225: Why are mourners weeping?

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

"The rebel fleet has broken through the temporary defensive line established by the Ninth Legion!"

"The Ninth Legion's flagship has suffered a magazine explosion! The Legion Commander has been killed in action!!!"

At this moment, inside the headquarters located at the base of the Tower of Mourners,

Watching the stream of bad news coming from the Commanders and staff officers below, Randall couldn't help but feel waves of nausea and sharp pain in his stomach.

Defeat, breakthroughs, annihilation...

Was the defensive power of the Military Alliance Headquarters really this pathetic?

True, the defenders were organized in a hurry, and hitting a rebel force that came prepared, they were bound to be caught off guard.

But they were part of the same military, after all; shouldn't they have at least been able to put up a fight?

How could they all be broken through in less than a single standard hour?

Are they pigs?!

Tens of thousands of Warships, never mind holding out until reinforcements arrived—

They probably hadn't even finished their own mobilization!

Just then, Randall's personal communicator rang. He picked it up to look, and the stomach pain he had just suppressed flared up again—

The caller was one of the people he least wanted to see right now: the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Alliance, Cassius Solarian.

Should he hang up?

No, he couldn't. Answering might just mean a lecture, but hanging up would mean his path in the Military Alliance was essentially over—

That damned old fossil. He had lived for over a thousand years, clearly reduced to a dried-up corpse that could only sit in a wheelchair.

Why was he still alive!

Wouldn't it be better to just hand over the supreme power of the Military Alliance to him and then die in peace?

While cursing wildly in his mind, Randall gritted his teeth and pressed the answer button.

Immediately, an old voice mixed with mechanical static rang out.

"Randall, why was the final alarm sounded?"

"And why is it said that The 16th Expeditionary Legion has mutinied?"

"What happened after I entered the Hibernation Pod?"

What happened?

How was he supposed to know!

All he knew was that Lagrange had rebelled and had brought his troops right to his doorstep, okay!

Randall felt even more disgust toward the person on the other end of the line, but he masked his emotions. He took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and let the lies fly:

"Reporting! Lagrange Koradilon has long harbored ill intentions toward the Military Alliance."

"This man has always been overly ambitious. He previously used the excuse of fighting aliens to cultivate the entire 16th Legion into his own private army."

"This time, he may have even colluded with the aliens, preparing to launch a general offensive against humanity—"

"That is why I sounded the final alarm..."

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

Suddenly, the communication console beside him began to flash violently, interrupting Randall's words and forcibly cutting his connection with Cassius.

"This is bad! Lord Secretary-General!"

"Our communications... have been breached!"

"What are you all good for!" Randall shouted angrily. "Where are our technicians!"

"They... the rebels have broken through the planetary orbital defense line and begun precision orbital strikes against us. Our communication towers... have been eliminated as priority targets!"

"Damn it! How could it be so fast..."

Suddenly, after a burst of static, the communication console emitted a clear human voice—

It was the voice of that Traitor Lagrange! Randall thought resentfully.

"Testing, testing! To all compatriots of the Military Alliance! To the soldiers who have fought side by side!"

"I never intended for our army to turn on itself! Nor did I ever intend to launch a great rebellion to subvert the entire Military Alliance!"

"I simply want to say, you are being used—you have been deceived by the true Traitors!"

"Those high-ranking officials who sit safely beneath the tower every day!"

"They ordered us to abandon the fight against the aliens, to withdraw from the front lines, to give up the star systems we occupied, and to hand over those strategic points, the very throat of the front lines, to those hideous aliens!"

"And they had us return to the heart of human space to participate in a ridiculous civil war!"

"Every inch of that land we were ordered to abandon was bought with life and blood! Every single inch!"

"Soldiers! You tell me, who are the real Traitors!"

"Our goal is only one—to purge those true Traitors! To bring the Military Alliance that belongs to us, to humanity, back onto the right track!"

"I ask all brothers with a conscience remaining to join us! Together, we will eliminate the true Traitors and liars!"

"And to the soldiers who still choose to stand against us! Perhaps you cannot understand, or do not wish to obey,"

"But I only want to say that once the dust has settled, I will use the facts to tell you what the truth is!"

"Zzzzz..."

The transmission ended. Looking at Randall now, his face had turned completely dark—

Utterly foolish!

He slammed his hand onto the desk and roared, losing all composure:

"Utterly foolish!!!"

"What war with aliens, what front lines!"

"How much longer is this damned, stupid, ridiculous war supposed to last!"

"He doesn't understand my painstaking efforts at all!!!"

"What aliens? In these eight hundred years, when have they ever dared to launch a large-scale offensive?"

"What is there to gain by fighting them to the death!"

"Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!"

Another series of world-shaking roars came—the sound of ground-based defense facilities firing.

Countless massive turrets raised their silver-white magnetic rails, blue-white electric arcs flashing constantly.

Streamlined shells, imbued with immense kinetic energy, turned glowing red. The moment they left the muzzles, they produced sonic booms like claps of thunder.

Large amounts of nanofluid cooling material packed in the barrels were carried into the air, looking like silver lava erupting from a volcano.

"Yes! Just like that!"

"Blast those rebels into floating orbital trash!!!"

Hearing the sounds, the image of that world-destroying power automatically appeared in Randall's mind, making him shout with excitement.

But at that moment, a soldier rushed in, stumbling, and ruthlessly shattered the dream that existed only in his delusions:

"Secretary-General! The rebels have completely broken through the orbital defenses! Seventy percent of the ground-based attack facilities have been destroyed!"

"The surface is no longer safe! Please follow us into the underground bunkers immediately!"

The smile on Randall's face froze, and then he became even more hysterical.

"Damn it!!!! Damn it!!!! Damn it!!!"

"Damned Lagrange! Damned orbital defense forces!"

"No—no, wait! It's not over yet,"

Suddenly, Randall stopped his hysterics. He grabbed the soldier's shoulder and asked:

"Which is the nearest military force?"

"How long until they arrive?"

The soldier was stunned for a moment, then immediately replied:

"Reporting! The nearest Legion is D-787-4, the 4th Legion! Their main fleet will arrive in 50 minutes!"

"What about the Ninth Legion?"

"Additionally, the scattered remnants of the Ninth Legion have begun to regroup and reorganize, but a significant number of captains were swayed by the rebels' propaganda and surrendered their entire ships directly to the rebels!"

"A bunch of Traitors! Spineless cowards!"

Randall grabbed a cup from the table beside him and smashed it onto the ground. He took several ragged breaths.

One cannot imagine things they have never seen. Consequently, when Randall speculated on Lagrange's motives, he did so only through the lens of power politics and self-interest—

Thus, in his eyes, Lagrange became an unscrupulous opportunist who would stop at nothing for power.

A brilliant idea sprouted in his mind.

He suddenly looked up at the soldier with a sinister gaze.

"Forget it..."

"Leave your equipment! All of it!"

Beneath the Tower of Mourners, there was a nuclear bomb of massive yield.

The original intent of this design was, firstly, a warning from the first generation of Military Alliance members to their descendants that 'we are always under threat,' and secondly, a preparation for the worst-case scenario:

The names of human martyrs must not be desecrated or contaminated by filthy aliens.

And now... "Don't you just want the supreme authority of the Military Alliance?"

"I'll give it to you—I'll give it to you!!!"

"Along with this great gift..."

"I'll give it all to you!"

...