Interstellar Survival: Invasion

The door of the bridge opened, revealing a high-level military official standing there waiting for us.

”Greetings, lord envoys.
I am the commanding officer of Starpath, a Milky Way–class battleship.
My name is Wesex.
Welcome abroad.
I am honored by your presence, ” said Wesex.

”Pleased to meet you, Commander Wesex.
Should we worry that the presence of such a powerful battleship for a diplomatic mission might be considered a show of force? ” asked Zhang Xingxing worriedly.

”Please be at ease, lord envoys.
According to our intelligence, this battleship is necessary for the mission.
At the same time, we can showcase the might of the empire and awe our enemies, ” said Wesex.

Seeing how confident Wesex was, we stopped arguing.

”Everyone, please come in and take a rest.
I ’ll be waiting for you at the command room after lunch, ” said Wesex.

And thus, a mid-rank military official led us all into our rooms.
I took the chance to observe the powerful battleship.
Every single crew of the ship seemed to be Eternals.
Not a single one of them was of a different race.
From what I saw, I estimated that the ship was crewed by over 10,000 people.

”Canyue, the combat personnel here seem lower in number than the hanging fighters we saw below? ” Zhang Bao ’er whispered, having discovered the same issue I noticed.

”Yeah.
I suspect some of the fighters are actually automated fighters, ” I said.

”The crew members are all Eternals, making supervision and control rather easy as well.
The Divine Empire has maintained a purity of bloodline when it comes to their super battleships, it seems, ” said Old Du.

We had entered the semicircle portion of the ship, and each section within the semicircle had a height of roughly five meters.
From the layout of the sections, the semicircle was probably separated into different levels according to function.
We followed the middle-rank official as he led us to the topmost level.

Numerous imperial soldiers could be seen walking all around us, but not one of them paid us any attention.
All of them were fully focused on their tasks.
The strict discipline hinted at their prowess.
I couldn ’t help but raise my evaluation of the strength of the imperial army.

We eventually reached the rest rooms at the top level.
The rest area was located to the right of the flight command room, and the place looked much more luxurious compared to Fearless.
Zhang Bao ’er and I were led to the same room.
Shortly after, a military aide brought us food and drinks.

”Canyue, the treatment we get on this ship sure is high class.
We weren ’t even treated like this on the Saturn ship, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Saturn is only a Poseidon-class battleship.
If you can get on one of the league ’s Zeus-class battleships, it will probably be as luxurious as this ship, ” I said.

”With our ability, it would be nearly impossible to get on a Zeus-class battleship, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”No, Bao ’er.
I believe that with your strength, a day will come when you get to command a ship comparable to a Zeus-class battleship, ” I said with a smile.

”Hahaha, you are truly great when it comes to daydreaming! ” said Zhang Bao ’er with a laugh.

While joking around, we finished the food and drinks.
Soon, the aide returned and notified us to visit the command room.
We followed the aide to the flight command room.
Zhang Xingxing and the others were already there.

”Lord envoys, Captain Wesex will set the trajectory to Planet Akko of Canis Major soon, ” announced Tasse.

”Canis Major.
Sirius is also in the vicinity.
Blueflash and the others won ’t be that far away from there, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Akko is a planet orbiting Epsilon Canis Majoris in Canis Major.
It is quite close to Sirius at about 400 light-years away from it, ” said Dodo.

”What? It ’s that far? Sirius is like 8.6 light-years away from Blue! ” Zhang Bao ’er exclaimed.

”About 47 million years ago, Epsilon Canis Majoris, the binary star system, was only 34 light-years away from Blue.
At that time, it was still the brightest object in the night sky.
However, the primary star moved in a massive parabolic trajectory, bringing the entire system far away from us, ” added Dodo.

”This system moves too fast.
How can the system be stable? ” Zhang Bao ’er asked.

”Epsilon Canis Majoris ’s primary star is very weird.
It is a massive bluish-white star, and it is the brightest star with extreme ultraviolet rays and super powerful gravity known to the league.
It can both move quickly and maintain control over all celestial objects in its system at the same time, ” said Dodo.

”Extreme ultraviolet.
No wonder Prince Toruse has blue eyes and deep blue hair.
He must have bathed in ultraviolet rays too much, ” remarked Zhang Bao ’er.

”The most important thing we must do when heading to Akko is prepare our ultraviolet defense.
Otherwise, the extreme ultraviolet will cause your skin to fester immediately, ” said Tasse.

”Do we need to be clad in spacesuits at all times? ” I asked Tasse.

”No, you only need to smear a special Akko cream and swallow a resistance pill.
The empire has prepared everything, ” said Tasse as he took out the pills and creams.

I looked at Master Crystal, and he nodded at me.

”I ’ll go first, ” I said as I stepped forth and swallowed the pill.
Then, I smeared the cream over my exposed skin.

The rest followed suit and prepared themselves for the extreme ultraviolet rays.

”Please get ready, lord envoys.
Starpath will set off shortly, ” said Wesex.

The spaceship suddenly stopped.
From the window, we could see a transparent ball of light appear around the battleship.
Inside the ball, transparent ripples moved repeatedly, and they gradually faded with the ball after several minutes.

”Welcome to Canis Major, lord envoys, ” said Wesex.

”My lord.
We arrived just like that? ” exclaimed Zhang Bao ’er.

Not only Zhang Bao ’er, but all of us were shocked by the empire ’s travel technology.
We did not feel anything and were directly transported through space.
It was a completely different experience from the traditional wormhole travel we were used to.

”Looks like the Eternals have truly reached an astonishing level of technology, ” muttered Old Du beside me.

In the distance, a massive bluish-white star could be seen.
The peculiar star, which was 3,600 times brighter than the sun, was right before our eyes.
Epsilon Canis Majoris was a binary star system, but due to the brightness of the primary star., the secondary star was not visible.

”Everyone, we have arrived at Epsilon Canis Majoris.
Planet Akko is located 15 billion kilometers away from the primary star.
According to reliable sources, the Interstellar League ’s fleet was gathered around the planet.
Thus, the Starpath intends to approach through stealth mode, ” said Wesex.

Following Captain Wesex ’s command, the ship entered stealth and approached Akko at sublight speed.
About an hour later, the ship arrived near Akko.
A slowly rotating ash-gray planet entered our vision.

Although this planet was 15 billion kilometers away from the primary star, 100 times farther than the distance between Blue and the sun, the powerful energy of the star still constantly filled Akko with heat.
Due to the powerful ultraviolet radiation, the planet ’s flora was all blackish-gray.

A type of yellowish liquid could be seen on the surface of the planet.
That was the water source of the planet, and the yellowish liquid mainly came together to form lakes.
In fact, no large-scale oceans could be seen on the planet at one glance.
Under the cover of stealth mode, Starpath slowly approached the planet.
Suddenly, alarm sounds blazed within the ship.

”Captain, the Interstellar League ’s fleet was discovered in front of us to the right, ” reported an intelligence officer.

Everyone looked in the indicated direction through the window and saw a satellite of white rocks.
The ship continued forward and took a detour around the satellite before a massive fleet appeared before our eyes.

”My god.
So many Zeus-class battleships, ” exclaimed Zhang Xingxing in astonishment.

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A spectacular scene was visible before our eyes.
Nearly a hundred Zeus-class battleships were hovering outside Planet Akko.
The massive battleships were akin to numerous floating aircraft carriers.
With their powerful laser towers, cannons, tracking bullets, and morph-capable system, this was a fleet capable of defeating all foes the universe had to offer.

Around the Zeus-class battleships were at least 300 other battleships of different classes, including space carriers specializing in transporting fighters.
Each space carrier was capable of carrying tens of thousands of fighters at once.

”At least one-third of the league ’s military power is gathered here.
Looks like the league really intends to fight the empire, ” said Old Du in a worried manner.

”Captain, there is also a fleet to our left.
The two fleets form a perfect blockade.
We won ’t be able to pass through, ” reported a different intelligence officer.

We looked out the left window and saw over a hundred battleships of different sizes.
This fleet was far smaller than the Interstellar League ’s fleet, and the difference in ship design could be clearly seen.

These battleships were shaped like birds, and all their weapons were attached to their backs with cockpits in the heads.
Surrounding the bigger battleships were thousands of small manned fighters.

”Clearly, this is Akko ’s army, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”They are still using manned fighters.
In both quantity and quality, they are far inferior to the fighter drones used by the empire and the league, ” said Old Du.

”Sigh, if the prince really gets himself dragged into the war, Akko will be reduced to cannon fodder between these two juggernauts, ” I sighed.

”Therefore, we ’re here to help the prince and restore peace, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

”Lord envoys, we can no longer proceed in stealth.
We intend to exit stealth and inform them of our purpose with light signals, ” said Wesex.

”Alright.
We better maintain some distance from them.
The aggressive appearance of Starpath can easily create misunderstandings, ” reminded Zhang Xingxing.

Wesex nodded and issued his command to the command desk, ”Exit stealth.
Activate the empire ’s internal light transmission system to make our purpose and identity clear. ”

Starpath slowly exited stealth, starting from its two wings.
The moment the ship appeared, the hundreds of lights in front of the ship lit up following a certain tempo.
The ship was communicating our purpose for being here by signaling with its lights.

”This code is rather different than the one we use, ” remarked Dodo.

”Yes, it is different from both our signal language and Morse code.
This is probably something developed internally in the empire, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

”In that case, only the Akkos will understand us, not the league, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

Immediately, we saw a Zeus-class battleship, three Poseidon-class battleships, and hundreds of fighters start to fly toward us.
Following behind them was a space carrier filled to the brim with fighters.

”Not good.
The Akkos are not responding while the Interstellar League does not understand our signal.
They won ’t assume that we ’re here to attack, right? ” said Zhang Bao ’er, turning nervous.

He had barely finished his words when a powerful laser beam shot toward us from the Zeus-class battleship.