Chapter 217 - 217

V.16

Gaius von Deacon, a very prominent figure in the GFA army, he has lead several successful skirmishes against the Ganesh, including one of the famous battles where they managed to sink several battlesh.i.p.s with a lower number of sh.i.p.s, but he was more famous as the one who will one day replace the grand elder of GFA, commander Markos his grandfather. 

He wasn't annoyed about the many rumors about him like he only gets the position because of his grandfather. 

Because he himself admitted that his journey was smooth sailing because of his grandfather, he respects his grandfather a lot, but more than that, he idolized him. Ever since he was a child, he always wanted to be like his grandfather. 

It's the reason why he joined the army instead of taking care of the family business like his father and brothers, in fact, many of his cousins also decided to expand the family business instead of joining the army. 

Very few of his cousins have decided to join the army to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, but only he takes the army seriously, he trained and studied hard to get the recognition. 

Despite his grandfather's reputation, he never once used it to further his career, but he also can't deny that his grandfather's reputation helps him a lot in his career in the military. 

And so in order to make a name for himself and maybe make his grandfather proud, he took many front line missions, those that will take him to a direct confrontation with Ganesh. 

And using his ability, he did lead several successful skirmishes with the Ganesh, and so he was promoted as a rear admiral and was given the command to protect one of the mobile bases in sector N6-Q. It's one of the sectors they manage to take back from Ganesh. 

At first, he wanted to refuse the promotion as it would take him away from the battlefield, but after his parents and siblings begged him to accept it, because every time he would go into battle, it makes them all nervous. 

But it was the words of his grandfather that finally made him decide to accept the promotion. 

According to his grandfather, if he wants to follow in his footsteps, he needs to take the promotion as there's no future in the battlefield. And so, although he was reluctant, he accepted the promotion. 

And just when he was getting comfortable in his position, the sudden attacks of the Ganesh changed everything. 

There was no warning, despite the advanced radar they have, they weren't able to notice the Ganesh approaching, they were only able to find out about it, when the Ganesh started attacking, and by then it's too late to fight back. 

Ganesh's first target was their Docking area, where a majority of their sh.i.p.s are undergoing supply and maintenance. 

Many of the sh.i.p.s that were responsible for the defense were also taken out in the first volley. And those that remain are too damaged to do anything. They can't even run away, much less fight back. 

He was at the command center when the attack happened. Instantly their communication was down, along with their control systems clearly, the Ganesh knew exactly where to hit them and how. 

Back then, he couldn't think straight during the attack as he was in a slight panic. But more than that, the options left for him are limited. Fight back and be a hero or retreat and fight another day. 

He doesn't know how well his superiors would take his decision. 

He wanted to remain until every one of his men has managed to retreat, but his men dragged him into the VIP escape pods along with all the other officers under him. 

And in order for the Ganesh to not notice them, they destroyed the ship's GPS and communication equipment. Leaving only personal communication equipment which they would use if not for fear of Ganesh finding them. 

Gaius and the rest of the survivors are huddled in a small bonfire inside the cave of some asteroid, they used their survival tools to create a small pocket area where they can breathe the tool can create a small shielded area where it would be then filled with breathable air and artificial gravity, its not a long time solution of course, but the device can recycle their air as long as they have power. Luckily only the navigation system is damaged, not the actual engine itself otherwise, they would be dead already. 

The engine can provide power for a long time, but that's not their concern. The food can only last for a month at most, luckily it's a VIP escape pods as regular escape pods only have food for a week and only for 2 - 3 people. 

VIP escape pods are a lot bigger and have more emergency supplies. Such as water and food solutions. Water can be recycled using their urine and other water supply.

It's not uncommon to do so all spacecraft use this kind of technology. After all, it's not realistic to carry a huge amount of water in every voyage. 

And although there are many places they can replenish the water supply, water recycling is a common thing, and as soldiers, they are used to it. The problem is the food. 

It will only last for a month no matter how much they ration is. In other words, they need to figure out a way to contact GFA or fix the navigation system. Those are their only options; unfortunately, there's no engineer among them, and their knowledge of the internal ship system is only slightly better than normal folks. 

And far from repairing even the slightest of damage, how much more for a completely fried system. There's a manual of course, but that only covers minor repairs and not a complete one. 

So their only option is to contact the GFA, the problem is how to do that without alerting the Ganesh, if they are in other territories, even those not in GFA they will still risk it. But here in the Ganesh territory? That tentamount to suicide, and they all know it. 

Fortunately, no among them is injured, only slightly bruised because of the emergency landing but other than that, they are all in good health, at least physically. 

As the leader of the group Gaius tried to increase the morale of his fellow survivors. And for a time it's working, but there's no telling for how long. 

It's already been a day since they crash-landed in this asteroid and have been brainstorming all this time, but so far, they couldn't find a feasible solution. Atleast not one that will avoid leading to suicide. 

Another good thing is that all of them are soldiers and so their mental capacity is better than regular people, 

In the Ganesh outpost not far from the Gaius group. 

"Sir we detected a strange energy signature in area A69-98699 we thought it was a meteor or something similar but in closer examination there's no record of a meteor passing that area." 

"Send a recon. We can't be careless, our attacks have just finished and anytime our enemies may come to retaliate."

"Drones have already been sent, sir but I will order additional forces to check the area." 

"Good, leave no stone unturned." 

"Yes sir!" 

Editor: King of Mortals