The passage to Hangar Bay 77, where the *Nightingale* was berthed, was long and deserted. The rhythmic echo of Kael's metal boots on the polished floor carried far in the empty corridor. The walls here no longer displayed the brilliant star charts of the observation deck, but instead showed constantly refreshing ship scheduling data, energy flow vectors, and security protocols. The cold blue light reflected off his expressionless synthetic face.
Keywords from the Director's message echoed in the background of his processor: *Pandora, Highly Consistent, Purification Protocol*. Each word was like a key trying to pry open the floodgates of his tightly sealed memories, only to be met with stronger suppression feedback from his system's firewalls and a faint neural sting. He disliked this feeling of losing control, whether over a mission or over himself.
The hangar's airlock door slid open silently before him, releasing a wave of sound and light from the vast space within.
Strategic Hangar 77 was one of the few facilities on the Ring of Regulus capable of accommodating and maintaining special operations reconnaissance vessels. It wasn't bright and clean like civilian ports; the air carried the faint scents of energy fluid, ozone, and metal friction. Massive robotic arms, like skeletons of prehistoric beasts, moved slowly on overhead tracks, performing various maintenance tasks. Smaller engineering drones buzzed between the docked ships like busy worker bees.
His gaze passed over these, locking directly onto the sleek, matte-finish ship at the center of the hangar.
The *Nightingale*.
It wasn't a massive warship, about eighty meters long, its shape resembling a raptor with folded wings, silent and dangerous. Its hull was a deep space gray, coated with special materials that absorbed radar waves and certain energy scans, making it nearly invisible in the darkness. After the upgrades, additional thruster modules were visible on its flanks, hinting at enhanced maneuverability, and mounted near the original reconnaissance array under the prow was a compact but formidable-looking particle beam cannon—part of the Director's so-called "combat upgrade," implying an extremely high-risk assessment for this mission.
A technical chief in port uniform hurried up to him, a datapad in hand displaying complex ship status diagrams.
"Executor Kael," the chief said, respectful yet efficient. "The *Nightingale* has completed all upgrades and provisioning. Core power output increased by 15%, new armor passed quantum tunneling tests, weapon systems calibrated. Navigation computer has the target sector coordinates; calculating optimal hyperspace lane now."
Kael gave a slight nod, his eyes scanning the key parameters on the datapad. "The crew?"
"Already aboard awaiting your arrival. As per your clearance and the Director's orders, the team member profiles have been transmitted to your private terminal." The chief stepped aside. "Fair winds, sir."
Kael strode towards the landing ramp in the *Nightingale*'s belly. Sensing his approach, the ramp lowered silently, interior lights illuminating the functional, no-frills bulkheads.
He had just stepped onto the bridge when an exuberant, almost overly loud voice boomed out.
"Ahah! The Commander descends! Behold the perfect mechanical construction, the stern optical eyes, the efficient stride! Truly the Security Department's ace!"
A... substantial figure almost blocked the passageway leading further into the bridge.
Rex. His level of modification was higher than Kael's, or rather, leaned more towards pure militarization. Standing nearly two and a half meters tall, most of his body was covered in heavy composite armor plates, with powerful hydraulic systems visible at the joints. His left arm was entirely an integrated multi-barrel rotary blaster, his right a powerful mechanical claw. Only a small part of his head retained biological tissue, a single red scanning eye constantly flickering as it assessed the surroundings. His voice emanated from a speaker in his chest, carrying a metallic resonance.
"Rex," Kael said calmly, acknowledging him. "Status?"
"Never better, Commander!" Rex clanged his power claw against his chest plate. "Locked, loaded, and polished, ready to blow any fool rock back to dust! Heard the target's a bit spooky? Perfect for breaking in this new barrel!" His scanning eye flashed excitedly.
Kael didn't engage with the belligerence, simply walking past him. "Stay alert. We may not be facing a conventional threat."
"Relax! Anything becomes conventional under enough firepower!" Rex rumbled with laughter, following him.
The bridge was compact but laid out with extreme efficiency. The center held the commander's chair, facing the pilot and co-pilot stations, with tactical, communications, sensor, and control consoles along the sides and rear. Currently, a figure was seated at the co-pilot's station.
She turned. Her features were exquisitely perfect, her skin having the texture of some advanced synthetic material with a soft luster. Her eyes were a clear blue, but deep within, subtle data streams cascaded like waterfalls. This was Lia, a synthoid closer to pure mechanical construction, her appearance designed in a human female form to reduce unease in others, but that did little to hide the fact that she was essentially a powerful information processing terminal.
"Commander," Lia's voice was calm as water, devoid of emotional fluctuation. "Ship systems self-diagnosis complete. All modules responding normally. Hyperspace drive pre-heating. Estimated forty-two minutes to jump readiness." Her gaze rested on Kael for a fraction of a second, as if scanning his status. "Your new priority encryption keys confirmed. It is agreeable to work with you again."
Kael remembered Lia. Her capabilities had been crucial during a raid on data pirates years ago. She was like a precise laser scalpel, capable of silently slicing into the most complex network systems.
"Lia," Kael nodded. "We'll need you to breach any anomalous firewalls at the outpost and analyze that energy signature."
"That is within my core function set," Lia replied simply, turning back to her console, her fingers dancing in the air to call up more data interfaces.