Mulan Part 7

General Huā Part 7

Xiao Huā resisted the gravitational to the best of her abilities with the mecha’s additional thrusters. She sped away from the black hole and towards where the spaceships had been sitting while dodging the many aliens that were being forcefully pulled towards the black hole. Although Xiao Huā was getting further and further from the black hole, the gravitational pull never ceased nor had it gotten weaker because the black hole was also growing stronger as it consumed more alien mass. Even the alien mother nest was about to consume, and Xiao Huā knew that once that large piece of mass enters the black hole, the black hole will become so strong that she will no longer be able to escape.

As Xiao Huā pierced through the masses of aliens once more, she saw an open space devoid of spaceships and mechas. The final defense line had already warped away as they noticed the dangerous black hole, leaving the brave soldier who had brought the destruction of the alien army stranded. Just when Xiao Huā was about to despair and lose hope, she noticed a blinking light in the distant, a bit further back from the defense line. It seems that there was still one ship left awaiting survivors! Xiao Huā’s hopes were ignited as she immediately blasted off towards that direction while commanding Xiao Mu to fire the torpedo chain. A hidden compartment at the front of the mecha opened up as a metallic torpedo with mini thrusters fired out. It blasted off towards the blinking light with a chain connecting to it, assisting Xiao Huā in seeking life in this deadly situation.

Meanwhile, a spaceship was sitting quietly in space as a couple of mechas were arguing loudly through their communications regarding what to do.

“We have to leave soon! Otherwise, when that black hole consumes the mother nest’s mass, it will grow so strong that we will fail to leave!” a random recruit argued.

“But we can’t just abandon our friend and general like that. They are still out there,” Xiao Po argued with his intimidating size.

“Don’t you understand? If we don’t abandon them, all of us are going to die!” another random recruit hollered.

“But without them, we may not be alive in the first place; however, that mother nest is almost consumed … I can feel the gravitational force getting stronger already,” another recruit butted in as he activated his thrusters due to his mecha slowly getting pulled towards the direction of the black hole.

“Argue, argue, argue! That’s all you know how to do! Oh! If only I had know that silly pretty boy was going to do something this silly! I would have persuade him not to, and we won’t be in this situation! He was such a good friend too! Now I will never see him again! If these hands can save them, I would jump at the chance anytime, but seeing our current situation, the chances of that happening are n-” a gruff voice cried in agony within a mouse mecha as he threw his hands up in the air, but before he could finish, a torpedo, attached with a chain, zoomed up and landed in his outstretched hands before its fuel fizzled out, “Eh?”

Xiao Yao blankly stared at the torpedo in shock for a bit before a strong force tugged on the torpedo, rapidly pulling him towards the black hole. Xiao Po reacted swiftly and grabbed onto Xiao Yao’s mecha with his big beefy one while activating all his thrusters and stating, “Xiao Yao, hold on to the torpedo! I think it is them! Everyone come help pull!”

The recruits then hurriedly jumped onto the chain one after another while activating their thrusters. Reinforcements were requested as more soldiers piled out of the space ship and hopped onto the chain as well. With a small army pulling the chain, the chain had a solid anchor. On the other side of the chain, Xiao Huā’s mecha has activated its reeling function as the mecha began to gather the chain back into its body. This caused the mecha to be rapidly pulled towards the anchor of the chain. Xiao Huā’s thrusters had mostly ran out of juice by now and she has to rely on this chain to get back now. She made sure to hold on to General Sheng’s mecha with both hands in fear of him breaking off due to the gravitational pull.

Eventually, Xiao Huā and General Sheng’s mecha were pulled up to the spaceship where her friends greeted her. Xiao Huā then rapidly entered the spaceship with the soldiers’ help, and the spaceship activated its warp gate, safely leaving the area while recording its final shot of the alien mother nest being consumed by the black hole. It was the human’s victory, and the soldiers gave their cheers as they escaped successfully.

General Sheng was discovered to be unconscious in his mecha and was immediately sent to the infirmary. However, when Xiao Huā got off her mecha, the soldiers descended into silence as they gaped in shock. Xiao Huā glanced down and it was then she noticed her holographic disguise was gone, revealing her women’s body. Xiao Huā coughed in embarrassment over the soldiers’ fiery stares before rushing off to the infirmary to confirm General Sheng’s condition. Fortunately, General Sheng was simply unconscious due to a minor shock to the head and there were no other health concerns; however, Xiao Huā still sat by his bedside to watch over him as she waited for him to wake up.

Meanwhile, the news of victory had already been delivered to the capital planet along with all of its surrounding planetary territories. The alien mother nest has been destroyed and there was even video proof of it! Surprisingly, the hero who brought about this endeavor was a women driving a mecha! This was against the law, yet she was a hero! There was a lot debate on what the emperor will do in this situation. However, no matter what the emperor decides, a celebration was in order. The deadly invaders of human kind have been vanquished and the hero was coming back to the capital. It doesn’t matter whether she was a male or female as a hero was still a hero to the people.

On the surface, the citizens were preparing for the celebration as citizens arrived on transportation ships one after another. Squads of mecha began their patrol to keep order all over the planet while merchants were all over selling merchandise. Story tellers were already exaggerating the legends of the hero while holographic advertisements were constantly broadcasted in the air, showing everyone the destruction of the alien mother nest.

In the palace, ministers lined up as the emperor sat on the throne. The agenda was to discuss what to do with the new hero, to reward or to punish. After all, there were always conservatives who care about the law while there were those who were loyal to the people and the hero of the Federation. After a long debate, a conclusion was still not made as each faction had their own support. In the end, it was the emperor who sighed before making a decision.

“Rules are not a fixated thing. Although the ancestors had deemed it unfit for a lady to pilot a mecha, the precedence is set by the new generation. Heroes will continue to be born, and it is not in our creed to impede the birth of heroes. A worthy hero must deserve a worthy reward. As for what that reward shall be, this emperor shall let the hero decide.”

The ministers could not nod in agreement as the emperor has already given his verdict. Although the emperor was old, he was not senile. He could clearly see the importance of the issue and was able to make a clear cut decision. With the adjourning of the court and the celebration preparations completed, the capital was ready to welcome its hero.

With no accidents, the hero arrived. A battered spaceship returned from the battlefield as its hangar slowly opened. Mechas marched out in lines as the citizens lined both sides of the wide open road leading to the palace. Then a fervent cheer resounded as General Sheng’s repaired mecha walked out with Xiao Huā’s mecha which has not been replenished with all its gadgets. Hence, the mecha looked like a cute humanoid bunny. The holograms in the air focused on the duo, especially Xiao Huā the hero. The events were broadcasted throughout the entire capital planet and even in the other territories. Xiao Huā has finally achieved her dreams of riding a mecha and walking down the aisle of the capital, just like the ones she watched on her holographic device ever since she was little. Xiao Huā strolled along with General Sheng as they headed off to the palace square where they will be rewarded for their efforts in the war.

Unknown to the crowd celebrating above, darkness loomed under the surface of the capital as a plan of revenge was in the process of hatching. As egg cracking sounds resounded which signified the birth of another creature, dark shadows crawled all over a large underground cave as a large black ant continued to spit out black eggs. As if it had waited long enough, the black ant sent out an invisible vibration that seemed to communicate its intent to all of its children. The dark shadows froze in place for a bit before they uniformly began to dig their way upwards. The army was ready and it was time to invade the surface to seek revenge. Their target? The devil who destroyed the mother nest that was coming to pick them up.