“Incoming attack!!”
The shout of the bridge officer echoed clearly in the air for everyone to hear. On the screen, three cruisers that had reached a distance of less than 100 miles from the space station started firing their own weaponry.
Three bright orange-colored energy blasts streaked through the dark void, landing on the bow of the space station.
Kaboom!! Kaboom!! Kaboom!!
When the three cannon shots hit at the same time, it created an explosion just as destructive and strong as a single Star Blaster the Nexus proud of. It shook the entirety of the space station, sending powerful tremors across the structure.
“Shield durability is at 88%, Commander!”
“Deactivate all nonessential power and divert all power to the shield! We can’t afford to have the shield fall!” shouted Magus Wiff sternly, yet his eyes were completely fixed on the screen.
The blaring sound of a warning alarm echoed through the space station as the three hundred thousand people currently living inside the forty mile structure were ordered to evacuate to the safe parts of the station that had been prepared.
In all this chaos, a group of men was seen running towards the deck where one of the Nexus advanced ships had been prepared – one not much bigger than the Interceptor.
Emery, Julian, Stildar, and Bardock; They all forced to volunteer for the task force deployed to destroy the Stargate on the planet. Knowing how crucial this task was to the entire situation, Magus Wiff ordered three magus to follow and help the four of them.
The three magus were Magus Bex who had an eye-catching scar on his face, and the two who fought with Emery before – Magus Aruka the female ice element and Magus Mason the burly man wielding a hammer.
Assigned as the one in charge of the task force by Magus Wiff, Magus Bex added two dozen saint-level soldiers as required manpower.
“They are the most experienced fighters we have.”
The magus’ words made Emery take a closer look at this group of soldiers. He could indeed see that these saints look different than usual. Apparently, they were part of the group that was sent to the frontline.
Before the group took off for the planet, each of them was given a special space suit to wear. It was a one-piece skin-tight black suit with a built-in helmet. There was also a variety of weapons that had been prepared, all lying on the racks free to choose from.
Bardock helped himself with a frame suit that greatly increased his physical attributes. Stildar chose a pair of powered gloves which really suited his fighting style, while Julian took the most advanced shield the Nexus had in their inventory.
Since he had no need for more equipment, Emery ended up choosing to take a dozen explosives instead.
Just as everyone was done with their preparations, another tremor shook the space station as it meant that another shot from the elven ship landed.
With that, Magus Bex quickly said, “Alright, everyone. That’s our cue. Let’s go!”
As soon as the ship hovered into the air, Emery realized that they would have an escort as the four nearby fighter ships were also following suit. Without further ado, they all got out of the hangar.
“This is the fastest ship the faction has. So as long as we can fly past them, they won’t be able to catch up to us.”
From the serious tone the magus used in his words, Emery understood that it was and would not be an easy thing to do. In fact, looking at the expressions these veterans had, this operation couldn’t help but feel like an act of suicide.
As if to answer his assumption, things quickly turned chaotic as soon as they flew out of the station into space.
Kaboom!! Kaboom!!
Several explosive sounds were heard as the space station’s turrets fired at the dozen or so elven triangular fighter ships, only to be shot back and destroyed as a result. The sight was terrifying yet mesmerizing.
At this point, half of the drones and fighter ships Nexus had deployed had been destroyed while there were still 15 elven fighting ships left, not including the three Cruisers that were still approaching the space station.
Knowing that they couldn’t afford to waste time, Magus Bex gritted his teeth and warned everyone to be prepared. “We are heading straight down the middle, everyone!”
Not only due to time constraints this decision was made, but also to hide their ship among the hundreds of Nexus battleships that were fighting. This also meant that the chances of them being caught in the crossfire were higher.
Even so, it was still better than the worst-case scenario where they were discovered and then would be either attacked by all the elven fighting ships together or bombarded into smithereens by the cruisers.
As planned, as soon as one of the elven ships approached, two of the four fighter ships escorting their ship would immediately grab hold of it and repel it by any means necessary.
Emery watched from the window of the ship how the two fighter ships who were chasing the elven ships would be destroyed before long. He couldn’t help but feel bitter inside seeing such a sacrifice.
However, thanks to those people’s sacrifices, the ship the group was on made it through halfway between the space station and the elven cruiser. This point was a no-return, where they had absolutely no chance of escaping if they were discovered.
Everyone on the ship subconsciously tensed up when they saw another elven fighter ship approaching. Immediately, the last two escort ships did their part and intercepted it. And like their predecessors, the two were also quickly destroyed.
“We are on our own now! Accelerate!!” shouted Magus Bex.
The ship zoomed across the dark space, shooting into the gap made by the sacrifices of the two fighter ships towards the direction of the yellow planet. Only when the ship finally managed to fly past the elven cruisers did everyone release the breaths they didn’t realize they were holding.
“We did it!!”
Everyone could see the relieved look on each other’s faces as the ship left the two cruisers behind. However, minutes later they soon realized that something else blocked their way.
Their vision was filled with the wreckage of the elven cruiser that had been destroyed by the Star Blaster before, and as they drew near, Emery perceived powerful energy that was also rapidly sensing back at him.
At the same time, everyone on the ship heard a voice in their minds.
“Why are you here human? come to pick me up?”
It’s a magus-level elf, and definitely a strong one.
