Arthur's figure blurred in the dim-lit corridors of the Chimerian battleship, his boots pounding lightly against the deck as if he was just out for a stroll.

Chimerian soldiers popped up in side corridors, some shouting, others firing wildly. Plasma bolts ricocheted off his armor or fizzled away without so much as leaving a scorch mark on it.

He didn't even slow down to acknowledge them. 'Not worth the time.'

When the occasional bulkhead door tried to seal in front of him, Arthur narrowed his eyes as he used Technopathy to hack into the ship's system. The lock hissed open, parting just in time for him to speed through without breaking his movement.

Minutes later, he skidded to a stop before a towering blast door, thicker and more fortified than any he'd passed so far.

The deck here was wide, the walls lined with support struts, and every meter between him and the door was crowded with Chimerian troops.

These weren't the standard soldiers he faced before. Their armor was bulkier, and their weapons looked much more menacing. These weapons were heavy ordinance, meant for tearing apart armored vehicles or heavy defences, now aimed squarely at him.

Arthur took in the sight and exhaled slowly. "Well… you guys look prepared for me."

The soldiers tightened their grips, their HUDs in their helmets adjusting slightly as their lenses tracked him. One barked something over the squad channel, likely their captain. And the rest raised their weapons in unison.

Arthur shook his head, and muttered in a low voice. "Alright… have it your way."

He lifted his left hand, with his palm downwards, and swiped it lazily through the air.

The entire squad yelped as an invisible force seized them, yanking them sideways. Their armors clanged against the thick metallic walls of the wide hall, some grunting in pain, others letting out pained screeches as they hung on the wall.

Arthur kept them pinned there with a simple flex of his fingers.

He turned toward the blast door. This one had multiple security locks, heavy magnetic clamps, and redundant energy barriers, designed to keep invaders out or contain catastrophic failures inside.

Arthur hacked the interface in seconds, watching the rows of status lights flash from red to green. The massive slab of reinforced metal groaned open, revealing the reactor room beyond.

Arthur entered the reactor room as the blast door sealed shut behind him, only then did he release the soldiers from his telekinetic grip.

The moment his hold vanished, they slumped to the deck, coughing and groaning. One soldier, clutching his side, turned his helmet toward their captain. "C… Captain… what do we do now…?"

The captain, a broader Chimerian with clawed gauntlets and a scar running across his plated helmet gritted his teeth. He clenched his knuckles and ordered, "Open the blast door… and immediately start firing!"

The soldiers hesitated only for a moment and got ready to open the door, "Aye, Captain."

One of the soldiers walked to the door's control panel, tapping furiously at the keys. A mechanical error tone chimed in response. He tried multiple times, but it still showed the same error.

"Captain…" The soldier's voice cracked. "The door… isn't opening."

The captain's voice turned to a growl. "Then blast it open!"

The squad moved in unison and brought their heavy weapons to bear, targeting the blast door. Their weapons charged, as the air filled with tension.

"Fire!"

The corridor lit up with white-blue plasma bursts, each one slamming into the sealed barrier with a deafening sound and showers of molten sparks. The air grew hotter, smoke curling along the floor as the assault continued.

…

Inside the reactor room, Arthur's HUD pinged softly with each hit, tracking the rising temperature on the other side of the door.

"Well, let's get this started with." He muttered as he tapped his fist with his left palm.

Arthur walked forward, his boots echoing dully against the reinforced flooring of the reactor chamber. The air here was hot, a constant low vibration travelling through the walls from the machinery.

The reactor sat in the center of the room, a massive cylindrical core of dark alloy, segmented with vertical bands of glowing blue conduits. Thick cables and coolant lines fed into it from every angle, and an overhead gantry carried service arms that could move along its length for maintenance. It wasn't elegant, but it was built to last, efficient, and ugly in a functional way.

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Arthur stopped a few meters from it, flexing his right hand once. Chi began to gather around his fist, golden motes of light covering the plates of his armor, the air around him began to vibrate because of the concentrated energy around his fist. His stance shifted slightly, as he positioned his right feet just behind him, and aligned his shoulders.

Then he drove his fist forward.

The impact detonated with a deafening boom that rattled the chamber. The reactor's outer shell caved in under the strike, plating buckling like crumpled tin. A wave of blinding light and heat burst outward, slamming against the reinforced walls. The explosion tore apart internal conduits, shredding control nodes and splitting coolant lines, but the room's containment field held firm against the blast.

If not for the safety protocols designed to prevent catastrophic detonation, the fuel load alone would have taken the whole battleship with it in a single fireball. Instead, the blast was trapped here, burning itself out in seconds until the room settled into the crackling hiss of ruptured systems.

As the light dimmed and the smoke thinned, Arthur was still standing in the same position, he lowered his right arm, as his visor reflected the broken machinery. He gave the shattered core one last glance, then his armor flared again as Chi wrapped around him in golden energy.

He bent his knees slightly, then shot upward like a missile. The ceiling tore apart in a chain of eruptions, deck after deck giving way under his momentum until the final breach punched through the battleship's armored hull.

Arthur emerged into open space, shards of alloy tumbling around him. He watched as the crippled Chimerian battleship drifted powerless in space, its weapons going dark, thrusters shutting down one by one, and lights flickering weakly before dying out completely.

Hovering there, Arthur turned his head toward the other two battleships still trading fire with the human fleet. And without hesitation, he angled his body and accelerated toward them.

…

A few minutes earlier

On the bridge of the human flagship, Admiral Zara Volantis leaned forward in her command chair, eyes fixed on the tactical display. The feed from their observation drones showed Arthur weaving through a screen of corvettes, each one exploding in his wake.

Her crew followed his movements in stunned silence, occasionally breaking into whispers.

"Is he…?" one officer started.

"He's going straight for it," another said, disbelief in his tone.

They watched as Arthur slammed into the battleship's shield, a flare of golden light appeared against the faint blue dome. Minute after minute passed until, with a shuddering flash, a small section of the shield fractured and collapsed. The human figure shot inside through the hull breach he made himself.

The bridge crew held their breath. Some leaned toward their stations, waiting for any update.

A sensor officer suddenly straightened in his seat. "Ma'am, I'm detecting a full reactor shutdown on the Chimerian battleship. Power levels are dropping fast."

A few heads turned toward Zara for confirmation. She only gave a short nod, her voice steady. "As expected. He got through the shield, of course he could take out the reactor."

Then the external cams caught him again, blasting out of the battleship's upper hull in a streak of gold. The crippled vessel floated aimlessly, its weapon arrays going silent.

Cheers erupted on the bridge. Even if they hadn't been the ones to cripple it, the destruction of a Chimerian battleship meant less fire coming their way, and part of their mission goal achieved.

…

In the Vanguard's mess hall, the ECHO unit was just as loud. Leo was on his feet, fists pumping. "That's our commander!"

Elena, still half in shock, let out a laugh. "He just… punched through a battleship. Who even does that?" But no one answered her.

Around them, the other ECHOs were clapping shoulders, whistling, and replaying the footage that had been relayed into their comms. Every time Arthur punched something in the recording, the room broke into more cheering.

Back on the battlefield, Arthur was unaware of the ripples his actions caused. He was already moving toward his next target.

Arthur tore across the space, his Chi blazing like a comet's trail. The next Chimerian battleship locked its forward batteries on him, sending another barrage of energy beams in his path.

He didn't bother dodging. The blasts struck his armor, slowing him down and causing little damage which healed the next second, most of the energy dissipated against the golden shield surrounding him.

He slammed into the second battleship's shield with enough force to make the entire dome shudder. He started punching, as the barrier flickered with every hit, the blue glow breaking apart under the continuous strikes. In minutes, it fractured completely, and Arthur slipped inside.

The corridors appeared familiar now, lined with scrambling soldiers. He didn't waste time with the soldiers, the reactor room went down in less than a minute, the explosion shaking the ship before he shot back out into space, leaving another dead ship drifting in the battlefield.

The third battleship waited ahead, but Arthur wasn't in the mood to repeat the process again. He focused, letting his Technopathy touch the ship's systems. The shield shut off with a quiet flicker, and Arthur was already slamming into its hull. In seconds, he was inside its command pathways, slipping past security layers like they weren't even there.

Half an hour later, the fight was already over. The Chimerian formation had collapsed, with only a few straggler ships fleeing in scattered directions. Arthur let them go, trusting the human fleet to pick off the survivors.

He turned and streaked back toward the Vanguard, the massive human warship filling his visor until its docking bay doors opened for him. His boots hit the deck with a dull clang.

The moment he straightened, the bay erupted in noise. Hundreds of ECHOs lined the deck, their cheers bouncing off the metal walls. At the front, Leo, Elena, and Samir broke away from the crowd to meet him.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Leo's grin was so wide it looked like it hurt.

Elena immediately smacked the back of his head. "Mind your language, he's our superior."

Leo winced and rubbed the back of his head, glancing between her and Arthur. "Haha… sorry, Commander."

Arthur chuckled, shaking his head. "No worries." His gaze swept over the gathered soldiers, meeting their expectant stares.

He took a breath. "Let's get ready to take this planet back."

The response was instant, a roar of voices filling the bay. "Yeah…!!"

The sound carried through the metal halls, a single voice of resolve from hundreds, echoing back into the heart of the ship.

***

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