Chapter 38: Boarding the Fra'al Battlecruiser

The withered bird-like elder holding a staff stood silently as eight figures approached him.

"The destined time has arrived. It is time to enlighten the people Vostroya—to reveal that the Machine God is nothing but a false idol, and only the God of Wisdom is the true deity."

His voice was sharp and piercing, like a bird's cry.

Zhelinski asked in confusion,

"High Priest, there are still eleven stellar years left before the enlightenment we planned. Why initiate it early?"

"Zhelinski, our God has sent a revelation. The ordained moment is here."

The eight priests bowed their heads in unison:

"By your command, High Priest! Praise the God of Wisdom!"

The High Priest pointed a clawed left hand at Zhelinski.

"Zhelinski, you are the first link in the plan. How goes your execution of the 'Radiant Dawn of Enlightenment'?"

"High Priest, the foolish Piontek Svidersky is already my puppet. He will obey any order I give."

"Excellent. Zhelinski," the elder's beak clacked approvingly. "Before you defiled yourself with foolish mechanization, you were granted true wisdom."

"So long as you wield the wisdom and insight I have given, those foolish humans, slaves to a false god, will be nothing but playthings to you."

The High Priest nodded in satisfaction and questioned the other seven in turn.

"The Enlightenment Plan shall be executed in nine work cycles."

"Yes, High Priest."

After the eight priests departed, a cunning gleam flickered in the High Priest's blue eyes. He descended the steps into the depths.

At the end of the corridor, he mounted a single-man assault skiff and burst into laughter.

"The Enlightenment Plan no longer matters. My Lord has given me a new mission, a task that only I can fulfill."

Aboard the Piszczek, Rosicky was stunned to find that Nareth's predictions were spot-on: the enemy vessel A-II entered the Vistula Asteroid Belt at precisely the time he had foretold.

He stared intently at the holographic projection. Nareth was so confident in his calculations that he hadn't even deployed two destroyers to draw enemy fire. Instead, he executed an early tactical maneuver, positioning the Piszczek behind a small asteroid, emerging perfectly at the rear of the enemy vessel.

The gamble had paid off. The Piszczek had slipped past the heavy fire coverage of A-II's wings.

Rosicky felt a deep respect for Nareth. He had always assumed the giant was only a fearsome warrior. He hadn't expected such terrifying computational ability.

'A mortal mind outpacing the computational power of machines!'

The Tech-Priest now had more confidence in Nareth's next steps. He picked up the comms unit to check in with the boarding torpedo operator.

"Operator C-53, is the launch sequence ready?"

"Ready."

"Initiate the launch."

Boarding torpedoes lacked the mobility and armor of assault boats, but they were smaller and harder to intercept.

To fit Nareth, the massive giant, Rosicky had modified the torpedo, raising the crew compartment height just enough for him to stand.

This torpedo could carry a small strike team: besides Nareth, only three assassins, Maria, and two others could fit inside.

The cabin echoed with mechanical sounds:

*Disengaging torpedo locking frame.*

*Promethium fuel ignited.*

*Launch countdown.*

Nareth stood firm in the cabin, listening to the broadcast.

*3.*

*2.*

*1.*

*Thrusters—ignition!*

The boarding torpedo launched like a flaming arrow, detaching from the Piszczek in an instant.

Maria and the others immediately lost balance. The shoulder restraints failed to fully stabilize them under the sudden force, and they were thrown forward, slamming into Nareth's armored back.

Maria's eyes widened. Nareth stood unfazed, firmly gripping the handholds, not even swaying.

She stubbornly grabbed the shoulder handles in front of her, resisting the G-force until she halted just five centimeters behind Nareth.

The other two assassins also managed to stop just before slamming into Nareth's arms.

The broadcast resumed:

*Beginning hull contact. Estimated impact duration: 17 seconds.*

*Breach preparation! Countdown: 3 seconds.*

"Bite down on your mouthguards."

Nareth's reminder brought them back to their senses. They complied immediately.

*1.*

The thermal charge detonated with a thunderous blast, shaking the cabin violently.

Maria and the others were hit with a wave of force from the front, slamming them backward.

Even with helmets, the deafening sound left them disoriented and dizzy.

The violent tremors turned their faces pale, until a commanding voice roared:

"Move!"

They snapped to attention. The hatch had opened, now bridging to the burning deck of the enemy vessel.

Nareth had already leapt out, landing with a crash that crushed several xenos underfoot.

Maria grabbed her twin blades from the unlocked rack.

"Let's go."

She launched forward, stepped off the hatch edge, and somersaulted toward a tall xeno wearing a tight purple suit.

The xeno turned to flee while drawing a serrated dagger.

Suddenly, like a fish flipping midstream, the xeno spun and stabbed at Maria with lightning speed.

But Maria, chemically enhanced since youth, was even faster.

She raised her left blade to block the dagger and slashed at the xeno's neck with her right.

She felt heavy resistance; the xeno's folded neck skin was more resilient than expected, like overlapping leather armor.

Unfazed, she twisted away, landing behind it.

With a cross-slash of her twin blades, she severed both sides of the xenos' neck.

The shark-like flat head fell to the floor.

Maria lifted her left arm, stunned to see her finely crafted blade had a huge notch from parrying the xenos' weapon.

She picked up the xenos' dagger curiously, it looked like it was carved from a single smoking crystal, shedding tiny shards from its edge.

She wanted to test it.

With a sprint, she reached another.

She slashed off its arm, then stabbed at its neck.

As the blade pierced the tough folds, she felt resistance again.

Then, fragments from the blade's edge splintered and burrowed into the wound.

A faint sizzling sound followed. It screamed in agony and collapsed.

Maria picked up another dagger from the corpse and looked ahead, She saw a xeno with eyes on the sides of its cheeks charging at Nareth.

She tried to warn him:

"His dagger—"

But Nareth had already thrust his halberd, bypassing the dual daggers, and speared straight through the alien's head.

He knew the Fra'al's glass blades were infamous for their piercing power and sharpness, capable of piercing ceramite.

Not wanting to damage his own weapon, he dodged the xeno's lunge and killed it cleanly.