⟦Coordinates Unknown — Year - 3600, Universal Calendar⟧
Amid this endless void of space, a region in the middle momentarily distorted and a hole in the void was thus made.
The vessel that emerged from the warped space was visibly damaged, even to the naked eye, clearly struggling to maintain a stable flight in the deep void of endless darkness.
"Morgiana here. Emerging from the Outer Sea. Unknown coordinates in deep space. Still pursued by the enemies."
｢Roger. How's the view out there?｣
The woman, seated in the cockpit of the damaged spacecraft, surveyed her surroundings and observed the view of the unknown darkness that she had ventured in her attempt to escape from the pursuit of her enemies. Despite her ship teetering on the brink of destruction, fear and panic eluded her mind.
She stood from her seat and made her way to the rear, preparing to don her battle armor.
"Boring. Though gotta admit, having three stars in the same solar system is a pretty sight. I can see a red dwarf and two normal yellow stars orbiting each other in perfect symmetry. The planet seems to be in a perfect zone of the three stars."
It seemed like she was in an interesting solar system, one termed a ternary star system, right now with an exoplanet on its brink. As long as she survived and there was no intelligent life on this planet, selling the coordinates of this planet to the guild would be very profitable for them.
Though, unfortunately, the rotation of this planet is fixed. Never thought that such a perfect planet would be tidally locked.
The way the planet moved, only one side of it was facing the three scorching suns, while the other face of the planet was bathed in eternal darkness.
This would surely affect the price she could get for delivering the information. But in another way, this could be used as a hot selling point. The Solaris would love this planet.
“We might have hit the jackpot.”
｢I must say, your single-minded passion for money, even in the face of death, is worth endless praise in a way. Ahem~ Anyway, I will have to inspect the old map to find out the coordinates of this place. I think Dorothy should be able to find your location through that. Though I must insist that you show more enthusiasm about this plan, Morgiana. You truly lack the spirit of exploration, don’t just think of money and values all the time.｣
"Tell that to Dorothy. She's the one yearning for exploration and adventure. I believe more in the power of Credits than anything else. Now, I'm on the verge of stranding myself on a planet absent from any map recorded in the celestial charts. Only money can keep me calm currently.”
｢Alright, alright, you win. How far are you from the planet?｣
"Close, I suppose." Her gaze fell on the exo-planet as a black machine-esque substance began to crawl across her skin and skinsuit, enveloping her until her entire body was encased in a power armor that had a color scheme quite similar to her now-tattered ship. Lights flickered around her body before stabilizing, and she drew a deep breath.
"I hope you find me in time, guys. Otherwise, this may be the last time you hear my charming voice."
｢You trust me, right?｣
She chuckled at the mention of the word trust from the man on the other side. "Alibaba… The last time I trusted you, I nearly lost an arm facing a goddamn Leviathan."
｢The keyword here we should keep in mind is— Nearly – Bzzz…｣
Her snicker faded as she realized the communication had been severed. She shook her head, dismissing the matter.
Her friend was an excellent mercenary, but he lacked seriousness at times.
Thankfully, he had many interpersonal relationships. Getting the service of someone of the caliber of Dorothy would have been impossible otherwise.
“Everything is alright. I will survive this.”
She steeled herself with that chant, chasing away all the negative thoughts that had been brimming inside her head. She knew very well that in such a situation, she had to keep her head calm to increase her chances of survival to the fullest.
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Setting that aside, she grinned when her system warned her of imminent atmospheric entry. She was already being pulled by the planet even before getting into the vicinity of its outer atmosphere. Seemed like the large planet had quite the gravitational pull.
"Activate the barrier. Ignore the fuel consumption."
Through the connection of her power armor, she started sending mental commands to the battleship. Though saving the ship was an unlikely scenario, it was not entirely impossible for her to salvage it. "Initiate union."
The cockpit transformed as cables extended, connecting her power armor to the spaceship itself. Her vision shifted as information flickered across her screens.
Now, she wasn't merely piloting the ship— she was melding with the behemoth.
A groan escaped her lips as her energy was absorbed by the vessel, aiding in its repairs even as it disintegrated into pieces. She dismissed the request to change the form into its most optimal state.
While the second form of her ship would be useful for combat, what she needed now was a more streamlined form to lower the energy consumption to a minimum.
The ship accelerated as the planet's gravity took complete hold of it, the sound of metal breaking and creaking inundating her ears with endless screeches. Yet, she paid the sounds no heed, focusing her entire being on guiding the ship to land safely on the planet. At least, as safe as she possibly could…
This is going to hurt quite a bit… She thought with a grim laugh.
But she would survive. Of that, she had no doubt.
[Contact with the atmosphere in five seconds…]
Dozens of pictures and numbers flashed in Morgiana's retina as she fought against the sensory overload and steered her ship on the safest trajectory.
The moment that gravity caught her ship and pulled her towards the planet it started plummeting at a breakneck speed toward surefire destruction… She knew that she would have only one chance to survive this ordeal.
[3]
This was a fight between her and destiny, or rather, gravity. One mistake would mean the end for her.
[2]
But even then, she did not fear. She licked her lips and steeled her heart— the moment before life and death was without a doubt one of the most exciting instances of one’s life.
[1]
One second stretched into an endless eternity as she focused all her senses to their full potential in an attempt to maximize her rate of survival. The beating of her heart accelerated further. Behind the mask of armor, her eyes were shining a deep hue of red as she brought all her energy and connected with the Dark Sea.
[0]
The ship started to shake and she leaked a groan of pain. The sound of metal breaking and cracking filled her ears but she paid no attention to it either. She just kept on focusing all of her mind and soul on landing the ship…
From now on, until the contact with the ground, she had three minutes.
Only five minutes.
But those five minutes might be the longest of her life.
Crack!
She ignored the ominous sound that filled her ears. Knowing whatever it was, wouldn’t alleviate her current situation and could only worsen it.
Whoosh!
The temperature in the cockpit soared to a horrific point.
[1500 °C]
[2500 °C]
[3500° C]
The heat at the exterior and interior of her ship continued to jump, while less scary, was still highly problematic for a someone of her race to survive in. The insulation should have kept the heat at bay in a normal scenario but had been broken.
[Heat surpassing the minimum threshold.]
[Advising to deploy the cooling device.]
“Fuck that.”
She laughed as she cursed and operated the cooling system contained in her power armor to protect herself from the heat.
Fire generally wasn't a problem for her race, especially with the kind of power she wielded. But this was a whole different matter altogether.
At the same time, she was keeping track of an array of numbers in order to find the best angle possible to mitigate the damages to her ship and ensure her survival.
She could feel blood flowing from her nose but once again she paid no mind to this small detail.
She could heal later.
She could also repair the ship later.
But what she could not do was resurrect herself later..
Her connection to the ship grew deeper and deeper as she pierced through the clouds. The view of an icy planet was visible through the confines of the spaceship.
Crack!
Crack!!
She had just lost a wing and, while aerodynamics did not matter in space, it very much mattered once a planet’s air resistance was thrown into the equation.
The ship suddenly turned sideways and lost control.
Beep!!
Beep!!
Beep!!
"Kuh!"
She cursed as a red alarm continued to blare all around her, while warnings about controlling her speed or slowing down continued to come one after the other.
"Activate the backup core. Deploy the magnetic shield at full power on my signal and activate the anti-gravity thrusters."
She continued to input hundreds of commands at the same time through her mind and mouth.
The ground was quickly approaching.
Not now.
She could feel the difference in pressure and the feeling that her ship wanted to fold unto itself.
Not now.
If she made one mistake now, she would get splattered on the ground with no way of survival.
Not now…..
Both her eyes and mouth were bleeding now.
But she did not blink.
Finally, the moment she had been waiting for arrived…
“Now!!!”
The ship seemed to come to life as a translucent blue shield, seemingly composed of hundreds of octagons covered the ship.
The thrusters reversed and red energy flowed through them as the ship started to fight the pull of gravity.
"Ugh…"
Morgiana groaned as an amalgam of opposing forces applied at the same time hit her body. They made her dizzy and almost lose control of her mind and the connection to the ship.
More and more cracks appeared on her ship. Now she could even see the exterior through the side because of the holes created by the damage.
But— She knew she had succeeded.
She knew she would survive.
Boom!!
This was the last thought of Morgiana before she fainted as her ship finally crashed into the ground and caused a large explosion in the icy vicinity.