Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 40
“Level two alert! Level two alert! High-energy reaction detected a quarter of a light-year from Milantu in the direction of Lyra!”
“What kind of high-energy reaction?”
“Adjusting satellite radar! Beginning scan!”
“It’s a fleet! A military-grade fleet is exiting warp and heading towards Milantu!”
The command tower of Milantu lit up with red lights, flashing incessantly. The sharp alarm sounds and the exclamations of the navigators rising and falling made Joanna Begrel irritable. She tossed her empty can to the floor, crushing it with a tooth-grinding “crunch”. The control room fell silent immediately, with all eyes on the captain, except for the still-blaring alarms.
“Leo, are you sure it’s not a false alarm?” Joanna glared at the ceiling, “Not a sudden meteor shower or something?”
“Have you ever seen meteors like these?”
The screen flashed, revealing footage captured by the probes. Against the deep red cosmic backdrop of the Flaming Binary, ships bearing the Empire “White Wolf Sword” emblem were emerging from warp, swiftly reorganizing into formation, and heading towards Milantu in an orderly fashion. The high-energy flashes caused by their warp exit seemed even brighter than the Flaming Binary themselves.
“Which fleet is it?”
“We can’t identify it. They’ve shut down the entire ultra-light network, using a closed internal network. We also can’t detect any electromagnetic or gravitational waves,” Leo replied. “Moreover, they’re passing through an area known as the ‘First Sea of Death’. If they aren’t taken out by old mines and turbulence, they’ll cross the ‘First Sea of Death’ in seventeen hours, and the ‘Second Sea of Death’ in twenty-eight hours. At that point, we’ll have no choice but to face them at our doorstep.”
Joanna continued to stomp on the can with her high boots, making the navigators flinch as if she were stepping on them. “This is the first time in many years that an army has dared to cross the ‘Sea of Death’. Their commander is either recklessly indifferent to life and death or has inside information about a safe route.”
“Do you mean one of our partners leaked the information, or there’s a traitor among us?”
Joanna shook her head amid the high-energy flashes on the screen and the flickering red lights in the command room. “I’d rather believe the Empire soldiers are idiots.” She stood up and kicked the flattened can into the corner, where a cylindrical cleaning robot buzzed over to sweep it up.
The captain’s tall figure stood before the screen, her voice clear as a spring amid the noise. “Sound the Level One alarm! All personnel to battle stations! Lady of the Night, Aphrodite, Princess Sophie, and Romantic Exile prepare to intercept the enemy in the ‘Calm Belt’ between the First and Second Seas of Death. Ground personnel, follow Emergency Plan No. 3, and be ready to evacuate Milantu at any moment!”
Her words were met with a chorus of exclamations in the command room.
“Is this really necessary, Captain?”
“Please reconsider!”
“Milantu is our last stronghold. We can’t give it up!”
“Do as I say!” Joanna commanded sharply. “The enemy has the strength of a whole army group. What about us?” She scanned the room, and no one dared to answer. “Abandoning Milantu is the worst-case scenario. Pray we can defeat them with fewer numbers.” She turned and walked out of the command room, with the cleaning robot hastily making way for her.
“What? Milantu is under attack by Empire forces?”
Alois put on his headset and opened the door to his house. To save energy, Milantu base had disabled the transparent sky projection, turning the sky a dull gray, while the flashing alarm lights dyed the low buildings red. Ground personnel capable of fighting had all been armed, calmly forming into units according to drill protocols, executing their tasks. Women and children who couldn’t fight were being escorted to underground shelters. If necessary, everyone could quickly reach the spaceport via underground tunnels and escape Milantu.
Leo’s voice came through the headset, fulfilling his role as an advanced AI, issuing commands from the command tower to the ground. “Lagrange, report to the Lady of the Night. Joshua, head to the east square, where the second vanguard team is gathering.”
Alois pressed the headset. “Is the vanguard team not boarding the Lady of the Night?”
“We’re going to fight a battle, not a raid. The vanguard team will stay at the base. If the warships can’t stop the enemy, they’ll land on Milantu, and we’ll have to prepare for ground combat.”
“Understood.”
Alois and Joshua exchanged glances. “Be careful.”
“You too.” Joshua lightly kissed his lips, then ran towards the vanguard team’s gathering point.
“Hey, don’t jinx it with that death flag stuff…” Alois took a deep breath and headed in the opposite direction.
Townsend almost spat out his coffee. “What’s this? An air raid alarm?” He looked helplessly at the gray sky, the flashing red lights, and the piercing alarm sound.
“Two long, three short, it’s a Level One battle alarm.” His colleague Yakin swallowed his last bite of bread and tossed his coffee cup into a nearby bin. If the base had to disable the gravity grid, flying cups could become deadly projectiles.
Yakin walked to the surveillance room computer, expertly pressed a few keys, and a prompt appeared on the screen. “Activate Level One Battle Emergency System?”
He pressed “Yes”, and a low rumbling sound indicated that the prison perimeter was now sealed, preventing any prisoners from escaping during the chaos. Milantu prison was designed to be easy to defend and hard to attack, capable of withstanding low-altitude bombardment. Underground escape routes were also opened; if the enemy resorted to using nuclear or antimatter missiles, these tunnels would allow the prisoners to be quickly evacuated to safety. The pirates were indeed humane.
“Is that all we need?” Townsend asked nervously.
“Let’s hope we don’t need the last resort,” Yakin whispered. “With these prisoners, if the enemy attacks, we can use their lives as leverage.”
“Will that work?”
“It never has before.” Townsend dragged a storage box from the corner and opened it, revealing an arsenal of guns. “Let’s give it a try.”
“Did you hear that?”
In Milantu prison, the young man with hawk-like, tawny eyes asked his cellmate, who listened for a moment and smiled. “It’s an alarm.”
“They’ve gone into battle mode.” The young man remained indifferent. “This means Colonel Gauss has begun his attack.”
“Is it time to start our plan?”
“Wait a bit longer.” The young man closed his eyes. “Joanna isn’t foolish enough to confront the enemy at her doorstep. I guess they’ll fight in the area between the ‘First Sea of Death’ and the ‘Second Sea of Death’. Crossing the ‘Second Sea of Death’ takes about nine hours. The battle will start no sooner than nine hours from now. We wait. When Joanna’s main fleet leaves and Milantu’s defenses are thin, it’ll be our turn.”
His cellmate clenched his fists in excitement. “I can’t wait for that moment, Your Excellency!”
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