Space Odyssey: Spectre
Chapter 188 188: Excitable Engineer

"Entering real space now." The pilot announced. Pulling Jace out of his meditative state of mind. He stood straight and watched as the dashes of light turned into dots while a space station appeared along with the familiar sight of Waterswan. The trip had only taken a few hours.

Around the space station were several ships, all of which were clearly military. The one that stuck out was the single Victorium ship that was pulling away from the space station. Almost like it had just undocked.

"Sir it looks like the Victorium ship is leaving." One of the pilots informed him.

Jace nodded, "find out what is happening."

There were a few moments before the pilot responded again. "Emergency deployment, apparently the civil war has heated up. Enemy forces are on the capital planet."

"Connect me to the Victorium ship," Jace told them as he keyed his comms to an open channel. A moment later he entered a new channel. "This is Spectre Jace to…I am not going to try and pronounce that. Do you have room for our Puddle-Jumper to park in one of your hangars?" They definitely would, if he had to classify the ship it would be a Warship.

"Spectre Jace, this is General Isaiah. We are sending a hangar you can land in. But be quick about it. We are about to go to warp as soon as we are at a safe distance from the space station." Jace patted the pilot's shoulder and he nodded.

The Puddle-Jumper sped up as it flew. The ship went past the space station at unsafe speeds. There was a warning from the space station but they ignored it as they flew to the other side of the Victorium where a hangar was opening up.

The Puddle-Jumper flew into the hangar, going from flying to stopping in a moment causing a slight jolt as people were thrown forward. Jace was expecting it so he was unmoved. Inside the hangar were a number of other people and ships. But none of the equipment was human stuff or humans.

The Puddle-Jumper landed and the pilot lowered the ramp. Jace walked out past the other occupants who were still recovering. He was down the ramp intime to see them go into warp and then the hangar doors slowly closed.

A small group of… engineers, as he decided they were, were moving toward them. The one in the lead looked like a bundle of branches. If he recalls that species is called the Hydragentia. A plant-based species whose entire appearance and longevity depends on what they ate.

As soon as he walked out of the Puddle-Jumper, the Hydragentia sped up and raced right up to him. "Magnificent." It spoke in a broken version of the Vexical Empire's human dialect. The plant person started touching him and looking over him. "This is a far superior exterior shell than anything we have ever produced. But does it not feel restrictive? From what I understand your kind can feel anything on your external layer." Her claw… or rather her branch hands wrapped around one of his arms as she pulled out a device and started looking over it.

"Hello, my name is Spectre Jace. It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Jace introduced himself as he was man handled… or is it treehandled? He took a moment to look at the other three engineers who moved in with the first one that was treehandling him. One of them was a small Ola, the small monkey-like species, that was quickly hopping over to take a closer look at the Puddle-Jumper. Another was the Mar'talic, the lizard person species, this one in particular seemed more interested in the overall shape of the Puddle-Jumper. The last immediately bowed to Jace and apologized, she is an Accer with the bird-like appearance and clawed hands.

"I am so sorry!" The Accer bowed and apologized. She then moved forward and pulled the Hydragentia off of Jace. "Chief Engineer Masilla has been drooling over the- I mean your specific technology. The only reason she even learned a bit of your language was so she could figure it out on her own." The Accer spoke a better version of the human dialect.

"I do not mind. But I think I am due for a meeting with the General in charge of this ship before I can start talking pleasantries." Jace told the Accer. He then turned to the Hydragentia, "it is all about human psychology and comfort for us. That is how we are able to operate in armor like this. Not to mention safety."

Jace then looked back at the ramp as the others began disembarking. He made several quick hand motions that confused most of them. But the pilots, Ulin, and Charlie understood and started directing the others. It was not too outlandish of orders. He just told them to be accommodating but to not let them near the stuff that is considered a secret.

He then began walking to the exit as he absorbed and read the ship schematic in his mind. As he walked, the Hydragentia and Accer followed him. The Hydragentia climbed onto his back and started taking a closer look at his armor as he moved. The Accer seemed to think it was a guide as it tried to direct him. But he just took the most direct route and soon arrived at the ship's bridge. It was similar to the last one he had been on, but this one was also similar to human designs where there were an array of stations to the sides.

But the most eye-catching thing in the room was definitely the person sitting in the seat usually reserved for the ship's captain. Jace took a glance around the room and noticed a mix of species, even a few he had not seen before. But now human's were mixed in with them.

"Spectre Jace the Gladiator! Welcome aboard!" Isaiah bellowed with a chuckle and then frowned. "But I will say you have a rather funny looking tree attached to your back."

Jace walked up next to the general. "She weighs barely anything. So I do not mind." Jace informed him. "What do I need to know?"

"Right to the point. I suppose you only really enjoy yourself in battle?" Isaiah stood from his seat and walked toward a holotable that was clearly acting as a war table.

"Battle and sex, but I guarantee you will only see one side of me." Jace answered as he followed the Tacole to the ta

The table lit up and an otter appeared on it. "That's not true! You also make some very amusing expressions when you are flexing your own technological prowess." Solisa offered her opinion after she appeared. Causing the Tacole General to bellow in laughter.

"It is nice to see you as well, Solisa." Jace told his old Artificial Intelligence companion. "How is the containment unit holding up?"

"Perfect-" Solisa was interrupted by the Hydragentia squealing in delight.

"You are the one that made the AI's containment unit? How did you do it? Was there a specific method or-" Chief Engineer Masilla was pulled off of Jace by Isaiah and then set aside like a lost puppy.

"Enough of your shenanigans. Solisa, can you pull up the message we were sent before contact was cut off?" Isaiah asked as he turned back to the war table.

Solisa gave a thumbs up with her paw and then spun and the holographic image turned into an audio line. One that would change depending on the audio. "Victorium Warship Venture, enemy forces have appeared on the capital planet. We request your immediate assistance with- Hey! What are you- PISH!" The audio file then ended.

"So we are going in blind. Well I have four members of my squad but where are the rest of them?" Jace asked as he shook his head.

"I had them stay and guard the high ranking members of both the government and military who were all staying in the same place. It seemed like a good bet that the enemy would attack them." Isaiah answered as he pulled up the schematic of a building. "Which brings me to what you will be doing. In a few hours we will arrive and I want you to meet up with the rest of your squad and secure the VIPs."

Jace nodded, "we will take transport down to the planet. Solisa, pull up the schematic designs of the transports we have aboard." Solisa obliged and three different designs appeared. They had an Osprey, the Puddle-Jumper, a Vulture, and a Victorium design called the Cami. He looked over them for only a moment before he pulled up the Vulture. "We will take this, it has side doors we can use so we do not have to land."

"Prepping the Vulture with side doors. Do you care who pilots it?" Solisa asked as a flood of information was pulled up. Jace was familiar with it as Solisa's thought process in the literal sense.

"I want the main pilot to be someone familiar with craft. The other pilot needs to be someone familiar with the Victorium capital planet's airspace and terrain." Jace answered. "Then send a message for the others to report to the appropriate hangar with all the gear. Have someone bring my gear box as well."

"Doing it now." Solisa answered.

"Then I suppose I just need to make plans for the rest of the squads and units. What do you think I should do with them?" Isaiah asked with a chuckle.

"I do not know. But I am sure it will be a headache for you." Jace patted the taller creature on the shoulder. "Which is probably why you were picked for commanding this unit in the first place."

The Tacole laughed for a moment before he quieted down and got serious.