Skyfire Avenue Chapter 771-772

Chapter 771: Three Teams

"Every planet has at least one powerful progenitor. They are the root of the aliens' aggression and consumption power. I also believe they're chiefly responsible for the infection that poisons our people. Killing them will at least ensure that no more people are transformed. Meanwhile our soldiers will push the main attack which will keep the alien forces busy, too distracted to retaliate against the innocent humans. Maybe we can save these people."

"Who knows if we'll win the final battle; this plan may just be prolonging the inevitable. But if this is to be humanity's final moments then we must do everything we can. This is my plan."

The gathered Paragons quietly listened to his speech. When Lan Jue went into detail as to how he planned to save these people, Satan and the Pontiff looked at him with genuine surprise. They were Westerners, and the condition of these people were their direct concern. Meanwhile their governments and organizations were never friendly. On the contrary, the West had routinely tried to cause trouble for its Eastern counterpart.

They'd a.s.sumed that their army's presence here was all about self-preservation. If they won the benefits to them were clear. But when they heard him speak with such pa.s.sion their opinions changed. They were willing to risk their lives to save people from another Alliance! It was completely impractical from a military standpoint. Nor was this a ploy to curry favor, since the West was effectively destroyed. Who would they hope to gain favor with?

It was as simple as people needing help, and them being in a position to give it. Satan and the Pontiff shared a glance, and both could see their surprise and disbelief mirror in the other's eyes.

Lan Jue continued. "I want everyone to understand the dangers we will face. Based on our experience each of these planets should have a planetary doppelganger or royal alien as a defender. They will at least be equivalent to a Paragon of the third degree, Nirvana - I expect some will have achieved the Infinite. What's more, there will definitely be lesser aliens planet-side that help them. The progenitors themselves will likely be Paragon-strength."

"So, I believe it necessary to combine our strength in order to kill these monsters. If at all possible, we should try to kill their powerful defenders as well. We can save our fellow humans and weaken the enemy all in one stroke. Each one we take down improved the chances for our main force."

"Our plan of attack calls for the armada to take and occupy one of the larger planets to serve as a base. This will be our first target. Once the target's been killed we'll move on to the next one. Based on current strength I think we can break into two teams, this will ensure a higher level of safety. Are there any questions, ladies and gentlemen?"

The Skyfire Avenue Paragons remained silent. Lan Jue had already proved himself to them. He had everyone's utmost trust and respect. They were also not suited for interstellar combat. It didn't play to their strengths.

"I support the plan." Satan was the first to speak.

The Pontiff slowly nodded his head, looking at Lan Jue with solemn eyes. If he had the opportunity he would have torn this young man apart - he had been responsible for a great deal of suffering for his organization. Now, however, in the face of destruction enemies became friends. They had a common foe that they could not face on their own. The time for personal grudges was past.

The Terminator also nodded. "As do I."

"Two teams isn't going to work." Jue Di was the voice of dissention. As the strongest among them, his voice bore the most weight.

Jue Di looked at his son and spoke with a matter-of-fact tone. "Three teams. I will be responsible for three planets myself. The remainder will be up to the rest of you, two planets each."

If anyone other than Jue Di had been so brazen as to make the suggestion, especially before such a gathering of Paragons, they would have caused an uproar. But this man wasn't just anyone - wasn't just any Paragon. When he spoke everyone felt compelled to listen.

Lan Jue looked anxiously at his father. He wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

"Alright. That being the case let me set up the groups. His Majesty Jue Di will be team one, and will be responsible for three of the planets. For the remainder, his Majesty the Terminator will be leading one group. This group will be comprised of the Pontiff, Satan, the Cosmagus, the Epochrion, the Arcane Magnate, the Karmic Scholar and the G.o.d of Wine. Eight Paragons in total. The third group will be led by the Photographer. She will be commanding the Arhat of the Descending Dragon, the Driver, the Pharmacist, the Infernal Vanguard, Qianlin, and myself."

As he listened, the Terminator seemed apprehensive. Although the Photographer had achieved Nirvana like him, the groups seemed stilted. His own team was comprised of eight Paragons, with the Cosmagus and the Epochrion both being Reflections of Heaven and Earth. Although Neither the Pontiff nor Satan were of the same strength, they were well-versed in the world of protogenia.

But the team Lan Jue was in had only five Paragons. Only the Photographer had achieved Nirvana while the rest were only part of the Realm of Protogenia. Lan Jue and Qianlin where not even Paragons. With Jue Di they would have been fine, but without the man their team seemed weak.

With his brows furrowed, the Terminator shared his concern. "Perhaps you should add another Paragon to your team. We can manage will one less."

But Lan Jue shook his head. "Thank you, your Majesty, but to be honest with you Qianlin and I will be achieving our breakthrough very soon. We will have seven Paragons then. Qianlin and I also have a special style we employ together, so I believe this group is sufficient. In addition we will be responsible for helping the armada take their first planet and will have the help of Star Division thereafter, hence my grouping decision. So long as we're together we'll be fine."

Hearing this, the Terminator had no more problems.

Of course Lan Jue had his reasons for choosing these teams. For a start he could not be on the same team as the Terminator, Satan or the Pontiff. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but that he didn't want them to witness his breakthrough with Qianlin. They were allies in this fight, but some secrets had to be kept.

His team also had the Pharmacist and Occisus. Her skill on the battlefield was no less impressive than a Reflection of Heaven and Earth. The Driver's yin-yang lightning was similarly imposing. In a fight, the strength of those two was undisputed. With the addition of him and Qianlin and their Harmonious Sword technique, the team was anything but weak.

Though both the Photographer and the Terminator had achieved Nirvana, they were different. She had been immersed in the power of her station for many years. Were it not for fear of universal protogenia, breaking through to the Infinite under Jue Di's tutelage was not out of the question. With her leading the team, they could also teleport to safety if things became too overwhelming.

The team were set. All that was left were final preparations for the operation.

Jue Di had chosen three neighboring planets to be responsible for. He didn't seem at all troubled by the scale of his job. Only a few of those in attendance knew how powerful the man truly was. However, they were all Paragons. The deep and mighty aura that surrounded him was felt by all.

The other two teams also discussed their targets and made their decisions. Once finished the Paragons broke into their individual teams to discuss specifics. Jue Di partic.i.p.ated in Luo Xianni's team.

"Father, your health…" Once the Terminator and the others left, Lan Jue broached the subject.

Jue Di silenced him with a wave of his hand. "This is hardly the time to worry about that. Besides that crystal has been helpful. At the least it will help to employ my power. Perhaps I will be able to get more crystals to help me further. In the end this is likely the best decision for me, so you don't need to fret over it. So long as everything goes according to plan we'll be fine. Those planets and their denizens won't trouble me unless the home worlds themselves appear."

"Alright, but look after yourself." Lan Jue cautioned.

Jue Di chuckled at the concern in his son's eyes. "Look after your mother and make sure she doesn't do anything rash."

Luo Xianni sniffed. "Rash? Why don't you say what you want to say, eh Chi Bupang?"

Jue Di rolled his eyes. "Come now, you don't think I know you by now? The same goes for you, protect my son and daughter in law. Call if they run into a problem!"

"Yeah I'll call alright, I'll shout right in your face!" Her words were harsh, but her eyes never left Jue Di's face. The faint light of concern hid behind her disdainful expression. Even she wasn't sure about her spouse's condition.

After years of cultivation in the Infinite Jue Di was at the margin of what was permitted by natural law. However, unlike the alien home worlds he had no way to conceal it from the universe and its uncaring retribution. Though he had the knowledge and power to rise to new heights, he knew it would mean immediate destruction.

Yet, with the potential of facing increasingly powerful enemies would he be able to hold his powers back? Luo Xianni wasn't sure she could, much less Chi Bupang.

They would only know when the time came.

Three bastions and twelve interstellar fleets spread out in formation. They quietly cut through the darkness of s.p.a.ce toward the seven Western planets.

Chapter 772: Winning the Initial Battle

According to Lan Qing's battle plan, the human forces would remain together through the whole fight, ama.s.sing at a single point. The bastions would give them support.

Although it was appearing more and more likely that the aliens were in the process of their evolution, Lan Qing was still preparing for the eventuality that they would join the better. Perhaps they completed their evolution quickly, or this whole thing had been a set-up. No bastion would survive being surrounded by the alien home worlds, their only shot was if they stuck together and faced the enemy as a unified front.

Of course, this was the worst case scenario. Lan Qing was trying to stick to the simplest strategy; stay together and punch through the enemy line. Head right for their heart.

The plan was hinged on many objectives that each needed to be successively achieved. Their first order of business was rather like life fire scouting, though on a much higher scale than when Lan Jue did it.

Before long a withered purple orb swung into view of the bastions. The poisoned planet was a shocking sight, as was the horde of aliens in the s.p.a.ce surrounding it waiting for a fight.

Obviously they had predicted the bastions' arrival. There were three times as many now as when Lan Jue had come knocking, probably gathered from the other planets. Judging just by looks, the aliens seemed just as numerous as humanity's twelve fleets, perhaps even more. Meanwhile the purple planet hung in the background, still and silent.

At least as far as they could tell, nothing looked different from when Lan Jue left.

The three bastions advanced in a V-formation, with Middle Heaven in the lead. 1 On the left, Poseidon. Tyrannosaurus was on the right. Their support s.h.i.+ps fanned out around them with Capital s.h.i.+ps at the fore and the weaker s.h.i.+ps behind.

The two sides maintained a safe distance and eyed one another across a swath of empty s.p.a.ce - what was soon to become their battleground.

The humans could see more alien forces approaching from far away to sh.o.r.e up their defenses. Now that they knew where the humans intended to attack, they concentrated their power to try and repel them. That was one of the differences between human and alien - they weren't afraid to use everything at their disposal, any method no matter how costly or cruel, to achieve their ends.

In the Shattered Starfields, they had used asteroids to pummel their s.h.i.+ps. In the North they had turned planets into time bombs. This time they looked ready to face the human head-on, without aid. They were confident in their numbers and ability.

Lan Qing's voice resounded through all the s.h.i.+ps. "Proceed with on-sight preparations. Do a final system's check. Get ready to execute the first part of the plan." It was wise to check that everything was in top condition after a long flight, especially before a battle. It was standard practice in interstellar battles.

The armada dimmed suddenly as s.h.i.+ps conserved energy for the battle to come.

All of a sudden, twelve large s.h.i.+ps launched forward. They were fast, and charged ahead at full speed almost immediately. No one s.p.a.cecraft followed.

These twelve s.h.i.+ps were some of the strongest in the armada. They were their fleet's flags.h.i.+ps, each of them sovereign-cla.s.s Capital s.h.i.+ps. Although there was only a dozen of them, each s.h.i.+p was over ten kilometers long, and they burned toward the planet with an indomitable will. 2

Meanwhile Middle Heaven pressed forward. The front-facing section of its lithosphere actually split apart, revealing a honeycomb of densely packed cannons. One thousand and eighty altogether, their muzzles three hundred meters in diameter. Already an ominous light was growing in their depths.

Forget the aliens. The humans looked on in disbelief at what they were witnessing. Weren't they just told to hold and check their equipment? Why the sudden attack? Where they just going to start shooting?

The Capital s.h.i.+ps themselves already had their cannons extended. The s.p.a.ce around them crackled and they burned with energy, ready to rain destruction upon the alien forces at a moment' notice.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The command was repeated through every s.h.i.+p, and in response their cannons released a bone-jarring barrage into the enemy. They had just come into range of their weapons, and their reactions were markedly sluggish. In fact they had hardly reacted until the Capital s.h.i.+ps had begun to pick up speed.

The s.p.a.ce before them was covered in a hundred beasts about a thousand meters long. They looked like silk worms, dumbly wriggling in s.p.a.ce, blocking pa.s.sage forward. Their disgusting writhing became more frantic and they stretched themselves out into fleshy cakes.

But they were too slow. The salvo from the human s.h.i.+ps smashed into them before they had a chance to completely transform.

Capital s.h.i.+ps were equipped with anti-matter cannons that could only be employed in s.p.a.ce. Aside from a bastion's main cannon, they were some of the strongest weapons in mankind's a.r.s.enal. The flash from their cannon fire briefly turned the universe white with burning power.

But a strange scene was revealed when their attack reached the oval-shaped beasts. They caved in as the beams of light reached them, but did not break. Instead the borders of the oval creatures lit up and spat out the diffused cannon fire. It seemed as destructive as before, but spread out in horizontal waves.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have believed it. However this wasn't a complete rebuke of the Capital s.h.i.+p's power. The closest line of them couldn't resist the antimatter energy and were slowly dissolved into nothing. Still, their defenses served to greatly reduce the destructive power of the volley.

It was to the humans' advantage that these creatures were also slow. Gaped still remained in their defensive line. Where the cannon fire slipped through, all the aliens behind were burned away.

Screeches and sizzles filled the battlefield. The Capital s.h.i.+p's attack was lick kicking a hornet's nest, serving to send the aliens into a violent frenzy.

Their main cannons spent, the Capital s.h.i.+ps swung around and blasted back the way they had come. Their secondary weapons systems lit up as they fired into the encroaching alien forces to cover their escape.

Even lesser weapons on a Capital s.h.i.+p were a sight to behold. They weren't called the strongest fleet s.h.i.+ps for no reason. Likewise their defensive were strong, and protected them valiantly as the s.h.i.+ps fled from the field.

The front line of the alien attack was comprised of the shuttle-aliens, which specialized in explosive speed. Although there were a myriad of breeds in the alien species, each with different abilities, size always seemed to indicate strength. This was the same for the shuttle aliens, whose front line were all a thousand meters long or more. In a blink they were on the Capital s.h.i.+ps, smas.h.i.+ng themselves into their s.h.i.+elds.

Even dreadnaughts, mighty as they were, would have fallen to this a.s.sault. But these were Capital s.h.i.+ps, and their might was more than the aliens could overcome. Their s.h.i.+elds rippled as the aliens flung themselves against it but did not break. What's more, since they attacked from the limit of where their guns could reach, only a small numbers of the enemy were fast enough to catch them.

Suddenly the twelve Capital s.h.i.+ps split, tearing off to either side. The beasts chasing them did not follow, for they were caught off guard by the enormous thing that had been waiting just behind.

Middle Heaven!

The array of cannons lit up, an angry red. Just the energy that radiated from it was terrifying. So terrifying in fact that the aliens giving chase broke off and scattered.

For a bastion like Middle Heaven, what sort of destruction could it achieve?

The slower aliens making their way closer reacted the same and fled for their lives. The aliens were in disarray. Even those creatures thousands of meters across heaved their lumbering bulks away, desperate to avoid what was coming!

Without their home worlds there were no aliens that could withstand the guns of a bastion s.h.i.+ps. Instead, their only plan of attack was to overwhelm the humans with superior numbers. However they had been drawn in before they realized what was happening, and the glowing barrels of Middle Heaven's cannons proved it way already too late.

As Middle Heaven inched forward the light from its cannons brightened. The promise of immediately destruction stopped the alien retaliation and sent them running.

This is called 品 formation. You can see how the character is a pretty spot-on representation of three death stars. ↩ TJSS calls them 'big mac-cla.s.s' in size. ↩