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Chapter 234: Blackout
🕑 Added 2025-09-07 08:17:23 +0000 UTC“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jessie,” Administrator Rachel Ororis said as she approached the desk and sat down in a chair in front of it.
“I don’t think I have ever had the pleasure of meeting a member of the Ororis family. Have we met before?” Jessie asked as Joe and Susan listened in quietly.
“No, I’ve just heard of you from a family member who watched a stream you appeared on. What did she call you? Ah, yes, that insane bitch with the grande launcher.” Rachel replied with a smirk while Joe and Susan attempted to muffle their laughter, causing Jessie to give them both the stink eye.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Jessie said innocently before asking, “So what can I do for you, Administrator Ororis? I would have thought you would be too busy auditing the planet.”
“It occurs to me that the quickest way to find out exactly what’s happening here on Trilling is to ask someone involved.”
“Involved? I don’t know what you mean. I am running a legitimate brothel here.”
“A legitimate brothel that is the front for the organised gang eighty-sixers, remember my family member has seen much from the stream, including the firefight that happened in this very brothel.”
“Fine, fine. But why should I tell you anything? From my understanding, you're here to clamp down on the gangs running Lower City.”
“Among other things, however, I’m sure you, of all people, know that it’s impossible to wipe out all crime on a planet, so why not, instead of trying and failing to wipe it all out, we assist a certain group in gaining more power, if you get my meaning.”
Joe and Susan showed surprised looks while Jessie said, “I believe I follow you, and it sounds interesting, but what guarantees would this group have that you wouldn’t stab them in the back after they helped you clear out the other gangs? I mean, one gang is easier to deal with than many.”
“Simple, your gang's backer is someone my Ororis family wants to be on friendly terms with.”
“My gang's backer!” Jessie asked in confusion.
“The streamer named Adam, my Ororis family is keen to keep a good relationship with him, so long as we can come to a few mutually beneficial agreements, and the eighty-sixers don’t do anything too extreme, then you won’t have any problem from my Ororis family, or the imperial family.”
“Adam, huh? Now what could he have that would interest the Ororis family?” Jessie asked as Joe and Susan became even more surprised.
“We all have our secrets,” Rachel replied simply.
“Fair enough,” Jesiie replied and tapped her desk with her fingernail for a moment before nodding and saying, “I’m open to this offer, let’s talk terms.”
Rachel smiled and was about to respond when the room suddenly went dark as everything electronic shut down moments before the ground began to shake.
💫💫💫
Suddenly, an alarm sounded on the bridge of the capital ship that was leading the blockade.
“Report,” The admiral ordered.
“Massive energy wave approaching from the planet, ma’am, impact in three seconds.”
The admiral pressed a button on her seat before saying, “All ships brace for impact.”
The energy wave impacted the capital ship's shields, but nothing else seemed to happen, or at least to them.
“Damage report.”
“No damage, ma’am, the energy wave failed to bypass our shields.”
“Admiral fleet report coming in,” the communications officer stated before continuing. “No damage to any large-class or bigger ship, however, all ships below that class have lost power.”
“What!” The admiral said in surprise.
“Sensors show that several transport ships and shuttles bearing administrative and TISF personnel to the planet have lost power and are plummeting towards the planet's surface, while several fighters in low orbit have also lost power and are being pulled further into the planet's atmosphere.”
“Have those ships that are still operational attempt to rescue the disabled ones, prioritise those that are affected by Trillion's gravity and atmosphere, those disabled in space can wait, their excess oxygen should suffice until help arrives.
Can we contact our people on the surface?”
“No ma’am, our comms are fine, and so are the others who resisted the energy wave, however, anything that was hit has lost communications along with power and everything else.”
“Launch a shuttle to Administrator Ororis' last known location to check up on her?
Was the energy wave an EMP?”
“Sensor data of the energy wave does match that of an EMP, ma’am.” The sensor operator reported.
“Trillion isn’t supposed to have any sort of EMP weapons. Where did the energy wave originate from?”
“It appears to have originated from the neutron reactor plant.”
“Is the reactor offline after the EMP?”
“No, Admiral, I believe the EMP was caused by the destruction of the neutron reactor plant, as I’m no longer detecting it on sensors.”
💫💫💫
“What the fuck?” Joe cursed.
“A planet quake?” Susan asked in alarm as things started to fall to the floor.
It took a few seconds for the shaking to stop, and moments after, the door to Jessie’s office was forced open before several TISF officers rushed in with weapons drawn.
“Admiration, are you ok?” The lead TISF officer called.
“I’m fine,” Rachel replied before adding, “Can we please get some light?”
“No can do, ma’am, our flashlights are not functioning.”
“Not just the flashlights, nothing electronic is functioning.” Another officer added.
“He’s right, my console and uniband are dead,” Jessie commented.
“An EMP?” Rachel questioned.
“Unknown ma’am, I have already sent some men to check the surrounding area.”
“Do you mind if we get out of here? I can’t see a thing.” Susan commented.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Rachel agreed before heading towards the door.
“Ah fuck,” Jessie cursed.
“What?” Joe asked.
“I stubbed my toe, shit that hurts.”
The group stepped out into the hallway, which was slightly brighter, before making their way towards the bar where they finally found some light.
A group of female brothel workers were standing at the bar, wearing only their underwear while holding candles, talking about what had happened.
“You girls ok?” Joe asked as the group approached the bar.
“Oh, Jessie, Joe, do you two know what happened?” One of the women asked.
“Not sure,” Joe replied before asking, “Have the lights gone out in the whole place?”
“Yes, we were in the middle of working when everything turned off and the ground shook. Luckily, we use candles for the atmosphere, so it didn’t go totally dark, though our customers shit themselves and left.”
“Pussys,” Another woman scoffed.
“I take it none of your unibands are working?” Jessie asked.
“Nope,” The girls all replied while shaking their heads.
“What about our neighbours? Any word on if they have power?”
“No one's come in.”
“Let's go take a look,” Jessie said before leading the group towards the exit and out the front of Becky’s.
As they stepped outside, they found the streets to be much darker than normal because the streetlights were not functioning. As they were in the lower city and couldn’t see the sky, the only sunlight they got came from the shaft in the distance that led to the surface. However, currently, there was another source of light that shouldn’t have been there.
“What the fuck is that?” Susan asked as she looked at an orange glow in the distance that had smoke rising above it.
“It looks like a fire, but it must be huge, considering how far of it is.” One of the TISF officers said.
“Isn’t Trillions' neutron reactor plant in that direction?” Rachel asked.
“You're right, you don’t think something happened to the reactor, do you?” One of the bouncers asked.
“A distinct lack of power, a possible giant inferno in the distance, yes, I would say something probably happened to the reactor,” Jessie replied sarcastically.
“How are we seeing it then? Isn’t it on a lower level?” Susan asked.
“There is a shaft over there that leads down to the reactor's level. My guess is the glow from the fire and smoke is coming up through it.” Jessie remarked.
“It could explain the EMP,” Another of the TISF officers added.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked as she looked at the officer.
“If a neutron reactor is made to self-destruct in a specific way, it is possible to make it emit a giant EMP blast just before it self-destructs.”
“How would one do that?”
“A powerful eclectic charge that causes it to overload would do the job. Neutron reactors are very delicate pieces of machinery, which is why engineers or anyone else who works near them is not allowed to carry anything that emits powerful electronic waves.”
“So like an EMP grenade or something?” Joe asked.
“No, an EMP wont work unless it was an exceptionally powerful one, and I mean more powerful than what a capital ship can achieve.
All neutron reactors have shielding around them that protects them against EMPs because of how common they are. If they weren't protected, a ship wouldn’t be disabled when an EMP hit it, but destroyed.”
