaited the promised paradise.
The spaceship moved faster and faster, its anti-tracking system working at overload, preventing any of them from gaining insight into their location.
Not that any of them were interested at this point. They made up their minds to get out of the hell that Zion had become!
[…4, 3, 2..]
A space crack suddenly appeared in front of them and the spaceship dived in.
