Turmoil

"Captain, Are we letting him go?", Lieutenant Holland asked from behind.

The captain turned to look at him. He had a dark expression. Holland could tell exactly what the captain was thinking. But he didn't want to voice it.

"Do you want to stop him? Tell me Holland, do you think you can stop him?", Captain Huges asked.

Lieutenant Holland's expression darkened immediately. He knew very well that no matter what they did, no one could stop Kita now. He had declared that he was going to the planet, and that was where exactly he would be going. Nothing could stand in his path.

"Send in the security forces necessary with him. Give him everything he might need, knowing him, he's planning on going there solo. Don't let him go alone. The Arcorn empire can't lose someone like him.", The captain said with a resigned voice. He knew he couldn't stop Kita, so he would rather assist him rather than standing in his way.

"Copy that sir. I'll send them his way.", Holland said as he moved away to perform the tasks.

The captain laid back on his seat as he looked at the planet through the open view from the deck. He wondered to himself.

"What are you?"

———

Kita swiftly moved to the deck. Although he had an inking going to the bridge, but he still thought there might be some hope. All of his hopes was crushed as soon as the first call ended. He had realized that there was no one left to pick up the call.

He couldn't waste any more time. He needed to go there. And he needed to go there right away. He had already asked the hanger crew to prepare a shuttle beforehand. So it was on stand-by and ready for departure.

He planned to go alone. There was no time to form a team and everything. He didn't need one. He could handle himself and a shuttle well enough. He threw all caution to the air and headed straight for B1.

He exited the pod and entered in the hanger-bay. He saw the shuttle that was already fueled and ready to go, he quickly walked towards it when a team of soldiers and mechs stood before him.

This was unexpected. He didn't expect the captain to try to stop him. But he could understand. But that didn't mean he would let them stop him. He looked at the leader of the soldiers and said in a clear tone.

"It's futile to try to stop me, You're better off standing aside. Tell the captain that I'll be back soon.", He said as he started to walk around the group.

"We're not here to stop you Dr. Kita, We'll be joining you on the mission. We've been sent to assist you and to evacuate any remaining assets from the planet.", The leader of the group said.

Kita heard the guy. He suddenly stopped in his tracks. He moved towards the leader of the group. He approached him. As he got closer and closer, the leader got spooked a bit.

Kita went within breathing distance of the leader and slowly said in his ears.

"The 'Assets' that you're referring to are my researchers. They're not some inanimate objects. They're real human beings. Don't disrespect them. Even in their death, you aren't allowed to.", Kita said with a bone-chilling tone. He was furious.

Cold sweat ran down from the neck of the leader. He didn't expect him to get offended. He didn't meant any offense. He was just using the language used in his briefing.

Kita moved away from the leader and kept staring at him. His eyes were cold enough to freeze anyone on the spot. He didn't say anything further. Before the leader could say anything back, he said.

"Get up the shuttle. Anyone not inside will be left behind. We're going in 1 minute exactly."

He said as he walked towards the shuttle without giving anyone a secound look. He didn't have any attention left to give to anyone.

As he entered the shuttle, he directly went to the pilot seat and sat down. He began starting up the starting sequence. And as soon as everything was ready. He took off. He didn't even confirm everyone was on-board.

The leader came up to him and said.

"Dr. Kita, we're supposed to have mech escorting us."

"Tell them to follow us. We're going ahead. I can't wait for them."

Kita was piloting the shuttle himself. Usually he didn't do this and a dedicated pilot would be responsible for piloting the shuttle. But he had enough qualifications to pilot a shuttle. Another pilot from the crew came and took the other free seat.

From the mood of the room, he could deduct it was best not to say anything. He began to perform his duties silently.

It took a shuttle 43 Minutes to reach the planet from the orbit at full speeds. It took them another 2 hours to reach the location of the Monolith. That was their main target. So the other locations of the other teams weren't a priority for them.

These 2 Hours and 43 Minutes were the most tense moments of Kita's life. He just couldn't help but drift into thought about the scene that he saw. The way helen's body was being folded and mutilated floated in front of eyes. His thoughts constantly drifted into what happened to her. He couldn't find the words to describe what the hell he was feeling. But he decided to keep focused. He needed to figure out what exactly had happened to her. And if there was any chance that she was still….

He didn't want to say it. He didn't dare to. But in his heart. He held onto his hope. He refused to believe until he saw for himself. IN PERSON. He refused to believe what he saw.

Not even Kita could describe his inner turmoil. But he recognized the fact that this wasn't the time to breaking down. Time was a crucial resource. He needed to reach her as soon as possible. He needed to know if there was still any hope left. But as the journey progressed, his unsettled emotions increased. One could only hold onto hope for so long. But no matter what He didn't want to believe.