Planet Master

When everything was in motion in response to the incoming Star Battle, Dian and the others were in the Planet Master Space discussing the final preparation before launching a Star Battle.

“The settlements on the Futuro, Bultar, and Ghowul Planet are preparing themselves for deployment. The Cerulean Planet is ready, along with the Fixed Planetary Fortress. All we have to do is to launch the start of the Star Battle.” Frie went into her role as the secretary of the group.

“The Federation Fleets are also ready at their station. Their deployment can be immediately done in minutes.” Leif said.

“Good. Let’s give this everything we’ve got!” Dian then opened the system window panel and initiated the Star Battle.

“Initiate Star Battle!”

[The Planet Master has initiated Star Battle]

[The Planet Master has entered the Third Rank, adjusting…]

[Matching with a random opponent of the same rank…please wait]

[Adjusting the condition to be more balanced….]

[Match found!]

[The opposite Planet Master has accepted your challenge!]

[Star Battle for the Third Rank Planet Master is commencing…]

[There will be a rift that connects the star system of the two battling Planet Masters during the Star Battle. It is recommended that the Planet Master’s civilization has mastered the early spacefaring technology.]

[The win condition is to subjugate all the occupied territory of the opponent, or if the Planet Master of the opposing side surrenders.]

[The Universe Council wishes every participating Planet Master luck.]

The territory this time was actually the occupied planet in the star system. Dian and the others knew this so they planned that the occupied planet had to be dealt with.

Furthermore, the Rift this time was going to be on a different scale compared to the First and Second Rank Star Battle.

In the Virya Star System, a Rift as big as five Cerulean Planets appeared.

“The Rift has appeared!” Smirth exclaimed.

“It’s in the outer ring. Please go to the designated location immediately!” Chikara who had seen the appearance of the Rift, was agitated and informed the Queen about it and ordered the Gling to send their biological spaceship there immediately.

The Federation Fleet then received the information from a reliable source that the Rift for this Star Battle appeared in the outer ring of the star system.

“Move out in an orderly manner. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!”

The spaceships then move out. The First Fleet, especially, was moving toward the location of the Rift as quickly as they could. The First Fleet had a spacecraft carrier, which would be vital in controlling the battlefield.

-

“If you want to participate in this Star Battle, step forward.”

On the large, flat field that had been cleared for various purposes, many people from various races had gathered and were in the midst of selection.

Marshal Teach, who was presiding over the selection, stood on the podium, his eyes fixed on the people in the rows in front of him.

“This is a voluntary occasion. If you don’t want to directly participate, you can also help with the logistics. This time is a special offer for you people to show your stance and place of birth. Are you willing to face the weapons of our enemy or will you help from behind? The choice is yours.”

With the speech from Marshal Teach, every single person there was thinking about various things.

But the ones in the rows were thinking about not only themselves but also the people most important to them.

To volunteer, one just needed to raise their hand. After that, they joined the frontline effort as part of the Cerulean Defense Force.

Then one raised his hand. He was just an ordinary person with an ordinary background. But he wanted to be part of the history of humankind and civilization. That was why he was here.

“I am willing to go to the frontline and not just become a logistic member!” he was a human with average height and appearance. But one notable thing about him was his fierce eyes.

He was just a person at the ninth heavenstage of the Nothingness Realm, not worth mentioning.

But he remembered that someone like him became great and used everything he had for the betterment of himself and those around him.

Since he was shouting out loud what he had said, it was infectious and the others started to follow suit. A young dwarf, an Elf, a Merfolk with a protective bubble around his head filled with water, a Lizardfolk with a poker face which was hard to tell from the other races’ perspective as well as a Giant.

All of them then shouted something similar, willing to go to the frontline which was not only not on the Cerulean Planet but to the star system of the enemy’s territory.

All of this was stated clearly before they even came here, so everyone knew about this factor.

“Those who raised their hand, move to my left. Those who do not move to the right.” Marshal Teach ordered and his order was obeyed without question.

Then several officers came to one side of the field and several queues formed. This was actually a formal registration into the frontline for those who voluntarily raised their hand.

For them, registering their ID became an honor since they would be deployed to the frontline as Space Marines. They would be deployed to combat the opponent’s civilization on the planet’s surface while the spaceships would provide support.

This was not only happening in this place. Several other cities also conducted this voluntary recruitment since their population had hit another milestone.

After that, the volunteer would be divided into corps before being sent into the spaceships of the Federation Fleet.

This was the new way the Hinon Federation recruited the able-bodied people. The military was happy about this since it meant that they were not desperate enough to recruit everyone into the military force.

Although the Federation already had its own systematic military members, but the volunteers would be in reserve members of the military, being guided by the senior members of the military while also given training for their eventual fight.

-

Seeing the deployment speed and the recruitment of the fresh blood, Dian quickly swept the window panel and saw that even his Star Children were contributing to the Star Battle.

Although the location was a bit far, but Chikara had already ordered the Queen and the Glings to come to the Rift which was located on the outer ring. Because the outer ring was the territory mainly under the Gling, they reacted the fastest.

Their biological spaceships also carried with them the Primarch variants, which were strong enough to contend against even transcendent beings at the peak of the Core Formation Realm.

“My Queen, we have sighted the Rift. Fortunately, there is no sign of enemy yet.” The Queen’s right-hand Gling called through the Hive Mind.

The Queen naturally could perceive things that the units were perceiving. She looked at the giant Rift which looked like a gigantic maw and ordered her units to set up defense there.

“Set up defense and fortifications there. Send all available biological spaceships to the Rift location.” Seeing that the advantage was on their side, the Queen quickly ordered her units to do so.

“Your wish is my command, Your Majesty.” The right-hand Gling then opened its six fingers and sent the directives to the rest of the available Glings.

As for the Federation Fleet, they were gathering at the Cerulean Planet first for uplifting people as well as uniting their forces in the inner ring. The journey to the outer ring, as well as through the Rift were going to challenge their logistics and supply lines.

“Captain, how much longer do we need to stay here?” Tatsumi as the strongest transcendent who participated in the Star Battle, had to follow the fleet to the Rift and beyond. That was why he boarded the spacecraft carrier, which was the flagship for the entire Federation Fleet.

The captain was in his military attire and the spacecraft carrier was equipped with its own artificial gravity device as well as a Fusion Reactor Core as the main energy source. The spacecraft was in the middle of full refueling as well as supplies needed for their campaign.

“About two more days. You know that the fresh blood will also participate in this Star Battle.” The captain replied while looking a bit respectful to Tatsumi.

Tatsumi placed his hand on the hilt of the Dragonsbane while looking at the outside space through the floor-to-ceiling projection.

The stars twinkled faintly as he could see a small cluster here and there, while there were also void regions from stars; only a black void was there.

“Good. We need some new faces in the military. They need to be tempered in the fire and blood of the battlefield. Don’t you agree, Captain?” Tatsumi nodded while grinning at the captain.

Two days quickly passed, and for transcendents, it was so fast that they almost failed to notice the passage of time.

“Set off as soon as we’re ready.” The captain said to the communication channel.

“Yes, sir!”

When the Federation First Fleet and the others were ready, they then used their engine to set off and also activated their Warp Engine to the location that allowed the Federation Fleet to be able to go through the Asteroid Belt.

On the other side, the Glings finally perceived what to be an enemy spaceship entering their territory.

“Contact!” the right-hand Gling saw that dozens of small spaceships were entering their side through the Rift.

“Send the Suiciders to block them. Biological spaceships are to launch their Bio-Cannon.” He ordered through the Hive Mind.

The Suiciders then came forth, a small but deadly units designed for space warfare. These units carry with them explosive materials that were also acidic and could even cause great damage both to the shield and the hull of the spaceship.

Their explosion was equal to a ton of TNT, quite considerable for each individuals but Suiciders moved in large numbers.

They had small wings on their side. These wings were designed to move them in one direction at high speed. That was why, the moment the enemy spaceship entered their side, the Suiciders were sent not only to intercept but also to cripple the enemy spaceships.

The Suiciders screeched but it was actually something to be relayed to the Hive Mind and in the void, there was no medium for sound and it looked like the Suiciders opened their mouth all at once.

Their small build was designed so that it could not be targeted easily and their production costs were cheap, making them the ideal expendables. Furthermore, their numbers were so overwhelming that it could engulf almost the entire fleet of spaceships.

The enemy spaceships were made of good materials judging from their hulls but even the hull was dented and even blown off by the explosion caused by the Suiciders.

On the enemy’s bridge.

“What just happened!?” The captain of the spaceship was actually a rodent. He smelled something terrible from the enemy’s small and agile units. The explosions were enough to damage the spaceship’s prow and hull despite the small size of the unit.

“There are units that launched a massive self-detonation. From the intelligence we have so far, they resembled the Glings.” His adjutant spoke quickly as he showed the hologram of the Suiciders and compared it to their previous enemies.

“There is no such unit as that in the Gling race, according to our Great Rat God! What in the abomination are they?” The captain had not expected to encounter a swarm of Suiciders going for them, intending to bring them down with them.

“Worse, there are currently dozens of Biological Spaceships at the exit of the Rift waiting for us. They kept sending these units. We need to eliminate them if we don’t want to be entangled with this unit.” The adjutant had a look of deep fear at the ferocity of the Suiciders.

“The strongest spaceship should be deployed to the front while the others are going to use their bow cannons to launch a long-range attack at the Biological Spaceships of the Gling!” the captain quickly ordered something without hesitation.

Even though the ones he and his fleet encountered were the Primarch variant, he could still see the resemblance to the Gling race, which was actually quite formidable even for them.

Soon, the strongest spaceship in both shield and hull damage capacity moved forward while shielding the spaceship behind which was used to do long-range attack.

But the Glings’ Biological Spaceships had already done their first salvo using their Bio-Cannons. The attack landed on the front spaceships of the rodent races, causing severe damage upon contact and the secondary explosion caused the shield to be drained and the hull to be dented so severely that the spaceships took severe damage to their hull.

Some of the rodent’s spaceships was directly inoperable due to the damage they sustained. And that was the strongest spaceships in both shields and hull integrity, if it were the weaker ones, they would only be destroyed effortlessly by the Gling.

“HQ, this is an emergency communication channel! The enemy is apparently the Gling race with new variants. They blocked the Rift to their side of the territory and using self-detonation units as well as their Biological Spaceships to cause losses to our fleet. Requesting reinforcement.” The captain of the fleet sent this in the encrypted channel which was used in the emergency.

Every Planet Master would teach their races about the general common knowledge as well as the familiar races that one would encounter in a Star Battle. That was why while the opponent recognized the Gling, the Gling also recognized the enemy they faced.

“Those rodents…they are quite good at developing those spaceships.” The right-hand Gling murmured before sending all he perceived to his Queen.

Dian and the others focused on the first race that appeared as an opponent. Dian believed that from this moment on, he would face multiple races civilization like his. That was why unity was needed to properly control the divergent races under him.

From the first appearance of the enemy’s fleet to the counterattack, it was only a few minutes. But those few minutes decided the first victory for Dian’s civilization. At least, they had the advantage in reducing the enemy's fleet number.

“They sent a distress message. Will it affect our plan?” Chikara asked after confirming this fact through the Queen, which was sensitive to such a signal.

“No need. It is good that they sent the message to their home. It means that they will form a certain preconceived notion about us. The surprise is just beginning.” Dian shook his head as he ordered his Star Children to proceed according to the original plan.

The position could be described this way.

Charlene would be the brain of the entire Cerulean Defense Force, analyzing the enemy’s weaponry and create a countermeasure depending on the situation.

Tatsumi and Ame on the other hand, were the frontline witnesses as well as the powerhouses that would keep the opponent’s Star Children from affecting the battlefield.

The Glings were there to stall for time until the Federation Main Fleet arrived and they did a spectacular job, making the enemy assumed that the main force was already at the Rift and asked for reinforcement.

“This slight deviation will not affect the bigger picture.” Mazdari commented.

“At least, this battle is still using conventional weapons. If they dare to use WMD, well, we have plan for Mutually Assured Destruction in place for that.” Frie looked coldly at the screen before raising her head and looking at the multitude of opponents across them.

Although the races under the enemy only knew that the Gling was there, they still did not know the other races who became their opponent.

On the other hand, the enemies Planet Masters realized that their races fell under a faulty assumption and tried to warn them as much as possible. But the effect was limited since they could not directly affect them otherwise, the energy points would be spent to do that.

It was not cost-effective and the opponent’s Planet Master was reluctant to do so.

That was why those on Dian’s side were confident that they could relay information at almost instantaneously. They realized that the Afterlife Model Dian had built allowed them some room of direct intervention without spending energy points.

And now they used that to their advantage without reservation, quickly deploying their units to catch the enemy off guard.

“Retreat! We are no match for them at all. This is the order from the captain, retreat.” The captain sternly said in the communication channel. Seeing fifteen minutes of destruction to his fleet caused him to screech helplessly at the situation.

They had never seen a Gling variant like this. Not even their Great Rat God knew what kind of variant that was.

Of course, there was some damage to the Gling’s Biological Spaceship but they carried enough energy and supplies to repair the spaceships so their loss was only some resources to generate the Suiciders as well as the salvo of Bio-Cannon.

“Fortunately, our Biological Spaceship is intact only with varying damage. Your Majesty, are you pleased with this result?” the right hand Gling asked.

“This is already a great result for our Primarch variant. Next, you will cooperate with those from the Federation to invade the other world. Make sure you are prepared.” The Queen only gave him this instruction because it was important.

“Yes!”

Then the Biological Spaceships of the Gling began its repairing process. Its biological parts were regenerating while supply ships came from Ghowul and the planets on the outer ring, giving the Gling race more power and supply.

While they were in the process of repairing and resupply, the Federation Fleets finally came to the scene.

All of it only took almost fourty-eight hour since the first encounter with the enemy’s spaceship.