The next week flew by at lightspeed.
After we finished our plan to thwart the Federation, the Colonel had us do combat drills with our respective squads to prepare for anything we might encounter on planet X153E.
These consisted mostly of combat drills against captured monsters, but a few were notably different.
During two of the training drills we had to correctly identify certain minerals and ores and ascertain their useful properties in constructing advanced tools and weaponry to assist us.
The Colonel had The Lab's engineers "donate" some weapons, tools, and even a massive mining robot for us to absorb and replicate with the minerals.
The engineers were understandably upset but the Colonel merely promised them brand new replacements and that seemed to placate them.
The last three training drills were very strange.
The drills took place within several different settings. Two of them were within a primitive city, with buildings composed of rough hewn stone bricks and held together by mortar and streets filled with people.
The third drill was set inside what looked to be an ancient castle with servants milling about while they fulfill their tasks.
Our objective of these three drill was to observe the patterns, language, and behavior of the people within and blend in seamlessly.
Being extremely adaptive and able to change our appearance at will, this task was mundane for Mindal, Rathor, and I.
Our men seemed to have a much harder time completing the task however, as they had to steal clothes hanging from clothes lines and rub dirt all over their faces to blend in with the peasantry.
Finding the sight somewhat humorous, we laughed while men grumbled their annoyance in return.
We continued with the drills for the whole week, before finally we found ourselves standing in a neat formation within the hangar, ready to depart.
"You've all trained hard over the past week for this mission." The Colonel spoke as he stood on a podium in front of our assembly.
"As a show of thanks, the Federation has given you the latest in warship construction for you mission." He says as he points skyward.
We all turn our heads to see what he's pointing at and our jaws practically hit the floor.
Sitting in orbit, just above the atmosphere, is the largest warship I've ever seen.
Most warships I had seen during my service had been small compared to this beast, only measuring 5 miles long at the largest.
But our ship must have been nearly 50 miles long and 15 miles wide, with two enormous gun turrets on both the top and bottom of the ship.
Thousands of smaller guns and CIWS turrets decorated the hull of the ship, giving it the appearance of some kind of metal porcupine.
Embedded in the side of the beast were two, large hangar doors. No doubt holding thousands of fighter craft and transport ships.
As everyone continues staring, the Colonel speaks again.
"This ship is the culmination of 300 years of Federation technology, allowing faster than light travel and unparalleled destruction."
"She's equipped with four, triple atomic cannon turrets, four thousand automated fighter craft, two thousand automated ground support aircraft, two hundred shuttle craft, and a whole slew of defensive weaponry."
He turns back to us before speaking again.
"The Federation considers this mission a top priority so they've sent their best. Don't hesitate to use the resources at your disposal."
"With that said, I wish you good luck and officially authorize your deployment! Men, move out!"
With his speech over, we all board the three shuttlecraft waiting for us within the hangar and after lifting off, they quickly make their way through the atmosphere and towards our new ship.
As we approach the ship it grows slowly in the viewport, until eventually there's nothing but sleek, black plasteel in view, only broken by the name UFS DEVASTATION on its' hull in bold, red lettering.
When we fly close enough to the hangar, the massive doors part, revealing a hangar packed with scores of advanced drone aircraft awaiting deployment.
We finally touch down, and as we exit our transports, a small contingent of men move to greet us.
"Welcome aboard Lieutenant." Says a small man wearing a captain's uniform. "I'm Captain Jenrik of the UFS DEVASTATION and it's my pleasure to serve as your ship commander for this mission."
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"Well met Captain." I say. "This is quite the impressive beast you've got here. She's truly a beauty."
"Thank you Lieutenant. She's the top of the line, and packing more than enough firepower to glass any planet we might come across, but the Federation wants to integrate the planet so we'll have to stick to conventional weaponry." He says with a wink.
"Please, allow me to give you a tour of her facilities while your men get settled in. If you're impressed with the exterior, I'm sure you'll be even more so with her capabilities."
I nod and Mindal, Rathor and I follow the captain into a hallway while two of his men escort our squads to their lodging.
I have to duck my massive frame under the doorway as we enter, but the hallway is luckily spacious enough for me to stand at my full height as we walk.
"I'll explain the ships automated support spacecraft systems first as we walk since you've already seen those." The Captain spoke.
"Essentially, the ship has several automated offensive and defensive systems."
"When attacked by any threat, It calculates the threat level almost instantly and chooses an appropriate amount of response to eliminate the threat."
"In the case of this mission, I doubt there will be any space-borne threats to the ship, and that's where the spacecraft come in."
"The ship has advanced surveillance technology and can spot a speck of dust on the ground from orbit and will be constantly monitoring your teams."
"It will let you deal with most threats without interfering, but if it determines you're in imminent danger, or if you communicate to us that you need air support, it will dispatch a number of ground support spacecraft to assist you."
"You can also call in orbital bombardments from the smaller caliber conventional weaponry to help you assault fortified positions, but won't deploy a nuclear shell without an express request from you."
"The Federation has only given you three the authorization to deploy a nuclear strike, so the ship or myself wouldn't be able to launch one without your authorization first."
"Ah here we are! Allow me to introduce you to the brain that powers the ship, the Nucleus."
Having been walking for quite a while as he spoke, we had arrived at a window and peered through to see what lay inside.
Beyond the window lay a room that seemed to stretch on forever. The room was populated by tall rows of flashing electronics connected with thick bundles of wires that coiled around the server racks like exotic snakes.
"The Federation built this processor specifically for the ship." The Captain spoke. "She's one of a kind, and smart enough to figure out a solution to any problem that may arise."
"Wow." I said. "I never imagined the Federation had technology like this."
"If you think that's cool just wait till you see what's next." Responded the Captain.
He led us further down the hallway until we came to a large, plasteel door with a ID scanner next to it.
He opened the door and within the room behind it was something I had never seen before.
Thousands of small robots were flying about on insectoid wings within the room, carrying raw ores and minerals into a large, donut-shaped structure in the middle of the room.
As they dropped materials into a hopper, a conveyor belt below it carried pure, refined alloys away from the structure and through a hole in the wall.
"This is one of eight fusion reactors we have on the ship." The Captain explained.
"In addition to providing power, they're also capably of converting any raw materials extracted from the planet below into usable alloys that can be used to construct replacement spacecraft and even more ammo for the guns."
"This allows the ship to stay on mission nearly indefinitely, with the only limiting factor being food for the crew."
I nod along as he explains, realizing the ship has similar abilities to our new bodies.
After we exit the reactor room, the we tour a few of the other, less notable facilities before the Captain escorts us to our lodging and leaves to start the ship on her course to our mission.
The next three months flew by in a blast, with most of our time being spent training for the coming mission or watching stars fly by the ship from within the observation room.
I hardly ever saw my men, as once they had discovered the armory with an extensive collection of secret weaponry, they'd been spending almost every waking moment at the shooting range, only taking breaks for meals and sleep.
Mindal's men had been mainly focusing on practicing their skills in blending in, having found a knack for speech craft and spying, and Rathor and his men spent most of their time researching construction technology and learning the wide variety of tools warship stocked.
We finally arrived at our destination during mealtime, with a low WHUMP notifying us that we'd dropped out of faster than light travel.
When the men finished their meals, we all went to the armory to collect our kits.
My men donned their heavy, black and red armor and grabbed their weapons, with all but one sporting heavy, kinetic rifles and one man carrying a familiar anti-material rifle over his shoulder.
I was in my normal heavily armored form, and had absorbed and replaced nearly every weapon in the armory during our three month journey so I had an arsenal of firepower contained within my nanite's code.
Mindal changed his appearance to a cloaked man with a face that was easily forgettable, while his men opted to wear similar attire, donning baggy, leather cloaks that concealed small rifles strapped to bullet proof vests.
Rathor hardly changed his appearance, only altering himself to appear more like a construction foreman than a solder, and his men chose to forgo rifles and armor entirely, choosing instead to wear bulky, synthetic weave jump suits that sported more pockets than I could count. They chose to wear simple pistols strapped to their waist and carried massive bags packed to the brim with useful tools and materials we might need.
After we had all finished suiting up we made our way to the ship's hangar where the Captain was waiting to wish us good luck.
When we entered the hangar, the doors were open, and the atmosphere within was held back by a nearly invisible barrier, allowing us to see the planet we would be landing on.
We were parked in orbit close to the far side of the planet's moon to hide our ship from the natives, but I could still clearly see the beautiful planet below.
It was a large, green marble, with only two large landmasses being separated by a deep blue ocean, splitting the land in two like a giant moat.
The atmosphere had a light blue tint, with hints of red dancing across the horizon from the setting star in the distance.
As we gazed at the beautiful orb below, we're suddenly broken from our trance as the Captain speaks up.
"Beautiful isn't it?" He says in awe. "It looks almost like we never left Earth at all."
He turns to face us before continuing.
"As much as I'd like to look at the planet forever, I'd like to get you on the ground as soon as possible. We don't know how long we'll stay hidden up here so we should get moving."
As he finishes, Mindal, Rathor and I all nodded before heading towards our ships and boarding with our men.
As the ramp closes and we depart from the hangar, I watch as the massive warship slowly shrinks into the distance before being completely obscured by plasma as we begin our entry into the planet's atmosphere.
The ship vibrates and shakes as we continue our descent, until we gradually begin to slow, before finally coming to rest on the surface.