Chapter 101: The Starship Carrier
"Uncle Sunak, I’m hungry," Arix said, whining a little.
"Alright, let’s go get so food. You can et everyone along the way," Sunak said with a gentle smile, affectionately ruffling Arix’s little head.
With that, they stopped chatting and headed straight for the military cafeteria.
The cafeteria of the Empire and the cafeteria of the Alliance have their unique vibes.
If the Alliance’s cafeteria is all about complicated cuisine, then the Empire’s cafeteria is a buffet of all kinds of raw foods. Think dium rare steak, fresh salads, fruits and nuts—all in one place.
Arix had a hunch that this variety might be due to the Empire’s diverse therian soldiers. Herbivores stick to fruits and veggies, carnivores go straight for the at, and omnivores, like rabbit, dog, and cat therians, munch on a bit of everything.
Empire soldiers are super friendly to kids, so when they spotted Arix, they couldn’t help but gather around, eager to pet the little one and ask questions.
"Wow, Sunak, who’s this cute little one?" A rabbit therian soldier exclaid, eyes sparkling as they admired Arix.
"This is my cousin’s child. She’s busy, so I’m helping out for a month," Sunak replied, grinning.
"We’re on a mission. Isn’t it risky to have a kid around?" a fox therian soldier asked, still gently rubbing Arix’s head.
"It’s okay, this mission isn’t tough. Once it’s done, I’ll take her back to the clan," Sunak assured them with a calm smile.
"It’s rare to see such a beautiful young one. Her bloodline must be very pure, right?" Another soldier chid in, eyes bright with curiosity.
"We’ll check when we get back to the clan. But she’s hungry now, so I have to go," Sunak said, finding an excuse to leave.
"Alright, don’t let the little one go hungry," the soldiers agreed, stepping aside reluctantly.
After their al, Sunak took Arix to the resting room. He left a quick note saying he had so business to attend to, and told Arix to play alone and not wander off. Then, he hurried out.
Arix waited until Sunak left. She then jumped off the bed, opened the door, and slipped out. After all, this was a starship carrier—too exciting to miss out on exploring.
The starship carrier is a massive space-aircraft combo. It usually doesn’t operate solo but with other warships, forming a fleet that can search, track, lock onto, and attack enemy targets within thousands of kiloters.
It looks like a huge, dark polyhedron. Its deck was on one of the surface. The deck wasn’t a channel just for annihilation spacecrafts but also for chas. So, there was bound to be lots of cha to see. If lucky, Arix might even catch a cha fight.
Arix’s eyes sparkled with excitent, quickly darting through the starship carrier’s corridors.
The busy Empire soldiers thought the little one was just playing and didn’t pay much attention. They even kindly pointed out places where she could find fun things to do. Arix responded with a sweet little howl of thanks.
But when everything seems to go smoothly, surprises are bound to happen.
Turning a corner too quickly, Arix collided with soone and, being so light, she was sent flying. Before she knew what happened, she was caught by soone using psychic power and then held in his arms.
"Awwo?" Arix rubbed her little head, wincing from the collision. Looking up in confusion, she saw who it was and froze in fear.
"Ad...admiral?" Arix stamred, trembling all over. Her voice shook, and even her little paws were quivering.
’Oh no,’ she thought. ’Will I be thrown off the starship carrier? Sunak has warned
repeatedly not to bother the admiral.’
"Sir, are you okay?" Chris, the admiral’s aide, asked anxiously.
"I’m fine," Scion replied, waving off his concerned aide. Then he looked down at the little one in his arms.
Seeing Arix’s fear, Scion gently rubbed her head and softly asked, "Where’s Sunak? Why are you running around alone?"
Realizing the admiral wasn’t mad, Arix breathed a sigh of relief. "Sunak went to do sothing. I just wanted to explore the starship carrier. Can I, Admiral? If not, I’ll go back to the resting room," she said, her ears drooping, showing how much she didn’t want to.
Looking at the adorable little one from his own clan, Scion’s cold eyes softened. He patted Arix’s head and asked, "Do you want to go around with ?"
"Really?" Arix tilted her head, looking at Scion in disbelief.
"Of course," Scion confird with a nod.
"Wow, that’s aweso!" Arix exclaid, bouncing happily in Scion’s arms.
Watching the joyful little one, a small smile appeared on Scion’s face.
For the rest of the afternoon, Arix stayed in Scion’s arms, following him everywhere.
When Scion was busy, he would put Arix down to play on her own. Arix behaved well, showing interest mainly in the machinery without causing trouble.
Scion felt a rare warmth toward the well-behaved young one. By the ti he returned Arix to the resting room, their bond had grown closer.
"Can you take
to hang out again tomorrow?" Arix asked sweetly. She rubbed her head against Scion, reluctant to part so soon.
Scion smiled slightly and nodded, "Sure."
"Great, you promised, no backing out!" Arix cheered, jumping out of Scion’s arms and heading back into the resting room.
As Scion looked at his now empty arms, a strange sense of emptiness washed over him. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was back to being the cold admiral. "Let’s go," Scion said calmly to his aide.
"Yes, sir," Captain Chris replied respectfully.
Just as Arix returned to the room and saw Sunak, her smile froze. She stood nervously against the wall, looking ready to bolt at any mont.
"Had a lot of fun, huh? What did I tell you about running around? You almost explored the entire starship carrier," Sunak said, giving Arix a death glare.
He had figured it out by now: this little one had the most obedient face but the most rebellious heart.
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