September 13, 2152
Emory yawned and stretched as she woke up feeling more rested than ever before. As she sat up, Jask started loading on the screen and beeped a couple of times to indicate it was ready for input. Emory sighed, "Anything on the long-range scanner, Jask, or was that the only ship?"
"No other ships have been detected near any of the four bases," Jask answered, "However, my scans only reach to the end of the star system. With the speed of the last ship, I was several hours behind their signal."
"What do we to increase your range or transmission speed?" Emory asked.
"We need to put probes out farther in the system," Jask detailed, "With probes at the edge of the system, we could track incoming vessels from their entrance into the area instead of when the signal hits them from here. Additionally, we should be able to peek into the interstellar space as well."
Emory nodded, "So the first priority after the FOBs are established should be the research center. Jask, send a memo to all the commanders and subcommanders to change gears and work on the research center."
"Yes, ma'am, message has been sent," Jask chimed, "Do you have any other questions at the moment?"
"When the Apleem landed on Proxima B, they took out communications first. But when they landed here, we never lost them. Any ideas why?" Emory questioned.
"Given the data I have, my only conclusion is the ability to take out our telecommunications derives from a party we did not encounter yesterday," Jask carefully explained, "Based on my estimates, either the equipment or party who did this at Proxima Centauri B was much more powerful than those that landed here."
Emory hissed, "That doesn't bode well for us then. It may mean that they don't have the resources to do such an attack easily or they didn't send a planned group here this time, which ultimately means they have many more cards left to play. One last thing Jask, can you get me the exact coordinates of our inbound platoon and upload them to my personal console?"
"Right away, ma'am," Jask beeped before a similar beep sounded from her wrist. She decided to get changed for the day since it would be another exciting one, though hopefully filled with less conflict. Once she was dressed and presentable, she donned her gauntlets and headed for the med bay to check on Innes and Nephenee. When she passed the window outside, she paused for a moment and snickered at the sight before her. Another bed had been pushed next to Innes's bed, clearly for Nephenee, but she had instead squished herself onto his bed next to him where they were both peacefully sleeping. To be nice, Emory knocked on the door a couple times before opening it which jolted the two inside awake. Nephenee was still moving back to her bed when Emory walked in with a smile on her face.
She quipped, "So how long has this little thing been going on?" Innes smirked and turned his head away while Nephenee's face became bright red.
"A little over a week," Nephenee mumbled, "A few days before we landed, we hooked up for the first time."
"Just make sure it doesn't interfere with the war. You do remember the war, right?" Emory stuck out her tongue.
"It won't, Commander," Innes grinned, "Why did you come to see us so early this morning?"
Emory said calmly, "If I make good time, I could make it to Earth yet today. So, I wanted to get a jump start on the day, since there's a good chance I'll have to cast this spell five times today and teleport across the stars several times, all while learning how to use my new powers. Nephenee, this won't take long." Nephenee nodded as she got off the bed and walked in front of Emory who created five tiny orbs in one hand, one for each finger. Emory grabbed her shoulder tightly, pressing the orbs into her arm, and light began emanating from her body. The light grew progressively brighter for a minute before dimming and fading altogether. Nephenee rubbed her arms as her face revealed a shocked look.
"All this magik, just available whenever the situation calls for it," Nephenee gasped, "I had no idea. Thank you for this gift."
"No problem. I'm happy to help. You two rest; I'm going to say goodbye to our guests," Emory replied after she took a deep breath. Nephenee bowed and Innes nodded, and Emory walked out of the med bay, After she shut the door, she took several deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure; perhaps she was doing this spell wrong. As she made her way to the communal sleeping room, she passed through the cafeteria and smelled warm bread. To her surprise, Athos and Bramimond were sitting at a table eating from a platter of breads and butter.
Emory asked curiously, "Where did you two get such delicious food here on the base? Surely, they haven't set up crops yet."
"Oh, we had some sent from the home base," Athos shrugged, "Teleportation doesn't just work for people; anything you can see can be teleported if you have the magik to do so. Are you heading out soon?"
"Yep, I've got a lot of work to do today. Thank you again for all your help; once I'm done with these first few hurdles, we can head to one of your trouble planets and fix issues there. Do you have any sage advice for me before I go?" Emory checked.
"When you're teleporting, think of where you want to go, focus on a familiar person or place, and then release a pulse of magik like an Arcane Shield," Bramimond mentioned, "It helps to close your eyes to block distractions. Also, you don't need to give so much magik to others when you cast Contract; they'll cultivate their own, given time."
Emory raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I've just followed what the spellbook said to do."
"Don't misunderstand; you're doing the spell correctly," Athos chuckled, "It's just you have oceans of magik in your mana pool, much more than the writers of that book could even comprehend. I didn't mention it yesterday because I thought it may have been necessary to save your friend. But the amount of magik you're handing out is twenty-five percent of your total mana pool. Even if your magik is limitless, your stamina is not."
"So, what should I do instead? I have a maximum of four more people to cast this on today," Emory huffed.
Athos raised a single finger and said, "Instead of creating five orbs, you only need one. That should be more than enough to complete the spell. Unless you're fighting an enemy, try to use only a fifth of the magik you would expect to need for any spell, just until you get the hang of it." Emory nodded as she understood what Athos was saying. Because she had reached level four of the Arcane sphere, she had the skill required to condense her magik to its smallest form while maintaining the power of an orb magnitudes larger. Using a quarter of her magik for a single spell was more than she had used since blocking Shepherd's strike weeks ago. And at this rate, she was using nearly a third of her stamina containing the magik in the spell, so even if she rested, she wouldn't have the energy to do all she wanted to accomplish today. With that in mind, she thanked them again and headed to the front of the FOB where they had arrived yesterday, She sat cross-legged on the large metal engraving, closed her eyes, and filled her thoughts with the command center of the incoming ship. Lloyd's tall, rigid stature appeared like a picture in her mind. Then she released a sliver of magik, feeling the ground change below her instantly.