The Martial Unity

VMMM…

The automatic door opened them into the interior of the ship, revealing a long corridor connecting them to the networks of mazes in the rest of the ship. They found themselves in an internal harbor system of sorts that managed to space pods and the spacecrafts that boarded the fleet carrier. Numerous naval officers maintained oversight in the execution of protocols when it came to spacecrafts and launch pods that entered and exited the Blood Arc. They wore uniforms of the space force of the Blood Humanist Society, silently seated across an array of computer terminals in a spacious administrative office. Ria had no doubt that their neural inlays were communicating and coordinating numerous events across the entire fleet carrier, ensuring that the giant complex system of protocols prodded along smoothly.

The five of them received a neural transmission from the Pathwalker Management Division, featuring a map of the path that they needed to follow to their assigned bunkers.

They simply followed the crowd of pathwalkers that streamed across the ship as they studied the interior of the ship with a curious expression. For many of them, the nuclear-powered fleet carrier was the most ostentatious ship that they had to travel.

Lines of circuitry ran through the walls of the ship. Ria could feel a tremendous flow of information and power through them. She could also feel an absolutely titanic source of energy in a direction close to the center of the ship, one that produced so much energy it quaked even her bones. It far exceeded what any single pathwalker could produce, even if they were a Martial Sage.

VMMM…

A stream of hovering platforms carried numerous people on them, navigating through the ship. After all, for a vessel that was as massive as the Blood Arc, walking was not very practical, especially when they couldn’t leverage their power within the ship that much.

They quickly boarded one as it zoomed through the ship at a high speed, giving them a tour through it. Most of the crew aboard the ship were, of course, hemosapien or hemosapien hybrids. They mostly worked in the administration and management of the ship, although they did spot other, more specialized naval officers who manned some of the turrets that lined the Blood Arc.

“Look…” Runark whispered to Ria, gesturing in a direction with a nod.

They caught a glimpse of Arastia through numerous glass walls, surrounded by many other hemosapiens wearing ostentatious exosuits and naval attire. She bore a commanding and regal bearing that contrasted sharply with the homely and fun aunt they had had a sleepover with last night.

“She’s so cool,” Ria muttered.

“She sure is,” Misha heaved a sigh of admiration. “I wish I could be like her.”

Ria turned towards her with lit eyes. “Really?”

Misha nodded, her dreads swaying with the motion. “Every hemosapien does. She united the dispersed hemosapiens across Panama upon the advent of the Blood Cult and raised a counter-balancing force that can rival it. She deserves to be called the Blood Empress.”

Ria smiled. “She sure does. She’s always been a queen to me, even when I was growing up.”

Misha raised an eyebrow as her cybernetic eyes shifted towards Ria with a faint curiosity. “That’s an oddly familiar tone.”

“Ah, I was just a fan of hers even when I was growing up, hahaha…” Ria tried to keep calm, trying to make it sound plausible even as she giggled nervously.

“Come to think of it, both of you are from Kandria,” Sternon mused. “You might have had the opportunity to meet her if you were lucky.”

“She’s intimidating,” Siliscia muttered with a wary tone. “She doesn’t look like a very nice person.”

Ria felt the need to butt in and dispute that, but she knew better than to. She had already teetered on the edge of giving all of them a hint. She simply remained silent for the rest of their brief journey as they eventually reached their destination.

They arrived at the housing wing of the ship, getting to their block as soon as they arrived at their block.

“It’s A-57… ah, there it is.”

Ria scanned her ID against the scanner at the door, causing the door to automatically slide open, revealing a single bunker.

The five of them simply stared in silence at the bunker.

It was not the worst arrangement in the world, but it wasn’t comfortable by any means, either. There were five beds, on the far end of the room by the windows that featured outer space, a space for a study with five chairs, a single smart kitchen, and a single bathroom and toilet.

Of course, none of them expected luxury, especially for a no-nonsense operation such as this. Still, it wasn’t going to be the smoothest experience either.

“I call dibs on the corner,” Misha nonchalantly remarked as she headed over to, dropping her bag on the bed, before glancing around the room. “I suppose we’re going to have to hope we get along especially well. Though it’s not that long of a journey.”

“On the contrary, it might be especially fun.” Sternon smiled. “When I was in the army, spending time with my fellow soldiers in bunkers like these, outside supervision made some of the best times in what was otherwise a pretty horrible experience.”

“It’s not gonna take that long, we’re not going to be spending most of our time here once we board,” Runark remarked, dropping his bag on the bed next to him. “Still, it probably would have been nice to get a bunker for ourselves.”

“I’m glad there’s a window. I can never get used to the stuffiness of ships,” Siliscia muttered, placing her hands on the window, isolating the ship from the outside.

CLACK

Ria shut the door behind her, turning towards her team with a curious expression. “What do you guys plan on doing once you’re done with this mission?”

The four of them turned towards Ria with an intrigued expression at those words, though Runark knew why she asked that question.