Interstellar Survival: Invasion

"What information do you have? Out with it. We're running out of time," said Zhang Bao'er. He appeared much more anxious than the others. That was probably because he did not wish to see Mars destroyed.

"According to what I learned from the mutated cores, the attack on Mars has been delayed by 24 hours," said the great sovereign.

"The mutated cores are under the empire's control. How are we sure that they are telling the truth?" I asked.

"The empire can only control their minds, but their genes remain unaltered. I need a large amount of energy to regain control over them, so I can only work on them one at a time. For now, only one of them has been returned to my side. That was how I received the information. I will need quite some time before the others are also restored. Also, I need to be inside the superweapons to perform my task better," said the great sovereign.

"Let's not delay. Have Markus take you to the superweapons," said Temo.

To be safe, Zhang Xingxing insisted on assigning the great sovereign a squad of guards. Markus would be piloted automatically while Dodo would return to Skyhawk.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about this. There is something important I need to tell you," said the great sovereign just as it was about to leave.

"Just say what's on your mind. Why are you being so hesitant with your words?" complained Zhang Bao'er.

The great sovereign shot Zhang Bao'er a glare with Bob's eyes and said, "I have assigned the recovered core to be under Violetvoid. I also told Violetvoid to have the superweapon under its control work with you. I believe the core will be helpful to you. As for the other superweapons, we will move out together after I'm done converting all the mutated cores back to my side. Therefore, you need to buy as much time as possible."

For Skyhawk, the help of the superweapon under Violetvoid's control was akin to a tiger growing a pair of wings.

"But how can we contact Violetvoid?" asked Old Du.

"I left a mental password in your ship's system. Have Temo, the little bee, handle the password," said the great sovereign before leaving.

"It insists on calling everyone little bees just because it is a little bee itself," complained Temo.

After the great sovereign left, our focus returned to the evacuation of Mars.

"The great sovereign said that the attack on Mars has been delayed by 24 hours. I believe the enemy will be even more cautious after our previous attack. We need a really good plan for the evacuation," said Zhang Xingxing.

"The defenses are tight. I reckon the entire Midstar Army will be there to protect their superweapons. With our current strength, it will be very hard to break through their defenses," said Baron Sisse.

"Carter, can you get more help from the parliament?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"Impossible. Those politicians will only be thinking of protecting themselves with the remaining army. They won't deploy any help to Mars," said Carter helplessly.

"Damn those fools. Don't they know that without Mars, it is only a matter of time before Blue is gone as well?" scolded Zhang Bao'er.

"The people in power are Gliesens. Why should they care about Blue?" said Carter. Old Du's face fell upon hearing that.

"If we can't get reinforcements, we'll have to think of something ourselves. No matter what we do, we also need to contact the defenders on Mars and inform them about evacuating," said Zhang Xingxing.

"The evacuation will be difficult. Where can they evacuate to? The final three planets have been ordered to defend until the very end. The league has no other options," said Carter gloomily.

"Who says that we have no other options? We have the superweapons. We also have a powerful ally like the fiend of Pluto. These friends from the Sacred Wing race are also helping us. Why should we give up so easily? So long as we can preserve our strength, we will have the chance to turn defeat into victory," said Zhang Xingxing, clearly disagreeing with Carter's view.

"You're the commander, so you're always right. All of us will obey your orders. But you also need the defenders on Mars to listen as well. If they listen to you, then they will have to disobey their direct order. Do you think they will really listen to you and evacuate?" said Carter.

"The army stationed on Mars is B Army, right? Who's their commander?" asked Baron Sisse, stopping the argument.

"That's a good question. The person in charge of the army on Mars is your old friend, Brigadier General Angela," said Carter.

I could hear Zhang Bao'er swallowing at the mention of that name.

"Why is it her all the time? Wasn't she on Pluto previously? Why is she on Mars now?" asked Old Du helplessly.

'That's why they say that enemies always meet on a narrow road,' I sighed inwardly.

"It's really unlucky. During your time on Pluto, she was appointed the commander of the Mars defensive line," said Carter.

"That old witch is too annoying. With her around, there is no hope for this mission. She definitely won't listen to us," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Canyue, are all your team members so disrespectful toward their superiors?" questioned Carter.

"Who are you to criticize my people?" I replied coldly.

"Stop. What is our priority? Our people are on the brink of destruction. Why are you bickering here?" said Zhang Xingxing.

"If you have a bad relationship with Brigadier General Angela, I'm willing to take the mission to convince her," volunteered Prince Toruse.

"You want to see Angela? She's very stubborn. Are you sure you can convince her?" said Zhang Bao'er, smartly changing the way he addressed her.

"We can't afford to be hesitating. As long as there is hope, we need to keep trying," said Prince Toruse.

"Prince Toruse is right. We should not hesitate. I'll go with him," said Baron Sisse.

"Prince, Brigadier General Angela has a fickle temperament. Try to avoid mentioning us when you meet. That way, you can avoid more unnecessary troubles," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Don't worry, commander. I'll try my best to complete the task," promised Prince Toruse before turning to leave with Baron Sisse.

"How are they going to reach Mars?" I asked.

"Prince Toruse came on his own ship. It's a pretty decent ship. Don't worry about his transportation," said Lin Feixue.

"What should the rest of us do? Are we going to just wait while doing nothing?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"I think we should head near Mars. After Prince Toruse deals with Angela, we can start the operation immediately," said Carter.

"I agree that we should get ready in advance, but Violetvoid's superweapon is too big. How should we move around with it? Its size can easily expose our whereabouts to the empire," said Zhang Xingxing.

"I don't agree. I think taking the superweapon with us will make it easier for us to hide from the empire," said Temo.

Temo's words astonished most of us. Clearly, nobody shared the same opinion.

"Temo, can you explain your thoughts?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"The great sovereign converted a mutated core back to its side. We can use that core to hide and help us sneak into the enemy army. That way, we can sabotage them during their attack," said Temo.

"Yeah. If we use our nuclear warheads on the superweapons when they're attacking Mars, wouldn't we be able to destroy them at once?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"But with the size of the superweapons, can our nuclear weapons really harm them?" asked Old Du cautiously.

"We can use super nuclear warheads to increase the potency of our attack. We might really be able to sabotage and stop their offensive," said Zhang Xingxing.

"But the mutated cores are also the descendants of the great sovereign. Will it be angry if we kill its descendants?" asked Kelly.

"Our own people are on the brink of extinction. Why do we still care about the mutated worms?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Easy for you to say that. We still need the great sovereign's help with the other superweapons. Offending it will only create unnecessary trouble," said Old Du.

"We don't need to worry too much for now. Let's focus on getting near Mars first. We can decide what to do after observing the situation there," I said.

Everyone agreed to my suggestion. And thus, Skyhawk produced a wormhole leading to a location near Mars. We were going to participate in the Mars campaign.