The moment the cannons emerged from their concealedpartments, Alex could imagine the shock rippling through the enemy ships.
The targeting systems locked onto the three vessels surrounding them, and the console lights cast an ominous glow over his and Mira''s focused expressions.
The voice on the other end of thems stammered, the confident arrogance reced with a hint of panic.
"Wait… what kind of ship
is
that?"
Alex smirked, fingers dancing over the weapons panel.
"One you shouldn''t have messed with. You wanted to cash in on this so called ''Federation Councils'' bounty, right? Let''s see if you''re up for the challenge."
With a nod to Mira, he unleashed a volley from the cannons, a barrage of energy surging toward the nearest enemy ship.
The st struck with precision, ripping through its shields and leaving it vulnerable.
Mira wasted no time, firing a concentrated shot that tore straight through the ship''s hull.
The vessel shuddered before it erupted into a fiery ze, debris scattering into the void.
"Two left"
Mira said with a satisfued glint in her eye.
''It feels good to not have to use my own power for once…''
Mira thought to herself.
The remaining ships scrambled, their engines ring as they tried to dodge Alex''s ship''s relentless assault.
They twisted and turned,unching countermeasures and returning fire, but Alex''s ship was built for this kind of battle.
The shots fired by the two remaining ships took only moments to arrive, but…
Booom!
Boom!
They had no effect.
The moment they made contact with the ship''s shields, they practically disintegrated then and there.
How were they supposed to match up against Alex''s ship if it could defend against even A tier attacks?
The answer was that there was no chance!
Mira''s hands moved deftly over the weapons system, her fingers finding the targetingmands with practiced ease.
Her eyes locked onto the two remaining ships, and a grim expression flickered across her face.
"Got you."
She murmured, releasing a focused barrage of shots.
They screamed through the void, mming into the enemy ship''s weakened shield, which copsed under the force of the assault.
The energy cut through its hull like a hot knife through butter, tearing the vessel apart from bow to stern.
Within seconds, it was nothing but twisted metal and fragments drifting aimlessly.
The final ship, now realizing it was alone, attempted to break away, its engines ring as it tried to escape.
But Mira wasn''t letting it slip away so easily.
She keyed in another barrage, her expression hardening.
"Nice try."
She said, her tone cold.
"But you''re not going anywhere."
Sheunched thest round, a storm of high-impact projectiles zeroing in on the fleeing ship.
They struck with brutal uracy, rupturing its reactor and sending it spiraling into a catastrophic explosion.
The shockwave pulsed through the dark, filling the cockpit with the ghostly light of the explosion.
Alex watched as thest of the wreckage settled, a grim smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Not bad for someone who usually does things the hard way."
He quipped, ncing at Mira.
Mira''s smirk softened, satisfaction and relief evident in her gaze.
"Feels nice to let the ship handle it once in a while."
He nodded, his expression thoughtful.
"If this Federation Council is rallying people to hunt us down, then things are more fractured than we thought."
"These traitors aren''t worth bothering."
Alex spoke without an ounce of guilt after having killed watched Mira killed dozens, perhaps even hundreds of their own kind without mercy.
In his eyes, if they were willing to take someone elses life so easily, they should''ve expected for someone to return that in kind some day.
"It''s just that even some people closer to me have started to be distant… I suspect they me me as well…"
Experience new tales on empire
Alex spoke, feeling a little saddened.
Principal Farnes himself, while he made it clear he was on Alex''s side, had changed a little ever since Alex met him after the whole thing with the Overseers happened.
Although ordinary people didn''t seem to understand the situation and just med Alex without knowing the full details.
But the Awakened should know better…
If they were put in Alex''s position, would they like if their freedom were to be taken away, no sense of agency anymore…
Of course they wouldn''t!
They were just focusing their anger on Alex as the scapegoat because his decision directly affected them!
They couldn''t care less about it if the consequences of actions only affected other people, but when it directly involved them…
That''s when it became a problem.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The majority of people angry at Alex were hypocrites who wouldn''t selflessly offer their own freedom, lives and practically everything else they held to value for the sake of the greater good, so why should they expect Alex to do so?
"I can understand the ordinary people. They are right to me me; I did take away perhaps their only chance of seeing peace in their lifetime, but these Awakened need to get a grip!"
''Besides, I''ve already realised the potential of my talents… It''s impossible to sell myself to someone who wants to take advantage of that for their own gain!''
''Moreover, as long as I''m around, I will still protect the human race to the best of my own ability, with my own freedom and agency! Not dictated by some other''s wishes!''
But, nobody other than himself and Mira knew this, and he couldn''t make it publicly known either.
That would just put an even bigger target on his back.
***
The universe is very vast, and the number of races was uncountable.
Coupled with near unlimited space, it was too easy to hide.
Meaning that it was nearly impossible for the federation to deal with the new problem of cosmic criminals, aka pirates, from guing the entire gxy.
There were simply too many ced they could hide their operations!
"Did you hear? I heard that the Roko brothers got taken out a few hours ago! All three of their ships and all their crew were wiped out! There was nothing left except for some scrap metal when others went to investigate!"