That’s a good sign. Still, he preferred to err on the side of caution. Especially when it came to alien artifacts. A few more minutes in that place wouldn’t make much of a difference. Not in the grand scheme of things. Then we can go back and study things device for the next three hundred hours. Until then… I feel like we can relax. We did it! Time to enjoy the spoils.
***
Renz stepped onto the bridge a few minutes before they arrived at their destination. He sat in his seat behind the rest of the command crew, staring at the viewscreen. It displayed tactical data, information about the system they approached. Six planets in the area, two capable of supporting life, with a third that might be modified for use.
This made some sense. Chances were good at least some of his people lived on both. Perhaps the third sustained life before it lost power, falling to neglect. None of that mattered to him. He wanted in and out… back to the real war before he’d been gone for too long. Playing catchup with his peers held the potential of ruining his career.
Or at least holding it back.
This child’s run will prove to be a waste of time. Renz figured whoever happened to be on the planet must’ve stumbled on the place. There was no conspiracy, no plot to discover anything at all. He did not believe the Prophet had the resources to put together an expedition so far from home. This trip took hours. Surely, these rebels are relegated to the home system.
Whoever they discovered, he fully intended to execute. Perhaps not on the spot though that tempted him. No, he needed to exhibit some patience. Enough to discover who might be backing these fools then they were expendable. That meant some finesse with his people, who were not exactly trained to take prisoners.
I’ll put Kivda in charge. His private force will know what to do. Renz had relied on them many times before. His friend had expanded the scope of the training he provided, encouraging a select few toward freethinking. It was one of the reasons they were so successful together. The people he employed pulled off victories other units may have struggled with.
Especially against the damn Prytin. Thinking of them made his blood boil. He’d faced them in combat several times. Coming out ahead proved… difficult to say the least. Of all the cultures they faced, that one had been the most like their own. Warlike, brutal in some cases, and constantly at the ready. A worthy foe but frustrating.
The Prytin didn’t always fight in a straightforward manner. They used guerrilla tactics, destroying targets behind Kahl lines. Stealth of that nature seemed like cowardice but Renz had a hard time calling them out even publicly due to their own Lord Corps. If their enemies fielded a disgraced group to make up for mistakes, then that explained their actions.
“We are here,” Darr Benth, their pilot announced the information. It drew Renz’s attention back to the screen. It changed to a view of the planet they were approaching, a green and blue place with a heavy patch of brown in the southern hemisphere. “Twenty minutes to orbit, sir.”
Porth Mundal acted as the commander of the vessel. Renz had him there to take care of the basics. He knew his presence made the man nervous but that worked to his advantage. It meant his subordinate worked hard to make the right call… to do what they needed to be successful while following all their rules.
And there were quite a few of those. Most of them designed to keep their fleets safe during operations. They shouldn’t have applied out there. Renz still allowed Porth to go through the motions. It was best to keep things normal. Slack might lead to a mistake during an important operation with others around.
I can’t lose face over a faux pas.
“Get me a full system scan,” Porth said. “Be on alert for vehicles in stealth mode. If this is a Prytin trap, they could be hiding amongst any debris field in this sector.”
I hadn’t considered that. Renz gave the man credit. He took his father’s word for the fact they were going to an ancient distress signal of some sort. The old man didn’t know for sure if it had been triggered by their enemies or even fabricated. If that’s the case, this may prove to be a worthy trip anyway.
Defeating Prytin cowards, ambushers might well grant him some serious points with his peers. All alone, outnumbered… he savored the idea of such a fight. Deep down he knew such a desire was foolish. Many ambitious generals lost their lives for going against impossible odds. But the one who came out alive…
Legends are made on chances.
Inda Ushe, their tech officer stood to deliver her report. “I have completed the sweep of this area. There are no Prytin energy signals. We do have a powerful energy reading on the planet we’re approaching. It’s some sort of geothermal design we retired quite a while ago. However, it’s efficient enough.
“Couple that with a faint, but obvious artificial power reading.”
“What is it?” Porth asked.
“It’s incredibly weak, sir,” Inda replied, “however, I would venture to guess it is some kind of space vessel. It certainly has enough power to break orbit but beyond that… I can barely fathom how it manages to leave a system efficiently let travel. The object in question is in close proximity to the geothermal reading.”
Renz sighed, “Clearly those are the raiders here to steal our artifacts.” He waved his hand. “The Prytins or whoever thought they could get away with this must’ve come here with a low profile vessel that
