Chapter 10

The Phareon's engine started to buzz as the engineering crew initiated the hyper drive. The ship was sturdy because it was initially built for long distance travel and terraforming. The engine on the other hand was considered a relic by today's standards. Ships can reach the earth and back within a week instead of going into stasis, where the crew and passengers go into sleeping pods and wake up months to years later to reach their destination. The Phareon was encircled by the female pirates but they could not stop the Phareon from making a warp jump. When the pirates realized what the ship was going to do they backed off and started a pursuit.

When the Phareon jumped the pirates were not too far behind. The pirates were only interested in the cargo so they did not care if they go with the Phareon's crew dead or alive. The pirates saw that the merchant ship was taking 15 minute breaks between every jump and used that moment to attack. The Phareon was taking major damage from the multiple smaller pirate ship fighter ships. The Phareon's crew was not mobilizing their own ships because of the multiple jumps they were making but if they take more damage they won't be able to make jumps. At the moment they were betting on the toughness of the ship to hold out until they make it close to planet Epsilon.

A few warp jumps later and the Phareon was starting to show it breaking apart. Captain Stinson already made all the emergency calls that he was able and was told to hold out until reinforcements arrive. "Attention crew, this your captain speaking! We have reinforcements arriving in 30 minutes. We were told to hold out until they arrive. Fighters we need you to mobilize and reduce the enemy as much as you can." Captain Stinson said over the intercom. The crew hopped to the command and manned all the weapons available. Because they spent most of their time running away, the ships weaponry took heavy damage. Only the fighters were mostly able to mobilize.

The Phareon was taking too much damage but the crew persisted. "Damage report!" the captain ordered. "We are at 60 percent on the current armor of the ship. With the amount of damage we have taken it is impossible to make another jump without killing us all, sir" Mosby answered. A small pirate fighter crash landed inside the Phareon as one of the merchant fighters were exiting. Due to the location that the fighter ship landed, the shock easily reached the power source of the Phareon. A power outage occurred.

"Dammit, these fucking pirates! Mosby! What happened?" the captain yelled. "Captain, a pirate fighter entered as one of our fighters exited the ship. Their location before the power outage was close to the Nuclear Fusion Reactor sir." Mosby replied. "How long until power is restored?" The captain asked worriedly, "About 15 minutes, sir" Mosby answered.

At the Nuclear Fusion Reactor. The power cut out from the power source to the capsule, holding subject Zero. "Power failure. Power failure. Initiating reconnection to power source…failed…Initiating back power…cells disconnected…unauthorized tampering…Commencing awakening. Subject Zero will be awakened in 900 seconds" the computer of the capsule dictated.

"5 minutes until power restoration, sir" Mosby told the captain. The countdown was palpable. The ship shook but time was trickling slowly. "100 seconds until awakening" The capsule computer read. The hatch of the capsule began hissing, depressurizing Subject Zero within. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Good morning Subject Zero, Lance Muertezo" The computer said. Subject Zero slowly rose from the capsule as if an undead were rising from its coffin. Power was restored to the ship but this time the power was more than normal. The Phareon was powered by at most 30 to 40 percent of the Nuclear Fusion Reactor because most of the power was needed to keep Subject Zero sealed. After standing for a minute, his muscles can be heard contracting, he moved like a robot as he stretched himself out so with almost every move, bones and joints were cracking.

Due to his accelerated recovery, he had no symptoms of Muscular Dystrophy. All he felt was a century's worth of sadness and rage. During one of the times Subject Zero broke free, he found the time to fall in love and even had a family for a brief time only to be put to sleep once again. Subject Zero later found out that the woman he loved and the child they had were killed and dissected as samples, which he found in specimen jars at another facility. Now that he was awake again he had no way of killing those responsible. The rage filled his heart, his mind and his lungs as he let out a primordial roar. The roar reverberated throughout the entire ship.

"What the hell was that?" An engineer crewmember said, "I thought we weren't allowed to take animals with us," another crewmate said. "Dumbass! Does that sound like a pet to you? Hell no! Quickly report it to the section chief" a third crewmember yelled.

"Captain, the power has been restored but the output is much stronger than it was at 100 percent. I have no clue why but because of our current situation we can investigate it later if we survive." Mosby informed the captain. "Since our power has been restored and have more power than before, can we make another jump?" The captain asked. "No sir. The integrity of the hull cannot take the jump even if we have more power. If anything the excess in power will incinerate us faster. We are better off waiting for reinforcements but our energy weapons should hit them harder" Mosby answered. "Damn, what about that roar we heard before? Did you locate where it came from? Did that pirate fighter let loose some animal?"

Subject Zero had his hands clenched so tight that blood was dripping from them. Rage that could not be contained but nothing to let it loose upon. A sense of sadness and rage that was practically tangible filled the small room.

"Sir, there is an abnormal amount of heat coming from the Nuclear Fusion Reactor" Mosby alerted the captain. "It's a power source; shouldn't it generate some type of heat? How abnormal are we talking about?" The captain inquired.

Subject Zero kicked out the door to the energy source and started to walk out slowly. He once again let a roar out, the entire crew heard the roar. The first roar made them afraid but the second one sounded sadder and pity was what could be felt from those that heard it.

"Sir, the abnormal heat went back to normal but another heat source left the Nuclear Fusion Reactor room and is on the move. The heat source is weaker but it's still hot enough to change the temperature of a room" Mosby informed the captain. "Dammit, it's not like we don't have enough problems, have Erickson look into it, also eliminate the pirate fighters that invade inside" ordered the captain.

With Subject Zero roaming the ship he wanted to let his rage loose but these are different people. He had no idea where he was nor any bearing for how long he was put under. When he walked into the hanger bay where the pirate fighters invaded he quickly chose a side, grabbed a pirate by the neck, snapping it instantly. Subject Zero cared little for who he killed, even if it was a female pirate.