26: Let the storm rage on!

Inside the silent bridge,

In an environment where a falling needle could be heard,

The mechanical turning sound repeatedly echoed.

"Click, click, click..."

A vintage pocket watch lay in Salman's sweat-soaked palm.

Each turn of its hands tugged at the heartstrings of everyone present.

As the planned time drew nearer, Salman's nerves grew increasingly taut.

He tried to distract himself and alleviate his tension by thinking about other things:

—For instance, this watch, which his mentor personally gave him the first time he left his home planet—that world covered in thousands of miles of yellow sand.

—His mentor personally gave it to him.

The second hand completed another revolution.

Only one minute remained.

—That old man, whom he had looked up to his entire life, held his hand at their parting, pressed the watch into his palm, and solemnly said,

The second hand pointed to "III".

—"The people of the desert united a hundred years ago and conquered the visible wasteland."

"Click, click,"

—"But the wasteland in people's hearts has never receded even a bit."

Only 20 seconds left.

—"As descendants of those noble ones, we... you are destined to take up that baton."

Ten, nine, eight, seven...—"You cannot avoid it. Hating everything will only bring destruction upon yourselves!"

—"Do not let your ancestors be ashamed of you!"

"Click!"

The second hand stopped at "XII".

"Time's up!"

Samir, beside him, unleashed his suppressed emotions, startling Salman awake from his memories.

Why was he thinking of that old man again?

Salman shook his head.

He believed he had lived up to the desert.

"Decoy team!"

"Engines on!"

"Advance!"

————

A patrol team belonging to the Second fleet of the Galaxy Defense Force was conducting a routine patrol in the area where Kirk disappeared.

"Heat source detected ahead!"

As the decoy fleet activated, the immense heat from the engine nozzles was immediately detected by the patrol fleet's radar.

Upon hearing the report,

The captain of the lead ship (hull number 223) was first stunned, then delighted.

He had found the target!

According to the orders,

There was only one person and one Shuttle on the other side.

And his patrol team had three Frigates!

Three against one, the advantage is ours!

"Numbers 224, 225, push forward!"

"Disengage weapon safeties!"

"Fire control radar sweep!"

"Immediately broadcast on all frequencies, tell them to surren—"

Before he could finish his command, the radar suddenly blared an alarm.

"Large number of abnormal heat sources detected ahead!"

"Quantity ten!"

"Level is... is..."

Just then, the duty officer in front of the radar suddenly let out a startled cry, frightening everyone on the bridge.

The captain, however, looked at him with displeasure.

What was wrong with this freshly graduated fellow?

He immediately reprimanded him:

"What's with all the fuss?"

"Just the enemy's dying struggle."

"One Shuttle,"

"Could it possibly fly into the heavens?"

"I think you learned nothing in school! You can't even distinguish between a heat decoy and an engine!"

After scolding him, the imagined scene of the radar operator looking remorseful did not appear.

On the contrary,

The captain saw him turn around with a look of terror, his voice already choked with sobs.

"Th-that's not a heat decoy!"

"The identification level over there is... Frigates!"

"Quantity... ten!"

"They've opened fire!"

As he spoke, seeing the small, rapidly approaching dots on the radar symbolizing shells,

The radar operator seemed to have lost his nerve, tore off his headset, jumped from his seat, and tried to flee out of the bridge.

"Hold him down!!!"

The captain, witnessing this, flew into a rage.

What kind of people were they assigning to the Galaxy Defense Force!

Becoming a deserter before even seeing the enemy!

The bridge was not large, and after tripping, the radar operator was quickly pinned to the ground by two men.

The captain walked up to him, grabbed his hair, pulled him up from the ground,

And slapped him hard.

"Scoundrel!!"

"Do you know what you're doing!!"

"You're being a damn deserter!!"

"You'll get everyone killed!!"

But the radar operator ignored him, still muttering incoherently,

"I... I don't want to be here either!"

"I applied to be a port radar operator..."

"They... they said I passed, and then they just threw me here!"

"I... I don't want this!!!"

Crying out, his eyes gradually turned dangerous. Taking advantage of the distraction of the people behind him,

He violently lunged to the left, freeing his hands, and immediately drew the pistol of the person on his left, cocking it—

The muzzle pointed at the captain in front of him.

The incident happened in a flash, and the people inside the bridge had not yet reacted.

They heard the radar operator scream at the top of his lungs,

"Nobody draw your guns!"

"Let me leave... please!"

"Please, please, please, please, please, please..."

"Please!"

The captain, with the dark muzzle pointed at him,

Could only try to reason with the irrational man in front of him.

"Put the gun down first, put it down."

"I won't!!!"

"I..."

"Put down the gun!"

Seeing that someone had already drawn their pistol and pointed it at him when he wasn't looking, the radar operator completely broke down.

His finger pressed the trigger—

"Boom————————!"

"Boom————————!"

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom——————!"

Blazing shells easily shattered the T-5 Frigate's barely-there armor.

The alarm of depressurization and the squelching sound of flesh being sucked into the vacuum instantly filled the entire bridge.

Then immediately ceased—

The disintegration of a Frigate happened in an instant.

Scattering fragments—metal, gas, and flesh—became the last traces of its existence.

"Number 223 has fallen!"

"Enemy count is wrong!"

"Ten Frigates!"

The remaining two Frigates were unaware of the rebellion happening inside number 223.

Though it wouldn't have mattered even if they were.

But seeing their allied warship instantly vaporized by the concentrated fire of ten Frigates,

The captains of 224 and 225 had already realized the situation was dire.

"Retreat!"

"Call for reinforcements quickly!"

Their reactions were almost identical.

But what answered them were only ten rapidly advancing enemy ships and high-speed incoming shells—

On the bridge of the lead ship of those ten Frigates used as decoys, a man in a white, wide-sleeved robe was spreading his arms and shouting, his eyes filled with madness.

"For the Holy Objective!"

"All warships!"

"Full speed ahead!!!!!!!"

Soon, the remaining two T-5 Frigates also became floating space debris.

Still hugging the asteroid in the Lord of the Desert, Salman nodded slightly as he watched the full-frequency broadcasts of "target found" and "requesting support."

"Phase one of the plan is proceeding smoothly."

"The decoy fleet continues to advance, exposing itself to as many enemies as possible;"

"The main fleet will depart immediately in five minutes!"

————

Lieutenant Colonel Gulake is 244 years old this year.

By human theoretical age, he was still in his prime.

And as a cruiser captain, he was even younger.

Indeed, the flagship beneath his feet was the lucky, a corrier-class fast cruiser, self-produced by the Claude Military-Political Consortium.

She was the flagship of the Fourth Squadron of the Second fleet.

At 672 meters in length, she was somewhat miniature compared to those relic cruisers, but among the Defense Force's newly produced warships, she was still considered a giant ship.

After all, building large ships was not simply a matter of proportionally enlarging small ship blueprints.

At this moment, it and its subordinates were responsible for patrol and search missions within a certain airspace.

"Sir!"

"A patrol squad has lost contact in our assigned area!"

"The lost fleet issued contact and distress calls!"

A communicator stood up from his workstation, jogged to Gulake's side, and reported.

"Hmm,"

Gulake took the report, frowning.

"Ten Frigates?"

"That many?"

"Didn't they say it was just one Shuttle?"

"Can this Shuttle split?"

Wait, could it really be enemy spies?

Thinking this, his eyes lit up.

Isn't this an obvious military achievement!

He was still young, and the Defense Force was, after all, a second-line garrison unit.

With this military achievement, plus his father's name,

He might even be transferred to the Cosmic Army!

An opportunity!

So, Gulake immediately reacted and loudly ordered:

"Assemble the fleet!"

"The enemy is very likely Imperial saboteurs!"

"Calculation team, immediately compute the enemy's trajectory!"

"The lucky, advance immediately!"

"Prepare to intercept the enemy!"

"For His Majesty the Marshal!"

Before his voice faded, the bridge became a hive of activity.