-KAJA-

  The cannon pulsed as it drew in power to fire at the StarHawk. Kaja made a snap decision.

  "We're firing back!" she cried.

  She reached out to activate the StarHawk's weapons, but Hanzo grabbed her hand.

  "No," he said.

  Kaja paused. She looked at Hanzo trying to make sense of what he had just said.

  "What do you mean no?" she asked.

  "No," Hanzo repeated. He got up from his chair and began to walk out of the cockpit. "I'll handle it."

  Kaja and Ramis exchanged a glance. "The Freighter's going to be hurled through space any moment from now!" Kaja cried. "This is not the time to be 'handling' things."

  The cannon fired. A blue ball of energy shot at them and smashed into the StarHawk's shields. The shields channeled the energy over the surface of the ship, bathing the cockpit with a bluish glow. Alarm prompts popped on the windshield. Their message was clear; the ship would not be able to take another hit.

  "Sit down Ms. Khan," Hanzo said. "Let me do my work."

  "What exactly is your work?"

  Hanzo didn't respond. Instead he looked at Ramis and directed the Kinuan man to replace him in the co-pilot’s seat. Then Hanzo looked at Kaja.

  "Ms. Khan, pilot the ship when it is time. Do not wait for me."

  He swept out of the cockpit, leaving stunned silence. Ramis recovered before Kaja. He walked forward and slid into the co-pilot's seat.

  "Let's leave him to it, Kaja,” Ramis said. “He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just throw away his life. He's probably got a plan."

  "Right," Kaja whispered. Except she didn't agree with Ramis. She had known men who always spoke about their work. They were the kind of people who threw away their lives for the sake of that work. That’s what her father had done.

  The Freighter’s crewmen were preparing the cannon to fire again. Then Hanzo appeared on the Freighter’s deck, sword in hand. Some of the men noticed him and began shouting at the others. They fired blaster bolts at him, but Hanzo's black shroud appeared. It blocked the blaster bolts, then it wrapped itself around Hanzo.

  Hanzo flew, zipping across the room and landing behind the men. He began to cut, slaying the men in a methodical fashion.

  The Freighter rocked with a tremor which sent most of the men to the floor. Hanzo remained standing, and he continued cutting. More men appeared and rushed towards him, but he didn't slow down. Again the Freighter rocked.

  "It's almost time," Kaja whispered. Ramis took a deep breath. Kaja kept her eyes on Hanzo, muttering under her breath.

  "Come on Hanzo. Come on."

  He was fighting a whole horde of men now, slicing apart one crewman after another.

  "Come on Hanzo!" Kaja screamed.

  The Freighter shuddered again and then time seemed to stop. The Freighter's artificial gravity vanished, and Kaja felt her ears pop. Everyone on deck slowly rose into the air. Kaja and Ramis rose too, but they were secured by their seat belts.

  "It's happening," Kaja said.

  BOOM!

  The world jerked and reality stretched. Kaja felt her body being pulled in all directions at once, yet she felt no pain. She screamed in fright, but no sound came out. She became one with everything.

  As she screamed, a thought occurred to her. Time dilation. There were a number of things she had kept secret. Time dilation was one of them. As her mind slipped, Kaja wondered if her secrecy was a good thing.

  She was sure that they would end up on Chin, but she was not sure about when. Being pushed through jump space introduced new variables in physics Kaja was frankly not ready to confront.

  There was a minuscule chance that they would be sent to Chin with zero time change. The more likely outcome, however, was that they skipped time. It might be minutes, days, weeks or years, but the odds were there would be some dilation.

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  ‘Ah well.’ Kaja thought. ‘We'll deal with that when we get there.’

  The world went black.

  -BEN-

  Ben grabbed the Priestess as they fell and pulled her close. He also made sure to keep a steady hand on Saya, but he needn't have worried about the ninja girl. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and curled towards his body. They fell through the tear in the architecture of the Freighter.

  Ben saw some of the ship's crewmen falling with them, many screaming. He also saw the ship's vice captain in the distance. She floated through the chaos. Not falling. But also looking unbothered by what was happening.

  Suddenly, everything stopped.

  They stopped falling and floated in the air. Time seemed to have paused, but Ben could tell he was breathing. He felt Saya's heart hammering at his back, and felt the Priestess cloak shifting in his grip.

  Saya lifted her head and whispered into his ear. "I am not sure if I can protect us," she said. "But I will try. I'll wrap us in my shadow and try to get us through. Support me if you can."

  Ben frowned. What was she talking abou-

  BOOM!

  The world folded on itself. Ben’s vision exploded into a mixture of flashing metal and shooting stars.

  Everything stretched. Ben felt as if massive forces were trying to rip them apart. He tightened his grip on the Priestess and Saya, hanging on for all he had. Something soft wrapped around him, starting from his legs and working its way up to his head.

  When it reached his head, he saw what it was: a black shroud, like what Hanzo used. The shroud enveloped them, and Ben felt a sense of normalcy return to his body. The external forces vanished.

  Then they started moving. They zoomed through the air, the shroud spinning around them. It occasionally left gaps through which Ben could see the outside world. What he saw made no sense to him. It was a mixture of bright lights and unnatural fire.

  Someone was screaming. Ben realised in alarm that it was Saya. Her scream was more in exertion than pain. Ben could tell she was pouring everything she had into maintaining the shroud.

  ‘Support me if you can.’ That’s what she had said.

  Ben reached into his pocket and found his last healing pack. He had no idea if this would help, but he took it and rammed it into Saya's thigh.

  Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed her screams reduced in intensity. He tightened his hold on her, desperate for a way to pour his energy into her.

  The Priestess shifted. Ben saw her raise her hand towards Saya. A warm blue glow pulsed within the shroud. Again Saya's screams lessened. They continued to fly in their shroud barrier.

  At some point, Ben realised that he was also screaming. The Priestess too. They screamed together as one until the world went black.

  —END OF ARC ONE—

  ARC ONE EPILOGUE

  -TALIL-

  Talil sensed the visitor long before he saw her. He heard her rhythmic footsteps, and smelled the oils that had been rubbed into her hair.

  Above all, he sensed the disgusting mana emanating from her. Her mana was so much like that of her ancestors. It was thick and black, the mana of murderers.

  Talil’s lack of power sickened him. Not long ago, he would not have tolerated her presence. He would have smote her and cast her ashes out of his mountain. He should have ordered her death years ago. He should have sent warriors to find her and destroy her. Now the great holy war had weakened him. All he could do was just sit and wait.

  She ascended the stairs and stood in front of his throne.

  Kivessa looked as self-important as ever. She was dressed in her old military uniform, which was pressed to perfection and lined with medals of honour which belonged to her ancestors of old.

  Her white Chintari hair was tied up in a neat bun. She had a straight face but Talil knew she was rejoicing within. His eyes drifted up to the two short horns jutting out of her forehead. He should have eliminated the whole clan.

  "So this is what a dying god looks like,” Kivessa said.

  Talil said nothing. He was tired, and she was right. He was dying. He preferred to have his last moments in peace.

  Kivessa continued. "And this is the power of the Order of the First Light. How intriguing."

  "Why are you here Kivessa?" Talil rumbled.

  "You know why," she said. "My time has come. While you and your brethren tore each other apart, I was waiting. I told you all that it was inevitable. It is my destiny to take back this planet. I will complete my father’s work."

  Talil looked upon the young woman with pity. He had met her father, and her grandfather, and many before that. They were all the same: power hungry, and delusional enough to believe that they were the only ones capable of ruling the planet well.

  Never mind the fact that the planet had been a hellscape when their family had been in charge. Talil had spent the last few months wallowing in self-pity, but now he allowed a sense of pride to rise in his heart.

  He and his brethren had rescued the planet from this family. That was at least something positive they had done. Talil now recognised that they had done a poor job ruling the planet. The weakness of their rule was what the First Light had used to spark this Holy War.

  It was why all his acolytes and priests were dead now. It was why Nale was dead now. Talil had felt Nale’s death. That loss had hurt more than any of the others. He had watched Nale grow up as a child. He had trained the young man these last few months. He had hoped that Nale would prevail. Then they could have started rebuilding. All Talil’s brethren were dead. He would have set Nale up as the ruler of the planet and trained Nale in how to properly rule. He would have shown him how to rule without gods.

  Of course, some of Talil’s brethren still lived in the southern mountains, but they had never shown interest in expanding and interacted with the Chintari.

  Talil’s plan hinged on things remaining that way. But now it didn’t matter. Nale was dead. The Order of the First Light was coming. Kivessa was here. War would continue, and Talil didn’t care who won. Talil sighed. He slumped in his seat and willed death to come.

  Kivessa shook her head and walked away. He knew she wouldn't try to kill him. She knew he was no longer significant. She would leave him to suffer.

  He closed his eyes and reminisced. He thought of his siblings, dead now, some by his hand. And he thought about Nale. Dear sweet Nale who he had twisted and forced to become a warrior. Dead Nale.

  "I'm so sorry," Talil said to no one. "I'm sorry."

  ? S.P.E.C.T.O.R - [A Sci-fi space adventure with fantasy elements] ?

  by Sweeper

  Unconscious and on the verge of death, an android appeared before taking him to a place ship, Spector, which healed him up.

  Now this Spector wants him to be its operator, so that they can leave Earth. But before that, he needs to settle the grudge he has against those who attacked him and killed his girlfriend.

  Armed with advanced technology, Adam hunts them down before heading out to explore the universe.

  Strangely, though, he has to do all this and more while livestreaming to the whole universe.

  Release Schedule: Daily

  This story is also available on RoyalRoad, Webnovel and Patreon.

  Access 40+ chapters on Patreon.com/Sweeps083

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  Discord:

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  I plan to use the usernames of readers who leave comments as some of the livestream viewers in the novel, so if you want to be included, leave a comment.

  Also, add what planet you would like to be from and if you would rather your viewer be pro MC or against the MC, or maybe you just want to see the universe burn.

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  Sexual content, while not the primary focus of this novel, is a part of it. The warnings listed below are in the chapter titles that have sexual content.

  * = Minor sexual content.

  ** = Around 1/2 of the chapter has sexual content.

  *** = Over 3/4 of the chapter has sexual content.

  This novel also contains Yuri elements.