Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 830

Chapter 830

Chapter 830: All-Out

Only a Paragon could participate in a Paragon battle . Only Hua Li, Lan Qing, and Chu Cheng were not yet involved as they were commanding forces .

Lan Qing answered Hua Li’s statement with a thoughtful frown . He heard another voice from beside the Poseidon Group patriarch . “No, you can’t go . You are the symbol of our people . If something happens to you our soldiers may be routed . ”

Certainly the voice belonged to Mo Xiao . Lan Qing happened to agree with her too . Just as he was needed on Middle Earth, Hua Li was this generation’s guide and commander . If something happened to him while he was off ship, Poseidon Group would suffer .

“Mo Xiao is right . You can’t go . ” Lan Qing decided .

Hua Li hurried to respond . “You think Poseidon Group is so fragile that they can’t survive without me? I have to go, A-Jue and the others can’t hold out for long and I’m doing nothing for our cause on this ship . Mo Xiao, you keep my absence a secret – don’t let anyone know where I’ve gone . ” Hua Li hung up before anyone else could voice objections .

Poseidon-class Bastion Ship .

“No! You can’t go!” Mo Xiao clung to his arm . She looked at him but not in anger, instead imploring him with her eyes .

But he regarded her with firm determination . “I have to go . How can I abandon my brother? Besides, Paragons are the backbone of our strategy, we’re the only soldiers who can win this war . My addition might be the last straw needed to break the aliens’ back . ”

Mo Xiao opened her mouth to protest further, but before she could Hua Li turned to water in her grip . He collapsed to the floor in a cascade of gentle blue light and vanished .

Tears fell unbidden from Mo Xiao’s eyes . She stared at the spot he’d stood with a deep pain writ plain on her face .

“Why?” She asked the air . “Why do you treat me this way? I’m your wife!”

Poseidon was inspired to join the fight . Elsewhere, someone else with fire in their heart joined the battle .

Two beams of light – one blue, one red – appeared in space among the ships . Grey flames licked the wake around the stream of red light as it cut a bloody swath toward the other Paragons . Meanwhile, Hua Li faced little resistance . The enemy was still trying to recover from the Soft Water bombs .

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself . ” When he saw his friend, Hua Li grinned .

Chu Cheng sniffed pridefully . “What do you mean ‘help myself’? I am the very definition of undaunted, this is courage you’re looking at . Aren’t I heroic?”

Hua Li looked down his nose at his friend . “Heroism or horse-shit? Prove it on the battlefield! Let’s go!” The two of them raced toward Lan Jue and the others, leaving brilliant trails of light behind them .

They’d only stepped foot in the Realm of Protogenia, but any help would draw pressure from their allies .

As they shot off to join the Paragons, things were changing on the main field as well . Not more than five minutes after Hua Li’s charge, thousands of drones poured from Middle Heaven’s hangars .

During the last clash a tenth of the bastion’s drones had fallen to alien attacks . Now their numbers had shrunk to thirteen thousand, but still enough to be a decisive presence on the battlefield . The total number still hovered around fifteen thousand if you included the thousand or so other fighters that had joined unexpectedly .

Star Division had also transferred over with the Paragons!

The allied forces had thrown everything they could toward victory – every ship, soldier and weapon . Star Division had had no more than an hour to rest after their fight on Angel before being thrust into the main conflict . But they’re morale was high, and their lust for glory strong . Finally, they had an opportunity to really show the universe what they could do . If they survived, they would come back as heroes of humanity .

Skyfire Avenue’s great fighting force already proved their worth by repelling the alien sneak attack on Angel . This time, though, they were fighting on their own . There were no Paragons to back them up but they were not needed . With Middle Heaven as backup, Star Division quickly stabilized the field and prevented the aliens from breaking past the armada’s lines .

Lan Qing’s mission for them was simple; fill in the gaps .

Allies forces were doing a fair job at being everywhere at once, but they weren’t perfect . Inevitably some aliens would break through, and once they did they caused considerable damage . Star Division’s job was to spread out in units and kill the beasts that found their way in .

This sort of fight suited them just fine . Individually they were strong, but that didn’t help them in a space-battle where large-scale cooperation was needed . However mopping up whatever was left they took to like fish to water .

Their presence shored up the allied defenses and protected their back line . The situation on the field was less volatile with their presence .

Kang Hui was shocked when he learned that Middle Heaven’s drones were back in the fight after only five minutes .

“How is this possible?” His own drones needed at least twenty minutes before they were fully charged . He wasn’t sure about Poseidon Group, but he figured it had to be similar . But why would it be different for Middle Heaven? It was beyond anything he’d witnessed before .

It was an Eastern secret, which Lan Qing was of course not permitted to share . At any rate the North couldn’t replicate Middle Heaven’s fighters even if it knew how . Each one of the drones used a small amount of molinite as their reactor core . They used the same power that gave the bastion life to power their own systems and weapons .

Their core design was based on the energy from molinite, and optimized for its use . However they could not store the energy for long . Due to its unstable nature the molinite would decay quickly . In other words, the drones could only function if they remained near enough to Middle Heaven for them to recharge regularly . If they were gone too long or too far, their fighting capability fell off sharply – nothing more than flying scrap metal .

In the end, even the East couldn’t replicate Middle Heaven’s drones .

However, so long as they were around Middle Heaven, they were the bastion’s trump card . Another interesting aspect of their construction had to do with their missiles . While molinite afforded the drones’ tremendous staying power in a fight, their erratic energy made bombs unstable . Bombs made out of the stuff were simply too likely to explode when you least wanted them to .

But despite the dangers molinite far outstripped any other energy medium for drone reactor cores . They only took three minutes to recharge, with a minute each to dock and redeploy . One-fourth the time of anyone else .

It took Kang Hui several moments before he regained focus . He couldn’t help but admire Middle Heaven’s strength . The speed and dominance of its drones was so superior, three bastions would likely struggle in a fight against it . That was before one considered Lan Qing’s keen military mind .

Once its drones were back in the field, Middle Heaven also began to react .

The greatest boon to the human forces now was the fact that the strongest of the aliens were split in two . One portion of them had been busy near Angel and hadn’t returned . The remainder were currently warring with the Paragons . Neither could lend their influence to the main battle .

Although the number of aliens throwing themselves at the armada was sizeable they were nonetheless weaker by comparison . This allowed the ships to punish the creatures without much fear of reprisal .

Lan Qing called out an order through his dedicated communications channel . “Engage Warplanet status!”

Sirens wailed all throughout the bastion and personnel were racing to their stations . If some omnipotent being were watching they could see everyone strapping themselves down with sturdy harnesses .

Middle Heaven began to shake . Somehow the molinite that powered the ship was galvanized and began to pulse with waves of energy . The oscillations were so intense they could be seen from kilometers away .

Flickering orange light shuddered through Middle Heaven and erupted from its rocky surface in bands of color . The honeycomb cannons that dotted its surface were retracted as the light completely enveloped it . In some ways it looked like it had when preparing for the Solar Flare .

“Mo Xiao, use Poseidon to engage the enemy with your full arsenal . If you want Hua Li to return without incident we need to throw everything we have behind a decisive victory right now . ” Lan Qing’s stern, cold voice crackled through Mo Xiao’s screen .

She looked back at him with an equally frigid expression . She never liked the Lan brother, but she was an intelligent woman . She had to be in order to lead the Poseidon family business . Lan Qing was right, if she wanted Ha Li back it started right here .

“Activating Poseidon’s Trident Mode . ”

It was Poseidon’s turn to shiver as the whole bastion began to change . The spherical ship stretched as its innards peaked free, completely modifying its shape . A shape-shifting bastion! It was incredible to behold .

Kang Hui stared from Tyrannosaurus’ bridge in wonderment . The ship he commanded was a traditional one, and that meant balance among all the normal bastion systems . But there was nothing normal about either of the bastions he was allied with . He had no idea what Middle Heaven was up to, and Poseidon was in the middle of a stupendous transformation .

Little by little Poseidon Group’s bastion split and reformed, until it rearranged itself in to a humanoid shape . It even bore a weapon, an absolutely humongous golden trident .