NOVGO.NET Chapter 974: Plucking Fruits from a Tree
Chapter 974: Plucking Fruits from a Tree
FLASH!!!!!! FLASH!!!!!!!!! FLASH!!!!!!!!! FLASH!!!!!!!!!!! FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nuclear explosions of magnitudes higher than what Hiroshima experienced on those fateful days during World War II lit up space in different locations as various Conclave fleets, stuck within the empire’s now-declared forbidden zone, tried to clear everything in their vicinity to destroy the hidden Spatial anchors that were hindering them. Their sensors were already showing imperial fleets gunning for them.
After each explosion, they attempted to enter FTL. Sometimes they succeeded, and sometimes they failed, repeating the process. But even when they succeeded, the empire didn’t let them leave in peace. The moment they entered the control space of another spatial anchor, it too was activated, ejecting them from FTL and forcing them to repeat the process once again.
Depending on their distance, the process would take them a week at most, and a few days at least if they were closest to the edges. There were very few of those, as the Conclave had sent a large number of fleets that were still in this zone in order to capitalize on the element of surprise. As a result, the Oort clouds were currently experiencing hell, as planet-destroying yields were being constantly used to increase their chances of escaping. Despite the damage and the amount of ammunition they were using, the munitions would be lost one way or another, either as destroyed assets once the fleets were destroyed or by being used to increase their chances of escaping.
It was an expensive action, but the only one that worked at the moment, as the Conclave was racking their heads to come up with another solution. This was just a temporary patch, and if this was their only way, then they would be killed by the empire since it was time-consuming, and the empire would catch a majority of them despite their current attempt.
…………………..
“Mhhhhhhhhhhh,” a Trinarian attempting to tear the space within their vicinity groaned when he was met with the empire’s spatial anchor that was pushing back at his attempt with equal strength, no matter how much mana he put into it.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. His chest rose and fell as he took gulps of air, gave up, and placed his hand on his intercom, connecting him directly to the ship’s admiral before he said, “The space is too stable. I can’t tear it while it is like this. If possible, we need a large amount of spatial disturbance so that I can use that disturbance to have a chance to open a tear.”
He was currently the strongest individual on the ship when it came to spatial abilities, so his words carried some weight.
They had come here having already advocated to be one of the spear tips in order to claim a larger share of the spoils, which would be distributed depending on which civilization’s fleet dished out the largest amount of damage during the war. With this war expected to not last long, being among the first meant having the possibility of dishing out the largest amount of damage. But that was now biting them in the back, as their strongest weapon’s counter, one that they expected to be inside the solar system, not all the way out in the Oort cloud, was active, making it difficult for them and leaving them to think for themselves.
“Okay, I will have it ready for you in a few seconds, but will you be able to open a spatial tear while the space is unstable?” the Trinarian admiral asked.
There was silence from the other side, so the admiral asked again, “Horkon, will you be able to open a spatial tear while the space is unstable?”
“It won’t be a stable tear, but it should be enough to sustain the spatial destabilization for me to be able to open a more stable one,” Horkon answered, preparing himself as he opened a mana canister and refilled his mana tank to be ready for when the admiral set the environment for him, despite knowing the amount of damage doing so would do to him. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
But just as the ten nukes that were sent out were planned to be detonated at the same time within the same area to create a large enough spatial disturbance to open a spatial tear, BAM!!!!!!!
The entire starboard of the ship shook violently as if hit by a large asteroid. A large section of the ship went out of power, struck by a very strong EMP and AMP (Anti-Mana Pulse) that hit the electronics and their mana counterparts. Despite their strong shielding against them, a large part of the ship was still taken out of commission for a few seconds as the ship’s systems rerouted all control to the parts that survived.
[BREACH!!!!] [BREACH!!!!] [BREACH!!!!] [BREACH!!!!] [BREACH!!!!] [BREACH!!!!] The speakers blared as goosebumps rose on everyone who heard it. They were not expecting anything since they had not captured anything on their sensors before the breach happened.
“Fuck!!” Horkon said after stabilizing himself following the shaking of the ship. With his senses back, he felt super-stable, wormhole-like spatial tears appearing in different areas of the ship, realizing that someone had just opened or brought an already-open, wormhole-like object to the ship. Whoever it was was finally starting their boarding operations.
……………………
Inside a dark Trinarian fleet ship corridor, the basic Trinarian soldiers were moving around, trying to gather themselves from the impact and the power loss in their area.
As the breach announcement blared throughout the ship, they too, were panicking.
“What is happening? Why are my comms out?”
“Fuuuuuuuck!!!!”
“I like their food. Why are we even fighting them?”
“Mom, I want to go home.”
Soldiers shouted or complained as they recollected themselves. They were not among those who would be fighting on the ground should a landing operation take place, so the requirements for hiring them were different. They heard steps coming from one side of the corridor, causing all of them to become silent and turn toward the direction of the sound.
FWOOOM!!!!!!!
A red lightsaber turned on, illuminating the dark corridor to reveal a Jedi-looking man holding it as the lightsaber’s light was reflected in the soldiers’ pupils.
“I give you one chance to surrender, and I will kill anyone who doesn’t,” the man said in a very serene voice, completely the opposite of the situation.
“Son of a spatial crack!!” one of the soldiers shouted as he raised his gun and tried to fire it, only for the man to raise his hand and send him crashing into the corridor wall, caving it in as his body was squashed in return, without even shifting his gaze from where he was originally looking.
“What about you? You are worth more merit points alive, but I won’t hesitate to take the lesser option if you cause problems,” he said, lowering his hand, but the pressure he was exerting on the dead soldier on the wall remained, his body sinking deeper and deeper into the dented wall.
“I surrender,” one of the soldiers said, raising his hand after dropping the weapon holstered on his hip.
With one doing it, the rest followed without much of a fight.
“Good,” the man said before the surrendering soldiers started floating towards him. He touched each of them only once before they all fell to the ground, unconscious, as nanomachines had now infiltrated their systems and rendered them unconscious while collecting brain data.
Once he was done, he started walking towards the door at the end of the corridor. Only after covering at least two hundred meters did the soldier stuck on the wall fall to the ground, now more 2D-inclined than 3D.