"What just happened?" Silae asked, stunned.
He had only seen a flash of red light, followed by flames erupting from the floating vessel overhead. The massive warship shook violently from the impact.
He was certain the Mindborn Empire possessed no long-range weapon capable of striking a target through the atmosphere like that. Could this be a secret weapon prepared by the Emperor?
"General, it came from over there," his lieutenant pointed toward the horizon.
Silae turned toward the eastern sky of Tas City, as did countless soldiers and civilians inside and outside the walls.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire battlefield, a massive purple-grey wedge-shaped vessel burst through the clouds, revealing its towering frame to the world.
"By the gods!"
Shouts of despair echoed through the streets. Facing one terrifying warship was already impossible, and now another had arrived. Was there truly no escape for them today?
Only keen observers like Silae recognized that the situation was far more complicated.
"That is definitely not part of the enemy fleet. They would never attack their own ship."
Inside the command tower of the Nemesis, Skygnaw sat at the helm, pressing the firing trigger for the orbital bombardment cannon once again.
Strike while the enemy is vulnerable.
After sending Blackarachnia, Predaking, and Dirge on their assignment, he had navigated the Nemesis straight to Tas City.
The moment he arrived, he caught sight of the enemy flagship from a distance.
Timing was everything, and since the target was right in front of him, it would be a shame not to open fire.
The bow of the Nemesis glowed with intense energy once more.
This time, the enemy warship was prepared, maneuvering sharply as a high-temperature particle beam grazed its hull and vanished into the sky.
"I will see who dares cross me!" Silas Trifang roared in fury. No commander appreciated having his victory ruined at the last second.
He swung the bow of the Abyssal Lord around, charging straight toward the Nemesis without hesitation.
Before the two giant warships even closed the distance separating them, they traded heavy volleys across the sky.
Fwhoosh!
Zing!
Skygnaw sat grimly upon his throne inside the command tower, calmly activating every weapon array aboard the Nemesis.
Turrets with full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotational tracking rose from the upper decks, followed by heavy laser batteries emerging along both flanks of the hull.
The heavy gun batteries lined up simultaneously, locking onto the Abyssal Lord before unleashing a deafening barrage.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the initial salvo, Skygnaw immediately brought the vessel's defense grid online.
A shimmering, invisible energy shield enveloped the hull, forming a protective barrier across the outer frame.
Boom!
As if by silent agreement, both warships exchanged heavy fire, bright explosions tearing across the air around their shields without scratching the hulls beneath.
Small torpedoes launched from the underside of the Abyssal Lord, spiraling through the sky toward the Nemesis. Yet as they drew near, their tracking systems glitched, causing them to drift harmlessly past the ship's flanks.
Any vessel built to serve as a fleet flagship required exceptional armor alongside heavy firepower.
Taking down such a leviathan required patience and effort, and Skygnaw remained fully focused, prepared for a long duel.
The two giant vessels traded blows back and forth, closing the gap with every pass.
As the Abyssal Lord brushed past the Nemesis, Trifang caught a glimpse of an insignia emblazoned on the rival hull through his viewport.
His optics narrowed in shock, and he gasped out loud: "Decepticons!"
"General, I just received a update from high command," the lieutenant gasped as he hurried back to Silae's side inside Tas City.
"His Majesty says the arriving warship came to help us. They call themselves Decepticons."
"Emperor Yinm finalized an agreement with them moment ago. The Decepticons will destroy the enemy fleet for us."
"Decepticons?" Silae frowned deeply. These newcomers were clearly another off-world faction, but anything was better than the monsters slaughtering his people.
"I wonder what price His Majesty had to pay to secure their aid," Silae muttered to himself, noticing the lieutenant hesitated as if holding something back.
"Is there something else?"
"Yes, General."
"His Majesty ordered us to launch an immediate counteroffensive to support the alien warship and wipe out the enemy forces on the ground."
Hearing the order, Silae finally understood why his officer had hesitated.
Support them?
With what forces?
Simply holding the city without getting in the way was already the absolute limit of their capability.
In truth, Emperor Yinm had not anticipated that Skygnaw would move with such terrifying speed, arriving at Tas City mere moments after their meeting concluded.
Impressed by Skygnaw's towering frame, Yinm had assumed the invaders stood no chance against the Decepticons.
He had intended for the defenders of Tas City to capitalize on the moment, wiping out the enemy ground forces in one decisive blow.
"General, His Majesty's orders..." the lieutenant prompted carefully as Silae fell silent with a heavy sigh.
Silae raised a hand, and the lieutenant respectfully stepped back.
The general decided to wait until the battle in the sky reached a conclusion before making any moves, refusing to throw his men into a meaningless slaughter.
Outside the walls, the enemy legion chiefs shared a similar silence, holding their positions without making a move.
Unsure of the newcomer's origins, they were waiting for direct orders from Silas Trifang.
Yet neither Silae nor the enemy chiefs noticed several slender fighters lifting off from a quiet corner of Tas City.
"Faster! We need to reach that ship now!"
Inside the lead fighter, Wala urged the pilot to close the distance to the Abyssal Lord, his face flushed with excitement.
"Understood, Commander Wala!"
The pilot was not a member of Wala's personal guard, but a local flyer pressed into service at the last minute. Though terrified out of his mind, he had no choice but to follow the young noble's demands.
At that exact moment, the main cannon of the Abyssal Lord let out a deafening roar.
Boom!
Seizing the micro-second gap when the warship's shields dropped to discharge its main cannon, the pilot darted through the opening like a nimble fish.
"We made it! Excellent job!" Wala slapped the pilot's shoulder in triumph.
The following fighters slipped through the gap as well, though the last craft was not so fortunate. Missing the window by a fraction of a second, it slammed headlong into the reactivated energy shield and burst into a ball of flame.
"That was far too close..." the pilot muttered, wiping cold sweat from his brow before steering toward the hull as Wala directed.
Thud!
Inside the bridge, Silas Trifang caught a faint vibration, but he dismissed it as a minor shudder caused by the damaged third engine.
Suddenly, the entire bridge shook violently.
Boom!
Warning! Warning!
Critical damage detected!
The rear section of the Abyssal Lord had taken another direct hit.
Having identified the primary propulsion array at the stern as a key structural vulnerability, Skygnaw focused his fire relentlessly on the target.
Every time the ships passed each other, he commanded the lateral laser batteries aboard the Nemesis to unleash a relentless barrage against the enemy's rear section.
Even the most durable energy shield possessed an operational limit, and the Abyssal Lord relied only on a standard defensive grid.
In truth, the propulsion array of the Nemesis shared a similar vulnerability, but Skygnaw's superior piloting allowed him to dodge the enemy's high-energy beams time and again.
"Curse these Decepticons!" Trifang roared in fury once the ship stabilized.
Had his engines not taken damage from that initial surprise attack, he would never have been pushed into such a disadvantageous position.
It was all because of these intruding Decepticons!
Trifang completely abandoned any thought of calling a truce. He might have considered opening communications earlier to clear up any misunderstandings, but now, wild rage took over, leaving him with only one desire: to destroy the enemy ship.
Inside the command tower of the Nemesis, Skygnaw peered through the transparent viewport, a cold smile spreading across his face as he watched the enemy commander's obvious frustration.
As the tide of battle began to turn in Skygnaw's favor, another battle was about to erupt in the dark space above Planet Kugrage.
While it lacked the catastrophic orbital bombardment happening near the surface, it would prove far more lethal.
"Everything is ready, Lady Blackarachnia," Dirge whispered, appearing quietly beside her.
Blackarachnia and her strike team were crouched along the upper hull of an enemy warship, directly above the main bridge deck.
After departing the Nemesis, she had led her team into deep space, locate the enemy fleet, and carefully maneuvered her forces onto the hulls of every enemy vessel.
A warship in the void was often described as a floating tomb, its scarred armor testifying to deadly encounters in the dark forest of space.
Today, the invading fleet had the misfortune of encountering Blackarachnia and the Decepticons, transforming them from predators into prey.
Blackarachnia stretched her sleek frame before shifting into her mechanical spider form, her compound optics gleaming with predatory anticipation.
"Signal all units. Begin the harvest."
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