Quantum Book 1: Stranded

Chapter 3

"You want me to what?" I asked, starring at the person on the screen in front of me.

"You are operational commander now, you are responsible for this sector. Secure it Major" the man said, before the feed cut.

Turning, I walked back onto the command deck, seeing Sophia talking with some of the crew members. I walked over, and she gestured towards the map that was slowly fading into view as drones scanned the terrain.

"So commander, what's first?" She asked.

"First, we handle this city we are currently in" I said.

"I may be able to help with that" a voice said. Turning, I saw a man who wore a black suit with a green scarf. He was flanked by a blonde with glasses.

"Right, you, who are you again?" Sophia asked.

"Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy and member of the Vale council" he introduced himself.

"Well professor, how may you help us?" I asked him, leaning against the mapping console and crossing my arms.

"Your arrival here is by no means going unnoticed. You did appear right over our city of course. This has caused quite a bit of panic, which is currently being handled with a shelter in place order" he explained, "if you were to make a statement, perhaps people would be willing to listen"

"And what do you think we are here for professor?" I asked him, unable to hide the amusement in my voice.

"That is part of why I am here. You haven't killed anyone yet, and you aren't blowing things up, so I can only hope that you come in peace" he said, the blonde to his right sending a glare at me.

"Well, you aren't wrong that our intentions are peaceful. But that all depends on the people" I explained, "you see, you want us to make a statement, and we will, but it will probably not have the affect you are wishing for"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"We are here to invade your planet. To annex it if you will. You can become apart of the Species Conglomerate, and reap the benefits. Or you can resist and fight a losing war" I explained.

"I see... and what does this, "Species Conglomerate" do exactly? What are the benefits?" He asked.

"Uplift" I said simply, "you will become a space faring people. You will be backed by thousands of worlds, and our armies will become yours. Inequality will be stomped on and all we ask in return is a cut of your resources"

Ozpin hummed in response, "I will have to talk to the council and get them on board, but there aren't many downsides to this deal of yours that I can see"

"Good, we will need a place to set up a temporary command center until we can build a proper base. Someone find me something" I ordered.

"I might be able to help with that too. You are welcome to use Beacon as a command center. It has optimal defenses and connections to all important regions in the area" he said.

"Thank you professor, I will consider it" I said.

The professor nodded and left the room, the blonde following him. I sighed, thinking over my options....

____________________________________

Walking off of the Osprey, I could see young faces staring at us while we unloaded our equipment. I stretched my muscles for the third time since waking up. I'm 27 but feel like I'm in my 50's. I suppose that's just the military life. I turned, hearing a muffled grunt as a woman was pushed forward. Her mixed colored hair and eyes told me who she was. She refused to say her name so we called her Quiet, since she was also a mute. We caught her trying to sneak onto the Argus, the flagship of Mendoza's fleet. So we caught her after figuring out her illusion ability and kept her in binds, namely a neat piece of equipment called a "compliance collar" basically, it shocks who ever is wearing it and blows up if tampered with. She obviously was unhappy with it, but she hadn't given me a reason to use it yet.

I saw a group of girls approaching us, one of them looked younger than most. They got about three feet closer and a few marines stopped them, their face plates open to reveal a face. I nodded towards the tent we had set up with a ton of random wires and shit running to it. The marines escorting Quiet moved her over there. The difference between the marines guarding Quiet and the ones pulling security was the fact that the guards had their face plates down and, in big bold letters, "MP" was painted on their face plates. I walked over to the group of girls who were talking with the marines that had stopped them.

"What is going on over here?" I asked, being careful to keep my tone light so as to not antagonize the locals.

"Oh, we were just coming to welcome you to Remnant! You guys being aliens and all" the younger girl said.

"Well thank you, I am happy to hear that. Now, I know you probably have questions, but an announcement will be made in the coming days, so please leave the area and allow my men to work unimpeded" I said.

The girls nodded and walked away. Turning back, I walked over to Quiet, pulling out a chair and sitting across from her.

"Listen, I am going to give you a piece of paper and a pencil. You are gonna write your name and age on the paper, as well as why you were sneaking onto our ship. If you try to lunge for me, you will be either shot, beaten, stabbed, or all of them at once. Do you understand?" I said.

She nodded and I placed the paper on the table, along with a pencil. I saw her contemplate lunging for me before deciding against it. I wonder if the two MP's who just walked in had anything to do with it?

She wrote her name, Neopolitan, which I found funny because it was so very fitting for her. She wrote her age as 22, which was kind of surprising considering how short she was. Then I began asking questions...