Colony Ship

The hum of welding torches and the rhythmic clanging of tools filled the docking area as Sylas crouched beside a maintenance console, carefully inspecting a faulty power conduit.

Around him, several members of the maintenance team were busy with repairs on a mid-sized freighter, their chatter providing a lively environment.

"Hand me that calibrator," Sylas said, reaching out.

"Here," a burly man named Joran replied, tossing the tool over. "But don't fry it like last time, kid."

Sylas smirked. "No promises."

"Hey, don't forget the coolant leak in Bay 3!" shouted Kira, a wiry woman balancing on the wing of the ship.

"I'll get to it after Sylas stops pretending to be an engineer," Joran teased, drawing a round of chuckles.

Sylas was about to retort when a low, resonant hum swept through the docking area.

The maintenance team froze, their eyes turning toward the massive airlock.

Slowly, the colossal bulk of a ship emerged, its sheer size dwarfing anything in the dock.

"What in the stars…" Kira muttered, her voice trailing off.

"Why didn't we notice it before, did it teleport? Wait can ships teleport now?" Joran asked is sheer terror.

Although Joran asked a dumb question nobody was in the right sense to insult him yet.

Sylas stood up slowly, his gaze fixed on the massive colony ship.

The only reason the dock hadn't descended into chaos was because most people recognized the type of ship it was... One of the basic requirements needed to work in a military base was the ability to identify the various types of ships even if the same could not be said about their models.

Although most people had seen other colony ships the issue with this particular one was the size.

"Shouldn't we run? This could be an attack." Joran continued.

Every one of the maintaince crew could understand his fear because this colony ship was several times larger than any colony ship they had ever seen, its hull bristling with reinforced plating and weapons.

"Relax guys, it was sent by empire to pick up supplies." Mr. Gu said in an effort to calm his team down.

'Although they said it was big. This is... ' Mr. Gu thought.

"Mr. Gu," Sylas called out to the senior engineer overseeing the team, "why is it so big? This isn't normal."

Mr. Gu, a grizzled man with streaks of grey in his beard, frowned as he adjusted his cap.

"That's no ordinary colony ship," he said quietly, his voice barely audibles over the noise.

"Then what is it?" Sylas pressed.

Mr. Gu glanced around, ensuring no other group was close enough to hear.

"From what I heard from my boss, it's part of a secret mission. The Empire's planning to build an attack base—deep or close to enemy territory, I can't really tell, I wasn't told were not even the state it would be used against."

Sylas's frown deepened as he studied the ship. It was a fortress, its purpose clear in its design. "An attack base…? Is the empire losing?"

Mr. Gu shook his head. "I wasn't told much on that either, but I guess fighting on several front must be hard, so they are most likely trying to seize a decisive victory."

The maintenance crew fell silent, the enormity of the ship casting a shadow not only over the dock but over their thoughts.

After a few seconds of thought Sylas asked, "How much do you think the ship cost?"

"Atleast hundreds of millions of gold bar, maybe even more." Mr. Gu looked around and saw several teams going back to work. " We better get back to work. We are most likely joining the loading crew tomorrow"

Unlike the rest who immediately got back to work, Sylas stood there staring at the Colony ship.

"Sylas, You lazy bastard get over here."

Sylas frowned as he heard the word bastard, but his frown soon disappeared as he turned around and walked towards Joran.

'We will know who the bastard is when I blow you all up.'

But still he had to one up him now... And he knew just how to do it.

"At least I am not the one pissing myself in fear at the sight of the ship."

"YOU!!!" Joran shouted in anger while the rest of the team burst out laughing.

"He is not lying though; I swear that I can smell you piss from over here." Another team member said and more laughter.

*******

The sun dipped low over the horizon, casting long shadows across the corridor as Sylas made his way toward his quarters.

The day had been long, but his energy wasn't completely drained.

Instead of taking the hover bus with the rest of the adults do through the main path, he veered off into the maze of crates, stairs, and beams that lined the inner courtyards.

For Sylas, this wasn't just a shortcut—it was a playground... at least for the other teens as well as the guards observing but truly he was using this opportunity to train his flexibility and movement.

Although exercises were allowed in the base only the basic ones such as weightlifting, running, press up, were accepted any other form of exercising was seen as an crime.

With a quick glance around, he leapt onto a stack of crates, his boots finding perfect spot.

He vaulted the first, using his momentum to propel himself higher.

His hands gripped the edge of a larger crate above, and with a practiced pull, he flipped himself onto the top.

Pausing only to adjust his stance, he scanned the next obstacle—a set of stairs leading to an overhanging beam.

He grinned, 'Easy.'