As tedious as flying through space could be, Khan itched to jump back in his ship and set off. Curiosity and childish desire to explore the unknown had previously fueled that urge, but Khan now only felt a sense of duty and helplessness.
Khan had to get rid of his curse. He had lost too much because of it to delay that mont any longer.
Nott Station went through monuntal political changes in a matter of hours, which would usually demand careful and direct supervision. Still, Khan delegated everything to his Uncle, heading for the private hangar as soon as he completed his preparations.
It was the night of the sa day when Captain Lochport and a crowd of mostly female workers gathered before the pristine white ship. The vehicle had already lowered its tal ramp, and Khan stood in front of it to exchange the last goodbyes with the Captain.
"I should return relatively soon," Khan announced. "If you have any problem, just contact my Uncle."
Captain Lochport perford a weak nod. Truthfully, he had yet to absorb the recent developnts, and his previous talk with Prince Thomas only deepened his shock. The Prince hadn't asked anything, instantly agreeing to the gradually more demanding requests from the Captain.
"Have a safe trip, Prince Khan," Captain Lochport uttered, temporarily pushing aside his shock to perform a military salute. "We'll store supplies and equipnt to be ready for your return. A specialized team of engineers will also fly here shortly."
Khan nodded, feigning ignorance toward the mostly female crowd to turn toward his ship. The new paint job was spotless, removing all the marks Chuwei's sandstorms had caused. He had also already perford the necessary check-ups, so he climbed the tal ramp.
The scanners revealed scenes in the crowd that Khan chose to ignore as he sat on the pilot's seat and activated the engines. He even suppressed any jokes or pride his brain tried to produce while setting off, exiting the hangar, and leaving Nott Station.
The new star map appeared on the canopy's corner, and Khan perford a few sharp maneuvers before pushing the engines to their limit. The ship quickly reached its top speed, allowing Khan to switch to the auto-pilot and relax.
Distances were tricky when it ca to the universe, especially in those mostly barren quadrants. Blue Moon colony was relatively close to Nott Station and Chuwei, but Khan's ship would still take close to a week to reach it.
That stretch didn't only co from the flight in a straight line. Khan would have to slow down and carefully cross-reference what his scanners picked up with his map once he got close to his destination, which was ti-consuming. Nevertheless, he could leave the ship on its own for now.
Khan stared at the dark expanse past the canopy for a while, but troubling details from his short stay at Nott Station often popped out, prompting him to distract himself. He wasn't blind to the effects of his presence, but he wasn't ready to engage with people in that way, either, so he kept his mind occupied in the only way that environnt permitted.
The cargo area was full of supplies, so Khan seized a generous number of bottles and isolated himself inside the reinforced room. He hid so of that booze inside the black walls' secret drawers before sitting down with his legs stretched forward. Gulping noises occasionally resounded, but Khan never stopped focusing on his mana.
Two strands of mana clashed in Khan's legs, generating a superior burst of energy. Then, Khan tried with four, eight, and sixteen. He went beyond the Transcendent Step's foundation form and tested the theories of the advanced forms, approaching the six of them one by one.
That was how Khan had eventually pushed the third form further. He had tested what his legs could withstand and felt more comfortable performing, relying on past mastered habits and muscles' developnt. His body was readier for that advanced form, so he had focused on it.
However, Khan had no intention of slacking on the other advanced forms, so he spent most of his trip training, careful not to break the reinforced room. The ship would be safe as long as Khan kept his mana inside his legs, so he focused on the martial arts while perfecting his workout.
Keeping track of the passage of ti when training had always been one of Khan's main flaws, and the universe's superficially unchanging scenery didn't help. Yet, the ship's auto-pilot constantly updated Khan on many details, and he eventually left the reinforced room to take control of the steering wheel.
It took a bit of searching, but the ship's scanners ultimately focused on the planned destination. It turned out that the na "Blue Moon" wasn't random. A fitting spectacle unfolded on the vehicle's screens, explaining its origins.
A distant bluish star sent its light to a brown planet called Alea and its three moons. The latter shone under that illumination when they reached specific spots in their orbit, almost lighting up to resemble miniature suns.
The scanners picked up traces of technology on one of those moons. The recordings were actually ssy and fragnted, as if sothing had interfered with the ship's equipnt, but that was all the proof Khan needed to find his destination.
Khan led the ship toward the moon, circling it several tis to obtain a vague idea of its layout. Its grey ground was utterly barren, but one exception existed, which Khan had to eyeball from the canopy to find.
One of the moon's small craters occasionally flickered under the ship's inspection. Its cloaking technology couldn't completely shield itself against Khan's vehicle, so he pierced the almost non-existent atmosphere to approach it.
"This is Prince Khan speaking," Khan announced, opening a general channel that anyone could receive, "Lord Blue Shaman and Lord Special Emissary of the Thilku Empire. I seek safe access to Blue Moon colony."
Khan waited for a minute and then a couple more, but no ssage reached his control desk. The colony either feigned ignorance or had no way of replying to the communication, which didn't sound right.
'Maybe there's no one ho,' Khan thought before rejecting that hypothesis. He had picked the biggest colony on purpose, and such big structures always had soone presiding over them.
Khan considered firing a warning shot, but his ship didn't exactly excel in military prowess. He didn't want to risk engaging in space battles, either, but sending another ssage felt pointless already.
'I guess I'll knock,' Khan sighed, leaving the pilot's seat and inputting a few directives.
The ship unfolded its mana shield while its side doors opened. The barrier contained the internal pressure, allowing Khan to summon the pilot's techniques, surrounding himself in a warm mbrane that isolated so breathable air. He had respirators in the cargo area, but his energy would just destroy them.
Khan left the vehicle parked above the crater before shooting down, instantly appearing above that seemingly ordinary cavity. Every detail of the grey ground was perfect, but flickers started to unfold when he stretched his hand forward, and his palm eventually landed on sothing solid.
'Maybe I'll just give them a scare,' Khan thought, closing his fist and slamming it on that invisible surface three tis, with each knock radiating tremors that spread throughout the crater.
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