The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Outer Regions)

(Unnamed Asteroid Field)

"Keep moving… keep moving…" Cleo softly whispered to herself. She could feel beads of sweat running down her forehead.

Mental force flowed out of her mind and into the enormous mechanical structure covering her body.

Boom!

A thick wave of energy shot out from the muzzle of her plasma rifle and obliterated the incoming enemy fleet.

What was happening?

Cleo frowned as she was once again forced to hide behind a large asteroid as a barrage of plasma fire rounds shot towards her location.

The first wave of attacks had not been the last. 

Despite the heavy losses that they had suffered, the unknown enemies targeting her mech did not stop.

Their temporary retreat had just been a ruse to get her to drop her guard and it had almost worked…

As she shot down one starship, two more would emerge from inside one of the nearby asteroids and take its place.

Cleo's left eye glowed pink as she felt another surge of power course through her veins. 

This had never happened before, but the princess was not going to question her good fortune.

She would have plenty of time to sit down and discuss the matter with Sophie once she returned to planet Eleron.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cleo activated the left side thrusters on her mech and rerouted additional power to the defense systems.

Her mech lurched to the side and narrowly avoided a few beams of light that were shot from a vessel significantly larger than the other spacecrafts in the fleet.

The princess prepared her mech to launch a fierce counterattack when something unexpected happened.

Cleo's eyes widened as she saw a wormhole portal open up a mere two hundred feet away from her current position.

The portal was a dark blue colour, and one could see the space rippling around the edges of the spatial rupture.

Five enormous destroyer class spacecrafts emerged from the portal and their size made Cleo's mech seem tiny in comparison.

Heavy mounted plasma cannons, several barrier devices and a wide array of weapon systems could be seen on the top of the mysterious starships.

No… what the hell was this?

If there was doubt in Cleo's mind before then the arrival of these starships only served to confirm her suspicions that what was going on was definitely not part of the exam.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Surprisingly the small fleet of fighter spacecrafts that were originally hunting her down turned their attention to the incoming armada of large starships.

Two separate groups?

Unfortunately for the small fighter spacecrafts, their firepower was not enough to break the heavy forcefield bubbles that surrounded the destroyer class spacecrafts.

The five destroyer class vessels separated into three groups. 

One flew towards an unknown location deep inside the asteroid field while two stayed behind to deal with the pesky fighter spacecrafts.

The final two spacecrafts faced Cleo's mech and the princess saw the mounted cannons on the top of their vessels begin to glow.

BOOM! BOOM!

Two colossal beams of light fired at Cleo's position and obliterated everything in their path. 

The asteroids in the way of the energy attacks were instantly disintegrated.

Cleo desperately forced her mech to dive to the side and the beams of light passed mere inches away from the left arm of her mech.

The shockwaves from the blast sent her mech hurtling through space and it eventually slammed heavily against a nearby asteroid.

Red flashing lights blinked rapidly in the cockpit as multiple hologram screens appeared in front of Cleo.

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Shield systems… 45% remaining… 35% remaining…]

"Cut off the power supply to the weapons and send all the available energy to the thrusters!" Cleo roared as she quickly made a decision.

The enormous plasma rifle held in the palm of her mech returned to her storage space just as the engines began to hum.

Fighting back against those two starships would be pure lunacy. 

Cleo did not forget that the small fighter class spacecrafts were also targeting her just a few moments ago.

The saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend was useless since Cleo did not know the identity of either party.

"Fuck… fuck… fuck!" Cleo yelled in frustration as her mech pushed off against the asteroid just as two more beams of light were launched at her position.

BOOM! BOOM!

The asteroid disappeared into nothing more than dust particles. 

Cleo shuddered as she felt the shadow of death loom over her.

The more dangerous the situation was… the more her connection to Sophie strengthened. 

Cleo found that although her mental force was being consumed rapidly it was being replaced by an unknown energy through the bond.

Her left eye shone with an eerie light as she felt a wave of calmness flow through her body. Cleo took a few deep breaths and then gently exhaled.

Now was not the time to panic. She would have to make a risky decision but there was no other choice in this perilous situation.

Phantom Series mechs were known for their speed so Cleo planned on accelerating at full force even though it would damage the mech.

Her life was more important. 

She needed to return safely and see her girlfriend again.

The mech shot forward with startling speed and disappeared into the distance. Cleo recklessly slammed her mech into the incoming asteroids that burst into tiny piece.

[Shield systems… 35% remaining… 27% remaining…]

[10% remaining… 5% remaining…]

Perhaps the two destroyer class vessels did not expect Cleo to use such a suicidal move to escape since they did not give chase for a few minutes.

And that was all the time she needed.

Cleo tossed all the safety rules that Instructor Barrett had drilled into her mind and kept flying wildly towards the direction of the university's starship.

The outer exterior of her mech dented and crumbled as Cleo kept slamming it directly through the asteroids in her path.

BOOM! BOOM!

Beams of light shot towards her ever changing position but now Cleo could easily avoid them since the distance between herself and the enemy starships was growing.

Eventually with only five percent of her shielding system left, Cleo was able to escape their fierce pursuit. 

The princess let out a sigh of relief and then froze in shock as she saw a holographic screen pop up inside the cockpit.

[Connecting… connecting… Connection Established!]

[Incoming Messages! Incoming Messages!]

"Is the neural network working again?" Cleo muttered cautiously as she clicked the message to see who had sent it.

Drew: [Guys where are you? I found the objective of your mission! Let me share the location now…]

Cleo: [What is the name of our professor?]

Drew: [Excuse me?]

Cleo: [Answer the question. What is the name of our professor?]

Drew: [Don't be silly! Do you want to pass the exam or not? This is the location! Come quickly or I'll finish the job myself!]