It was finally time to return!


    Once back at the hive, the powerful queen Xèl-tar-Lomenia had given Xicackna her return stone and finally allowed her to take her leave.


    She shattered the stone in her hands, surprised at how easily it could be done. There were probably some magical mechanisms inside that bound this destruction to her will. Black and blue velvets suddenly surrounded her and she found herself sucked into the sidereal void.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 99.0385%">


    Alteworld: intermediate zone


    Dominant specie: Not-specified


    Danger level: Maximum


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The nothingness that surrounded her, with its mysterious dancing colors, was as terrifying as the last time. However, the princess had hardened herself: she had seen these places before and had survived much worse. The announced “maximum danger” was not visible and would probably not interfere with her journey.


    Circles of color formed in front of her, like smoke rings that she crossed at full speed. The last time, she had fainted. This time, despite an excruciating pain in her head, she managed to stay conscious while her vision blurred. She closed her eyes one second and the next she was under the transparent dome of Xana-Eloba''s machine.


    Clumsily, her limbs numb from the dimensional journey, she manipulated the interior openings to leave the machine.


    Xana-Eloba''s laboratory was strangely empty. Dusty and often crumbling machines were piled up much more than before, but there was not a soul alive, not even a worker.


    A little worried, she headed for the exit and stopped, stunned.


    This part of the palace had been completely remodeled into a vast room teeming with mysterious equipment and with many empty spaces. Tunnels left from both ends, heavily frequented as if this place was now an essential passage point of the palace. It was perhaps even one of the main poles of the internal defense.


    It was Xana-Eloba''s new laboratory, bigger, more efficient. All the Zcarbbs that our princess could observe were dressed in strange metallic clothes quite similar to the armor of the leader of the Gnomes by the presence of multiple dials and mysterious gadgets. Xana-Eloba noticed her presence and stopped her activity to come and greet her, dressed in a suit ten times more provided with various gadgets than those of the others.


    “Xicackna! Finally, you''re back. We can say that you missed quite a few changes!”


    But when she asked to know more, the Engineer didn''t answer right away: as usual, Xana-Eloba would go into detail about many things, saving the important revelations for the end. Guiding Xicackna through the new maze of the hive, whose walls were now covered with metal reinforcement plates, she gradually explained the many changes, stopping from time to time to point out this or that machine and say “oh, that''s a latest-generation air purifier: a real little gem that I have...” or “That''s a control window, developed from the idea of ??copying the System: it allows you to remotely control different systems of the hive that...”.


    Of course, she ended up indicating the most important thing:


    “There was an announcement from the System saying ''Fantasy is really boring: we''re going to move on to SF now''.”


    “And what does that mean?”


    “No idea… But now I’ve unlocked new blueprints for my System abilities… And here’s the result!”


    The corridor ended with a heavy metal door that opened by itself as they approached. Behind it, a large glass dome revealed a stunning landscape.


    Xicackna had the impression that they had climbed gradually as they moved through the hive, but now she discovered an “outside” that had nothing to do with that of their old world: a large arid plain riddled with holes stretched as far as the eye could see under an atmosphereless sky where the stars shone.


    More impressive still: in the sky floated gigantic metal constructions, each larger than the entire hive.


    “Here is the new space fleet of the Xolona hive! Celestial ships capable of traveling through space. They have a propulsion system based on Stabilisium that can allow them to travel almost instantly to distant stars to bring Civilization there.”


    Satisfied with the completely astonished expression of the young princess, her elder tapped the strange gadgets that covered her clothes and, immediately, a luminous beam blinded them. Opening their eyes, they found themselves on a metal walkway facing huge windows where they could contemplate the rocky appearance of the mass sheltering the Dungeon: they were aboard one of the spaceships.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    “How?”


    “Oh,” explained Xana-Eloba, “a simple teleportation system. It''s not difficult to build now that we understand how the System works. It''s basically a System for instantaneous teleportation of matter with transformation of it into energy, immediate transport of the energy and retransformation of it into a material form. A much more complex process than this simple popularization, I grant you, but once it is analyzed, teleportation is much simpler to perform than more complex actions, such as remotely assembling a spaceship using a simple plan...”


    Looking around, Xicackna saw many Zcarbbs in suits pacing the place, walking on the ceilings as well as on the ground, the soldiers carrying strange weapons that looked infinitely more complex than human rifles. In a large and comfortable armchair, a princess was slumped and waving at him.


    “Oh... Xicackna... Are you finally back?”


    “Xor-Pha? Glad to see you again... What are you doing?”


    “Well... I lead this fleet.”


    Xicackna frowned her chitinous eyebrows, instinctively doubting that the lazy princess could have been assigned such an important task. At the same time, most of the vital and defensive functions had to be occupied by soldiers and workers who would know what to do in case of her failure.


    “Ah... Okay... And where are you going?”


    The princess opened dreamy eyes in which the stars that covered the horizon were reflected.


    “I''m going after my dreams. I''ve been seeing him in my dreams for a long time: my prince of space... I''ve been talking to him in my dreams... We''ve talked a lot and now I''m going to find him. There are countless Zcarbb hives out there, far away in space, fighting against the monsters... Our queen Xa-tar-Lona sent me as an ambassador for our hive and has allowed me to settle there as a vassal hive... It''s really... magnificent...”


    The princess with the midnight blue shell wiped away a tear that was falling under the influence of emotion.


    Suddenly, a thunderous voice disrupted the moment. Before she even turned around, Xicackna knew who it belonged to.


    “And I''m the military advisor of the expedition! I''m the one who says what to shoot and when... Well, as soon as we see something!”


    “Xafara! Our Mother entrusts you with a military post?”


    The young red-shelled Zcarbb was equipped with a whole arsenal of war, as if she wanted to have it at hand to use whenever the mood struck her. Far from getting upset by Xicackna’s criticism, she grimaced with an amused smile.


    “Yeah… Well, she said something about how at least I wouldn’t risk finding myself in the middle of enemies with an axe in my hand, but that with our new weapons I could fight from the safety of our ships…”


    She glanced around and muttered:


    “Well, she doesn’t know about my semi-automated war armor that can transform between a ship form and a giant space Zcarbb form… But don’t worry: I had it put with the best armoring available and a whole bunch of weapons that will reduce enemies to dust before they can even attack me… Ah! Ah! Ah! It''s going to be great!”


    A sigh drew Xicackna''s attention to another princess who had just arrived. Xilofane rolled her eyes, having heard Xafara''s murmurs perfectly despite the strange helmet that hid her hearing.


    “I don''t think she''ll live long enough to give birth to a hive... Anyway, nice to see you again Xicackna. You are joining our mission, it seems?”


    “I... no: I have to go make my report...”


    Turning back to where Xana-Eloba had been, she saw an image of her made up of strange blue lights. Behind, the glass walls no longer showed the large rock wandering in space but only an infinite sea of ??stars.


    “Ah,” said the image, “sorry Xicackna, I forgot to tell you that you were leaving with the expedition... Well, you were talking among yourselves and I didn''t want to interrupt you...”


    “But, my data? My report for the queen?”


    “Oh, you''ll send it to us remotely: we have the devices for that now. Good luck!”


    And the image faded. Shocked, Xicackna turned a questioning look towards Xilofane who smiled kindly at her.


    “Ah, that''s how it is these days: despite all the developments in our travel and communication technologies, it seems that we have less and less time and are in more and more of a hurry. We are already thousands of years behind at the speed of light compared to our old Dungeon. Come on, follow me: I''ll show you how to use our data processing devices. By the way, my job is ‘communications officer.’ However, I was not informed of the position you were to hold. Perhaps a radar lookout? I suppose that once your ‘Observation’ skill has been adapted to the System''s spatial update, you will have some facilities in this area...”


    Suddenly, red lights began to flash. The stars, which had temporarily disappeared when the ship accelerated, reappeared when it abruptly re-entered normal space.


    Through the glass, other strangely shaped ships could be seen lining up in front of the Zcarbb fleet. A window, similar to those of the System, appeared in the air, producing an image rather than text. It showed a sort of pot-bellied Human wearing a suit covered in small pieces of metal, probably more artistic than practical. Behind him, stretched a control room quite similar to that of the Zcarbbs but where monsters of various species were busy. The voice of the leader of these monsters echoed mysteriously in the air:


    “I am Commander Grumble of the Administrative Defense Fleet of the Madd System. Under the two thousand two hundred and third ceasefire agreement between the Universal Administration and the Zcarbbs, you have no right of passage in this system. Accordingly, I order you to shut down your machines and lay down your weapons. This is an official warning, in accordance with article one hundred and forty-three of the twelfth regulation of the…”


    Before anyone could react, Xafara grabbed a small instrument that Xilofane was carrying and replied to the Human:


    “Are you kidding us? Our allies only signed these agreements so that you would leave us alone! We will not allow ourselves to be taken prisoner and give you our ships simply because we are passing through your solar system! All battle stations: FIRE AT WILL!”


    Immediately, the air vibrated with rays of light of all colors, shooting from one ship to crash into an invisible shield protecting another. The combat maneuvers began.


    With a sigh of resignation, Xilofane retrieved her device from Xafara''s hands:


    “Give it back to me: I have to warn the alliance to prepare a two thousand two hundred and fourth agreement... And perhaps also send us reinforcements against those that the enemy will soon ask for...”


    As Xafara rushed to her command post, behind a screen, to direct her troops; as Xilofane calmly explained to a few distant queens that she needed to be sent a few thousand ships urgently; as Xor-Pha snored, probably dreaming of her space prince; Xicackna gazed fascinated at the gigantic structures that were clashing across space.


    This was now the new face of the war!