Space. Beyond the Asteroid Belt.

A huge white battleship streaked towards one of the moons of the Planet Uranus leaving behind a stretch of disrupted purple energy trail from its thrusters. From the trail one could sense that there was something wrong with the ship, as even the outermost coating of the hull was damaged along with multiple huge scratches and dents.

Inside the command deck of the battleship everyone was seated as Lucifer briefed them of their current scenario.

“Are you for real? It’s just been more than an hour or have you gone senile staying cooped up in that dark room?” Jason grumbled as a look of disdain flashed past his eyes.

[They are here.]

Aria’s voice stopped their argument as everyone looked at the screen simultaneously. After a few minutes of staring at the blank screen and finding no sign of any movement let alone a spacecraft, everyone turned towards Lucifer. Their expression denoting disdain, surprise, puzzlement and even pity, being bombarded with such looks an unhappy expression appeared on his face.

“Stop with those looks okay! I informed you prior that the method is still under research and it was just a prototype, okay?” Lucifer shouted but then noticed that everyone now looked at him with sadness and pity in their eyes which suddenly made him question his existence.

‘My whole life has been in vain. My intellect is being questioned by this plebeians--’

-Beep-

[Picking up an unknown broadcast on the private frequency.]

But before he could further delve into those thoughts Aria’s notification brought him back.

“Hurry, hurry.” Lucifer screamed in hysteria.

[Blehh…..This is Lucy…...Help…….Blehhh]

“Trace the source.” Lucifer said calmly as he was totally focused. His fingers dancing on the console which made his previous self seem like a joke.

Everyone watched curiously and soon a path was traced back towards the source of the message. The ship trembled as everyone took their seats.

Piloting a spacecraft was one of the most important and difficult tasks when humans first created them. Even if technology enabled humans to travel to space, the effects from the travels were not something that a normal human body could tolerate. The huge inertia from the extreme acceleration was enough to reduce a body to pulp. Thus space travel was only restricted to a select few groups among the humans, those who stood at the apex of the evolutionary cycle and possessed a cellular density high enough to withstand such force. As for the method of evolution it was confidential information available only to the higher ups of the I-CA factions.

The battleship reduced its left thruster propulsion forcing the hull to bear a sudden deceleration force and tilting the ship towards the left as it rushed towards the coordinates making a sharp U-turn. Inside the ship everyone had their body plastered to their seat due to the sudden change in direction.

--------

After the formation of I-CA its armed forces were divided into two primary divisions; I-CA Military Command and the I-CA Naval Command with the prior responsible for dealing with the military matters on the planet. Cities known as Guard Posts were constructed all around the human domain, governed by the I-CA Military Command. Despite this, there existed certain independent cities or zones ruled by influential and powerful families or the so-called warlords.

Commercial city, one of the independent cities located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the middle-eastern part of the planet; the central hub for trade and commerce and the base of operations of the Commercial League. Due to the huge influx of population entering and exiting the city, the Military Command had to create a safe path and constantly clear the surrounding area from any Terra-formed creatures.

On one of these paths a man could be seen walking towards the city with a backpack on his shoulders and a spear in one hand. Occasionally buses carrying passengers could be seen moving to and fro on the path. These buses were the transport medium for the general populace and were manned by the Military Command thus making it a safe way for transport. Just then one of the buses stopped ahead of the man and an officer wearing a military uniform stepped out.

“HEY YOU! HOP ON!” The officer shouted pointing towards the man.

The man gazed at the officer and stood in silence.

“GET ON!” The officer shouted again.

“Officer Ali, he is missing the translator. Lieutenant Haider, pass him the standard set for use.” A feminine voice sounded from within the bus as an officer with three golden stars on her shoulder said calmly.

“Yes Cap.” Another officer with two golden stars on his shoulders fiddled with the bag and took out a small black box, handing it to the man named Ali.

“Ah, my bad, Cap.” Ali said as he moved towards the man. He stepped slowly with his hands indicating the man to stay still and opened the black box facing towards the man. Within the box were two devices, one seemed like a wrist-watch and the other like an earpiece.

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Using his hands Ali instructed the person to wear the devices. Once done he displayed a similar device on his wrist and ear, as he proceeded to guide the man to activate it. After a few clicks the device was activated.

“Can you understand me now?” Ali asked, making an okay sign with his hands.

“Yes.” The man replied.

“Perfect. Hop in, we will drop you to the city.” Ali said, pointing towards the bus.

The man nodded and followed Ali as he took a seat. The bus trembled as the engine roared spewing out a huge black cloud and the bus started moving. Once on track, Ali moved towards the man and sat beside him.

“My name is Ali, you can call me Officer Ali.” He introduced himself as he held his hand out.

“Hello, you can call me Adi.” The man shook his hand and nodded.

“Nice, see that person driving the bus with the huge scar on his face, he is Officer Dana and that bald person over there he is Lieutenant Hiader--”

“Hey, don’t call me bald. They will grow for sure!” Lieut. Haider shouted in rage as he swept his hand on his head.

“Yeah yeah, Lieut.” Ali nodded in affirmation as he moved closer to Adi.

“He has been saying that since we met him. Poor man, he lost his hair in an encounter with the Terra-formed creature.” Ali mumbled slowly only for Adi to listen.

“Next, that person is our benevolent Captain. Captain Amina.” Ali introduced the last person in the bus.

“So tell me Adi, have you been to the Commercial City before or is this your first time? Well, considering you did not possess the tact-watch and translator, it should be your first, right?” Ali asked.

“Yes. It is my first time.” Adi replied in confusion.

After hearing his reply, the faces of the Lieutenant and Captain twitched in annoyance meanwhile Officer Ali’s eyes glowed with an unknown radiance as he opened his mouth.

“I see, don’t worry my friend. This Officer Ali will shower you with my knowledge regarding the city.”

Officer Ali cleared his throat and assumed a look of a professional, his gaze seemed to cross the river of time and landed on the period when the city was being constructed.

“You see, the actual Commercial city is not open for the civilians. Civilians are only able to access the outermost area of the city that we from the Military Command call the Trade Center. The Trade Center is a huge island in the shape of the Palm tree connected to the coast and surrounded by huge aquatic defensive walls, which makes it easy for the Military Command to defend. I heard this from my grandfather, he used to say that during the decade of Reboot, the Commercial League was not known by this name and it was a joint alliance of various powers under the command of a central family.”

Hearing this, Adi's eyes glowed as he seemed to be drawn towards the story. Officer Ali noticed this and smiled.

“This central family had powerful warriors in their ranks who waged wars all across the coastal areas and cleared them of the Terra-formed creatures. These warriors were able to summon powerful weapons from thin air and were well versed in martial arts and close combat, some of them could even spew powerful energy blasts from their bare hands---”

“Don’t listen to this nonsense. It’s just rubbish. If there really existed such powerful warriors we would not be struggling to survive.” Captain Amina interrupted in between.

“Alright, Cap. No need to be so serious, I am just saying what my grandfather said to me.” Officer Ali justified helplessly.

As the Captain and Ali argued, no one noticed that Adi had a surprised expression on his face which disappeared within seconds.

“Do you know about the actual city? I would like to know about it.” Adi asked.

“Of course. The northern part of the city is off-limits to the civilians and that area is heavily guarded by the CL personnel. That is the core part of the Commercial City, a totally independent part. But--” Ali gestured Adi to come closer as he continued, “--that area is just an extension, sort of like a connection point to the core of the city which is actually located somewhere in the ocean and is guarded by those powerful warriors. Presumably there are battleships and powerful weapons guarding that place from the Terra-formed creatures--”

-Psh-

-Thud-

Just as Ali could continue, the brakes hit the bus and it stopped with a jerk and Ali’s head banged on the front seat.

“HEY! WATCH IT, DANA.” Ali growled loudly as he rubbed his sore forehead. But he forgot to notice that despite such a jerk, Adi’s body remained stable and it did not even move an inch forward.

“Alright, stop it now. We have reached our destination. Lieutenant Haider, check the supplies. Officer Dana refuel and Officer Ali, guide the civilian towards the reporting center and meet us at the refueling center in 15 minutes.” Captain Amina relayed orders one after another.

Ali guided Adi towards the reporting center, which was a two storied building built by the Military Command used to register the civilians entering and exiting the city. All along the way, Ali introduced him to many different stores; some traded in daily goods, some in defensive equipment, various different devices, weapons and even vehicles. In short everything that was needed to survive could be found in this city.

“That is the reporting center. Go in there and register yourself but beware that due to the nature of the city the reporting center is manned by the personnel from the Commercial League. Those bastards are really arrogant and look down on everything.”

Giving this final warning Ali bid farewell to Adi, as this was his daily job. Adi looked at the two storey building which was made of wood. He moved his footsteps and entered; inside the building there were few people standing in a queue behind a desk. There was a person seated behind the desk dressed in a military uniform but unlike those from the Military Command it was colored blue, signifying the uniform of the Naval Command.

Adi stood in the line and soon it was his turn. The person behind the desk asked him his name and reason for visit to which Adi answered he was looking for someone. The man did not inquire any further as this was a common occurrence in the current world.

After the registering process was done he ventured out on the streets. Finding a place to sit, he took out another wrist-watch from his bag and switched it on. After a series of numbers flashed past the screen of the wrist-watch, a small map appeared on the screen with directions pointing towards the northern part of the city. The part which was restricted to civilians and considered as the core of the city and housed the personnel from the Commercial League.