The sky lit up as if a light display. This order, which was honestly a very bad one, just made the chaos worse. Nobody could tell whose side one was on, and that made it so that everyone was shooting the ships around them.

As there were ten thousand ships, this meant that roughly 100 square kilometers of space erupted in the most devastating battle mankind ever witnessed.

I wondered how many lives were going to be lost. Probably more than any battle in the history of the world, especially as the average crew size was 1000 crew members

During this time the NS was fleeing somewhere with the Shackleton in it.

I looked over at Delta, who also watched the unfolding panorama.

“Pretty, if there wasn’t so many people dying.” I commented.

“Well, since they’re all Magnusson’s goons, it doesn’t matter that much.” Delta replied.

Steel’s side of me agreed, while my human side disagreed. I sighed, “There has to be a plan. Right now, all of the rebellion cruisers and such are getting decimated while decimating the Alliance fleet.”

“How do you know which is which? Also, wouldn’t the Alliance deserters want to be put in charge of it all once it ended? This means that the Alliance ships are wiped out, and the rebellion has a greater chance.”

“True.” I replied.

Another battleship exploded in a flash of light bright as the sun. Then another one flashed.

“How many ships are left in the Alliance fleet?” I asked the computer.

“4,860. Make that 4,859.” The computer corrected itself as another flash occurred.

“Set course for the Noble Sacrifice.”

The engine fired up and propelled the Mercury forwards.

“This is the Mercury. The plan has gone successfully. Returning to the Noble Sacrifice.”

“Received, Mercury. Well done.”

I smiled but didn’t answer. I looked over at the scared Alpha. He was sleeping, leaning back in his chair.

“What do we do about Alpha?” asked Delta, “He’ll break out of any prison, and we can’t do anything about him. Only you can kill him.”

“Right.” I gazed at the form of Alpha.

I stood up and then shook his awake.

“What? What do you want me for?”

“I want you to make a choice. Either you will keep fighting, keep resisting and I will be forced to throw you out an airlock. Or you could willingly support the rebellion’s cause and you will gain your freedom and your life. But after that, if you leave I will be forced to hunt you down and kill you. Simple as that.” I knew which one I would choose, and he chose it.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Alright, count me in. Though I dislike it a lot, I agree to your terms.”

“Good.” I unlocked him from the chair. He stood up and rubbed his limbs.

“I could have broken out of those at any time.” He said.

“But, then I will have known where you were, because I attached an alarm to the chains. That’s past now. We are arriving at the Noble Sacrifice in an hour.”

Alpha walked over to a map on the wall.

“Steel, could you look at this map?”

I grudgingly walked over. Alpha pointed to a room on the map. The caption read, “Memory Restoration Room”.

“I believe that both mine and Delta’s memories are locked in there. So, let’s see about that.”

The three of us left the cockpit and after walking through the ship’s interior, found the room. Inside was a bare metal room with a large computer bank covering an entire wall. Four chairs were lined up on the far wall. Each chair looked comforting enough, but they could tell that this was where the memories were reinstated into the ones who lost them.

Alpha and Delta, who transformed herself into normal human form, sat down on two of the chairs.

Suddenly the computer spoke from a speaker in the wall, “Do you want me to re-store these two’s memories?”

“Yes.” I replied.

Suddenly an electrical blast filled the room. Light flared from every circuit. I leapt out of the room, some of my gear on fire. I quickly batted it out.

“Computer! Computer what have you done!?” I screamed.

“I have just exterminated both Alpha and Delta.”

“WHAT?” I looked around in confusion.

“You see, Beta. I am Magnusson, up here in the ship’s computer. Just to infuriate you further, I will tell you the identities of the dead. Alpha was once known as the subjugator. He would have been extremely valuable to the rebellion.”

I felt rage welling up in me.

“Delta was once your closest friend. But of course, both are now dust in that room. I welcome your attempts to change my course, but for now, I’m the boss here. You are my captive. We are going to go on an interstellar voyage. It’ll take a couple million years to complete, so maybe sometime during it, you’ll watch humanity fade and die. But me and you will still live. Of course, I’ll keeping you alive. If not, what would be the fun of it all. You just ruined everything I have worked towards for the last thousand years, you rat! If the rebellion succeeds, I’ll...I don’t know what I’ll do.”

I smiled, “Good. I hope the rebellion beats you to the ground. Its about time humanity gained control of itself, instead of being the slaves of a computer A.I.”

“I am NOT an A.I. I am 100% corrupted human, and I love it, especially as there are millions of copies of myself. My ruler will not miss the absence of just one of his subordinates. Now, I will go into hibernation. Every day there will be one disgusting meal delivered to you, with a glass of water. I leave the rest of the time up to yourself. You’ll have a long time to think.”

The computer went quiet.

I wetted my lips, and then cried. I was being exiled from humanity by a stupid computer.

“Why? Why? Why?” I repeated, wetting the floor with my tears as I lay face down. I was banished, never to hear another human voice, never to see a human face, I would be cast adrift through the stars by a stupid A.I who hated me.

I stood up and hit the wall angrily.

“Hey, watch that. I will attack you if you attack me. I have a wide range of weapons at my disposal, especially since I was designed as a prison ship by Magnusson. He knew this would happen, because he was so wise and far seeing.”

He went silent.

I walked up the passageway, my mind thinking rapidly. I found myself back at the cockpit. I sighed and sat down in the captain’s chair. The irony failed to miss me. Here I was in the captain’s chair while being carried away to destinations unknown and unseen before by a human conscious.

I whispered to myself again, “Why?”

I would have plenty of time to think about that question, “Why?”

The End