Chapter one - The Fall of Gaia

The mercenary’s ship jumped out from the subspace. His readings showed normal signs, no time-and-space interference from any immediate sector. He flipped the consoles to let Aauton help reaching the optimum orbiting distance. His cargo of foreign minerals and and a few tons of machinery parts – and of course, some illegal weaponries – clinked gently as the Auton took control.

As he climbed the ladder to his cabin, his ship suddenly shook. He ran to the consoles to check what’s wrong, but all what he could find was minor subspace sparks and small space deviations from his subspace jump.

The ship shook once more. The siren blared. All of the lights blinked on and off for a few seconds, and changed red, the sign of emergency. this time more violent.He immediately strapped himself to his chair, thrusted extra speed on both of his engines, and contacted the nearest station.

“Mayday, mayday! Do you copy, station?”

A female voice came out from the console speakers. “This is station Calliste of the planet Kallioppe. What is the emergency, Alpha-four-two-two?”

“A violent tremor hit my ship” the mercenary said. Panic could be heard from his voice. “But there are no present deviations on immediate space-and-time planes”

“Let me check for a moment” The woman then paused for a bit. And she spoke again, “That’s correct. No immediate sign of danger present in this zone. Are you sure it’s not an engine –related fault?

Another tremor hit the ship.

“No, ma’am! I’m really sure that’s nothing wrong with this girl right here” he said. “All is green!”

“You might want to check again, Alpha-two-two, these kind of mistakes are – “

Her voice trailed off as the amazement and surprise on her grew larger and larger.

*******

A ship, half-a-kilometer long, three hundred metres wide, jumped out from the subspace, ripping Kalliope’s immediate beta sector’s space-and-time planes. The ship was grey, with greenish accent on a few of its parts, and its body adored with bluish sparks of subspace remnants. The lights from its interior was shining beneath the layer of the emerald glow  of unknown substance covering the ship. A massive print of “G-A1” could be read on a side of its hull.

It continued moving forward, even though the engine was off. Sound of metal creaking resonated on the station Calliste, probably coming from the massive spaceship. It slowed down as it reached the checkpoint.

********

Amazement flew off from the station captain’s face. She realized that this is an emergency situation. She then quickly issued the emergency protocol.

“To all personnel, this is emergency code seven-five. An unknown vessel has entered our sector. Its purpose is unknown, and it doesn’t bear our insignia nor any leagues or syndicates. It is massive, and I’m sure it can be seen from all western decks. All artillery and security staffs are to set out to their designated post. Pilots and crews are required on deck, prepare to launch when needed.”

She quickly switched the transmission from the intra-deck to exterior communication.

“G A-one, do you copy? This is Captain Reinhardt of the space station Calliste of the planet Calliope. We are contacting on the behalf of Intergalactic Humanity League.”

There was no response.

“G A-one, do you copy?”

Still no response.

“Lazuli, do a quick scan on the ship. Life readings, weapons, technology, anything.”

Private Lazuli replied with a short “Yes, ma’am”. She did scans on the ship, and she did it thoroughly. She scanned life bearings until the smallest crevasse on the ship’s interior. And she also did technology and weapon scan. The result made her eyes glow.

“Ma’am, you might want to see this” she said. She then moved the result screen to the bridge’s main screen. Everyone’s attention turned to it.

A few seconds later, the room was full of “Oh god” and “By the name of Akramiel and all that’s holy”. Even the captain was surprised. She mumbled a short part of her spiritual rite.

“By lord, this is the fabled ark” she gasped. “This is the ship that brought the earth itself inside its hulls. Millions of Animal DNAs, plant cells, and mineral samples are inside."

"This is the Noah’s ark itself, The Gaia-Alpha”.