VAP - Chapter 129
Chapter 129: The Marshal's Journey is the Sea of Stars (25)
El Star.
This place had become a Zerg paradise. The massive appendages of the King Zergs left deep tracks in the ground, and the corrosive fluids of low-level Zergs clung to the wreckage of mechs, creating an eerie scene of decay. It was as if the planet hadn't just fallen, but had been occupied by the Zerg for a long time.
Yue Du led a newly formed squad, clad in light, small-sized mechanical exoskeletons, as they carefully navigated the wreckage.
The lethality of the psychic-infection-type Zerg was absolute. Any Sentinel with an unstable mind would be easy prey here.
Unfortunately, one's mental state was generally linked to the strength of their physique and five senses; the stronger they were, the easier it was to lose control. This resulted in an unprecedentedly high ratio of ordinary people among the reinforcements.
And Yue Du, as the Federation's most stable top Sentinel, naturally assumed the role of commander.
"Why is it so quiet here..." someone whispered over the comms.
It was indeed unnervingly quiet; not a single Zerg was in sight. All the glaring red on the ground came from the soldiers of the Federation and the Empire. Judging by the traces left behind, they had clearly engaged in mutual slaughter.
Brutal and frenzied—the result of losing control after psychic infection.
Yue Du scanned the area, her gaze sweeping over the soldiers' bodies in the mech cockpits. She found them to be largely intact.
She retracted her gaze. "The Zerg aren't here. Since the bodies of these fallen soldiers haven't been scavenged by them, it proves the slaughter isn't over—our comrades are still locked in a bitter struggle with the Zerg."
"We'll go provide support right now!"
"Split into two teams. You, take a few people and search for any surviving soldiers. Get them out of here first. The rest of us will find the others."
A second lieutenant, who was an ordinary person, spoke up. "Major Yue, please stay here and let us go. The psychic infection is ineffective against us, but you..."
Everyone understood the unspoken implication. They all knew Yue Du was a powerful Sentinel. If she were to be infected and lose control, those around her likely wouldn't be killed by Zerg mandibles.
Yue Du said in a level voice, "This is a military order."
The ones she had singled out were all Sentinels. Hearing her command, they stopped without hesitation and began searching the area for signs of surviving comrades. Yue Du then led the rest of the team, following the Zerg's trail.
The battlefield was not far. When they arrived, the fighting was intense. The bodies of the King Zergs were larger than the base's buildings, making the Federation soldiers' ten-meter-tall giant mechs look like children's toys in comparison.
Not far in front of Yue Du, a King Zerg aimed its ferocious mandibles at an ordinary humanoid mech, about to drag the pilot out of the cockpit alive.
"Provide support! Don't get bogged down in fighting, just get the people out of here!"
Yue Du shouted, releasing a giant beast-type mech from her spatial button. Before her voice had faded, she was already in the cockpit.
The mech looked like a white tiger and was built almost entirely to the specifications of the Marshal's own mech. It was quite rare for a Sentinel to pilot a beast-form mech that didn't match their Quantum Beast, but Yue Du was an exception.
The mech designer had initially been muttering in confusion, but after learning her Quantum Beast was a deer... Sorry, I think the white tiger is a perfect fit.
The mech's name, however, was interesting. It was called Deer Song, which at least had a connection to her Quantum Beast.
The Deer Song mech fearlessly met the King Zerg's charge. Wisps of fine smoke seeped from its shell, coalescing into a snow-white deer. It lowered its head slightly and gored a nearby low-level Zerg with its sharp antlers.
The new opponent clearly caught the King Zerg off guard. Before it could even raise its psychic barrier, a lightsaber dozens of meters long slashed down from the sky with the force of a thunderbolt, decapitating it in a single strike!
The pilot of the humanoid mech that had been facing the King Zerg froze for a moment, then looked up. "Mar—Major Yue?"
Yue Du sliced through the weakest joint in the Zerg's neck. It felt like cutting through a block of semi-melted butter. The lightsaber cleaved straight through, and the King Zerg's body convulsed twice before collapsing limply to the ground.
Yue Du dodged nimbly. Hearing someone call her name, she glanced over but said nothing.
This was no time for small talk.
There were too few reinforcements and too many King Zergs guarding the area. Yue Du had only managed to kill one in a single strike because it hadn't had time to react.
Now, layers of psychic barriers already covered the remaining King Zergs, leaving no more openings to exploit.
Yue Du's objective was clear. She wasn't here to kill Zergs; she was here to save people.
As long as she rescued the survivors, it didn't matter if El Star was temporarily ceded to the Zerg. The metal ores here were useless to them anyway—it wasn't like they could build mechs.
Since the lightsaber was no longer effective, she switched to the particle cannon. The addition of new firepower sent the roar of cannons echoing across the battlefield.
Amid the deafening roar, the heart-wrenching shout of the pilot who had nearly been killed rang out: "Forget about us! My comms are down! You have to report to the Marshal—the psychic-infection Zerg got away!"
Yue Du's movements paused. "Where did it go?"
The pilot continued to shout, "Not it—them! Two identical Zergs! They've left El Star for the other front lines—"
Yue Du's pupils contracted.
She had concluded there was only one psychic-infection Zerg because no other garrisoned stars had reported anything, and Cadina Star was not under threat.
If there were two more of these superweapons, it would be impossible for Cadina to remain unscathed.
But now it seemed there were two of them, and both had left before her team arrived. This meant that everyone on El Star susceptible to infection had already been infected, and the Zergs were now on their way to other stars to infect the minds of more Sentinels and Guides.
Yue Du gritted her teeth, dodging the attack of a King Zerg with flailing tentacles as she opened her communication channel.
This was something everyone else needed to hear, now.
The Empire, Polai Star.
Polai Star was undoubtedly a key garrison star. If Cadina Star was the Federation's first line of defense against the Zerg, then Polai was the Empire's most crucial defensive point.
At that moment in Polai Star's military headquarters, Terence took a deep breath, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.
Just moments ago, they had received the final communication from the Imperial garrison on El Star. The sender, using their last shred of sanity, reported that the two sources of the psychic infection were about to leave El Star to bring disaster to other planets.
Of all the Empire's military planets, Polai was the closest to El Star. If the Zergs were indeed moving on, Polai Star would bear the brunt of the attack.
Terence's aide offered his analysis. "In my opinion, those two Zergs are more likely headed for Cadina. Both planets were attacked simultaneously. The Federation Marshal's adjutant is leading reinforcements to El Star, while the Marshal herself is defending Cadina..."
A pincer attack from both sides—this was a golden opportunity for the Zerg to eliminate Sheng Xuejiu.
After all, no matter how strong she was, she was still a Sentinel. Faced with psychic infection, she would inevitably be helpless, and might even lose control and start slaughtering her own comrades.
But Terence suddenly looked up. "What was that last thing you said?"
The aide paused, then repeated, "The Marshal herself is defending Cadina."
Terence: "The sentence before that."
The aide: "The Marshal's adjutant is leading reinforcements to El Star?"
Terence's fists clenched instantly.
After a brief silence, he said decisively, "The Death Ray Cannon."
The aide jumped in shock. "What did you say?"
"The Death Ray Cannon. To prevent the psychic-infection Zergs from leaving El Star, we must use the Death Ray Cannon to kill them now."
The Empire didn't have advanced anti-matter weapons like the Federation, but it had something with a similar effect: the Death Ray Cannon.
While not as exaggerated as a weapon that could destroy an entire planet in one shot, its destructive power was immense. A single blast could annihilate at least half a planet, but without causing catastrophic after-effects or destroying the planet's resources.
When the aide saw that he was seriously considering the Death Ray Cannon, his heart sank. "There are still surviving troops on El Star, and the Federation's reinforcements are there too. If we really fire the cannon... This-this is a major decision. We should consult with His Majesty the Emperor first."
Terence raised his voice. "By the time Father gives his approval, the Zergs will have long since escaped El Star. Can you bear that responsibility?"
The aide felt a lump form in his throat.
He couldn't bear the responsibility for either outcome!
Terence ignored him, directly authorized the command himself, and activated the Death Ray Cannon's launch system.
Password verification... passed.
Iris scan... passed.
Launch authorization... passed.
Target—El Star's left hemisphere.
The sequence of operations was complete, like opening Pandora's box layer by layer. The Death Ray Cannon began to charge. A white light at its muzzle flickered, expanding and contracting rhythmically, like an eyeball blinking at a fixed rate and angle.
About half a minute later, the charging was complete.
For El Star, tens of millions of miles away but still within range, the Death Ray Cannon meant utter destruction. The target was the left hemisphere, which was precisely where the Federation and Imperial garrisons were located.
Better to bury the Zerg and the survivors on El Star together than to let the psychic infection spread to other regions!
Holding fast to this thought, Terence felt increasingly justified and reached out to press the launch button.
The pale beam of the Death Ray Cannon streaked across the black curtain of space like a meteor, finally exploding into a silent, magnificent firework over El Star.
At the same time, Sheng Xuejiu's movements suddenly froze.
She felt as if she had just heard something. Casually blasting the head off a Zerg, Sheng Xuejiu wondered absently what that sound had been.
The Zerg's offensive this time was massive in scale, but in terms of difficulty, it was less troublesome than usual.
The fifteen King Zergs hid behind tens of millions of low-level Zergs, only occasionally extending a pincer or swiping a claw. They had abandoned their usual death-defying combat style and become almost gentle.
With the enemy turning docile, the pressure on the Cadina garrison dropped sharply, allowing the once-tense army to relax a little. Sheng Xuejiu perfunctorily eliminated every Zerg that dared to reach for her, her thoughts still on Yue Du.
Suddenly, the Zerg opposite her began to tremble as if having a seizure. Sheng Xuejiu frowned and finished it off with a single shot.
Looking around, she saw that most of the Zergs were in a similar state. Then, a distant King Zerg tilted its head back and emitted a sound like a horn.
This was the King Zerg's "language" for the low-level Zergs.
The general meaning was likely: Something unexpected happened. We're retreating.
If nothing else, the Zerg were first-rate at executing orders, and there was never any dissent. Sheng Xuejiu watched with boredom as they retreated as quickly as a receding tide.
What had affected this Zerg tide?
Sheng Xuejiu didn't dwell on it.
But just half a minute later, Sheng Xuejiu saw He Yin, who had just exited her mech. The moment He Yin saw her, she opened her mouth to speak, but the rims of her eyes turned red first.
Sheng Xuejiu was baffled. "What's with that expression?"
He Yin lowered her head.
After a moment of stillness, as if she had read something in the other woman's expression, Sheng Xuejiu's own look slowly changed.
Under her intense gaze, He Yin managed to say, "Marshal, please, you must remain calm. I've just received word that the Empire fired a Death Ray Cannon at El Star to prevent the psychic-infection Zergs from moving to another location."
Death Ray Cannon.
El Star.
—Yue Du was on El Star.
The instant that possibility surfaced, Sheng Xuejiu heard a very faint, very soft sound in her heart.
It was like something brittle had been shattered, or like a string had suddenly snapped, no longer able to restrain certain thoughts.
Yue Du had led her team and escaped El Star just before the pale fireball erupted.
It had not been easy, but fortunately, Yue Du had long been monitoring the status of the Federation's and the Empire's major planet-killer thermal weapons, so she would notice any activity immediately.
When she sensed the Death Ray Cannon being activated, Yue Du had been about to send a message to warn Sheng Xuejiu about the psychic-infection Zergs.
With lives on the line, she couldn't spare a moment to send the warning. Taking advantage of the window while the Empire's Death Ray Cannon was activating and charging, she led the survivors she had rescued and escaped El Star at the last possible second.
Everyone was immersed in the joy of having survived the disaster.
Yue Du also breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could fully exhale, she was interrupted by a communication alert from her optical computer.
Due to the interference from the Death Ray Cannon, there was a short delay in communications. A message sent three minutes ago was only just now coming through.
Three minutes ago, a message from He Yin: "Yue Yao, Yue Yao, can you see this? Are you off El Star? Please reply if you see this!"
In between were several unanswered video calls.
Then, from one minute ago, another message from He Yin, this time a weary and sorrowful voice message:
"The Marshal has lost control. I'm sorry."
Yue Du: "..."
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