The Spider Queen

Sloppy. Messy. Disorganized.

That was the first impression Sophie got as she stood in line to be registered as a mercenary.

Well… it would be more accurate to call it a crowded huddle rather than a line.

There were warriors freely drinking and smoking while the military officers standing nearby would occasionally join in.

Loud cheers, yells and jeers would fill the air and the violent fights that broke out in the crowd served as entertainment.

What a disaster…

It was really no surprise that the Earth Federation was currently winning the war against the Unovan forces.

For all the flaws of the Imperial Army, discipline was never one of them.

Sophie narrowed her golden eyes and took a careful glance at the surrounding area to look for any hidden details.

The military outpost was built on top of an artificial asteroid-like structure that was around the size of twenty football fields.

A transparent bubble-like material formed a dome that covered the entire structure and created a breathable atmospheric zone.

There was a single solitary building at the end of the asteroid where the registration would take place.

Part of the land mass was used for parking the starships operated by the various mercenary organizations that were here for registration.

Lily, the two pilots and the rest of her mirror copies were inside the spacecraft while Sophie had volunteered to be the one to line up.

Apparently the mercenaries with their own starships would only be required to register the vessel and the leader of the crew.

These warriors would be sent on the battlefield to engage in spatial combat directly so it didn't matter who was inside.

"Move out of the way punk!" a massive creature with scaly skin and reddish eyes attempted to shove Sophie out of the way.

Crack!

"ARGHHHHHH!" a painful shriek emerged from the twin orifices of the alien as Sophie calmly grabbed his offending hand and broke it directly.

The alien's reddish eyes darkened in rage but one look at the terrifying killing intent hidden behind Sophie's quiet gaze was enough to make him back down.

None of the military officers near the scene bothered to break up the fight or do anything about it.

Sophie had observed this phenomenon quite a few times before.

Several fights had broken out already and the military officers would only reluctantly step in if someone was about to die.

She assumed that the only reason they did this was a need for more bodies to serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

Sophie's violent actions had successfully intimidated the mercenaries nearest to her so now there was no more trouble.

Violence was the only universal language that these brutes understood.

Anyone willing to join an active battlefield as the losing side must be either one of two options…

Crazy or desperate.

The rest of the time spent in line passed fairly uneventfully as Sophie kept a constant watch for any danger.

She would occasionally tilt the communicator on her wrist upwards to see if her metalloid device had connected to the virtual network.

It was pointless.

[No Network In Range] would consistently appear on the screen.

Sophie powered off the device to save battery life and made a few additional plans.

In order to relay orders, the higher ups of the Imperial Army must have a communication line with the officers and foot soldiers.

Sophie's father had casually mentioned that this was done using the standard virtual net with key encryption programs.

This meant that it would be safe to assume that the range of the virtual net extended beyond the Earth Federation's borders in times of war.

The frontline was guaranteed to have signal but it was also the most dangerous place.

The spacecraft that was stolen from the Sun's Glory was not built for war and its basic shielding functions would quickly fail under heavy fire.

Sophie frowned slightly as numerous worries and concerns flashed across her mind.

She needed to get home safely but the task kept getting more difficult.

"Next!" a loud shout interrupted Sophie's concentration. She looked up to find herself only one spot away from the front of the line.

The alien currently talking to the military officer in charge of registration bore striking resemblance to a humanoid rat with milky white fur and tiny beady eyes.

His eyes would shift constantly from side to side as his body trembled slightly. He filled out a form and then spat on a certain section.

The military officer shot the creature a look of disgust but the furry animal just scurried away on all fours.

"Next!" came another shout.

Sophie walked up to the front desk and a sheet of paper was passed to her.

The writings and symbols on the paper were clearly in the standard Unovan language but there was a small problem.

"Sorry but I can't read," Sophie freely admitted.

The military officer did not even look remotely surprised. There was a significant percentage of illiteracy in the population of the Unova Syndicate.

Mercenaries and warriors especially tended to not prioritise education so it wasn't the first time that the officer had to read aloud the contents of the form.

He let out a heavy sigh and then picked up the paper as well as a pen that was laying on the desk.

"Captain's name, number of warriors in your group, are you associated with any famous mercenary corps?" he asked lazily.

"Reina Polaris my name and I serve as the captain. We have seven warriors and were referred by the mercenary organization known as the Sun's Glory," Sophie smoothly replied.

Obvious there was no one onboard the vessel by that name but since there were no standard identification systems in place…

It was easy for Sophie to assume a false identity.

The officer took a few moments to write down the information before grabbing another form to fill out additional paperwork.

Sophie could sense that he was clearly getting a bit impatient since the questions were now being asked in a rapid-fire manner.

"Do you own a starship? What type of class is your spacecraft? Are the weapons and barrier systems fully functional? Do your pilots have significant combat training in spatial warfare?"

"Are there any cultivators in your group with a combat rating above the qi body stage? Do any members of your group have rank S abilities?"

"These include psychonic, healing, prophetic vision…."

Sophie did not show a trace of irritation on her face and continued to calmly respond to the endless barrage of questions one after the other.

Eventually the multiple forms were completely filled and the military officer handed Sophie a tablet with the information about their assigned position.

Sophie thanked the officer politely and then left the scene with slow purposeful steps.

She pressed a button on the side of the tablet and soon a holographic screen was projected outwards.

Sophie tilted her communicator upwards and sneakily took a picture of the screen. She would need to show this image to the two pilots in order to understand the message.

(Ten minutes later…)

[Mercenary Group #456- Leader Reina Polaris- Seven members- Class D]

[Assignment Location…. Planet Xercpolisis]

A map was created that showed a blinking red dot and navigational markers that indicated what was the quickest route to travel from the outpost.

"This… message… are we really… going to that planet?" Penshese stammered as she read aloud what was displayed on the tablet.

"It's… it's…"

"A death sentence…"