Captain Moore raised the gun and aimed it at the noble.
At that moment, the noble realized she was not joking.
Panic filled his face as he began to threaten, bargain, and beg.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Wait, we can talk about this!"
"I can pay you!"
He turned toward the majors desperately.
"Please, speak to her!" he begged but one by one, they all looked away.
"Do you know who my family is?" Seeing their reactions, he turned back to Alara and played his final card.
Captain Moore's finger tightened on the trigger but before he could fire, Alara's voice rang out.
"Stop. What are you doing?"
Everyone turned to look at her in confusion while the noble let out a long breath of relief.
'She was just trying to scare me,' he thought.
"I don't want blood in my command centre," Alara said calmly. "Drag him out and shoot him."
The noble's relief vanished instantly.
Two guards grabbed him and dragged him away as he screamed.
Less than a minute later, a gunshot echoed through the halls.
Then came a dull thud.
Captain Moore returned with the guards.
Before the doors closed, everyone in the command centre saw the noble lying on the ground, a bullet hole in his skull.
Captain Moore handed the gun back to a guard and saluted Alara.
Alara looked at him and asked, "Captain, where is his epaulette?"
Captain Moore froze for a moment, then he turned, left the room, and quickly returned with the dead noble's shoulder strap which he presented it to Alara.
Alara examined it briefly.
Then she reached out and ripped Captain Moore's own strap off his shoulder.
She pinned the noble's epaulette onto Moore and said, "Congratulations, Major Lin Moore. You will be taking over his position and responsibilities."
'Fuck,' Moore cursed in his mind but out loud she said, "Thank you, Commander Veyrn."
She saluted.
Alara turned away. "Prepare to fire on my command."
Everyone rushed back to their stations and this time, none of the majors tried to stop her.
"Three… Two… One… Fire."
All six destroyers and the cruiser opened fire at once.
The ruins were completely destroyed under the bombardment.
"All fleets, prepare to enter hyperspace," Alara ordered. "Coordinates ****** ******."
Every ship turned and countdowns began.
All starfighters docked into the larger ships.
Minutes later, the entire fleet jumped into hyperspace.
***
*A few minutes earlier*
Orion stood by the window, staring as the ships bombarded the ruins.
He wanted to stop it.
He really did.
But he couldn't.
He knew he couldn't.
'How I wish I could save you,' he thought.
'Maybe one day.'
He placed his hands against the glass as laser fire rained down.
Explosions covered the ruins.
He closed his eyes.
'Definitely one day.'
"Hey, Rift, are you coming?"
A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
A small smile appeared on his face.
He turned away from the window and followed the other pilots.
***
While all this was happening, Captain… no, Major Moore was having the worst time of his life.
Normally, anyone in his position would be happy but not him.
To understand why, you needed to see the bigger picture inside Helix Corporation.
The current President of Helix Corporation was Jayden Veyrn, Alara's father and he was close to retirement.
Every president usually ruled for a maximum of one hundred years before stepping down.
After retiring, they would either enter cryo-sleep, become an elder, or leave the empire to join the Star Sector Civilization as an ambassador.
(A.N: This may not make much sense for now but trust the process.)
Most chose the first two options.
But for Jayden, things were different.
Not only was he retiring early, but there was also a seventy percent chance he would choose the third option.
This created a special situation.
It removed all competitors from other families and made the battle between successors far more brutal.
If Jayden went to the Star Sector Civilization, he would represent the Crimson Empire.
Any achievements he made would benefit him and his family.
With his talent, there was a high chance he would earn enough merit to raise his family to noble status.
With Jayden in the Star Sector, the successor who took over Helix Corporation would receive the noble title.
They would become the main family. The one with real power and perks of being a noble.
We will talk about the privileges of nobles later.
For now, back to Major Moore.
The problem was that this change would still take a several more years and Moore was part of the neutral group.
Because the competition was so violent, some people chose the safest path and stayed neutral.
They wouldn't be favoured.
But they also wouldn't be killed in the succession war.
Now everything had changed.
Moore had killed a noble, who was a close ally of one competitor.
And he had been rewarded by another competitor.
That forced him into Alara's side.
Whether he liked it or not, he now had to fully support Alara in the race for succession.