“Commodore!”

Kliest instinctively took a nearby PWLPB blaster right beside him and raised his body, eyes opened with visible drowsiness. Upon seeing that there was nobody near him or around his surroundings. Kliest slowly lowered his blaster beside him and Kliest replied.

“Lisa…” he drowsily replied, slowly gaining awareness as time went by, “What… its in the middle of the night…”

“I have good news! Commodore!” Lisa yelled through the HCD under Kliest’s uniform exactly on his chest. Her voice echoed through the cave’s large, confined interior. “You’re Promoted to Rear Admiral of the Lower Nebulae!”

She said in a joyous tone, like a child that was given her favorite toy. On the other hand, while Kleist was also happy of the news, but due to his current state of recently waking up from his sleep, he couldn’t give much of a reply other than:

“Oh, really? That’s nice… Do you have anything other to tell me?”

“No, Rear Admiral…” She emphasized Kliest’s new rank. Immediately, due to how Lisa was talking, Kliest subconsciously thought of her as somebody who was teasing him, “On our part, everything is now in an acceptable state, though we're still having difficulties from time to time, overall: the fleet’s has been lifted from a 'shambled' condition, though only barely.”

“Oh, really? That’s nice… Anything else?”

“Nothing left, Rear Admiral.”

“Alright, I still need some sleep…” Kliest lethargically informed Lisa, slowly shifting his hand in his uniform and abruptly ending his call with Lisa. He then reclined his body back on the ground, pulling back the blanket that was now on his legs back to his chest, and tardily replying, “…Dis…miss…”

***

Around a few hours later, Kliest had now woken up from his sleep. As he walked towards the cave’s entranceway, Kliest was greeted by the orange-induced sky as the sun slowly rose from the horizon whilst the cold breeze of the wind brushed his body. His military lifestyle included waking up at the early morning or in other words— time when the sun has yet to rise.

“Wew…” Kliest stretched his body, “Micron… body analysis.”

[There has yet to be any complications, Rear Admiral, your body is still in a perfect, able condition.]

“That’s good…” Kliest grinned, as he looked out on the massive expanse called the sky, he commented “… Rear Admiral, Huh… Sound’s good.”

Kliest then returned back to his cave, unlike the massive world surrounding him. Kliest’s makeshift headquarters was dark, damp, cold and depressing. Something he didn’t have a problem with it. For Kliest, he used anything he could get his hands on, he wasn’t picky with his equipment and was even willing to use a mere stick as a weapon, if the situation came.

“Now…” Kliest uttered as he examined his headquarters’ condition— a burnt out campfire, empty cans of his provisions, empty water bottles, a bottle of Nanopills, and the bones of his first hunt— all of which were on the ground being in an unorganized manner.

“What do I do…”

Currently, Kliest had been staying within the cave’s confine for exactly 2 days within the planet’s time system. He occasionally went outside to hunt, scavenge and investigate the surrounding areas.

If I consider my situation I have to choices, continue to stay in this depressing workplace or start investigating the surroundings. Kliest weighed down his possibilities as he caressed his chin.

“Lisa,” Kliest then suddenly requested his AI’s presence, of which she immediately responded.

“Rear Admiral?”

Lisa and the several other AI caretakers within the fleet had been tirelessly repairing their fleets' capabilities, making their time valuable than before. Yet, even if they exhausted theirselves and used most of their manpower, it still wasn't enough to call the fleet 'decent'. Adding to this was the fact, Lisa and the Other AI's barely had any time to do other objectives such as reconnaissance— as they were already occupied with the repairs.

This left Kliest in somewhat a bind.

“—Again, I’m only asking this as a personal question, about the hyperdrive reactors or long-distance transportation, are you really sure that it’s impossible?”

“… Forgive our abilities, Rear Admiral, but all of our hyperdrive reactors or any propulsion devices that could enter hyperspace… are now in a state of being unfixable.”

Kliest nodded his head, accepting his fate that he knew, even if he had a fleet with tremendous firepower. It was useless if he couldn’t navigate it— in other words, it would be difficult to fight an enemy with his stationary ships— basically, Kliest and his fleet were sitting ducks.

9 ships… all abilities of long-distance transportation broken… damn… that’s unlucky…

“Lisa, then let’s take another course of action…” Kliest recomposed himself, now talking in a confident voice, “Have you gathered information about the world and its surroundings?”

“We haven’t possessed much information other than the star system is comprised of 6 planets, all of which are habitable,” Lisa continued, “Though most of our ships reconstruction is still in progress. I can assure you, Rear Admiral, as the caretaker of the Blue Nebulae, I'll try to allocate enough resources for reconnaissance.”

“That’s reassuring, but speed up the process, I’m planning to change headquarters, this depressing cave is slowly losing its charm.”

“understood, Rear Admiral.”

“alright, Dismiss.”

Kliest ended their conversation through the HCD. Subsequently, Kliest immediately gathered all of his trash towards a specified location within the cave. Following this, Kliest began fixing his medium sized duffle bag, to which his other armaments and remaining provisions were now able to fit comfortably.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Kliest then carried the duffle bag on his shoulder and walked towards the cave’s opening. He looked back towards the cave to see if he had left anything else, once he knew he left nothing of his provisions or history that he was ever there.

He aimed his PWLPB blaster towards his mound of trash, subconsciously ordering the gun to change munitions to [Burst] rounds and changed the output to 1%. Personal Identification control— it was one of the Federation’s many types of security for their weaponry, requiring several procedures such as ‘Fingerprint’, ‘Blood Identification’, and its most complex security procedure— Conscious sharing.

Once the user was able to complete all the assigned procedures for the weaponry, they could freely use it as they wish. Thanks to the weapon’s ‘Conscious sharing’ function, the user could command a change in munitions or firing mode in their mind, without even saying a word or physically moving— making it reliable in stealth missions.

Bang!~

Immediately a ball of lethal, explosive plasma left the blaster’s rifle. With tremendous speed, it headed directly towards Kliest’s pound of trash and upon the two object’s collision.

A loud Booooom!!! occurred, its echo continued to ring through the cave’s seemingly endless confines of darkness. The mound of trash then went ablaze in an instant, burning everything inside it’s elegantly dancing flames— in under a few seconds, the mound which included bones were decimated, leaving nothing but an ashed outline of its diameter.

A plasma ball’s temperature is usually around a few thousand Celsius and that is just 1% of its output… it won’t dissipate as long as nothing stops it.

Several blasters within the Federation’s armament possessed the ability to shoot out Plasma balls. They were quick to produce and was as deadly as heavy weaponry. But it wasn’t used much— not because of its 5 shot cost in the energy pack, but because of how weak the ball's figure was.

A plasma ball was like a fragile ball of glass with a several distinct types of ‘destructive’ chemicals/matter inside— A glass warship. If a bullet or an object were to intercept its trajectory, sometimes even if just a slightly faster gust of wind opposing its trajectory— it would immediately explode upon contact— possessing the ability to decimate an entire building in just one shot if not used or measured correctly.

Normally the designated output must no more than 50%, but many soldiers disobeyed this and used it above the designated output, causing the Federation’s weapon’s manufacturing companies to input heavy restriction on the PWLPB variants, unless the user is in a critical or dire situation involving life and death, the weapon’s restriction would be lifted… permanently…

Upon seeing that there was no longer any physical evidence that showed that Kliest used the cave as a makeshift headquarters, he left the cave. Planning to journey to somewhere more pleasant than a depressingly confined cave.

Micron, Long-Distance running mode and increase the 5 senses’ awareness. We’re going for a long journey.

[Understood, Rear Admiral.]

Before starting his long-distance journey to the unknown, Kliest first started stretching his body to try and limit any pain. After stretching his body, Kliest contacted Lisa through the HCD, of which he finally took out of his uniform after 2 complete days.

“Lisa…” Kliest contacted Lisa, “Do you hear me? Though it’s only been a few minutes after I gave the order, have you learned anything of the world?”

Like what Kliest was expecting, Lisa’s stunning figure showcased herself through the HCD. Her long dazzling golden hair, her bright green emerald eyes. To Kliest, after being unable to see her body after a few days, it was like he just felt something abrupt stabbed his chest.

“Rear Admiral?” Lisa inquired the Rear Admiral’s sudden request of contact, “…About the information gathering, please give me more time, I've already sent about 5 reconnaissance drones.”

“…Ah—” Kliest abruptly stopped his sentence, recomposing himself, he looked at Lisa with a stern gaze, “—Alright, when can the first batch of data be sent to me.”

“Depending on the world, geography and demographics— The earliest transfer may be around 10 or so days.”

“So, if the world is larger and more diverse than what we’ve expected, the gathering will be extended.”

“Affirmative, Rear Admiral.”

Kliest nodded his head in agreeance, and replied, “Alright, report to me as soon as possible if there’s been any progress— Dismiss!”

“Understood, Rear Admiral.” Lisa gave a crisp salute towards Kliest, Kliest replied with the same gesture. Whilst the two saluted each other, the HCD’s holographic screen automatically stopped.

After their communication, Kliest returned the HCD back to his uniform. Once he returned his HCD back, he double checked his duffle bag and its contents, after double checking his duffle bag, Kliest started jogging through the forest.

As he jogged, he would slowly increase his speed and restructure his breathing, whilst subconsciously commanding Micron to start the long-distance running mode.

Micron… if you would please start Long-distance running mode…

[Roger, Rear Admiral.]

While the Nanomachine that were given to soldiers possessed several functions, some of these functions needed something like a ‘Trigger’ or ‘Spark’ to activate. For example, Long-distance running mode, to start long-distance running mode, the owner must first run slowly and slowly increase speed as he continues, and only then should they command the Nanomachines to start Long-Distance running mode, for a smooth transition.

Whilst Long-distance running mode is active, the nanomachines would first reinforce the lung cells in order to maximize the efficiency of this process and also enhance the maximum oxygen intake capacity of one’s blood. In other words, it would allow its user to breathe and or run without feeling much fatigue or exhaustion.

This makes it possible to limit and decrease the body’s fatigue along with conserving its user’s oxygen, but it can’t be used often because it puts too much strain on the body.

Then again, can long-distance running mode be initiated if you just stand in an upright position? refusing to move? can that start long-distance running mode instantaneously?

After several minutes of jogging through the unexplored forest, Kliest freely and carelessly ran through it without regarding the forest’s inhabitants. Thanks to his nanomachine’s support, Kliest’s fatigue was yet to catch up to him.

But even if he nonchalantly ran through the forest like his backyard, his awareness of his surroundings was improved tenfold. Currently, thanks to his nanomachine’s [Increased Senses] function, he could clearly hear different types of sounds from miles away, he could identify and separate different types of scents and odors even if they overlapped each other, he could feel the vibrations under his feet, and his eyes’ maximum distance and precision was increased than before.

Thanks to technology… Kliest commented as he ran, waterfalls? Insectoids? Animals fighting for supremacy, the croaking of the frogs… the pleasant smell of different types of flowers, shit…

The nanomachine’s [Increased senses] was what many soldiers in the federation coined as the two-sided blade. If they weren’t careful enough, their mind could get swallowed up due to too much information entering their mind— more information than their brain could process. However, if one’s mind was as clear and as flexible as water, then they could use the function to its full potential— to clearly locate enemy locations or if something was to attack the user— thanks to [Increased senses], he would be able to notice it and take action before the enemy could react.

Somehow, this forest seems rather peaceful or somewhat pacified… If I understand how forests worked, there should’ve atleast been opposition towards me… unless there is a proper hierarchical system…

[Piiiii—!]

[Piigyuuu—!]

[Piiii— Piii—!]

[Giiiyuuuu—!]

[Piii—! Gyiiii—!]

[Pyouuuu—! Miiii—!]

Suddenly, in an unknown location, an inaudible conversation attracted Kliest’s attention. Thanks to Kliest’s [increased senses] he was able to clearly set his ears on the inaudible conversation.

Since Kliest had yet to meet other type of species that could converse with him. Even though it was inaudible and was probably non-communicable, Kliest’s curiosity slowly took over his body.