The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Outer Regions)

(Unnamed Asteroid Field)

A large medium sized spacecraft was silently travelling through the universe at a breakneck pace. 

The crest of Zrudread University was painted on its sides and in addition to a powerful defense system, there were two plasma cannons mounted on top of the shuttle.

Pirates roamed the outer regions so any spacecraft that passed through this area of space needed to have sufficient firepower to fight them off.

Zrudread University's reputation was enough to scare off most would be attackers but there would always be some who figured that the risk was worth the reward.

There was a beautiful girl with long curly hair sitting quietly on a bed inside one of the cabins on the starship.

Her eyes were a piercing green colour, and there was an aura of nobility and class that surrounded her body.

Cleo Sisrelis. 

One of the late Emperor's many children and the only mech controller in the royal family. 

Her talents would have been considered a threat in the war for succession were it not for her young age and lack of proper connections.

But none of that bothered the young princess. 

Ruling over the human side of the Earth Federation was an incredibly tedious affair.

The struggle for the throne was bloody and Cleo had no plans to get involved in that fight. 

Her only goal was to become stronger in order to protect her girlfriend in case her Insectoid heritage ever got exposed.

Cleo stared silently out of a window with many thoughts running through her mind. Countless stars twinkled and shone in the distance.

She missed Sophie. 

They had only gotten to spend a few brief days together before the final exams begun.

Cleo fidgeted slightly and a bright red blush spread across her face as she remembered how Sophie had tossed her on the bed for hours on the night before she left.

The Mech controller exam would take place inside an asteroid field that was several light years away from Planet Eleron.

It was quite the distance so it made sense that Instructor Barrett wanted his students to leave in advance so that they would be able to return for the battle ranking exam.

The journey had taken over two days to finally arrived at an area in space where hundreds of massive rocks floated aimlessly.

Cleo powered on her wrist communicator and sent a few messages to her girlfriend before turning it off.

Cleo: [Hey babe! We finally reached at the exam site, so I won't be able to talk for a few hours]

Cleo: [Make sure that you're eating properly and don't forget not to allow Moon inside the master bedroom again!]

Cleo: [Love you…]

The exam would begin shortly so it was important to get in the right frame of mind. 

Cleo closed her eyes and began to rub her temples.

Using mental force required both concentration and willpower. The objects inside her cabin slowly began to float upwards as Cleo spread her mental force throughout the room.

Even with her eyes closed Cleo could sense the location of every object inside the room. 

She slowly took in a few deep breaths and then gently exhaled.

Ring! Ring!

A piercing alarm blared out which was then followed by a robotic voice that came from the speaker in the corner of the cabin.

[Attention Students! Attention Students!]

[Please Make Your Way To Your Assigned Hangar!]

Cleo reopened her eyes and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She took off her casual dress and put on a white battlesuit.

The princess tied her hair back in a single ponytail and then with one final look at her reflection, she left the room.

Cleo walked through a labyrinth of side passageways and corridors before arriving at a metalloid door.

She placed her thumb on the fingerprint scanner and a green light flashed twice. The door swung open to reveal a massive open space.

Seven large mechs lined up against the walls and numerous robot androids buzzed around the room doing final safety checks.

Each student was assigned to a different hangar, so Elenora and Drew were probably on the other side of the starship.

Now which mech should she choose….

Cleo furrowed her brows as she grabbed a tablet from the hands of the nearest droid and checked the details of each mech.

Three of the mechs were in the lightweight class, two were specialised for exploration and the final two were heavy juggernauts with immense firepower.

Instructor Barrett had been intentionally vague about the details of the final exam, so Cleo had no idea what was going to happen.

It could be a combat mission to eliminate a band of pirates, extract a certain metal from the asteroids or safely navigate through the field.

The possibilities were endless.

Was this the first part of the test?

Instructor Barrett's smug appearance flashed across Cleo's mind as she gave the matter some more thought.

Although the elderly man usually resembled a crazy scientist, he was a wily old fox who delighted in tricking his students.

Mech controllers were all a bit mad, so his bad personality really wasn't an exception in the field. 

One could not meditate in complete silence for hours or even days on end without being slightly insane.

"I think I'll stick to my strengths…" Cleo muttered to herself as she approached a mech at the end of the line.

This mech was part of the Phantom series. It was a sleek, lightweight humanoid mech that specialised in aerial combat and scouting.

It did lack firepower when compared to others in its weight class but possessed high maneuverability and speed.

Those two qualities would be very important when navigating through a dense asteroid field. 

Cleo was confident in her ability to escape if an unexpected situation arose.

The purpose of scouts was not to engage directly with enemies and fight to the bitter end but rather to bring back information.

Cleo wrapped her mental force around her body and slowly floated upwards in the air. 

The Phantom mech was over fifty feet in height but it didn't take long before she arrived at the cockpit that was located near the chest region.

The doors to the cockpit slid open and a small space with a single chair could be seen inside. Cleo entered without hesitation and waited for the initialisation process.

Two metalloid wires came to life inside the cockpit, and one slammed itself inside the base of Cleo's neck.

The other one tightly wrapped itself around her body and held her in place. Cleo closed her eyes and allowed her mental force to flow into the wire.

The lights inside the mech's helmet switched on and Cleo could feel her body become one with the machine.

A cold metallic voice echoed through the cockpit.

[Connecting… connecting… Connection Established!]

Cleo stretched out the arms of the mech and spent a few moments familiarising herself with her new metallic body.

Every movement felt natural and right.

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