“Escape while you still can now. May you rest in peace if you fail.”
Williams’ words were actually declaring the fate of this taskforce. Escape? How and where could they possibly escape to while right under the very scrutiny of these insectoid warships which numbered in the tens of thousands?
Xia Fei had designed and researched the Black Bat radar, and it was only recently fitted into the military. The three fleets at present were all fitted with this transcendental piece of technology, and the transmission that Williams had just sent to Xia Fei via the Black Bat radar. The insectoids were yet uninformed or even aware that their fleets had successfully invaded the Alliance’s core, which was why Xia Fei and the others still had a bit of time on their hands to devise a potential escape plan.
Unfortunately, humans were a greedy and fearful bunch. Williams’ parting words meant that the military would not be sending reinforcements to extract the three fleets, so the panicked atmosphere very quickly spread among the crew. Quarrels, cries, and fights erupted all at once, and the entire taskforce was in a state of disarray.
Fortunately, Xia Fei was alone on his Impaler, so there was no way that anyone could disrupt his thoughts. Because he was holding too many secrets in him, that was why he had rejected Song Qian’s suggestion to be on the same ship
Xia Fei did not first think of how to escape but rather Avril. It was practically an innate reaction as if the life of this beloved lady was already a part of the life that he could not tear asunder. The two were billions of lightyears away from each other, but their hearts were as one.
If four days was all the time the insectoid fleets would need to invade the capital, then Avril was in an exceptionally perilous predicament—a prospect that Xia Fei was deeply concerned about.
“How massive are the insectoid fleets? Can the capital ring hold them at bay?” Xia Fei anxiously asked. His two hands were balled up into fists in front of his chest, the nervousness he was feeling easily seen without needing any words.
Williams was first shocked before slowly shaking his head. He was one of the military triumvirate, so he should not inflate the enemy’s ambition and underestimate his side’s strength; anyone else might say some insignificant words of consolation, but Xia Fei’s earnest expression made it hard for Williams to toss such platitudes his way.
He was already feeling quite guilty over the fate of this taskforce, so how could he bear to lie to Xia Fei?
“Help me take care of Avril!” Xia Fei yelled, but before he could finish his sentence, a change to the current status quo occurred.
It turned out that plenty of warships immediately became a mess in the ensuing confusion after receiving the news. They did not even listen to the command and started their warp engines in preparation for leaving the place, but none of them had considered the fact that tens of thousands of insectoid warships were around them; why would they let them leave?
The moment the first warship opened up their wormhole to jump through, the insectoid commander gave the order to fire, and the emotionless female voice of the warship’s radar system could be heard.
“Attention: The enemy is attempting to lock on. Enemy weapon systems are charging up and are ready to fire at any moment.”
Xia Fei could no longer care to contact Williams. He quickly commanded his master computer. “Activate the cloaking device and immediately break away from the fleets. I repeat, break away from the fleet.”
*Zing!*
A protective layer, which shared the same color as space, suddenly enveloped Xia Fei’s Impaler. It only took the ship two seconds to disappear into the starry backdrop, just in time before the insectoid ships locked on.
However, the other warships were not as lucky. The radar system kept announcing new enemy lock-ons because there were simply too many enemy warships. In fact, the announcement could not even keep up with the number of ships that had been locked on.
Fortunately, Xia Fei had not spared in his expense to purchase the Estamel cloaking device, or else there was no way for him to escape.
However, just hiding away was not enough, for there was still an uncountable number of enemy warships everywhere around him.
The insectoid war fleets were slowly pressing forward, while the trade delegation fleets were frantically attempting to escape in every direction. If any of them accidentally bump into Xia Fei’s Impaler, or if the intensity of the insectoid’s barrage created too powerful a shockwave, it could cause the stealth to fail and knock his ship out of stealth.
“Random warp, random warp!” Xia Fei kept yelling his order.
At present, Xia Fei could no longer let the ship’s computer calculate his positioning; instead, he opted for a random warp, leaving it all to chance. His first priority was to evade the massive insectoid fleets before he tried to find his way back into the Alliance territory. As for the other members in this taskforce and those Deathguards he had planted, Xia Fei no longer cared about any of them.
A stealth wormhole would not create any of its standard glow, but the fact that it was opening without any rigorous calculations meant that it was an extremely risky maneuver.
According to historical records, in order for Estamel to research and develop this stealth wormhole technology, they had to utilize some technology which had not undergone practical experimentations. The stability of this wormhole was worse than the usual warp wormholes, not to mention the fact that Xia Fei was attempting a random warp at the moment.
This maneuver Xia Fei was attempting right now might very well be the first time in human history that anyone had really used the stealth wormhole technology, and it was impossible to predict what would be the ensuing result.
The insectoid fleets finally opened fire.
Tens and thousands of warships unleashed their weapon systems at the same time, forming a dense cluster of lights which shone as bright as a burning star, distorting the entire space.
Fear.
Desolation.
It was hard to describe with words the scene that unfolded, the ensuing glow of this immeasurably brighter than even the most dazzling fireworks display.
*Boom!*
A warship which had managed to get half of its body into a wormhole exploded, and the closing wormhole stopped, creating a powerful spatial disturbance, which appeared to be the twisting and contorting of space to anyone looking.
In the course of a few seconds, thirty-six cruisers, two battleships, and twelve cargo ships were instantly ravaged by enemy fire, the wreckage that remained of these warships whizzed off like bullets and drifted aimlessly into the endless expanse.
Xia Fei’s Impaler had just managed to open a wormhole, and the forceful explosion, abnormal spatial distortion, and ship debris everywhere harassed the Impaler as it tried to leave.
*Ping ping ping—*
The muted sounds of several chunks struck the Impaler, causing it to break out of stealth.
The insectoids, who had discovered that an Alliance warship had avoided their initial attack, were not about to let it escape, so all their fire control systems began targeting and locking onto the Impaler.
“Overclock and bear ahead at full speed—immediately close the wormhole!” Xia Fei screamed.
“Don’t close the wormhole too early, or you’ll be sent into a multidimensional space!” Phantom shouted with his two eyes bulging in bewilderment.
“I’ll need to take the risk, or else I’ll be dooming us to death.”
Xia Fei was not about to be bugged by this multidimensional space that Phantom mentioned. Plunging right into the wormhole was his only wish right now.
When backed into a corner, humans would always take a roll of the dice. Whether he succeeded or otherwise would all depend on this one move.
*Whoosh!*
The Impaler’s thrusters blazed a trailer as it went diving into the wormhole. The hull rocked severely, the overclocking potentially going way past a hundred percent of its limit.
The wormhole went from large to small, rapidly shrinking just as the attack from the insectoids arrived.
Though the powerful cannonfire did not strike Xia Fei, it did cause even greater disruption to the already not very stable wormhole.
In the command deck, Xia Fei was gripping his seat tightly, his eyes peeled to the front even as the weak wormhole behind the Impaler rapidly collapsed.
This time, Xia Fei’s life was really hanging by a thread.
…
Venal galaxy, the capital of the Pan-human Alliance.
It was just past six, and the warning lights across every street and alleyway began flashing, the ear-piercing klaxxon getting every citizen out of their beds. Everyone rubbed their eyes, not at all understanding what was happening.
“This is the Alliance emergency alert. President Wood Johnson will be giving a televised speech in twelve minutes. Everyone, please turn on your TV and tune in. Note: This isn’t a drill. Not a drill.”
Humans had had too long a peace that several had already forgotten that such an alert system existed. They turned on their TVs with puzzlement and were so shocked that they could not utter another word after.
…
“According to the latest news, the insectoid fleets have already broken into a region some 4.9 million lightyears away in the Venal galaxy and are presently heading right into the heart of the capital ring for an invasion at their top speed. We have yet to receive a detailed report from the Ministry of Military Affairs, so we are unable to determine just how many insectoid fleets have managed to sneak into the Alliance, and what their intentions may be.”
“Everyone, please don’t go away. In eleven minutes, President Wood Johnson will be giving an important speech to everyone the entire Pan-human Alliance.”
The TV, interplanetary internet, and every form of broadcast were all tuning in to the situation as it unfolded. Meanwhile, Xia Fei, as well as the small delegation fleets, had already been tossed at the back of everyone’s mind. No one even remembered them, nor did they care whether Xia Fei was still alive or not.
Ten minutes later, at the presidential press conference center.
The Alliance President Wood Johnson stood alone on the podium as busy staff rushed around him. Information was constantly being sent, but Johnson did not pay any attention to this. He did his best to sort out his emotions, hoping to make himself appear as calmly as possible.
It was no easy task for any president to announce an enemy invasion. When his secretary woke him up from his sleep after hearing about the news of the insectoids’ movement, he instantly understood that whether they wished to or otherwise, the war between the two races had already begun.
What he must now do was announce this one news that he had no wish of ever announcing in his whole life: war.
President Johnson was also a man with a full head of silver hair. While many people thought that he had some sort of blood relation with the silver-haired General Tai of the Ministry of Military Affairs, it was actually not the case. Johnson came from a poor family, devoting his life to politics after witnessing his parents killed by gangsters. He was determined to make the Pan-human Alliance an even safer place for all, and the citizens were used to calling him the most peace-loving president in the history of the Alliance—a man of the people.
Ironically, it was this peace-loving President Johnson who would be making a decision which his predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor or even the predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor never had to do. He needed to declare war against the insectoids.
“Mr. President, ten seconds till your live broadcast.” The director kindly reminded him.
President Johnson puffed out his chest and gazed right at the several dozen ultra-sync broadcasting cameras in front of him. He ran a hand across his head of silver hair, hoping that the citizens could see him composed.
However, there was no way for him to control his heart palpitation. With a hostile force knocking right at his front door, there was no way any hot-blooded male would not be angry, not to mention the fact that he was the leader of the entire Alliance.
“Twenty minutes ago, at 6:08 a.m. Venal time, the insectoid fleets suddenly invaded a space 4.9 million lightyears away from the Alliance capital and destroyed a reconnaissance ship of ours, causing the death of over 1755 soldiers.”
“Nineteen minutes ago, the forty-eight ships making up the trade delegation from the insectoids self-destructed right by the borders of the Endaro Star Region, causing immense casualties within the Alliance Defense Force. Seventy-four warships of varying size were destroyed, and close to two hundred warships suffered severe damage to varying degrees. The death toll of this act is temporarily unavailable.”
Johnson paused for a moment at this point, his two eyes red as his voice sounded somewhat choked.
