90: After the collapse of the empire—

The night lamp's plug-in attack component was quickly delivered into Xi Hai's hands.

This small building, suspected to be a command center, had its central computer room buried beneath the floor, giving Xi Hai quite a search.

After he plugged it in, the familiar light screen projected again.

After a brief loading bar filled, an emblem of a "Shuttle streaking across the starry sky" appeared before his eyes.

The screen flashed, and several large characters emerged——

Last Line of Defense - Ursa Major V12.22 Area Frontline Command Center.

Last Line of Defense?

Xi Hai opened the memo, and then——

The light screen expanded, and a holographic projection brought the century-old memo back to life before Xi Hai's eyes——

This story begins with the Empire a thousand years ago... [Four thousand seven hundred years ago, the "Great Uprising" caused the 1800-year-old Human Second Empire to crumble.]

[No one knew how this civil strife, which swept across most of human civilization, suddenly erupted.]

[Nor did anyone believe that the mighty Empire would collapse overnight.]

[But it happened—plainly laid out before all humanity.]

[The Grand Commander of the Empire's most elite and powerful Border Garrison Legion, at this moment, received a secret letter from the Royal Family—a handwritten letter on paper, sealed with a Double-Headed Eagle Crest.]

["The rebels are supported by xenos! The Imperial Guard shall, in the name of the Emperor, exterminate the heretics!"]

["The Garrison Legion must remember and firmly uphold its duty! Sever all contact with the outside world! You must, in the name of the Emperor! In the name of humanity, practice the path of preservation!"]

["Hold the frontier! Do not retreat a single step! Do not withdraw a single soldier!"]

[Later, the Empire's frontier completely lost contact.]

[No one knew how fiercely the Legion was attacked by the xenos during that time.]

[Only the xenos knew—their painstaking efforts to create internal and external chaos, striking from both within and without, were shattered against the Empire's bronze walls and iron ramparts.]

[Until—one day, several months later, the Imperial Guard's last Marshal, Julius Koradilon, brought the Legion its final batch of supplies from the Empire, along with a tattered Warship and a broken battle flag.]

[From then on, the loyal Legion lost their Empire and Emperor.]

[From then on, humanity gained a fleet that became a ghost, silently watching over civilization.]

[And civil strife and natural disasters also plunged human civilization into what later generations called the Fourth "Great Decay" period.]

[After hundreds of years of sifting through the sands of time, an organization named "Voyager Federation," with the slogan of finding the homeworld, finally emerged from a series of fraudsters, thieves, and dictators.]

[It stepped onto the victor's stage and declared that humanity had entered its fifth new era.]

[Followed by...]

[Thousands of years of ups and downs.]

[Until the last spare part in the Legion's warehouse disappeared.]

[Until the Legion's last agricultural planet fell.]

[Until——]

[The Legion's defense line, which had endured for over three thousand years, finally collapsed completely under the xenos' tidal attacks.]

——Masses of grotesque xenos, piloting Warships, surged into the heartland of human civilization they had coveted for tens of thousands of years.

The Voyager Federation, engrossed in factional struggles, and its Warships produced to check its own people,

were no match for the xeno fleet that had fought the Legion for thousands of years.

Cities turned to ruins, planets became mining sites.

Civilians died unjustly in orbital bombardments, children were treated as pets, food, or even ornaments to display xeno valor.

The era known as the Fifth "Great Decay" quietly descended.

Only then did people realize they missed the Empire—that Empire, though autocratic and cruel, could effortlessly crush xenos!

Everyone prayed, hoping it would return like lightning.

Fortunately, at this moment—that ghost fleet, the former Imperial Garrison Legion, appeared in people's sight.

Although most of the Legionaries had long regarded the Voyager Federation as the successor of heretics,

the massacred humans constantly reminded them

that they had failed their Emperor's last command.

Thus, the Legion no longer isolated itself; they actively united with human forces in various regions (rather than with the Voyager Federation).

They built a series of defense lines——

The scene shifted, and the projection suddenly changed from a grand starry sky to a video recording inside a command post:

"Ursa Major can't be held either?"

A bald man with military insignia looked at the sand table, asking a soldier in an Exoskeleton before him.

"Most likely, yes. We've already lost 11 star clusters, and it looks like number 12 will be next soon."

"Are you going to retreat with us?"

"... (Silence)"

Facing the retreating soldiers' question, the bald man dismissively waved his hand.

"The frontline soldiers are still fighting bravely; how can we have the face to retreat?"

"You go. Go to the next defense line, and then tuck your tails and run again when you see the xenos."

"My hometown was one of the first planets invaded by the xenos,"

"I ran all the way from there."

"Now, I don't want to run anymore."

"Frontline personnel must be accompanied by intelligence officers when retreating,"

"I'll take on that duty."

... (The scene shifts again)

"Look, this place has fallen after all."

The frontline warriors, without any communication with them, chose to fight to the death.

It was the same bald man, this time, sitting somewhat dejectedly in a chair.

The command post's radar no longer showed any trace of human Warships, only the filthy xenos remained.

"Do you think those xenos will spare humanity?"

He seemed to be talking to himself.

The person beside him immediately picked up the conversation—he was also one of the 13 who voluntarily stayed behind.

"Without a doubt, no."

"Look at what's hanging on the armor of the Warships outside?"

——On the image display, countless human soldiers in powered armor and military uniforms were fixed to the surface of the Warships!

"... (Silence)"

"... (Mourning)"

How could the bodies of human heroes be defiled like this!

Damn it, the bald man was incredibly furious, yet powerless.

Suddenly, a soldier beside him said:

"I cannot accept living under xeno rule!"

Immediately, he raised his pistol, put it in his mouth, and pulled the trigger... (Cannot finish coding, will update two more chapters during the day)