Outer space, minutes before the arrival of the new elven warship.
Three cruisers were seen firing continuous bursts of concentrated energy at the Nexus Space Station. The Surface of the translucent barrier that wrapped the entire structure rippled as it received the relentless onslaught.
Kaboom!! Kaboom!! Kaboom!!
The three thick energy beams possessing the stark color of a raging sun landed on the ship’s bow, striking the barrier there uninterrupted by the vast emptiness of the dark void.
The trio of warships appeared minuscule compared to the humongous station; their attacks seemed to not do much damage. However, the reality was far from that as both sides were aware that under the punishment of three warships, it was only a matter of time before the facade ended.
“Shield is at 2%, Commander! We can’t bear any more hits!” said the man in a military uniform in a shrill voice.
“Send all remaining drones to the enemy’s cannon. Stop the next attack at all cost!” the voice of the assumed ship Commander, Magus Wilf, loudly resounded in the room, as the man was trying his best to keep the station from breaking apart.
However, trying as hard as he might, deep inside, he was well aware that they were at the end of the rope.
“What about the task force?! Any news from them?!” He ordered with dread in his heart.
The Magus enquired about the situation of the team sent to the ground, and regrettably what he feared the most came true. The report from the nearby officer bore another bad news. Two of the three Magus that had been deployed were confirmed dead: Magus Bex and Mason, two of his best mates for dozens of years.
Chaos swiftly ensued in the command center room as the bad news broke out. And to make things even worse, a group of individuals rushed into the room. The group consists of mechanical soldiers and ministers led by a middle-aged man, The Principal.
As his demeaning eyes fell on Magus Wilf, the Principal stomped his way toward him and said, jabbing a finger at his face in the process.
“Vice commander Wilf, you have rebelled against the faction. You are to stand down immediately or else the whole forces of the mechanical soldiers will put you down through force!”
Magus Wilf inwardly heaved a sigh as he tiredly looked at the man currently standing in front of him. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, the man who was responsible for such a tragedy came pointing finger at him.
The threat the other party declared was actually nothing to Wiff. A magus of his stature could kill them all with just a snap of his fingers; however, he couldn’t raise his arms against his own superior. Not anymore.
Thinking that there was no other choice, Magus Wiff lowered his head and handed himself over. Dozens of soldiers rushed in to apprehend him with the specialized magus-restricting chain; only then did the Principal take a step into the command chair, opened his mouth, and his voice quickly channeled throughout the station.
“Citizen of the Nexus faction, do not be afraid! I repeat, do not be afraid and quell all your worries. The rebels have been apprehended; and now that I am in full command, heed my first order to surrender fully to the elves. I order you to cease any attack and be at standby until further command.”
It was such shocking news that confused all the command center officers. No one responded to those words, and the awkward silence continued until one abruptly gave an urgent report.
“Commander, a surge activity was detected on the south outpost!”
Soon enough, another reported in terror.
“Commander, we detected a war cruiser, Valkyrie type, just portaled out of the stargate!”
A Valkyrie type, although small in size, was the elves’ most elite ship with more powerful armaments and commonly commandeered by grand magus-level elves. Its arrival became the last straw to end the battle.
The Principal, sensing the unease, quickly spoke. “Do not be worried; our message of surrender has been delivered; we have nothing to be afraid of.”
However, the following report that came drained the blood out of the Principal’s face.
“Commander, all three cruisers powered up their blaster, all aimed toward here, the command center!”
Hearing such words, the Principal immediately turned to look at the chained Magus, an expression with a mix of both horror and remorse plastered on his face as he silently pleaded for help.
Some of the ministers decided to run toward the door – a last ditch effort to preserve their lives. Alas, it was already too late.
Three bright orange-colored energy blasts streaked through the dark void and struck directly at their location in unison. Most didn’t even realize what had happened until their vision was covered by an orange hue.
Kabooomm!!!
Fortunately, the remaining shield was enough to block most of them. But, just as the principal was about to have the last laugh as he escaped the clutches of death, a small crack appeared on the hull, and under their terrified eyes it swiftly slithered out of its place.
Before they could even react, the hull broke out, throwing out dozens of people in the command center to be consumed by the void.
Ironically, Magus Wiff, the only man on board who could fix the hull with a metal spell and potentially save their lives, was restrained, powerless to do anything about the situation.
The fear of death took over the Principal as he could only stare with his bulging eyes at the station as he slowly drifted away in the cold expanse, suffocated to death unable to even beg for help.
Dethroned from his commander’s chair, Magus Wiff survived as the only magus in the room. However, the forlorn expression on his face remained as there was nothing he could do now.
Magus Wiff, brought his chained arms toward his chest and mumbled in a low voice.
“It’s over… We lost.”
There was no hope for the faction anymore. Or at least, that’s what he thought.
Suddenly, he heard a beep sound from one of the panels, which startled the magus.
“Nexus Space Station, this is Cruiser Galactus of the Imperium Knight; we have come to answer the distress call.”
Magus Wilf held his breath, an uncertain hope appeared in his eyes as he heard the mention of Imperium, his gaze slowly turned toward the before empty dark void. He let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding in when he witnessed the arrival of three warships made of metals with distinctive color that of bronze.
The Royal Imperium: a notorious machine worshiper faction that rules a significant part of the human realm has arrived.