Interstellar Survival: Invasion

The cruiser damaged by the fiend hovered in front of us even as it was smoking from the damage it suffered. It had probably performed a small space leap to move so quickly. A fireball could be seen on the body of the ship. Without a doubt, the fireball was the fiend, who was the subject of concentrated firepower just moments ago.

The fiend spewed a red beam of fire at the cruiser, intending to pierce through the ship. However, the ship managed to withstand the attack with its powerful hull, and it used its powerful rail cannons against us.

A massive blue bullet shot toward us and collided with the four vigor bombs acting as our guardians. Instantly, two different forces clashed. The vigor bombs managed to protect us from the first attack, but the second bullet came immediately after.

"Temo, take note of the enemy's second rail bullet. We need to avoid it," said Old Du, who knew very well how powerful the empire's rail cannons were.

However, the bullet was too fast. Even though Temo immediately had Markus evade, the back of the ship was still struck.

A burst of electromagnetic waves erupted from the bullet. I was instantly assaulted by a piercing pain in my head. Fortunately, my morph-capable shield activated promptly to protect me. Instantly, I noticed that everyone else was suffering from extreme pain. Baron Sisse reacted quickly and extended his morph-capable shield to also protect Temo.

"It's too painful. What's wrong with this ship? Not only is it incapable of evading a bullet, but it also doesn't even have a shield!" shouted Zhang Bao'er painfully.

"The empire has improved their weapons. The rail cannons are much faster than before. Of course, without Markus, all of us would already be dead. Your shields won't be enough to defend against their rail cannons," said Temo with a painful expression on his face.

While everyone was complaining, Kelly sounded the alarm. The third bullet was coming. Despair covered all our faces. The attacks were too powerful and concentrated for us to evade.

Temo, who was still light-headed, forcefully had Markus perform an evasive movement. However, the ship had slowed considerably after being hit once. Right as we were about to be hit yet again, a massive force struck our ship, helping us barely avoid the incoming bullet.

"Like I said, you are all useless burdens," sneered the fiend before it continued to fight the cruiser.

Right after the fiend shot toward the cruiser, the fourth bullet came at us. During that critical moment, the fiend unfurled its wings. Its wings shone brightly, with the light spreading into a massive net that stood in the bullet's path.

"That fellow must have gone mad! Is it thinking of taking the bullet by itself?" Zhang Bao'er was dumbstruck.

"You're right. It is definitely intending to do so," said Baron Sisse.

In the blink of an eye, the bullet struck the fiend's massive body. However, the net of light around the fiend captured the bullet and threw it right into the opening the fiend had created earlier. The counterattack had happened too quickly. It was very likely that not even our enemies had seen that coming. They didn't even react as they were struck by their own bullet.

Even through the distance between us, we could seemingly feel the massive pain the soldiers in the cruiser were suffering. The ship started leaning to one side, as though it was in an unstable state. Even its shield was twisting. At that time, a clear path opened within the enemy's formation.

"What are you waiting for? Flee!" scolded the fiend.

Our attention had been fully captured by the previous exchange. The fiend's words pulled us back to reality. Temo hurriedly controlled Markus to rush through the opening beside the cruiser. The ship entered the rear of the defensive line and then quickly turned invisible.

"Little Ant, are you not retreating?" asked the great sovereign.

"Go ahead. I'm still itching to fight more. I'll buy more time for you. I'll rejoin you later," said the fiend.

"So have we completed the mission? We did escape the Midstar Army's encirclement, right?" asked Domo.

"We have only gone through the first defensive line. The other defensive line is the main line preventing entry into Pluto. That is also where the empire's forces are more concentrated," said Zhang Xingxing, instantly increasing the pressure we were feeling.

By then, Old Du and Kelly had started working with Temo to devise a new action plan. From our scans, we learned that the empire had concentrated their forces the most at the front and the back of the defensive perimeter. Since they had deployed a large portion of their forces to search for us, the middle of the perimeter was relatively empty.

"The lightnet defensive system is right ahead of us. We will get in contact with the empire's defensive system soon," reported Temo.

"What should we do now? Master Crystal is lying sick in the medical room and Wind Spirit's genetic password must have been discovered by now. How should we go through the lightnet this time?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

The lightnet was the reason the empire had dared to send the majority of their forces away from their posts.

"Master Crystal once mentioned that Master Wind is here as well. If we can contact Master Wind, we might be able to find a way to get through the lightnet," I suggested.

"Master Crystal is still unconscious. He is the only one with the method to contact Master Wind. If we go searching for Master Wind ourselves, it will be the same as throwing ourselves into our enemy's hands," cautioned Old Du.

Nobody could think of anything. Our advance was stopped by the empire's lightnet while the fiend was still fighting the enemy ships behind us, as though it could gain more strength from battling.

"Little Ant, time for you to withdraw. A large number of imperial ships are heading your way. If you don't leave now, you won't have the chance to leave anymore," warned the great sovereign.

"Hmph. These inferior beings can only rely on numbers to win. I'll take care of them later," said the fiend. It probably realized that it wouldn't be a match for the sheer numbers the empire could throw at it, so it rapidly released several clones to confuse its enemies before withdrawing and becoming invisible.

However, something surprising happened abruptly. We found to our astonishment that over a hundred ships of different classes were suddenly flying quickly toward the first defensive line. Due to the size of the fleet, even the lightnet defensive system was temporarily turned off to allow them passage.

"Commander Zhang Xingxing, this is Skyhawk. We're in position and will be commencing the attack shortly. Take this chance to escape," Carter's voice came from the communicator.

"Looks like Carter is here. We need to grab this chance and rush out of the perimeter. Success is right ahead of us. Let us work together and take this final step forward," said Zhang Xingxing encouragingly. She was visibly excited by Carter's arrival.

"We can't do much. Temo is the one controlling the ship," I said, somewhat unhappy to hear Zhang Xingxing talking about Carter with such excitement.

Despite my gloominess, Markus still took the chance to follow closely behind the imperial ships to the first defensive line.

"Little Ant, where are you?" asked the great sovereign.

"I'm behind your ship. We need to move upward later. It will be easier to break out of the perimeter there. Deadweights, remember to follow closely behind me later," the fiend derided.

"Fine, Little Ant. Remember to not enter the central zone of the first defensive line. I suspect there are a lot of powerful secret weapons there. We need to do our best to avoid that place," said the great sovereign.

"What secret weapons does the empire have? Why is that emperor always able to come up with new weapons?" said Zhang Bao'er, envious of the emperor for having so many different weapons.

"He has the assistance of the Sacred Wing race. There is no weapon that we can't manufacture," said Temo smugly.

I noticed that Anxashe had grown smarter this time; he had covered Domo's mouth before Domo could say anything. Without the lightnet in the way, we managed to reach the first defensive line in a short period of time. Even from far away, we could clearly see the bright explosions and beams flying everywhere ahead of us. Clearly, they were in the middle of an intense battle.

"Odd. This doesn't look like the attack launched by a single ship," muttered Baron Sisse.

"You're right. There is not only Skyhawk and the robotic crew of the ship ahead of us. To help us, Carter had even brought B Army's reserve with him. This army has been hiding in a neighboring system to serve as our trump card for a final attack or escape. I did not expect Carter to be able to convince the parliament to also deploy this army," said Zhang Xingxing, making it clear that she had been talking with Carter through a private channel.

"We don't know if the league still has more hidden forces. Nobody knows how this war will end," said Baron Sisse. He was clearly rather dissatisfied with the fact that the existence of this army had been hidden from him.

"It doesn't matter," Kelly said. "In nine days, Blue will be subjected to the superweapons' planetary bombardment. There is no avoiding destruction if that happens."

"Little Ant, the battle ahead is very intense. It won't be hard for us to escape. Have you finalized your escape plan?" asked the great sovereign.

"I have long come up with a plan. We only need to break through. Just stab through the middle of their formation. Let me have some fun with their so-called secret weapons," said the fiend. Its words shocked all of us, but in a way, it was very in character for the fiend to act like that.