The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Frontier Region)

(Imperial Army Starship- Mark112 Volatean Series)

Katarina guided the group confidently through a maze of side-passages and corridors until they arrived at an unmarked metalloid door.

The scarred red-haired woman placed a finger against the scanner in the middle of the door and soon a loud bleeping noise could be heard coming from the speaker overhead.

The door swung open to reveal a large open space filled with rows of stations and monitors. This was the central command room for the starship.

Duke Peterlor's servants immediately stood up and bowed as Sophie entered the room. Their voices of respect echoed through the open space as they eagerly greeted their ladyship.

"Milady it is an honour to see you again."

"Please accept our apologies for not coming sooner."

"Young Miss…"

Sophie smiled gently and gestured for them to relax. Katarina also shot a cold look towards the servants and discretely signalled them to cool it.

Katarina's prestige among the servants was so great that they instantly returned to piloting the starship without complaint.

"So… this is the famous successor of the Peterlor family," a hoarse voice came from the back of the room.

Sophie turned towards the direction of the voice and saw a muscular pale-skinned man approaching them.

He wore a plain brown robe with golden angelic halos and demonic symbols engraved on certain parts of the fabric.

His skin was as white as snow with thick wriggling veins that squirmed and pushed against the surface of his flesh.

What was most disturbing about his appearance were the two open wounds on his palms that bled profusely.

Sophie felt a bit confused as she observed that when the blood droplets hit the floor they seemed to vanish after a few seconds.

"The Nephilim Church has my gratitude for providing my father with the means to launch this rescue operation," Sophie spoke respectfully.

"House Peterlor will not forget this favour."

She didn't know the identity of this man but clearly he was the de facto spokesperson of the church onboard the vessel.

"Forget it," Bishop Walsh coughed heavily as he pointed towards Rachel.

The elderly man's tense eyebrows loosened for a moment as he stared at his troublesome charge.

"The debt you owe us… give it to Saintess Rachel instead."

"Wait… what?" Rachel stammered in shock but the firm look in Bishop Walsh's eye made the words of protest die down in her throat.

Sophie didn't understand why this senior member of the church would turn an organisational debt into a personal one but she respected his wishes.

She nodded twice and a relieved smile flashed across the face of the elderly man.

The bishop turned around and returned to the back of the room where the other members of the church stood quietly.

"Big sister… that man was a bit scary," Lily whispered quietly. Sophie chuckled and picked up the little girl in her arms.

"Sophie… we're friends.. I didn't do this just to expect something in return…" Rachel hesitantly spoke.

Sophie shook her head twice before replying softly, "Just because we are friends doesn't mean that I don't owe you."

"I am truly grateful for what you have done."

Rachel's angelic wings trembled slightly as Sophie gave her a warm smile.

The two girls shared a moment before returning the conversation to other topics such as the current news surrounding the royal family.

Katarina saw that her ladyship was comfortable so she strode towards the captain's chair and gave out new orders.

A slight vibration rippled across the hull as the powerful tractor beam device located on the underside of the spacecraft was switched on.

A full detailed map of the mercenary starship that Sophie was previously on had already been uploaded to the main AI system.

Katarina enhanced the image and then used the AI programming to calculate the exact force and location needed to extract the trapped escape spacecrafts.

Sophie continued her conversation with Rachel but secretly connected to the mental network that bound her to the mirror copy.

[What's the situation on your side?]

A wave of memories flowed into Sophie's mind that caused the hybrid girl to pause for a moment in the middle of her conversation with Rachel.

The scene inside the mercenary starship had been total chaos once Sophie and Lily had disappeared from the room.

Fortunately, Sophie's clone had been able to explain to the panicked warriors through the use of violent force that some of them would still survive.

Right now, they were just uneasily waiting to see which two escape spacecrafts would be extracted from beneath the rubble.

This would allow Captain Hessan to know the exact number of individuals that would be able to leave the doomed starship.

Perspherene was still unconscious but the healing serum that Sophie had injected into her body was causing the wounds on her skin to regenerate.

Captain Hessan told Sophie's clone that Perspherene's species were a race known for their survivability so she should be fine once she wakes up.

"Hey Sophie… are you alright?" Rachel's concerned voice snapped Sophie out of her daze.

"Yeah. Sorry I just got lost in thought for a minute," Sophie replied calmly. She was about to continue speaking when she noticed Katarina discretely make a series of hand signals.

Sophie's right hand moved slightly as her fingers twitched in a certain way to form symbols.

"Okay I got it," Sophie mouthed silently towards the red haired-haired woman sitting casually on the captain's chair.

Katarina nodded and then opened her mouth to make an announcement,

"I'm sure everyone is excited that the rescue mission is proceeding exactly as planned but please do not get complacent."

"There are hostile forces mixed in the ranks of the Imperial Army who will be on the lookout for both Sophie and Lily."

"Don't forget that we still need to pass through the temporary military base before leaving the warzone. Hence as a safety precaution it is necessary for everyone to temporarily disconnect their devices from the virtual net."

The firm tone in Katarina's voice and her sound logic dissuaded any person in the command room from questioning her order.

Sophie tilted her wrist communicator upwards and then pressed a series of buttons to set her device to offline mode.

The purpose of Katarina's secret message was to give her a heads up about the situation before making the order official to the rest of the team.

It was a bit of a disappointment that she couldn't message her father or her friends yet but Sophie understood the reason why.

In the middle of a chaotic battlefield, it would be difficult for hackers to track and isolate devices but once the starship arrived within the spatial range of the military outpost then they would be vulnerable.

Sophie sighed gently and stroked the cold metallic edge of her communicator.

It was okay…. she just needed to last a few more days and then everything would be alright.

There were just two burning questions that were still at the back of her mind and needed to be addressed.

Sophie placed Lily down gently on the floor and then walked over to Katarina after explaining to the little girl that she would be back soon.

"What is going on with them?" Sophie asked as she tilted her head towards a certain area of the room where humanoid bodies were neatly stacked one on top of each other.

Katarina smiled dangerously as she lazily pointed towards the bodies laying down on the floor, "State of the art memory modification devices."

"The Imperial Army personnel onboard the vessel will have false memories implanted into their brains."

"The onboard starship AI unit has also been compromised so their false memories will match the modified records."

Sophie took a casual glance at the officers who were quietly unconscious in the corner of the command room.

Dome-shaped metalloid helmets were covering the top of their heads completely. These devices included thick wiring and blue lights that flashed occasionally.

"I'm just a bit curious about when we arrive at the military outpost since I can't figure out how exactly do you plan to disguise me?" Sophie asked softly.

It was not that she thought it was impossible but there were four bladed appendages jutting out from her back that were…

A bit eye catching to say the least.

Katarina's smile widened and suddenly Sophie's danger instincts warned that whatever her father's death guard was about to say next wasn't good.

"Milady, I came up with an excellent idea …"