chapter 123
As the Forward Horizon started to reach a point in its orbital path where it reached the planet’s upper atmosphere, more and more eyes turned towards the ship.
Down on the planet, the two research outposts hoped that their supplies would reach them safely, although there was never a guarantee. There were other groups down there as well, ready to head out to salvage anything left if they failed to make it to the surface.
Multiple spaceships monitored the descent, which was broadcast to Paradise City. A few individuals who personally knew the crew of the Forward Horizon tuned in, hoping for the best.
Across the bars and gambling establishments of Paradise City, bets were being made, as every resupply mission was an opportunity to gamble. This one being especially juicy, as Forward Horizon was not a traditional design, and it was the first resupply mission it was on.
Everything about the descent was known: the current speed, the orbital path that would take them across the equator. Yet the closer and closer Forward Horizon got to the planet, the more excited the people in those bars got, because the ship was going too fast.
While normal atmospheric entry to a planet used the very air itself to slow down, on this planet, doing so was dangerous, as it left a fiery streak for all the flying-type monsters to see and pursue. A slower, more stealthy approach always yielded better results.
But the Forward Horizon, as it started to lose altitude, didn’t use its engines to slow down enough to avoid the air combusting from the friction generated by the speed of the ship.
It started slowly, with a few flare-ups at the back of the ship as it was descending backwards. The tips of the wings were the first to truly ignite the air around them, which soon led to everything else following. The ship’s armour was good enough that fire like this wouldn’t damage it, but with the speed they were going, they left a huge fiery tail as they descended.
The sight brought joy to some and misery to others. On board the Forward Horizon, the crew members on the bridge looked towards their captain, not understanding why he had ordered such action, but Remi Graves looked undisturbed, waiting for the results of his choices.
Down near the surface of the planet, more and more creatures and monsters looked up, seeing that fiery tail. Screeches and screams were heard all over, as some hid in their burrows while others took flight, starting to climb towards the direction the ship would eventually reach.
Through all of this turbulence, the Forward Horizon remained incredibly stable—unnaturally so—although that was unnoticed by all. Finally, the command was given, and the side engine started to work, slowing down the airspeed of the ship.
This caused the ship to descend even faster. The atmosphere got thicker and thicker. They were still going too fast, so finally, the main engines kicked in.
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They had been idling the entire time, only producing enough thrust to keep their chambers clear of foreign substances. As soon as the captain gave his command, the energy consumption of the engines spiked, and the trickle of fuel that previously supplied them turned into a flood.
It was superheated and then expelled at incredible speeds, enough that even through the gravity devices, it could be felt by everyone on the ship. Quickly, those gravity devices redlined and were turned off. The ship was unstable only for a few moments before the dozens of AIs in control of its every movement stabilised everything.
The fire caused by air friction died down soon after, as the ship reached more manageable speeds. That also left the opportunity for the monsters of this world to finally close in. All the turrets could now pop up as they were no longer in danger from the burning air.
The command bridge screens were filled with hundreds upon hundreds of red dots, with more and more closing in. Everyone except for the captain was worried. That was a lot of strong opponents that could individually tear each of the crew members apart when it came to fighting them individually, but there was a reason why spaceships still used regular technology.
“Fire at will!” The decisive command came from Remi Graves, the captain of the Forward Horizon. A moment later, FH, the very ship itself, and the hundreds of AIs underneath it opened fire on the approaching monsters.
The turrets that had laser-type weapons were the first to fire and the first to hit. Their constant beams of energy started cutting through the approaching monsters, targeting weak spots like the head or wings with accuracy that should not be possible for a descending ship flying at such speeds.
Yet only a moment later, dozens of projectile turrets fired their bullets, causing even more instability with each shot. None of that seemed to matter as the ship stayed incredibly stable, with an unbelievable amount of bullets actually hitting their targets.
Bullets tore through the wings of the approaching monsters, who soon started losing speed and altitude. Each hit left bloody mist in the air that soon colored the sky red. The angry screeches of those monsters were mixed with the sounds of panic and pain.
Red dots started to disappear from the displays as most could not survive even a brief attention of Forward Horizons' weapons. In droves, they started to fall towards the ground. The flyers still swarmed towards their target, uncaring of their fallen, but the Forward Horizon never stopped firing.
Bullet conveyors continued to feed dozens of turrets, with drones constantly reloading the conveyors from the different bullet storage areas nearby. Everything on board acted like a singular machine designed for destruction, with constant communication happening at an astonishing rate.
At every given second, thousands of terabytes of information were transferred between the different AIs, sensory data, analytics of monster movement patterns, the wind, the ship—absolutely everything. No monster was targeted by two turrets at the same time, as everything was coordinated.
It was a level of precision no biological could achieve, but there was enough artistry in each one of these AIs for them to be creative enough to solve the problems ahead of them. It was a mastery of destruction that anyone would be awed by.
Forward Horizon was like a pillar that a storm was trying to bring down, but that pillar simply didn’t care about the storm that tried to kill it. In fact, they revelled in it as all the AIs were finally getting to put all that training they did into practice.
Some monsters did make it close as they were a cut above the rest. Their skills made them true terrors, but the AIs did not miss anything. Whenever such a target was confirmed, the large topside turrets turned tracking their prey, firing when ready. No matter the skills, none survived that.
This continued for a solid ten minutes until nearly a thousand of them had fallen. Only then did the flyers finally understand that this particular metal flyer was too dangerous for them. Singularly and in groups, they peeled off from their attack runs, heading back to their own hunting grounds.
Millions upon millions of credits changed hands for those few who decided to stick with their original bets that the Forward Horizon would make it down in one piece won it big.
On board the Forward Horizon, there was no celebration, as the captain ordered everyone to be vigilant and the maintenance drones to start examining everything.
During the descent, they had burned through approximately thirty percent of their ammunition. As Remi Graves looked around at all of his crew members in different meditative poses, he was beyond pleased.
The ship’s AIs perform well above his expectations, the constant killing not only pushed him towards his next rank, but it was also enough to push all his crew members—who had just recently gone through their rebirths—enough mana influx for them to reach the next rank.