Federation Starship Zero-One flew through space confidently. Crewmen were manning the guns along the two sides of the expansive vessel with computer monitors. Like all other ships made in the recent years, this Federation ship had a spear-shaped outer hull design. Not only did it look good from far away, but also the angle of the armor plates could deflect the cannon lasers more effectively. Of course, on top of the armors, there would be heavy shield layers surrounding the entire craft.

This frigate was the newest model out of the whole Space Military Port founded by the Proto NSA on Earth. With four sets of dual Hyper Space Engines located at the back of the vessel, this space battle cruiser could easily go up to six thousand times the speed of light while flying in the Hyper Space. Starflyer, Wriik's deceased transportation, could only go up to four hundred times the speed of light.

The cuirass of Federation Starship Zero-One was the strongest, most reliable thing ever been made by the residents on Earth.

First, the shell of the ship was made up of compressed, multi-layered metals (a process called lamination) found on the blue-green planet and other sectors of space. This newest type of protection had gone under intense testing, being blasted upon by various kinds of cannons, bombs, and missiles. Nothing could dent its hull, nothing at all.

Then the ship had this enormous Force Field Generator for the three layers shielding technique. First layer was the Ion Shield Layer. It could collect the ions around the battleship and form into a solid, air-like, invisible wall, which no projectiles could penetrate easily. This was the most practical armament for atmospheric battles. On its second level of shield bastions, a plasma aegis was extended closely behind the ionic shield. This type of cover could melt and disintegrate any space shrapnel, found mostly in space mines. The third level of the defense system was the Nuclear Fusion Conversion Layer, where, the energy was drawn out of the core of the reactors deep in the starship engines and produced this repelling force that acted like a trampling. It could bounce back all firepower without even shaking the whole spacecraft.

On the offensive side, over fifty bulwark-piercing blaster cannons were on each side of the spacecraft. They could fire up to a thousand rounds per minute. Photon Torpedoes and Cruise Battle Missiles were in firing casings on top of the battleship, which were lowered into the shuck for save keeping. The port bow had two heavy caliber guns, which could fire up to two thousand rounds of Shattering Lasers per minute. Bombs and mines of several kinds were also on board.

The vessel, as stated above, was big. More than four thousand people could be housed with enough food, air and water to eat, breathe, and drink for an entire year. It had sixty hangers, with well over two hundred smaller battle planes docked with full fuel and munitions. Two thousands rooms and offices were built, and over a quadraton (four million tons) of ammunitions were stored in warehouses with full armor plating beneath the decks.

This was the best galaxy exploration starship ever made, and producing this product had cost a huge sum of Galactic Credits (sixty trillions in total). And this thing was so hefty, lavish, and mammoth, that the ship had to be built seperately on the Moon Base, right beside the Moon Colony where gravity was lighter.

A week had gone by after the first launch. Black, like a panther seeking its prey, Federation Starship Zero-One did not wander around the galaxy aimlessly. No. As of now, it was in the same sector where Jake and Wriik were located. After new information had come into the Center Com a few months ago, Mak had issued an order for transportation such as this to be built and launched immediately after the completion, to chase after his fugitives. By having the Rank, no one could disobey his orders lest they wanted an early demise.

Mak didn't go on attacking the Center Com just yet, for his troops were still gathering up for the final showdown. The death of the original President of the New World Colony had caused uproar. By wiping out all traces of assassinating the most powerful leader ever existed on Earth and all sixty other people on the Presidential Floor, Mak had made the press telling the civilians that the old dominator was killed by the malfunctioning of the Super Computer. For weeks, this tragic incident had been inside everyone's mind. But as time went on, they began to forget, and seeing how Mak was acting responsibly as their new honcho, they shrugged off the entire mishap.

For days it had taken the Captain of Zero-One and his crews to navigate through the unstable wormhole. But thanks to the impregnable armors, Zero-One barely had a scratch. Now they were in a new territory, where the star maps in Federation Space didn't work anymore. By tracing the core signature of the Starflyer, they were able to limit down the range of their search.

Sipping a cup of coffee, the Captain was standing on the Bridge, where he stared out of the wide view screen in front of him. There were a few planets present, all had unique colors: red, green, blue, and orange... All concealed within the vast, black blanket of space in the background. They had been tracking the signature for a while now, and it seemed to them that Starflyer had landed, or even possibly, crashed onto the orange planet behind the blue star.

He had issued a command for all personals to go into battle stations, while he, the wonderful leader of four thousand people on the ship, was walking around the Bridge leisurely. What did they have to be afraid of anyway? No one could touch the Space Farer. Yes. They all had decided to give this new baby a good name. Calling her Zero-One sounded plain and boring. Space Farer, he thought of that name and it sounded adroit and neat.

Anyway, for weeks they had only encountered two unpleasant neighbors: idiots flying toward them with weapons blazing. And as the procedures in the Military Booklet (fourteen hundred pages long) had stated, he had warned the assailants before retaliating. But they didn't heed his advice. So, as the Captain of the Space Farer, he told the gunners to bring down those sons of -----. The ships all exploded in bright orange fireballs within seconds, and they had barely felt any recoil at all! The shields were wonderful!

Smiling to himself, the Captain was thinking about what he should say when he went back on Earth, victorious at capturing the two scumbags. He thought about using the old English phrase: I came, I saw, and I conquered. Yeah! That would sound nice. But... it didn't look like to him that it would produce the desired effects. After all, he wanted to get promoted. Who knows? Maybe to the General Rank or even the Admiral Rank!

Dozens of different sized footprints could be seen on the dried up land as the scouting team searched the surrounding landscape. In the middle, only the tail of the Starflyer was present. The rest of the ship was buried hundreds of feet deep into the desert sand. The back of the spacecraft was blown off, almost as if someone had detonated a limpid mine from the inside.

Traven sweat as he helped his comrades to scan for any life signs beneath the ground and to move junks and ruins out of the way. He could feel his body temperature continued to rise even if his space suit's regulator was working just fine. He took in a deep breath as he got up from the rugged floor. The three suns in the upper atmosphere beamed down at him mercilessly from the back, casting three shadows of different length in different angles.

"I don't get why we have to drudge like this," one person said as he collapsed under the torridity. He wiped away the dust from his visor. Hot breath vapor on the dark green glass pane was slightly obscuring his sight.

"I know. That old geezer is like a dictator, you know, almost like the old crazy dictator called Hitler. We can't even say anything that doesn't please him. What's up with that?" Another one immediately agreed. He grunted as he lifted a giant monitor from the sand. It was a junk. Wires corroded from the harsh climate, and the screen was gone. He tossed it aside.

Traven slumped against the metal plating of the Starflyer underneath the shade of the dangling panels, temporary hiding himself away from the suns. There were a total of ten men including him on this uncanny expedition on a foreign star. He had this strange tingling in his head, almost as if something was going to happen. What, he did not know.

"Brook Gyr is an old freak," the third guy commented angrily. "I've been in the military service for six years, and he is the only dunce that treats people as if they are his to command. I long for the day when he dies of hypertension by his erratic temper."

Everyone murmured an agreement. Traven closed his eyes as he tried to rest for a bit.

Suddenly, he thought he heard a roar from the orange sky. Reopening his eyes, he crawled from his resting area and peeked out from the body of the fallen vessel. There it was! A small, black dot flying low toward them. Its twin engines blared from the back. Long streaks of bluish flames extended from behind like tails. It looked awfully familiar. Actually, it was familiar.

In fact, it was one of their battle planes.

"What the hell...?" Men began to straighten their backs as they, too, shielded their eyes from the blinding suns, looked upward.

Then, as fast as it came, shots were fired. Laser bullets flew out from the blazing muzzles at light speed. The air exploded rapidly as the cannons, all with a mouth that had the size of a twenty-pound balling ball, flashed nonstop.

Traven's mouth was wide with horror when he saw his friends, the people who had slept with him, ate with him, played with him, and basically lived with him, were ripped apart like targets. Blood flew in the air, landing on the side of the wreckage of the Starflyer and on the ground. They all screamed with terror, as their own bloodshot eyes watched their fighter plane slaughtered them one by one.

Overcame with shock, Traven scrambled back into the protection of the rusted metal hull, or whatever was left of it. He could hear lasers reflecting off from the aged armor plates, and he could hear the sand blasting upward in muffled sounds like guns that had silencers. All around him, bullet holes were evident. He folded himself into a tight, little ball, body shaking with intense fright, waiting for the shooting to cease. This was his first time in a battle.

His friends, his people, all of them humans, groaned and moaned for help when they were down. Gashes were all over their limp bodies. He wanted to help, but with all the red-orange colored projectiles still flying in the air, occasionally striking near him, all he could do was cowering at his little spot.

After what seemed like centuries, the sound of booming engines gradually faded. Suddenly, it was quiet, placid. For a long time, Traven Dee did not move. His sobbed as he tried to bring his confused emotions under control. His head was buried under his arms that were bleeding when sharp debris of alloys had flew away from the explosions and had cut through his protection suit and into his flesh. Inside his space helmet, drops of tears could be seen.

Aboard the Space Farer on the Bridge, all coteries were silent with shock. Extraterrestrial species and humans alike; they were startled and appalled by the barbarous order made by their Captain. All of them were somewhat enraged and they wanted Brook Gyr to pay for what he had done. However, they all knew that there were more people who were willing to hug Brook's leg for praise and protection, and by rebelling against this tyrant was suicide. For now, the members on the Bridge had to hold back their anger and sat solemnly in their air-cushioned seats. None of them spoke a word as they began to continue on with their activities.

Smiling, the Captain of Space Farer was content. He had achieved the coveted effect. He now knew that no one would dare to contradict his orders, his precepts. And certainly, no one would want to act so highly in front of him anymore, just like the late Traven Dee. The pilot who he had bribed with money had told him that the mission was a success. Brook chuckled softly as he left the command post and headed back to his quarter. Soon, he would be along side with Mak. And together, they would crush the Center Com, the Resistance on planet Efrotungon, and then, they would be the rulers of all the Dome Cities on every single continent on Earth!