Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 749

Chapter 749

Chapter 749: Big Bang

Lan Jue didn’t know why the West didn’t join the other bastions at the front . However, he did know it was the right decision .

Middle Heaven’s impressive speed was on full display . Twenty engine fixed to its surface glowed red-hot as they pushed the planet forward . From the back it looked like a sun . It lead the other bastions toward Monteux .

The first set of ships to reach safety were the Easts . They had been ready for the withdraw order . Lan Qing could be selfless when the time required, but he also had no qualms alerting his people to danger even if it wasn’t in everyone’s best interest . He knew Kang Hui was going to give his own people more time than others .

Lan Jue didn’t leave his own ship . Through communications equipment and radar he observed what was going on outside . When he saw ships bearing the insignias of the East fly passed An Lun and out into quiet space he heaved a sigh of relief . So far the East only had one bastion, and five fleets it was meant to protect . But where this might have been a problem for a normal ship, Middle Heaven was so large its whole entourage could fit safely in its wake .

Behind the warships were the transport vessels . They were ferrying An Lun’s best – including the Bloodiron Kahns . Middle Heaven was moving forward so quickly to ensure that transport ships got behind it before Monteux blew .

And not a moment too soon . The four planets began to change just as the East’s ships were getting to a safe distance . It started with their rotation, which slowed to a crawl . Even from out in space they could see the planet trembling . Thousands of acres of its surface collapsed into burning crevices that spat magma into the sky .

It was going to blow!

Northern Bastions had started to slow, then stop . Protecting their bastions were their first priority . Interstellar fleets and the people on board were expendable by comparison . Luckily their reaction had been fast enough that most were already safely behind the moon-sized ships . Not so lucky were their transport ships which were a few minutes behind . Despite the real risk of losing his soldiers, Admiral Kang Hui couldn’t put the bulk of his fleet – and the bulk of the North’s military strength – in the path of destruction .

Not Middle Heaven . It surged forward like it was duty-bound to save as many lives as possible . In the face of the planet’s imminent doom, it proceeded .

Boom– — — ! A blinding light suddenly turned darkness into day as Dakkar exploded . The luminescence from its death spread across the whole sector . The shockwave that followed was like something from a nightmare .

Lan Jue found himself unconsciously clenching his fists . Monteux hadn’t blown yet, but he knew that when it did the results would be catastrophic . It was the largest of the four planets, which meant its death would be the most destructive .

Brother, you better have this under control!

He didn’t dare disturb Lan Qing in this moment because he knew his brother was piloting the whole ship . Now was not the time to trouble him with nonsense .

The ships were getting closer . In the distance, Saqi and Bollen had also erupted, one after the other . Lan Jue could feel Middle Heaven being buffeted by the first blasts of the shockwave . His radar flickered and fought static interference .

Only Monteux remained, but it shook so fiercely it threatened to pull itself apart . The cracks that snaked over its surface glowed like angry wounds . It was going to die any moment .

Just then a white light sprang up before Middle Heaven, spreading out line a fan . The returning transport ships just made it just in time, vanishing behind the screen of light .

Like clockwork all of the bastion’s engines shut off and went dark . Its forward momentum slowed, but the planet didn’t turn around . Instead an array of circular engines extended from the front of it and immediately sparked to life . It lurched perilously as the engines fought inertia . They were powerful enough not only to stop its forward trend, but also immediately thrust it backward in the direction it’d come from .

In the same moment a shell of orange-red light appeared around Middle Heaven . It covered every corner . Moments later Monteux gave in . First it collapsed inward, and time stood still for half a moment before it exploded out in all directions .

Within Middle Heaven, silver light flickered as people were deposited into the control room . By the time it receded the figures already had their hands on conductor rods and were pouring their power into the ship .

They were the strongest men and women in the universe . In the middle was the first among them; Jue Di!

Jue Di, Luo Xianni, the Wine Master, Gourmet, Pauper, Driver, Pharmacist, Clockmaker and Lan Jue . All of Skyfire Avenue’s leaders, as well as Bize, stood in solidarity in Middle Heaven’s defense .

When the impact hit, Middle Heaven shook like it was rattling from an earthquake . The humans’ faces were dour but firm . Clearly the ship had been too close to the blast, but no blame was pointed at Lan Qing . He’d done it to save their fellow soldiers .

Lan Jue knew his brother better than anyone, and he trusted him completely . Lan Qing wouldn’t do anything he wasn’t certain about, and if he flew in this close it was because he had faith in Middle Heaven’s ability to withstand it .

The universe around them was a tempest of frantic energy . The waves of destruction that came from the planets crashed into them, again and again . The East’s fleets rocked and trembled . They were the only one who had been able to get all their transport ships behind their bastion before the blasts . For the North and West, the fate of their transports went without saying . What small ship could withstand the death of a planet? The answer seemed obvious . They would see who survived only once the dust had settled .

The raging explosions lasted more than ten minutes before they began to subside . Lan Jue felt like the East’s bastion managed valiantly, perfectly in fact . Only the initial shock had rattled the planet-turned-starship . By the end they hardly moved at all . It was evident Middle Heaven didn’t sustain much damage .

Sighs heaved through the control room . The Paragons staggered around like survivors of a disaster . If they had been closer to the center of the explosions, even with all their might they would have met their end . Only the Wine Master and the Photographer would have had favorable chances .

The Gourmet’s face was ghastly pale . “These goddamn monsters are too cruel . They’re evil . I wonder how the others are doing . ”

The rest of his family was fighting with the North . Most importantly, the hope of the Chu Family and their most recent Paragon had lead the ground assault team – Chung Cheng . The Gourmet worried his nephew may not have survived the blast, though he didn’t say it outright . Paragons were strong, but the Northern transports had been left to their own devices . It was unclear how they fared . Outside was a universe of chaos . The fission of four planetary cores caused too much interference for any reliable communication .

Lan Jue took a breath, his mind already calm . Detestable as the enemy was it served nothing to spit curses at a distant foe . The aliens had suffered greatly as well . They’d left many of their number behind to confuse and bait the allied human forces . There surely were no survivors of those left behind .

This was not to say humanity got away without cost . Many from the North and West, including their ground and mecha teams, had fallen . However, thanks to prudent intelligence and the help of the bastions they’d kept their losses to a minimum . Nonetheless, a deep and abiding fear of their enemy would persist .

Without early warning the blow to humanity would have been crippling . But as it was, the losses suffered by both sides made it palatable .

Lan Jue told the Paragons to rest while he himself went to go find Lan Qing . As he walked the halls he was in awe of Middle Heaven and its first display of ability . Undoubtedly, the West and North were cowed by what they’d witnessed .

Monteux was large, its blast intense, and Middle Heaven had been closer than all the other ships . And yet it had not cost them much to escape unscathed . Though it was not a contest, the East had escaped this tragic battle with the fewest losses and the most vital crystals .

“Brother!” Lan Jue entered the Admiral’s office to find Lan Qing behind his desk, staring at his screens .

He didn’t raise his head . “I told you, here you refer to me by my title . ”

Lan Jue walked to his side . “Relax, we’ve come out the other side of it . ”