Chapter Thirteen: Kuiper Belt Mission Part One

*Location: Kuiper Belt*

"Is everything in position?" Captain Aurora asked.

"Yes, ma'am, the UNS Florence, UNS Annapolis, and UNS Evangelion are in position; we're waiting on your orders." A bridge hand said.

"Alright, prep the Sentinel Fireteams for launch, and..."

"Ma'am, we're getting a signal from inside the Kuiper belt, working on identification." A bridge hand said.

"Launch all the fireteams now, just in case." Aurora said.

"Yes, ma'am, assigned fireteams are green for launch." A bridge hand spoke into the mic that was heard in the sentinel bay.

*A few minutes before launch, Sentinel Bay*

"Is everyone ready?" Lena asked on comms.

"Yes, Lena, we are green to go when given the order." Eleonora said.

While waiting, the Fireteam Epsilon members were talking on comms with each other.

"Are you guys ready?" Scarlet asked on the comms.

"Yeah, just nervous, you know." Tyler said.

"We are all nervous, but calm yourself. The more calm you are, the less likely you are to make a mistake." Ren said.

"I know, but it's our first actual mission. How can you be calm?" Tyler asked Ren.

"I'm good at keeping myself level-headed when I need to." Ren said.

It was then that Lily joined the conversation.

"He always is calm; do you meditate or something, Ren?" Lily asked.

"Something like that." Ren answered.

Then another voice joined the conversation.

"I somehow both expected that from you and am also completely surprised by it at the same time." Serenity said.

"Are you all ready, Serenity?" Ren asked.

"I am set to go, but I am missing something." Serenity said.

"What?" Ren asked.

"A good luck kiss from you." Serenity teased with a seductive voice.

"Everytime..." Ren thought to himself. "

"One day, I swear..." Scarlet thought to herself upon hearing this conversation.

"Everyone, we have the green light for mission launch." Lena said on comms.

"It's go time, Epsilon!" Eleonora yelled.

Then the fireteams of Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, and Theta all launched together and met up with the sentinel teams from the other ships as well.

"Wait everyone!" Lena yelled on comms "We're getting strange readings from the Kuiper Belt; standby until we confirm."

Everyone listened and just waited.

It was then that Ren saw something in the Kuiper belt; it had a green glow, and Ren couldn't tell what it was, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"Everyone disperse!" Ren yelled on comms.

It was then that green glow he saw was unleashed, and he learned what it truly was: a weapon.

A shot of green energy hit the USN Florence directly while also taking out a third of The Florence's sentinels who were in the crossfire. Nobody knew what just happened, but the UNS Florence started to explode all around the ship until the biggest explosion of them all happened right at the center of the UNS Florence, destroying the ship.

*Centauri Empire ships*

"What power..." Princess Lucilia said.

"Confirmed destruction of one of their vessels." General Attius said.

"Launch the knights now!" General Veranius said.

"I'll be joining the knights now; General Seuse, will you join me?" Princess Lucilia said.

"Of course, princess." General Seuse said.

"Good, General Attius, you can take command of the ships." Princess Lucilia said.

"Yes Princess!" General Attius said.

*In the battle*

"What...just happened?" Ren said on comms.

"Unknown weapon fired from the Kuiper Belt; currently, the UNS Florence status is all hands lost; the last remaining forces are about a third of their sentinel forces." Lena said on comms.

"Listen up! The plan hasn't changed; prepare to engage!" Eleonora said.

The Centauri Empire forces started to launch from behind the asteroids, and the battle had officially begun.

"Fireteam Epsilon, it's time to engage. We've been assigned to try and engage specialist targets. These targets are high-priority generals who fight in not your average machine; they will look different and be in a different color, so our job is to eliminate as many of them as possible." Lena explained.

Eleonora then said "Our plan is for Epsilon to break into two teams. I will lead one, and Grace will lead the other. Kian, Ren, Serenity, Scarlet, Tyler, and Jessica, you're with me. Everyone else but Lily and Chloe, you're with Grace. Lily and Chloe your job will be targeting at a distance. Everyone understood?"

"Understood!" Fireteam Epsilon all said.

Eleonora led Ren and the others to the battle; they were targeting as many hostiles as they could until they saw two enemies in special-looking Centurions. One was purple, compared to the usual centurion color being black, while the other one was red.

"Two special targets have been acknowledged; we're engaging." Eleonora said on comms.

Epsilon fired at the two and their guards, destroying four of the basic centurions of the Empire, and they knew they had drawn the attention of the two special targets.

Ren went after the purple centurion with the help of Scarlet, Serenity, and Tyler, while the others started to focus on the red centurion.

Ren was trying to get the upper hand on the purple centurion by weaving through the asteroids, but whoever was piloting it was not losing sight of him.

"Damn, I can't shake them long enough to plan a trap." Ren thought to himself. "Serenity fires some missiles at the asteroids where I'm currently, and Tyler and Scarlet prepare to launch an attack on this centurion." Ren said on comms.

Serenity did what Ren asked and unleashed some of her missiles at the asteroids, causing some of the shrapnel to hit the purple centurion, but it didn't stop chasing Ren.

"Damn, not enough; Scarlet and Tyler engage now!" Ren ordered.

The two started to fire at the purple centurion, but it was dodging nearly every shot from the two.

"What the hell is this thing?" Ren thought to himself, seeing the centurion miss it completely.

*Inside the purple centurion cockpit*

"Hm...this pilot is trying to shake me, is he?" Princess Lucilia said. "No matter, my knight is too powerful for these basic ones the people from Planet Three use. But with this one in front of me, he seems faster than the others."

Lucilia kept chasing the machine, but to little success as it kept bobbing around the asteroids, but at the same time she was getting fired at by the other two machines.

"This is annoying..." Lucilia thought to herself.

*Ren's perspective*

"This isn't working..." Ren thought to himself, but an idea crept into his head.

"Well, it's better than being killed." Ren thought to himself before going into his settings in his cockpit. "Sorry, Captain, but I'm going to have to break a rule or two..." 

Ren turned his settings to having no limiters, making his sentinel faster than before, and was now able to create separation from the pursuing Centurion.

"Now it's time to start fighting back." Ren thought to himself.

*Princess Lucilia's perspective*

"How did it get faster?" Princess Lucilia thought to herself.

Princess Lucilia kept chasing the machine until she was past two asteroids that exploded next to her.

"Did they plant explosives?" Lucilia asked herself. "How tricky."

The machine started to fire on her knight, and she decided to engage it herself. Neither of the two was able to gain an advantage, and they were fighting on an even battlefield. However, something was going on with Lucilia; she started to lose focus and lost herself in the fight, smiling even while enjoying the back and forth with this unknown fighter.

"How interesting...there's someone on my level after all..." 

* Ren's perspective*

"Whoever is piloting this Centurion is highly skilled; maybe I'm dealing with a general?" Ren thought to himself before speaking on comms."Scarlet, Serenity, Tyler? Where are you?"

Scarlet was the one to answer, "We've been fighting some troops that attacked us out of nowhere; have you dealt with that target yet?"

"No, whoever this is, they are highly skilled; I'm struggling to even get a step ahead of them." Ren explained.

"I can come and help you-" Scarlet said before being interrupted.

"No, focus on your own fighting; I'll manage somehow." Ren said.

"Alright, Ren, please be careful." Scarlet said.

"I will, but this fight is going to need me to take some risks." Ren said before turning off comms.

"Alright, I guess it's just you and me now." Ren thought to himself, looking at the purple centurion.

Ren started the chase all over again, but this time he left the Kuiper belt and instead headed to what was left of UNS Florence.

He flew all around until he found what he was looking for—a titanium alloy pipe he could use as a melee weapon.

Once he grabbed it, he charged the purple centurion and knocked away its gun, leaving it defenseless, but that was what he thought...

* Princess Lucilia Perspective*

"Taking away my gun making this a melee-only fight? Not bad, but a horrible assumption in thinking that was my only weapon." Princess Lucilia said.

It was then that she grabbed a hit that was located at the side of her knight, and when she held it, a metallic substance unfolded from inside the hilt and completed itself, making it a metal sword she could wield.

"Now, we're even." Princess Lucilia said.

* Ren's perspective*

"You got to be shitting me...."

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