Chapter 33: Leaving Serenitia Prime

Jake and Aria entered through the middle entrance and were greeted by the enormous cargo hold of the ship.

"It's Huge!" Aria shouted, the echoes sounding back as she walked around.

'Uhh, Atlas? How big is the storage capacity on this?' Jake asked The Atlas.

(About 15 000 cubic metres Jake. It also seems like this ship is equipped with pressure and temperature controls as well which makes transporting easier in harsher systems.)

After Jake and Aria looked around the cargo bay, they took a tour of the ship.

The ground floor housed spacious living quarters for around 20 people along with a kitchen and lounge.

They then went to the first floor using stairs and Jake and Aria discovered there was more than one way up with hatches and ladders and other access points towards the main bridge.

When they went up, the bulkheads automatically opened and a system blared 'WELCOME ABOARD CAPTAIN'.

"It seems Mr Dravaris already set the ship up for us." Jake spoke to his sister.

"I guess that job was worth it huh." Aria spoke sarcastically referencing Mathaus.

"Hey weren't you the one who was against it?"

"Shut up." His sister laughed and spoke before they entered the main bridge.

They entered a large room with a holo table sitting in the middle. Around the room were multiple chairs and screens most likely for system and armament controls.

'Atlas?'

(Main Bridge of the ship, Crew Capacity 20 for Pilots, Engineers and Security personnel. East hall leads to the Captain's quarters and West hall leads to the medical bay. North is the cockpit.) The Atlas briefly informed Jake.

"Aria let's check out the medical bay." Jake led Aria to the left.

The medical bay was a decent-sized room, capable of treating 5 people and housing 10 at a time. The shelves were stocked with common medication while the more expensive ones were kept behind a locked locker.

The medical bay did not necessarily need a doctor as it had its system capable of diagnosing and treating injured patients autonomously, if needed it could also provide vocal and visual assistance for those with zero medical experience.

"This is helpful." Jake spoke as if he wouldn't need to land to seek medical assistance.

Aria had an interest in the medical field but never went forward with it as doctors were more like supervisors or managers in hospitals.

With the medical bays, it meant humanity could take riskier decisions when expanding and it also meant more human resources could be allocated to other sectors.

"Hmm, maybe when we're travelling back you can practise a bit with the medical bay?" Jake spoke to his sister.

Aria thought for a bit before saying "Okay, could be fun."

They walked back to the main bridge and stood in front of the holo table. Aria who had some experience with a holo table before decided to input their destination coordinates. Jake did not hog the attention from her and let her do it even though the Atlas could have easily guided him through it.

'COORDINATES ACCEPTED. ROUTE CALCULATED. SHALL WE TAKE OFF CAPTAIN' The ship sounded after Aria finished inputting the commands

"Yes!" Aria shouted with excitement.

'STARTING SUBLIGHT ENGINES. TAKEOFF AREA CLEARED. ENGINE EFFICIENCY AT 100 PERCENT.' The Engines immediately started with a loud bang and a roar after.

"Jake let's head to the cockpit." Aria grabbed Jake's hand wanting to see Serenitia as they left.

The cockpit was large with 2 seats facing the side of it, Most likely for monitoring the engines on the ship, the other two were facing forward and Jake and Aria quickly took their seats.

As the ship started to take off, Jake spotted Seraphina standing at the end of the landing pad with her mother.

Jake waved at Seraphina who quickly spotted him waving back.

Just then Jake felt an odd feeling in his head and felt dizzy.

Jake recognised the feeling before thinking in his head 'Seraphina?'.

'Be safe Jake, I can't wait to see you again. I lo...' Seraphina's voice abruptly cut off as Jake felt himself coming normal again.

Jake saw that they had taken off, The Dravaris Mansion was hundreds of metres away and they were heading into the stars.

'I'll see you again Sera.' Jake thought with a smile.

Aria was busy studying the controls and asking the ship several questions before Jake spoke "How long till we reach our destination."

'20 HOURS CAPTAIN IF THERE ARE NO DELAYS AT CRUISING SPEED." The ship informed Jake.

"Well looks like we got a bit of time before we reach home then Aria. I'll watch the cockpit for a while if you need to do anything." Jake asked his sister.

"Then I'll be in the medical bay for a while, Thanks Jake." His sister spoke before leaving the cockpit.

As the ship left Serinitia Prime to the Hyperlane out of the Hellion System Jake spoke to the Atlas.

'So Atlas what do you think overall?'

(It's an extremely good ship, especially in its weight class. It's as agile as a light cargo ship, especially with the Vortex thrusters and carries a greater volume of cargo than a medium-class cargo ship.

It also has both Advanced Energy shields and a Durasteel Alloy Hull so it can take a beating as well.)

Jake quickly pulled up the armaments to take a look.

(The pulse laser turrets are good since they're always automated, we don't need to worry about it. Although Energy intensive the Dual Ion Cannons are good for anything that gets past the turrets.)

'Hold on a second Atlas' as Jake spotted something on the screen.

'Holy Shit Torpedoes.'

(Hidden Torpedo Launchers. Normally only Heavy Cargo or Government Cargo ships carry these. They should allow us to easily punch above our weight class. We should be able to take on Corvettes and lightly armed frigates.)

'Come on Atlas, it's not like we're going to war with the GOE.'

(Most likely not, although our enemies could easily field these types of ships, don't forget the uncolonized and distant regions could have pirates. So we should always be prepared.)

'I understand Atlas.'

In a deserted house on the outskirts of a small town, a man sat quietly on a chair with a gun in his hand.

Mathaus was currently in hiding after Jake had failed to deliver Seraphina to the tanker.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* Someone knocked on the door as Mathaus tightened the grip on his gun and pointed it towards the door.

Again Mathaus heard the door knock as he slowly woke up and got closer.

Before he could come nearer to the door, bullets flew past him as the windows in the house shattered.

"SHIT!" Mathaus jumped down to the floor as the firing continued.

'How could they find me so fast, I'm in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. I need to get out.' Mathaus thought to himself.

He quickly crawled to the wall near the hallway, waiting for his pursuers to enter.

After a minute the firing stopped and Mathaus heard more footsteps at the front door. He heard them banging, trying to break down the door.

He waited until they broke down the door and the moment one has stepped foot in and turned their head away he quickly shit the assassin in the face who instantly dropped to the floor.

"HE'S HERE, EVERYONE TAKE COVER." One of the assassins shouted as the others took cover.

Mathaus had noticed that although the assassins were heavily armed and although they were masked Mathaus recognised that they were not professionals.

"Mercenaries huh? Haha you fucker, you think that's enough to kill me."

Mathaus retreated further down the hall and hid in one of the bedroom door corners.

Another 2 assassins pushed through and when they came near the hallway Mathaus pulled a grenade from under his belt and threw it behind them.

*Boom* a loud explosion sounded and tore a hole in the side of the house.

Mathaus ran towards the hall and caught one of them trying to get up, the explosion tore one of his hands and the man struggled to get up.

"Should have sent more then." Mathaus spoke to the struggling assassin before executing him point blank in the face.

As Mathaus looked around he heard a bang before feeling pain in his abdomen.

"Fuck.", he stumbled and fell near the kitchen counter as two assassins walked up to him their guns drawn and pointed at Mathaus.

"Well, I guess this is the end then, go on shoot me." Mathaus spoke to the assassins.

"You were more trouble than what we were paid for, The Client said he'll pay more if you're alive. He didn't say in what condition." The assassin spoke.

"Grab him and break his limbs, matter of fact, pluck his eye out, he only needs one to see anyway." The assassin spoke to the other who pulled out a knife.

'Shit, I've deleted all the files, so they won't find you. Stay safe Jake.' Mathaus closed his eyes accepting his situation.

*Bang* *Bang* Two shots were heard as Mathaus kept his eyes closed.

"Fucking hell Mathaus, you look like shit."

Mathaus recognised the voice and opened his eyes and smiled.

"John?"