224: Charge! Sprint! Sprint!

(Two-in-one)

After the fervor of the speech dissipated, only a bone-chilling cold remained between the various fleets of The 16th Expeditionary Legion scattered across the star systems of Tiankan Seat V789—

Decades and centuries of warfare had long since etched the consciousness of battle into their instincts,

to the point that the second they received the order, they had already begun strategic deployment according to Lagrange's arrangements.

All Warships equipped with Void Bubble Engines were left on the front line as a garrison fleet—or rather, they had always been the garrison fleet, but this mobilization had completely left them in a situation of fighting alone.

Tyr was appointed as the Frontline Defense Commander; his task was to organize the movements of the forward defensive line to ensure the normal operation of the "Elastic Defense" mechanism.

Meanwhile, Lagrange took a frigate and returned to one of the frontline traffic nodes of the Tiankan Seat defense line—Tiankan Seat V789.01,

where the remnants of The 16th Expeditionary Legion had gathered.

Tens of thousands of starships filled the docks of the Node Space Station here, but even so, a significant portion of Warships were still left outside the Starport.

A large number of blue-glowing Shuttles or small transport ships wove between these hovering Warships, like those small black-and-yellow striped creatures, seemingly chaotic but actually filled with order.

As soon as Lagrange's ship landed, it was illuminated by fire-control radars from four directions.

After uploading the identity authentication key, a Shuttle carrying 28 Marine Corps members boarded the Warship. Upon completing biological sample testing and a simple identity Q&A, the leading squad leader gave him a military salute and shouted:

"Reporting, General! The 779th Combat Group, subordinate to the Marine Corps directly under The 16th Expeditionary Legion, reports to you!"

"Good," Lagrange nodded slightly to the soldiers before him and walked toward the Shuttle—

"Take me to the flagship. The commotion from our mobilization is quite large,"

"We must complete our work before those Traitors can react."

"Yes!" The squad leader saluted again and immediately followed behind Lagrange onto the Shuttle.

The Shuttle undocked, carved a curve through the air, and flew toward the Node Space Station.

Soon, a dense forest of fleets appeared before Lagrange's eyes.

"They're here... they're all here..."

He looked out the window at the ferocious Warships ready to go, a hint of a smile appearing in the depths of his eyes.

But when he saw the still-unrepaired massive crack on the approaching Battleship, the names of the hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers on the front line reappeared in his heart.

He once again remembered the Commander-in-Chief who had held fast for over a thousand years.

Determination drowned out that hint of a smile in his eyes as he murmured:

"Commander—respected Lord Solaris,"

"After a thousand years, have even you changed?"

"Have you become the very thing you hated most back then?"

At this point, he shook his head again.

"Forget it, things have come to this,"

"No matter who it is, as long as they dare to stand in my way..."

"Then prepare to be crushed."

Suddenly, several lights shone over, illuminating Lagrange's face; it turned out the Shuttle had entered the interior of the space station.

He looked down through the window.

A Battleship without a Void Bubble Engine was lying quietly in the Starport—

A "Salvation"-class Battleship from the fourth era, the "Indomitable Will," 2,900 meters long.

She was the temporary flagship assigned for this operation... Six standard hours passed.

At this moment, in the Military Alliance headquarters, Tiankan Seat V100.86, Planet Three, the regular office area under the Tower of the Mourners,

Military Alliance Secretary-General Randall had just finished a diplomatic negotiation with the Empire.

In his eyes, this negotiation was undoubtedly a victory:

The only price they paid was using one Legion's strength to attack The Consortium—and this matter was already part of the Military Alliance's plan;

However, the Empire on the other side of the negotiating table not only promised three key star clusters but also allocated three automated void energy mining fields left over from the second era from their occupied territories.

But these exchanges of interests were not the point; the point was that this operation could serve as an excellent entry point—

An entry point for the Military Alliance to formally intervene in the internal affairs of the Order League.

Randall had been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time.

Indeed, formally interfering in all internal affairs of humanity,

he had been planning for this since he officially took office as the Military Alliance's Secretary-General ten years ago—

This Secretary-General of the Military Alliance was not actually as he appeared on a daily basis.

He could not understand the logic of the Military Alliance's operation.

In his eyes, the Military Alliance held the most powerful weaponry of all humanity and possessed the highest-quality soldiers and armies,

yet they voluntarily stayed in the most remote parts of human space, willing to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives to protect a group of unrelated fools.

And those protected fools, not to mention supporting these guardians,

what they gave to the Military Alliance, aside from that small portion of supplies that was almost like charity, was constant testing and backstabbing.

Furthermore, whenever the Military Alliance showed even a slight sign of what they considered "abnormal," a public opinion war against the Military Alliance would immediately break out.

To use a less-than-perfect analogy, it was like one party doing their best to serve the other, pouring out almost all their tenderness and patience,

but with just one loss of control, the served party would immediately shout at the top of their lungs, "So this is your true face! I've seen through you!"

In Randall's eyes, it was truly not worth it for the Military Alliance to bind itself to such a remote and desolate corner for the sake of a bit of "righteousness" used to coax children—

Compared to fighting a meaningless, endless war against those alien creatures, he was more inclined to participate in wars where real benefits could be gained.

This line of thinking was undoubtedly heretical within the Military Alliance, a fact he was well aware of.

Therefore, during his century of service in the Military Alliance, rising step by step from a staff officer to this position of Secretary-General—second only to one and above tens of thousands—Randall had never revealed his true thoughts to anyone.

He had always played the role of an "idealist like everyone else" to mask his true side.

Finally! After lying low for over a century! He had finally waited for this perfect opportunity!

Even more coincidentally, a while ago, a Legion of the Military Alliance had carved out a massive buffer zone—

This meant he had a military force that could be unscrupulously redeployed to the rear!

"Quila! Come here for a moment!"

Thinking this, he waved his hand to the side, calling his assistant over.

"Where are Lagrange Koradilon and his fleet?"

"As soon as they finish maintenance and resupply, assign them combat missions immediately—"

"I've already settled terms with the Empire. Our offensive direction this time is toward the Ursa Major V967 area,"

"As soon as they launch the attack, The Consortium's defense line will collapse instantly,"

"At that time, we will strike directly at the void energy extraction nodes of Ursa Major V967.91, seizing more before The Consortium can react..."

As he spoke, he suddenly noticed his assistant's expression seemed off, pupils trembling, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, looking completely terrified.

Randall asked with dissatisfaction:

"What's the matter?"

"Why are you so scared?"

His secretary, Quila, tremblingly held up the tablet in her hand and replied with a pale face:

"Secretary-General..."

"Lagrange and his people... their fleet's status is very wrong..."

"They've all lost contact... A few dozen minutes after we issued the order for them to retreat back, the entire 16th Expeditionary Legion lost contact!"

Randall's expression froze, but he maintained his disguise, took the tablet, flipped through it, and asked:

"Lost contact? That's impossible."

"Could it be that the aliens launched a surprise attack?"

"No..." Quila bit her lip, "It's not..."

"It's not just the forward strike fleet, but also the defensive fleet in the rear,"

"We just reviewed all the records of the 16th Legion, and those mixed-stationed fleets all stated,"

"that the 16th Legion fleets, after presenting our orders, loaded up on supplies, fully restored their status, and simply sailed away—"

"Now, this Legion has vanished as if into thin air!"

Randall's lips twitched a few times.

Generally speaking, if a Legion cuts off all contact with its headquarters and restores its combat status to the maximum,

then what are they going to do?

Does he even need to guess! Randall roared in his heart, they're coming for me!

Damn it, I was careless!

"Beep beep beep beep beep!!!!!"

As if to confirm his suspicion, an incredibly piercing, sharp sound suddenly rang in his earpiece.

As soon as Randall connected, the news he least wanted to hear at this moment came through:

"Reporting!!! A massive fleet has appeared at the fourth orbit of the star system!!!"

"The identification code for that fleet is friendly, but they have refused all communication requests!!!"

"That fleet is rapidly approaching Planet Three!!!"

"Requesting instructions!!"

—Clatter!

The tablet in Randall's hand fell to the floor.

In the next second, he immediately shouted into the communicator:

"The 16th Expeditionary Legion has mutinied!!!"

"Repeat! The 16th Expeditionary Legion has mutinied!!!"

At the same time, under Quila's disbelieving gaze, his hand unhesitatingly slammed onto a red button on the wall—

That was the final alarm of the Military Alliance.

"Ring ring ring ring ring ring!!!!!"

In that instant, in every fleet of the Military Alliance that still maintained contact, that primitive and piercing alarm bell rang out,

including the 16th Legion still floating in the sky, which had just been branded as Traitors... "Ring ring ring ring ring ring!!!!"

Lagrange was standing on the Bridge of the "Indomitable Will," quietly looking at the star map projected above the central console.

A piercing ring rang in his ears.

Normally, this ring would be enough to awaken the bloodlust and sorrow buried in the deepest parts of every Military Alliance soldier's heart—

After all, the last time this ring sounded was during the end of the Voyager Federation, defined as the "fifth era," during that overwhelming offensive by the aliens.

But now, the soldiers of the 16th Legion felt only immense rage:

Those people! Those Traitors! Those cowards who fear death!!!

Just because they felt threatened, they dared to ring this bell that symbolized the survival of humanity!!!

He could no longer endure it. He opened the entire Legion's communication system and roared:

"Everyone!!!"

"The Traitors, for the sake of their own lives, actually dare to ring the alarm bell that symbolizes the survival of the entire Military Alliance and all of humanity!!!"

"What a desecration! What a perversion!"

"Let us end this error!!! Assault formation!!! Crush them for me!!!"

"Advance!!!"

Lagrange's inflammatory voice rang in the ears of every soldier,

like throwing a bomb into already boiling water. Instantly, the people's emotions were stirred to the peak—

"Advance!!!"

In every corner of the Warships, the stirring battle cries instantly drowned out the still-ringing alarm.

Engine power was immediately set to full. Countless points of light appeared in the air.

Massive thrust propelled the scarred yet still combat-ready giant ships forward rapidly.

"Interception fleet ahead!"

"Torpedoes detected on both port and starboard sides!!!"

Sure enough, as the headquarters of the Military Alliance, how could there not be a garrison here?

"Code identification complete! The opposition is the D-787-9 Legion!"

"The 9th Imperial Guard Legion!!!"

"Our side hasn't finished changing formation! The enemy has seized the advantageous position!"

The alarm bell finally stopped, but it was immediately followed by the shouts of the Radar Operator.

Lagrange stared at the central console before him and replied:

"What enemy?"

"Our only enemies are the Traitors!!!"

"They are merely comrades being used by Traitors!"

Saying this, his eyes sharpened.

"Order! Stop the formation change! Concentrated assault!"

"frigates act as Shield ships! Abandon all evasive maneuvers! Target: the enemy flagship!"

"All attack weapons, fire at once!!!"

The reaction of The 16th Expeditionary Legion was astonishingly fast. Almost at the moment Lagrange gave the order, all the Warships acted as a single entity, abruptly stopping their maneuvers and lunging forward as one.

They did not attempt a conventional exchange of fire with the massive fleet before them—that would be seeking their own death.

Like a dagger thrust straight at the heart, they abandoned all defense, like a suicidal technique in combat, using the most extreme and rapid method to charge forward madly.

"Distance! Forty gigameters!"

The 9th Legion responsible for the interception clearly hadn't expected the other side to adopt such a mad, reckless suicide charge.

But as soon as they reacted, a dense barrage of shells and light beams concentrated directly on a single point.

Most attacks were deflected or bounced off by the overlapping Shields at the very front, but the Shields of the Shield ships were constantly overloading, causing them to fall back from the front.

Some Warships charged too fast and plunged straight into the barrage, instantly evaporating into tiny particles like a block of ice falling into lava.

As the distance between the two sides grew closer, the shells fired from all directions also gradually increased.

Projectiles carrying immense kinetic energy smashed into the outer armor, tearing away patches of red-hot molten metal.

Missiles moving too fast to see exploded on engines, directly causing sympathetic detonations in the entire Warship's power room.

"Ignore the enemy interception!!!"

"Continue to focus fire on the flagship!!!"

Finally, perhaps heaven was favoring Lagrange.

On the 999th volley, a Heavy Ion Cannon shot from a Battleship struck the 9th Legion's flagship squarely.

The searing stream of ions slowly melted through the armor and surged into the chamber of the power room.

Instantly—

An incredibly bright sun rose in the center of the battlefield.

That massive Warship suffered a sympathetic detonation.

"Flagship destroyed!!!"

"Charge!!! Charge!!! Charge!!!"

"The target is Planet Three! Do not linger in battle!!!"

"The 4th and 5th fleets stay behind to cover the rear!!!"

"The rest, follow the flagship closely!!!"

...