196: A trapped beast's fight

Sara Krein gasped, staring intently at the approaching Earth Federation forces outside the viewport, his fist slamming onto the control panel, making several parts clatter.

“Seal the hatch! Activate defense systems!” he roared into the communicator, “Everyone who can still move, hold the entrance!”

The wanderer's hatch slowly closed with a screech of grinding metal, the heavy alloy door locking shut, isolating the gunfire and screams from outside.

Sara looked back, fewer than a hundred Bro soldiers who had retreated with him to the ship remained, all wounded, their eyes filled with fear and despair.

“Commander… we’re finished…” Adjutant Glarak slumped in a corner, half of his right arm torn off by an electromagnetic bullet, grey-green blood dripping continuously.

“Nonsense!” Sara kicked over the nearby control panel, metal fragments scattering, “The ship still has shields! It still has weapons! We haven’t lost yet!”

He rushed to the main control panel, his fingers frantically sliding across the dusty screen, bringing up the ship’s defense system. Shield energy was still at 72%, barely enough to last for a while. Though the weapon system was damaged, the anti-matter cannon was still usable.

Even if there was only one shot left.

“Point the anti-matter cannon at their command center!” Sara sneered, a crazy light flickering in his eyes, “Let them taste our power!”

Inside the Earth Federation Military Command Center, many were already preparing to pop champagne, watching the tide of battle turn.

“Target has retreated to the ship!” The frontline Commander’s voice rang out in the communication channel, “They’ve activated some kind of energy shield, our electromagnetic bullets can’t penetrate it!”

On the holographic projection, the wanderer was enveloped in a light blue energy field, Earth Federation soldiers’ bullets and grenades exploded on the shield’s surface but could not harm the ship itself.

“Shield technology?” Emma stared at the projection, a hint of fervor flashing in her eyes, “An energy shield that even the Delta Civilization couldn’t fully master!”

“If I recall correctly, the defense technology equipped by the Interstellar Peace Corporation fleet back then was nothing more than this.”

“Their tech tree is indeed ridiculously lopsided,” Viktor sneered, “Their ship technology is terrifyingly advanced, but their individual equipment is as primitive as cavemen.”

“That’s not important,” Emma’s voice was calm and resolute, “What’s important is that we must get that ship.”

“What? You’re confident you can analyze these barbarians’ technology?” Viktor raised an eyebrow, also intrigued, “Should I have someone try to capture a few live ones? Maybe they could help.”

Emma shook her head, her tone full of disdain for these barbarians: “No need. I’ve already said, they can’t even build individual weapons that match their ship’s technology, which means their civilization’s overall level has regressed to who knows where.”

“Even if you captured their ship’s maintenance personnel, they probably wouldn’t be able to say anything useful.”

“Why?” Viktor was somewhat confused, “I understand the former, but surely maintenance personnel would be of some use?”

“You know, when we were competing for leadership, why couldn’t you win against me?”

Emma suddenly brought up a completely unrelated topic, and Viktor was also stunned, subconsciously shaking his head.

“I remember you said you used to be a mechanic, right?” Emma cast a glance at Viktor.

“That’s right,” Viktor nodded, “When I was on Blue Star, I worked as a hovercar mechanic. What does that have to do with anything?”

“You can fix a damaged hovercar, but can you build one from scratch?”

“Uh…”

Hearing this, Viktor understood. Indeed, if being able to repair something was the same as being able to build it, then this woman in front of him could not have gained control of the Earth Federation.

After all, among the original colonists, she was the only one capable of deciphering the Delta heritage and researching advanced technology.

However, Emma’s goal was not quite what Viktor had imagined. All she wanted was to hold all advanced technology in her own hands.

Emma turned to the communications officer: “Notify frontline troops to cease conventional firepower attacks and switch to laser weapons.”

“Laser weapons?” Viktor raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t those still in the experimental stage?”

“It’s a good opportunity to test their power on them,” Emma’s lips curved slightly upward.

At the outer perimeter of New Harbor, Sara stood before the wanderer's viewport, his grey-green face looking particularly sinister in the glow of the alarm lights.

He watched as the Earth Federation soldiers’ bullets and grenades exploded on the shield’s surface but could not penetrate, a wild grin spreading across his lips.

“Hahaha! These wimps can’t even break our shields!” He turned and shouted at the remaining Bro soldiers, “See? They can’t do anything to us! Once reinforcements arrive, this planet will be ours!”

The Bro soldiers let out beast-like howls again, banging their weapons against the bulkhead. Their grey-green skin was stained with blood, and their eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

Sara swaggered back to the control panel, planting a foot on the chair, and shouted into the communicator: “Language translation done, right? Connect me to the Earth Federation channel!”

The communications officer operated the equipment, and soon, the Earth Federation command post appeared on the holographic projection.

“Listen, you useless bunch!” Sara roared at the projection, spittle flying, “It’s still not too late to surrender! Once our Bro Fleet arrives, I’m going to—!”

His wild words suddenly caught in his throat.

The Earth Federation Commander in the projection gave him a cold look, then turned and issued an order: “Activate laser array.”

Sara’s smile froze.

“What laser arr—”

Buzz—

Dozens of dazzling red beams suddenly shot out from the Earth Federation positions, accurately hitting the wanderer’s shield. The shield’s surface instantly rippled violently, and the energy readings began to drop rapidly.

“Warning! Shield under high-energy attack!” The ship’s alarm system shrieked, “Shield strength remaining 65%... 62%... 59%...”

Sara’s pupils suddenly contracted. He frantically slapped the control panel: “Increase shield output! Quick!”

“No! Energy distribution is already at its limit!” Technician Mok’s voice was tearful, “57%... 55%...”

Sara’s face changed from arrogance to terror, and then from terror to despair. He staggered back two steps, then suddenly lunged at the communication console like a madman: “Connect me to the flagship! Quick!”

The communications officer fumbled with the equipment and finally connected to the Bro wanderer Fleet’s flagship communication.

Sara snatched the communicator, his voice no longer arrogant, but a hoarse cry like a dying beast:

“This is Krein of the wanderer! I repeat, I have found the Promised Land. Genoq Star coordinates X-947, Y-382, Z-029! This planet has a complete ecosystem and abundant resources! But we have encountered a powerful enemy and are about to be annihilated!”

His voice became increasingly urgent: “The Earth Federation civilization possesses laser weapons and advanced individual equipment, but their space defense is weak, and they do not have an organized space fleet! Request the subsequent fleet to avenge us! For the glory of Bro!”

After a long pause, the heavy voice of the flagship Commander came from the other end of the communicator: “Received. Your sacrifice will be remembered. The flame of Bro never extinguishes.”

Sara’s hands trembled violently. He took a deep breath and suddenly roared a battle song in ancient Bro:

“Steel for bone, flame for blood!”

The communicator was silent for a moment, then a unified response came: “Even if we die, glory remains!”

“For eternity, charge!”

Sara smashed the communicator, then turned and entered a string of commands into the control panel: “Overload the energy core! If we’re going to die, we’re taking them with us!”

Mok’s eyes widened: “Commander! Overloading will cause a chain reaction, the entire ship will—”

“Execute the order!” Sara grabbed him by the collar, his grey-green face almost touching the other man’s, “Either activate it now, or I’ll shoot you now!”

Mok trembling inputted the overload command. The ship’s energy core began to vibrate violently, the pressure in the internal particle containers rapidly increased, and energy readings surged wildly.

“Energy core overload activated!” Mok’s voice was tearful, “Countdown 0 seconds!”

Sara slumped in the command chair, watching the laser beams continuously bombarding the shield outside the viewport. The shield had dropped to 30% and could collapse at any moment.

A hint of madness flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: “Let’s all die together, you bastards! The wrath of Bro will—”

“Target ship energy readings abnormal!” The monitor’s voice suddenly rose, “They’re overloading the energy core! Preparing to self-destruct!”

Emma shot to her feet: “Immediately evacuate frontline troops! Quick!”

The order was quickly relayed, and Earth Federation soldiers began an emergency retreat, hover armored vehicles turning around and speeding away from the wanderer.

But it was too late.

The countdown reached zero.

Boom—!!!!

A blinding white light erupted from within the wanderer, and a terrifying shockwave instantly tore apart the buildings on the outskirts of the port. Many Earth Federation soldiers were thrown several meters, and armored vehicles were also overturned by the shockwave.

But to everyone’s surprise, due to the insufficient number of personnel familiar with the ship’s operations, the shield did not shut down after overloading the ship’s energy core, and the explosion’s energy was partially contained, thus the power of the self-destruction was limited.

When the smoke cleared, the main structure of the wanderer had miraculously remained. Although severely damaged, many parts were still quite intact.

Inside the Earth Federation Command Center, everyone was stunned.

“The shield didn’t turn off…” Viktor murmured, “These idiots don’t even know how to self-destruct?”

Emma looked at the wreckage on the holographic projection, her eyes gleaming with fervent light: “Immediately cordon off the area! All scientific researchers to the site immediately! We must obtain the technology of that ship!”

Her gaze was fixed on the wreckage, as if she could already see the future form of the Earth Federation Space Fleet.