The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System – Outer Regions)

(Unnamed Asteroid Field)

Bang!

A colossal hunk of space rock shattered into tiny pieces as Cleo swung an enormous energy sword with reckless abandon.

Cleo had gotten used to piloting the over fifty feet tall mech and now the machine felt like an extension of her own body.

Mental force constantly flowed from her brain into the robotic exoskeleton, but Cleo did not feel any strain.

Years of improving her mental force pool meant that she had more than enough energy to last for at least two days straight.

Phantom Series mechs lacked heavy firepower but were able to hold plasma energy swords so Cleo was satisfied with her a melee build.

Three hours had passed since the assignment had begun, but she was no closer to reaching her objective.

When Cleo first heard of the requirement to pass the final exam, she really thought that it was too easy.

Clearly, she had been incredibly naive.

Professor Barrett wanted his students to find a hidden colony of rogue androids that were located deep inside the asteroid field.

Their mission was to capture or destroy the colony using any means that they deemed necessary.

What made the mission seem simple at first glance was the fact that all three of his students could work together.

In fact, teamwork was highly encouraged since the destruction of the colony would ensure that everyone passed the exam.

Cleo, Drew and Elenora had discussed amongst themselves and decided to form a team. 

Although Drew had an arrogant attitude, he placed his ego aside since searching through an entire asteroid field for an android colony was like finding a needle in a haystack.

A holographic window popped up in the cockpit as Cleo received a few messengers from her fellow classmates.

Elenora: [Anyone found the colony yet?]

Cleo: [No.]

Drew: [Yes… but there is a bit of a problem…]

Drew: [Can you all come to me? I'm sharing my location right now.]

Cleo: [Sounds good… I'm on my way.]

She received an incoming transmission from Drew's mech and saw a location highlighted on the map.

Wait… this didn't make any sense…

Drew was supposed to search the northern region of the asteroid field, but his current location was somewhere in the south.

In fact, he was only around a few hundred kilometers away from Cleo's position. 

The princess furrowed her brows as she cautiously double checked the information.

Something wasn't right…

"Reroute all available power to the back up systems and raise the defenses," Cleo spoke loudly.

There was a humming noise as her voice activated the mech's internal systems and carried out her will.

The enormous energy sword held in the palm of Cleo's mech buzzed with power as the princess controlled its movements.

She activated the lower thrusters at the back of her mech and shot forward in the direction that Drew had sent.

Cleo sent a message through the neural network since one question was constantly on her mind as she shuttled through space.

Cleo: [Drew I don't understand… weren't you supposed to be in the north?]

Cleo: [Hello?]

Elenora: [Cleo what are you talking about? He is currently in the western region with me…]

Cleo: [Wait… what? No on my screen it shows…]

[Connection Lost]

The neural network suddenly collapsed, and a strong backlash flowed into Cleo's mind. The princess vomited as blood leaked out of her ears.

There were alarm bells ringing out in Cleo's mind, so she decided to return to the starship instead of going to the strange location.

Something had gone terribly wrong…

Cleo was unsure if this was a part of the final exam but either way, she decided to follow the scout protocols when dealing with an unknown danger.

The first step was to return to base with a report of the situation and then allow high command to decide whether the risk was worth it to investigate.

Cleo could only hope that her fellow students would not be reckless enough to check out this mystery on their own.

Just as Cleo was about to leave… 

Something emerged from the shadows of a nearby asteroid.

Dozens of small fighter class spacecrafts flew out of an opening in the rock and headed right for her location.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Plasma cannons mounted on the top of these vessels fired an endless barrage of shots at Cleo's mech.

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Shield systems down 5%... 10 %...]

A translucent forcefield bubble appeared around Cleo's mech and absorbed all of the incoming blasts.

Red flashing light constantly blinked in the cockpit and Cleo instantly thought about several countermeasures.

She turned around and was about to flee when a wave of more fighter class starships appeared in the distance.

She was surrounded.

Cleo did not know how these starships had managed to slip through the surveillance and radar systems onboard her mech but now was not the time to complain.

These new starships also began to fire relentlessly on her position and the forcefield bubble around her mech gradually weakened.

At times of danger, Cleo's world slowed down to a dull crawl. She could see her body automatically move and the energy sword in her palm slashed forward.

Dozens of starships exploded as her blade tore through their fragile metalloid hulls. Cleo's chest throbbed as the pink mark on her body softly glowed.

She could feel the connection between herself, and Sophie begin to strengthen. 

A faint pinkish mist covered one of Cleo's eyes as the princess felt a surge of power flow through her meridians.

Cleo dashed forward and used the cover of the nearby asteroids to duck and weave through the endless barrage of plasma fire.

She placed the laser sword back in the mech's storage space and grabbed a plasma rifle the size of a two-story building.

While the firepower of the Phantom series mechs was lacking. 

That was only compared to other lightweight mechs.

A mech was the ultimate weapon on the battlefield and even the weakest could devastate entire armies.

"Bind to the weapon!" Cleo roared loudly. The palm of her mech crackled with electricity as the rifle slowly began to charge.

The princess jumped behind another asteroid since the one she was hiding behind just moments prior exploded into tiny pieces.

BOOM!

A thick wave of energy shot out from the muzzle of the rifle and slammed right into the leading starship converging on her position.

This beam of light continued uninterrupted through hundreds of spacecrafts and left a trail of devastation and death in its wake.

There was a short cooldown time before the weapon could be used again so Cleo repeated her strategy of hiding behind cover and only peeking out when it was time to attack.

Some might call this a cowardly tactic… and Cleo would call them idiots. 

The enemy fleet suffered heavier and heavier losses as the fighting continued until eventually, they turned around and fled.

Cleo was tempted for a brief moment to give chase but there was a risk of a trap or ambush ahead.

The princess tried to establish a link to the neural network but received nothing but silence.

The fates of Drew and Elenora were unknown.