Inside the Retribution, Arthur walked down its pristine corridors, escorted by a young soldier who clearly didn't want to be anywhere near him. The man's eyes flickered every so often towards Arthur, then quickly away again, like someone stealing glances at a bomb they were afraid might go off.

Arthur kept his expression calm, though his thoughts were somewhere else. 'I knew this was coming the moment I left Vanguard. Technically, I'm guilty of disobeying direct orders in the middle of an operation? That's enough to bury any soldier's career.'

But what weighed on him wasn't the punishment. It was the fact that, despite knowing the cost, he didn't regret his decision, not even for a second. And he doesn't really care about ranks in the military as long as he can become stronger to face what's coming next.

They stopped at a tall set of reinforced doors, two guards posted on either side.

The escort cleared his throat, and said. "Please enter. The Admiral is waiting for you inside."

Arthur gave him a small nod. "Thanks."

The soldier looked relieved as he stepped aside, avoiding Arthur's gaze.

The doors hissed open with a metallic groan as Arthur stepped inside.

The admiral's office was neat, not extravagant, but was more functional, much like its owner. A wall of screens displayed fleet positions, and a large desk was scattered with data and reports. Admiral Zara Volantis sat behind it, her posture immaculate, and her face hidden behind an expression of cool professionalism.

She didn't immediately speak, she finished tapping on her pad before lifting her gaze to him.

"So, Mr. Sully," her voice was even and impassive, "are you going to explain why you did what you did?"

Arthur stood at attention, his helmet cradled under one arm. "I know I disobeyed orders… but I did what I thought was right."

The Admiral's eyes narrowed, as she said in a cold voice. "Do you know what disobedience like that leads to? You'd be stripped of your rank and pushed down to nothing more than a foot soldier."

Arthur let the silence stretch. After a long pause, he replied without showing a hint of emotion on his face, "I can accept that."

For the first time, Admiral Zara blinked in confusion. Not at the words, but at how casually he accepted them. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she leaned back in her chair, sighing slightly.

"You know," she said after a beat, "a good soldier is someone who follows orders without questioning them. And you, Mr. Sully… you're not one of them."

Arthur didn't flinch. He'd heard worse insults in his previous life, and truthfully, she was right.

She hesitated, then slid a datapad toward him. "That said… the head command has sent orders for you. You're allowed to continue what you did out there in this mission. They're… showing a lot of leniency toward you…remember that."

Arthur scoffed inwardly, though his face betrayed nothing. 'Leniency? No. They've realized they can't control me anymore, that's all this is.'

He gave a single nod and raised his hand in salute. "Understood, Admiral."

Zara studied him for a moment longer. Something flickered in her eyes, before she masked it again. "You are dismissed."

Arthur turned crisply on his heel and left the room.

The doors sealed behind him, and only then did Zara let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her fingers drummed lightly on the desk, betraying the nerves she refused to show in front of him.

Ordering someone like Arthur, a man who could just crush battleships with his bare fists as if they were toys, wasn't easy. The thought lodged itself in her mind, 'What happens when a person grows too powerful to be commanded? The chain of command becomes more symbolic than binding.'

Her jaw tightened, she thought the UFE needed to tread carefully while dealing with someone like Arthur. After talking with Arthur she figured he was not someone who would follow orders blindly, making him a dangerous person. She prayed she wouldn't be saddled with another subordinate like him again.

…

Some time later, Arthur was back aboard the Vanguard. The atmosphere inside the massive ship was alive with movement as crews prepped for the next phase of their mission.

Arthur stood by one of the wide observation panels, his reflection caught in the glass as the fleet outside arranged itself in formation. A dozen ships drifted into precise alignment, their hulls glinting faintly against the backdrop of stars.

Announcements echoed through the comms. "Fleet sectors aligned. Preparing for jump sequence."

He heard footsteps approaching from behind, the familiar cadence of Leo, Samir and Elena together.

"Commander," Leo said, trying to sound formal but was unable to hide his grin. "You're not actually in trouble, are you?"

Arthur turned slightly, smirking faintly. "Depends on how you define trouble."

Elena folded her arms, her expression was sharp but softened with a hint of concern. "You really don't care, do you? About ranks, and the UFE's politics."

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Arthur's gaze shifted back to the fleet preparing for the jump outside. "I care about winning this war… everything else takes a back seat."

The ship's lights dimmed slightly as the countdown for the fleet's jump began.

"Ten… nine… eight…"

The stars outside stretched into long threads of light.

"…three… two… one…"

And with a thunderous silence, half of the fleet vanished into hyperspace, streaking toward their next battlefield.

…

A few hours later

The stars snapped back into focus as the fleet dropped out of warp.

Before them was another occupied star system, the planet below was similar in size to Earth, its orbit ringed with hostile vessels. Three massive Chimerian battleships stood guard, their jagged hulls bristling with weapon ports, flanked by corvette swarms patrolling in tight formation.

The moment the human fleet arrived, red targeting grids lit up across the tactical screens.

Inside the Vanguard, tension rippled through the crew as alarms blared. Arthur, however, was already moving.

He made his way through the docking bay, ignoring the looks of crewmen as he stepped into space without hesitation. The moment he cleared the Vanguard's gravity field, his body blurred into a streak of golden light.

As he approached the front lines, he passed alongside the colossal Retribution-class battleships. Pausing mid-flight just long enough, Arthur snapped a mock salute to its bridge, a gesture caught by the viewports and bridge crew inside. Then, with a sudden acceleration, he surged forward, cutting directly into the battlefield.

Energy beams lanced across the space, aimed squarely at the human fleet. Arthur weaved between them effortlessly, streaking toward the Chimerian line.

The Chimerians were already notified of an anomaly in the battlefield and as soon as Arthur appeared, all three battleships focused their attacks on him.

Their cannons pivoted towards his direction. But Arthur didn't back down, his eyes glowed faintly as he reached out with Technopathy. The corvettes class ships within 10 km (6.2 miles) radius of him suddenly faltered mid flight. And the next second, like unwilling puppets they drifted into position around him. As he intended to use them as shields as he sped towards the main battleships.

The next volley of beams smashed into the corvettes shielding him, tearing them apart piece by piece. Each time one disintegrated, Arthur grabbed another, forcing it into position to defend himself.

He kept moving forward and dodging, his body becoming a blur between the volleys of energy beams as he finally reached one of the main battleships.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, not slowing down instead he slammed into the shield with everything he had. The impact rippled across its surface like waves across water. The kinetic energy of the impact surged back against him, numbing his muscles, but he didn't stop.

Arthur cocked his fist and punched again and again. Each blow sent another ripple through the barrier. Though the battleships continued their barrage, he didn't stop.

Simultaneously he used his Technopathy to forcefully rip apart the cyber-security of the ship that the AI was trying to put up. His Technopathy level was not high enough to hack the battleship in a short time. So, what he did here was using a forceful method.

The battleship's AI was trying its best to reinforce its firewall as Arthur pushed in deeper with his Technopathy. His neurons started overloading as he tried to forcefully enter into a system that resisted his intrusion at every layer.

Blood started to pour out of his orifices, and he felt his vision also started to blur.

"Aaaghhh…!" Arthur gritted his teeth as pain seared through his skull. It felt like his brain was being cooked at this rate, and the two other battleships were also continuing their barrage. His passive Pain Tolerance came into play to relieve his pain, but even then the pain felt unbearable.

From inside the Vanguard, Elena's voice cracked over his comms who saw his vitals dropping. "Arthur…stop! Please pull back, are you trying to kill yourself!"

But he didn't respond, he couldn't. His body pressed against the shield due to the attacks, as he was unable to put up any defence due to his mind being in a scramble.

But just as he was just about to gain access to the ship's system, he suddenly felt his consciousness slip away. He tried to stay awake but was ultimately unable to as all of his neurons were fried.

Arthur's eyes rolled back, and his body went limp, floating aimlessly near the shield.

Seeing Arthur becoming unresponsive, the Chimerians stopped firing.

Inside the Chimerian battleship, silence fell for half a beat, then erupted into guttural cheers and triumph.

"The anomaly is finally down!" one shouted, his fangs bared in a savage grin.

On the human side, the reaction couldn't have been more different.

Elena's breath hitched. "No… no, no, no…" She gripped her console so tightly her knuckles whitened as she looked at Arthur's lifeless body floating in space.

Leo slammed a fist against the armrest, his voice sharp with anger and disbelief. "Damn it! Arthur…he can't just…"

Samir's eyes were wide, darting between Arthur's vitals on his HUD. The flat lines told the same story, that Arthur had died.

"No…" Samir muttered, shaking his head as though refusing to believe it. "How?"

For several long, agonizing seconds, despair seeped into every corner of the fleet.

And just as Arthur's teammates and the others were despairing about his death, a sudden spike of his brain activity attracted them.

Outside, Arthur's body suddenly jolted once then stopped, his fingers spasmed.

And with a sharp gasp he regained his consciousness. "Haa…haaahhh!" His breath came out ragged.

Arthur floated for a second, eyes dazed, then muttered under his breath with dry humor, "Well… that's not something I want to go through again."

Inside the Vanguard, Elena let out a shaky laugh that sounded half like a sob. "He…he is fine…?"

Samir slumped back, muttering, "Crazy bastard…" and Leo simply sighed in relief without saying anything.

The others started to cheer, even though they couldn't figure out what exactly happened, they were just relieved seeing their commander fine. Most believed there were some errors with the device that monitored Arthur's vitals due to the continuous attacks.

The Chimerians had resumed their barrage the instant they realized he wasn't dead, beams streaking towards him. But Arthur didn't dodge, he let the attacks graze him without causing any harm. He simply turned his gaze back to the battleship in front of him, which had tried to put distance between them.

He narrowed his eyes as he extended his hand forward, and his Technopathy lashed out. And in seconds, his will slammed through the already weakened firewalls of the battleship. He felt the systems bend, then snap under the pressure giving him full access to it.

The entire vessel shuddered, its cannons turned towards their own battleships as Arthur seized control of it.

Inside the battleship, the Chimerian crew started to panic, frantically trying to control the battleship, but all they saw was an error message appearing on their console one by one.

Arthur smirked, "You are mine now." and snapped his fingers.

***

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