Interstellar Survival: Invasion

It felt as though I was looking at a fantasy world. Planet-size superweapons, small fighters, and countless battleships were mixed together in a chaotic battlefield where Jupiter II used to be. I could clearly see the superweapons fighting each other. It was as though I was watching a movie where two giant metallic beings were fighting each other in boundless outer space. Numerous beams of different colors flew everywhere, filling my entire vision with beams, missiles, and bullets.

"Lords, you're here. Can we leave now?" asked Somo.

"What are you talking about? It's raining bullets ahead of us. Are we supposed to fly ahead ourselves? Why don't you leave your drone behind?" asked Sarje.

"Are you breaking your promise?" said Somo anxiously.

"Stop bickering. Our agreement was to deliver us to Temo or other friendly ships. You can't just let us out in space, right?" I said.

Somo probably realized that we were right, so he stopped arguing.

"There is a heavy fight ahead of us. Our drone is too weak to enter the battlefield. A stray bullet can easily end us," said Lamo.

"The two of you will be in charge of contacting Temo. I'll contact the others. We'll try to establish communication with someone," I ordered.

Now that we were no longer in the area around Blue where signals were blocked, I started trying to contact Zhang Bao'er and the others.

"Canyue, Canyue, is that you?" surprisingly, Zhang Bao'er replied immediately.

"Yes. It's me. I'm near Jupiter. Where are you? Come pick me up," I said in excitement.

"Haha, I knew you wouldn't die so easily. Send me your coordinates. I'll be there immediately," said Zhang Bao'er. I could hear the joy in his voice upon learning that I was alive.

Shortly after, a familiar battleship approached us. When I took a closer look, I noted that it was Markus. Our drone went to the bottom of the ship and docked there. The moment the door was opened, Zhang Bao'er rushed in with Old Du behind him.

"Canyue, it's great to see that you're fine. I knew nothing would happen to you. My god, Sarje, why are you here as well?" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"I'm fine. Sarje saved me when we were under attack on that ship. How are the others? Are there any casualties?" I asked.

"Dondon was already rescued. Since we were at the rear of the formation, the others are fine. Among our friends, only you and Dondon were struck," replied Old Du.

It was rather hard to believe that all our friends had returned safely from such a fierce battle.

"Everyone is on Skyhawk. We're here to pick you up. Let me tell you something. We found a super technology," said Zhang Bao'er smugly.

I noticed the two Sacred Wings turning curious at that remark.

"Thank you, my friends. We have both fulfilled our promises. You may leave now. This is a warzone. It isn't safe here. There is no need for you to get involved in this," I said.

"Who are they? Your captives? Are you releasing them so easily? You didn't do the same to Temo back then," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Yes, yes, we don't intend to go. We wish to join you in the fight," offered the two little fellows.

"What? Weren't you shouting to be released earlier?" asked Sarje in astonishment.

"Somo, the weak student is here," Lamo suddenly said. When I looked over, I saw Temo.

"My god. Why are the two of you here?" asked Temo in astonishment.

"We heard that you have a decent ship, so we came to study it," said Somo, avoiding the fact that he was a captive.

"Don't say that. There is nothing about my shitty ship that is worth studying. We're joining the battle soon. Top students like you should leave this place," said Temo, looking nervous.

"We can't," said Lamo.

"You can't? Why?" asked Temo.

"We stole the core system of a battleship. We'll probably be arrested the moment we return," said Lamo. That was actually an acceptable reason.

"Cough, cough. Yeah, that seems right," said Temo hesitantly.

"Canyue, we need to return to Skyhawk as soon as possible. Commander Zhang Xingxing is still waiting to talk with you about our next military operation," urged Old Du.

"Temo, return to Skyhawk. If your friends don't want to leave, let them be. We'll be happy to host them if they wish to stay," I said.

Temo was unwilling, but he couldn't disobey my order. He turned around and returned to Markus with us. The ship then turned invisible and returned to the battlefield.

"This ship looks odd. Can you understand what that weak student did with it?" Somo started discussing with Lamo.

"Yes, I can. It looks like this fellow had stolen even more priest-level technologies from the empire than us. Without a doubt, this ship is running the core system of an imperial battleship," said Lamo unhappily.

So it turned out that the high-level technologies Temo had showcased had all been stolen from the Sacred Wing race. These technologies were supposed to be exclusive to those ranked priest or higher in the race. It was no wonder that Temo had been acting independently from his people.

Markus moved quickly and soon reached an area above the battlefield. We could see that the superweapons were split into two camps, each with its own accompanying ships. Both parties were currently fiercely fighting each other.

"Odd. Why would the imperial fleet split into two as well?" I asked.

"You can ask the great sovereign when you meet it later," said Zhang Bao'er.

Flying at a higher altitude, Markus was able to avoid the cruel fighting below. At that moment, Skyhawk was also hiding above the battlefield while maintaining invisibility. Before long, the two ships joined. We walked through the docking bridge and entered Skyhawk. A familiar face was waiting outside for us. That person was Lin Feixue. Surprisingly, he had also been returned to Skyhawk after serving elsewhere during the war.

"Lin Feixue, how have you been?" I asked.

"Hello, superior. Everyone is waiting for you. Prince Toruse is also here," said Lin Feixue.

We followed Lin Feixue into Skyhawk's command center. There, I saw many familiar faces. Each of those faces looked solemn. No sense of joy could be seen in them. Bob was standing in the center of the room, but I could feel that the robot was still under the great sovereign's control.

"Canyue, you're finally here. I'm happy to see you," said Prince Toruse.

"It has been a while, prince. What happened here?" I asked. Everyone looked way too solemn.

"Commander Zhang Xingxing summoned me from the Gliese defense line. The most crucial campaign of the war was unfolding here. The great sovereign had taken control of the cores and was carrying out a carefully-planned assassination," said Prince Toruse.

"I'm aware of all that. Were there any issues with the assassination operation?" I asked.

"The assassins were the ones who were assassinated. News of our operation wasn't leaked; the great sovereign was the one who had planned everything and had called everyone for a conference through mental links. However, the gathered targets seemed prepared and killed the conference organizers. Even Violetvoid and Bluevoid were captured," said Prince Toruse.

"How did that happen? I thought the great sovereign could control their minds," I asked in disbelief.

"Our assassination targets brought the minds of a bunch of warriors into the mental link. The warriors seem to be Dirk's soldiers," said Prince Toruse.

"Dirk? Yes, that fellow is also capable of mind control. Emperor Fille is using Dirk to counter the great sovereign? What a troublesome fellow." I finally understood the predicament they were in.

"The great sovereign is trying to move around Dirk's mental prison, hoping to reform a mental connection with Violetvoid," said Prince Toruse.

"How will reforming a mental connection with Violetvoid help us?" I asked.

"The cores under our control no longer have the upper hand. Before long, they will be defeated by the enemy cores. However, Violetvoid had left a backdoor in the worm colony brain before leaving. If the great sovereign can find the backdoor, it would be able to regain control over the worm colony brains from our side," said Prince Toruse.

"Dirk's mind control is too powerful, so the great sovereign still can't break through its mental prison. The superweapons down there won't be able to last much longer. Their defeat will lose us the war," said Baron Sisse.

I could see that under the great sovereign's control, Bob's body was constantly flickering with light. The great sovereign was clearly using all its strength to fight against Dirk's mental prison. All of us were anxious, but this wasn't a situation life forms like us could help with.

"Attacking Dirk's mental prison with one's mind? I have experienced Dirk's mental prowess before. We can only rely on the great sovereign now. There is nothing we can do here," I muttered.

Suddenly, a new idea appeared in my mind.