A Disastrous Start (Please Keep Reading and Add to Favorites!)

After trying again and again to "wake up" or "quit the game," Amber finally gave up.

He really had crossed into another world.

And he had landed on this planet, of all places, at the worst possible time.

Amber began thinking about how to survive such a disastrous start.

The other young Federation officers in the armored personnel carrier were chatting and laughing among themselves. None of them seemed inclined to socialize with him.

Whatever the reason they were shutting him out, it at least gave Amber some quiet to think.

He needed to work out how he was going to stay alive.

After all, apart from knowing what would happen next, he had yet to discover any other special advantage.

But as a veteran player of Starry Sky, Amber knew almost everything about its universe.

Right now, that made him feel like a prophet who could see the future.

He even knew the exact time the Empire's expeditionary strike group would arrive: 3:42 p.m., three universal standard days from now.

That would be 11:00 p.m. on Robert IV. The strike group would jump in using an Induction Beacon transmitted by a disguised freighter.

Then it would launch a surprise attack and wipe out the Defensive Fleet.

Once it seized the spaceport and orbital elevator, which handled both off-world transport and external communications,

the landing force's Drop Pods would rain down on key Federation Military positions across the surface.

At 5:42 a.m. local time, the first Imperial Orbital Paratrooper would step out of his Drop Pod and onto the soil of Robert IV.

Amber had read those records in the military history museum more times than he could count.

The problem was that knowing all this in advance only made him more anxious.

He could not stop the Defensive Fleet from falling or the Imperial Army from landing.

He could rush out a warning report and submit it. Its outrageous contents might even catch the military's attention.

But no one would raise the garrison's alert level just because a newly commissioned young officer with no connections had submitted a report.

The Star Dragon Empire might be the Federation's sworn enemy, but the two sides had lived in peace for eighty years since signing the last Peace Treaty.

For now, at least, they were still outwardly courteous to each other.

Security Bureau agents were more likely to come looking for him first.

Then, after giving him a thorough "welcome," they would make him tell them where he had gotten his information.

"No. If this isn't a game, I couldn't withstand a Security Bureau interrogation."

Amber sighed and crossed "report it to my superiors" off his list of options.

Of the choices left, neither "leave Robert IV" nor "fight a guerrilla war on Robert IV"

looked remotely feasible.

He had only just arrived on the planet and had no legitimate reason to leave.

Even if he found a way to steal a spaceplane and tried to force his way off-world,

the ground-based air defenses, kept on constant alert, would probably shoot him down as soon as he took off.

After the Defensive Fleet was annihilated, those dutiful air-defense units became the Federation Military's last shred of dignity.

Though they were ultimately wiped out too, they still inflicted more than forty-five percent casualties on the Imperial Orbital Paratroopers during their descent.

"Fight a guerrilla war on Robert IV" was an even more absurd option.

Not long after Robert IV fell, the Empire's fleet launched an all-out assault that took the entire star system.

Even if Amber and the other Federation Military personnel survived the first wave,

they could not hold out for long as guerrillas with no hope of reinforcements.

Shortages of energy and the strain of maintenance would force them to abandon all their mechanical equipment.

Light infantry alone could never pose enough of a threat to the Empire's heavily armed mechanized forces.

Those vehicles were no plywood coffins.

Wave after wave of Imperial Army sweeps would wear the guerrillas down until none were left.

That was what had happened to the Federation Military guerrillas on Robert IV whose records Amber had seen in the military history museum.

They had lasted just six months before the final group was wiped out.

"So what, I just wait three days, wave a white flag, and welcome the conquering heroes?"

Amber slumped against the back of his seat.

Robert IV was the first planet the Star Dragon Empire would attack in this war.

The Imperial Army would tolerate no potential threats there.

According to the history Amber knew, the Imperial landing force had accepted no surrenders from anyone with ties to the Federation government or military.

The only exceptions were "locals" whose families had farmed on the planet for generations.

Young officers like him, who were more likely to get carried away, decide to sacrifice themselves for the Federation, and do something reckless,

would be among the first to be executed.

"This really is a terrible start."

The armored personnel carrier moved fast, leaving Amber little time to think.

Only an hour and a half later, it reached their destination.

Yasin Military Base.

The newly arrived officers would spend an acclimation period there before receiving their final assignments.

It was also one of the largest military bases on Robert IV.

Besides holding command authority over a large portion of the Federation's mobile forces on the planet,

it housed the only communications command center on Robert IV capable of contacting other planets and star systems.

That made it a prime target for the Imperial landing force.

The Empire would drop two entire regiments of Orbital Paratroopers there, along with support machinery.

It had also planted a spy inside before the war began.

The military history museum offered no further details, but rumors and side quests

hinted that this spy had sabotaged Yasin Base's interstellar communications system the moment the Imperial fleet jumped in.

That had severely delayed the Federation Military's response to the surprise attack. A chain reaction then cost it the entire star system in a short span of time.

Maybe I can find the spy, or at least stop them from sabotaging the communications system?

If word of the attack gets out and the Federation's forces can respond, maybe they can slow the Imperial advance?

As he pondered this, Amber followed the others out of the personnel carrier and toward the base hospital.

They were due for their first medical examination since arriving on the planet, to check whether the long space voyage had affected their health.

The other young officers had no intention of talking to the "Psychic Agent." They walked ahead together.

Amber followed silently behind them, his expression hidden by his full-face helmet. He did not mind.

Once the Imperial Orbital Paratroopers landed in three days, how many of those young officers would still be alive?

The examinations went quickly. With the help of diagnostic equipment, the military doctor needed little time to gather everyone's health data.

Amber, last in line, only had to wait a short while before his turn came.

The other young officers, having finished their examinations, did not wait for him. They soon left the floor where the examination center was located.

Amber entered the examination room. An attractive female military doctor sat inside, reading the others' reports.

One graceful foot dangled a high heel, swinging it back and forth.

Perhaps he imagined it,

but when the doctor glanced at him, Amber thought he saw her eyes flicker several times.

He had no time to dwell on it, much less admire the beautiful woman before him.

He pressed a button on the side of his helmet and removed it as the pressure-release valve hissed.

A circuit breaker tripped. The entire examination room plunged into darkness.

In the few seconds it took his eyes to adjust,

Amber caught a waft of perfume.

Then a voice sounded beside his ear, warm breath tickling his skin.

But its words sent a chill down Amber's spine.

"Biometric verification complete. Welcome to your post, Fledgling."

"I need your help sabotaging the Communications Center."