Nightglows of the Starlit Sky Prologue Part 2

The ground trembles so much that your stomach can feel it, and behind you you hear the sound of something massive striking the ground. You run in desperation, wiping away tears with little comprehension of the situation you've found yourself in. People you've never seen before do their utmost to protect you, and eventually you run into what looks like a giant metallic crystal with a streamlined design that suggests it was made to fly. You wonder if it's some sort of plane and if this is the partner that Blue mentioned when a voice calls out to tell you that the aircraft is top confidential military stuff and that contact with civilians is prohibited. The voice asks you to step away and rattles about how it hasn't been given any orders to depart when you ask if for emergency evacuation.

 

The voice accepts your evac request citing a military law exception to provide civilian protection. It grants you permission to come aboard and offers you the rear seat in the cockpit. The exhaust vent fires up as the canopy slides open, and a rope to climb aboard descends. When you grab onto the handle, it reels you in and you clamber aboard. The voice asks you about the assigned pilot Karel, specifically about whether he had any plans to return and what his status is. You only know him as the vice captain, but you repeat what he said about making an emergency evacuation without him.

 

The voice announces that the radar is picking up on a lot of incoming signals headed for your position. Given the current situation it decides to combine Blue's command along with its duty to safeguard civilians to begin evacuating from the area and asks you to sit with your back to the seat. You comply, and a harness slides into place on your upper body. A high pitched whining starts up as something within the ship activates. The voice announces the activation of the zero point reactor and the flight control system as it switches to take off procedures. A sense of discomfort runs through your stomach, and soon you notice that the ship has stopped making noise as it begins to float.

 

You are surprised that the ship is flying and ask how it's doing that as well as asking about any forces being put on your body. The voice explains that an anti0gravity device on board is controlling inertia as part of its prioritizing civilian defense. The ship is reaching safe altitudes, so the voice has it switch to level flight. A light shock hits the ship as it starts accelerating, and the scenery outside starts streaming by. Your breath catches in your throat at the view as destruction spreads through everything and blood dyes every surface. Residents, dead. Late evacuees, dead. Young and old, dead. Infants, all dead. Races that have fur, dead. Races with horns, dead. Races with other types of notable anatomy, all indiscriminately dead and messily devoured. But there is no time to commit anything to memory.

 

Night gaunts suddenly fly and menace the ship, so the voice announces an emergency as a number of enemy signals are approaching closer. Predictive calculations say the enemies will catch up and surround you in three minutes and thirty-two seconds. You are shocked to found out that the monsters can fly and say you need to shake them off and escape somehow. The voice says it will prioritize your safety and asks you to clench your teeth, and a sheet covers your body. Inertial forces that exceed the control system's management of it weighs on you with heavy pressure, and the ship zooms off at speeds you would normally not survive. The voice recalculates, then informs you that the chances are escaping at this speed is 0.002%. The monsters will catch up in two minutes and forty seconds and shoot you down after that.

 

You ask if there are any other possible solutions since you don't want to die here with no idea of what's happening, so the voice accepts your statement to cancel one of its control functions due to the emergency. It runs a quick scan on you before declaring you to pass the standards it was measuring. Some of the meters that were off in the ship light up and turn on, and there is a shift in the mood to the voice that it didn't have until now. The voice declares you fit to be a pilot and that the combat systems aboard are now up to satisfactory function levels. The plan is to now break through the enemy line as that is the best option in regards to survival.

 

You snap at the voice saying it should have turned those things on to begin with, ask if the monsters can actually be taken down, and say it should have told you about all this at the start. The voice explains that the combat systems are the military's topmost confidential information, so if they're used you will automatically be admitted into the army. You will have no right to refuse this nor will you have the right to be discharged from the military. Any violations will be punished immediately. But now that you've been informed of those conditions, the voice asks if you accept. The question being asked of you is pretty much a threat. Refuse and you will certainly die. Accept and you might possibly die. There is a moment's hesitation, but then you answer. You command the engagement of the combat systems given the desperate situation and ask for the power to defeat the monsters. The voice acknowledges your order and begins to start up the combat system S.u.m.m.o.n.e.r.S.

 

An image boots up in front of the seat as the announcement proceeds, one that looks like some sort of animal mascot. AI Solomon starts reporting about synchronizing with the Master and initializing the Rule power. The power's system is unknown. Similar powers are unknown. Battle abilities, unknown. The possibility of breaking through the enemy line through battle is unknown. The Denial Field is deployed, and the safety on the power cannon is disengaged. A control column gradually rises before you, and data you don't know the meaning of is thrown onto a projected screen. Somehow you still know that you're about to fight though. AI Solomon says he will take over the flight controls as he asks you to follow the instructions for fighting back. It is half a minute until the enemies catch up, so Solomon declares the start of the episode battle. More happens afterwards.

 

The story tunes back in towards the end of the battle as AI Solomon reports that three enemies are coming in from 10 oclock before commanding the power cannon, termed the Domination Cannon, to fire. You comply and fire as you pull the trigger, and you can feel the recoil coming from the bottom of the ship. The night gaunts are blown away, and the number of them remaining decreases. Solomon reports more coming in from 6 oclock, so he asks you to fire once the ship turns around. You yell about how persistent the monsters are as Solomon takes the ship on a loop-de-loop, and your mind disconnects for a moment as you fire with abandon. Each burst of light destroys the enemy shadows.

 

AI Solomon reports that the battle has been going on for five minutes and twelve seconds, and the enemy side has been reduced by 40%. The possibility of being surrounded has dropped by 63%, so he believes it is now possible to escape safely. You command an emergency withdrawal with all thrusters on blast, so Solomon acknowledges the order and turns on the overboost function. The ship accelerates faster than it ever had this flight, pinning you to the seat with the pressure. There is so much force that the circulation to your brain gets disrupted. Your vision narrows and darkens, but you are sure you see at the end of your field of view a single star shining in the darkness before you pass out.

 

There is a certain old poem out there that has a certain verse in its contents. "Two men look out from the same prison bars. One sees mud and the other sees stars." It is a poem about how two people could be held in the same place yet see different things. The story we now follow is like the story of the men who looked outside. What will they see? Will it be the mud, or will it be the stars? Only the sea of stars will know.

 

After that narration the story tunes back in at what looks like a common city suburb. The light of dawn shines brilliantly on a slightly raised field of grassland dotted with sparse trees and shrubs, and there are five people around looking up at the sky. Bertro is the first to greet you as he calls someone human (re: humanity) and says there's good news. He asks if they've heard the reports from the AI, the part where the civilian on board being evacuating turning out to be a Master. He wonders if this is a great achievement for an injury, an unexpected find, or a new problematic issue. Duo says that they would normally be eliminated as an unknown factor and irregularity, but he admits they need new personnel. Once they get here he intends to arrest them and inspect them. If all is well, he'll use his power to draft them in.

 

Kurogane points out that this person managed to break through a group of enemies with only one plane, someone with no experience at that. While this may be irregular, he suggests it could also be a lucky lottery ticket in their hands. Breke says nothing, and R19 relays a message from the control room about NG-002 being placed under the base's guidance. He starts conducting the landing sequence and notes that no problems are present.

 

On your end, the plane starts descending as the wings make a high pitched whining noise in the sky. You exit the ship and look around anxiously, then look questioningly at the people who have lined up to see you. You ask where you are, ask who the people are, and ask what those monsters were, but no one answers. One person steps forward, a short boy with a detached expression on his face. Duo greets you and introduces himself as the base commander, then tells you that you are under arrest now. Troopers surround you at his signal, and Duo smiles as he welcomes you as the brave warrior coming to the last hope of humanity.

 

On the next episode! The light of summoning has brought you to a ruined city. The world has been destroyed, and the ones who brought this havoc have been temporarily termed the shadow insects, the Shadow Buggers. The space army led by Duo are the ones resisting against them with the fate of the world in the balance. You who have been confounded by this harsh reality find a moment's peace in Breke's consideration. But unfortunately the Shadow Buggers' pursuit has finally managed to reach the hidden base. The invaders come attacking again here to shatter the last hope for humanity, and you make one decision. Find out what happens next time on Nightglows of the Starlit Sky Episode 1: Choose the Option You Prefer