Chapter 480: Ch
With that, he punched the center of the control console in front of him. A sharp click echoed immediately, followed by a low hum as a prompt flashed on the screen, accompanied by an automated voice:
[Self-destruction sequence activated. In 10 seconds, the fortress will self-destruct.] [Sealing all hangars and exit points...][8 seconds...]
Just as the countdown began, the entire display suddenly blurred. Error messages flooded the screen before it stabilized, much to Vael’s shock—and then terror—as the prompt changed:
[Self-destruct sequence paused.] [Error... Error...]
"Wh-what?!" Reading the screen, Vael shouted in utter disbelief. "How?! Wh-what is happening?!"
Before he could process anything, a deafening blast shattered the air right behind him.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion was so deafening that Vael’s ears rang, temporarily dulling his senses. By pure reflex, he whipped his head toward the origin of the sudden blast.
A thick cloud of smoke billowed near the entrance leading to the command bridge. To Vael’s astonishment, he couldn’t see what was hidden inside the smoke, even when attempting to probe it with his divine sense.
All he could make out were several bleeding corpses of the elite guards who had been standing post at the heavy doors.
Suddenly, the rapid chattering of gunfire erupted—pew! pew! pew! pew!
Multiple highly charged, bright-blue plasma rounds shot out of the smoke like streaks of lightning. In less than a second, the heads of his subordinates stationed across the bridge burst open.
One by one, those who had been staring out the viewport at the space where their fleet once flew had their heads vaporized, their lifeless bodies crumpling to the deck.
Even those sitting hollow-eyed on the floor—shell-shocked as if their souls had already left their bodies—were cleanly pierced through the forehead by precise shots, dying just as instantly, if a little less gruesomely.
Vael had no time to process the chaos or take control of the situation. He tried repeatedly to extend his divine sense to scan the threat, but failed each time; something unseen was actively suppressing and counter-attacking his mental force.
Curiously, he didn’t sense anyone of his own realm within the fog where these attacking humans obviously lurked.
His train of thought came to a sudden halt as the fog—which had stubbornly blocked his mental probe—began to dissipate.
Group by group, dozens of figures rushed out, quickly fanning out to surround the bridge and locking Vael in the center.
Vael frowned deeply at the sight, cursing under his breath. "Damn humans... so it was you who breached my fortress! Do you really think you can just take it? In your dreams!"
He roared, unleashing the full weight of his mountain-crushing pressure toward the human soldiers clad in sleek, dark-black exo-armor.
But before his aura could even reach them, a violent surge of agony wracked his internal organs.
’Cough! Cough!’ Vael spat a fountain of blood as his oppressive realm energy instantly collapsed and vanished into thin air. Right on the heels of the backlash, a primordial terror screamed through his instincts, telling him to flee.
Before he could even recover from the daze of the sudden injury—which left his entire body and soul stinging as if millions of flesh-eating ants were gnawing at him from the inside—a colossal force, heavy as an entire mountain range, came hammering down directly onto his back.
"NOOOOOOOO—!" Vael sensed the terrifying power and screamed in pure horror. He tried to muster every last drop of his strength to resist, but found he couldn’t mobilize even one percent of his power.
Unable to hold up against the overwhelming force, he succumbed completely, slamming face-first onto the cold metal deck.
Under the crushing, mountainous pressure, Vael began to cough up blood. Because he was completely unable to circulate his own cultivation to defend himself, the weight pressing down on his body was exacerbated tenfold.
He could personally feel his bones straining under the brutal load and his muscles slowly tearing apart. Had it not been for the exceptionally strong healing abilities inherent to his race, he would have been critically broken by now—though even with it, his current state was far from good.
Just as he was spiraling into despair, desperately searching for a way to escape and warn his race and the Republic President about the massive galactic assault the humans were executing, the heavy thud of footsteps echoed through the chamber.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Within moments, a imposing figure walked into view. With every single step the person took, the reinforced alloy floor of the bridge groaned and cracked under immense force. Vael’s heart skipped a beat as a terrifying wave of aura radiated directly from the newcomer.
Gritting his teeth against the unbearable strain and steeling his resolve, Vael squeezed out, "Who... who are you?! What the hell are you doing to me?!"
Then, a cold, feminine voice answered him with an amused scoff.
"What a ridiculous question to ask the jailer who is about to execute you, especially when you already know what’s coming. Indeed, Grand Admiral Ezra was right—you aliens truly live in a fantasy world."
"Youuuuu—!" Vael gasped in trepidation, his body shivering uncontrollably.
Gathering every last drop of strength he could muster, he tried to push himself up to fight back. "Ugh! Ahhh!" But his efforts were entirely in vain. Instead of projecting his power outward, the resistance only caused the crushing pressure to rebound on himself.
He slammed face-first onto the floor once more, this time with such violent force that his head buzzed and his consciousness flickered, making him feel as if he were floating outside his body.
A sharp, searing pain in his head snapped him right out of the daze. Through his senses, he realized the figure—who had been standing several meters away just a second ago—was now standing directly over him, grinding the heavy armored sole of her boot into his head.
"You...! H-How dare you!" Vael roared, overcome by humiliation. Any lingering thoughts of escape were instantly thrown to the back of his mind as pure, unadulterated fury took over.
"Oh?" The woman
"Oh?" The woman spoke, her voice cool and mocking. "Daring to order me around, hm? Fine, I’ll do as you ask."
To Vael’s utter shock, she actually lifted her foot off his head. Relief briefly washed over him, but before he could even register it, an intense, agonizing force violently surged through his skull, jaw, and facial bones.
The overwhelming impact shattered his teeth and crushed his face into the deck, tearing a blood-curdling scream from his throat:
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Here is the refined version with corrected grammar, smooth transitions, and polished dialogue, while maintaining your fast-paced action and intense dark space-opera tone:
BAM!
Another heavy strike landed, and Vael screamed out in agony again. "Ahhhh... ughhhhh!"
This brutal rhythm continued unabated until the skin on his head and face split wide open. Blood poured freely across his features, staining the deck, until his voice grew so hoarse that he could no longer scream—only groan under the agonizing pain.
Only then did Ritika stop. She crouched down, grabbed Vael by his hair, and yanked his head upward.
Looking straight into his bloodied eyes and battered face, she spoke. "Now what happened? Why aren’t you screaming anymore? Why aren’t you ordering me around?"
Vael was still conscious, though his thoughts were a frantic mess. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came—only a crimson spray of blood. Yet, deep within his eyes, the spark of defiance still burned.
Ritika caught it immediately. "Huh... still thinking of defying us, hum?"
She paused, a cold thought crossing her mind, before slamming Vael’s face down into the floor with overwhelming force.
BANG!
A loud crunch echoed through the bridge, accompanied by the distinct cracking of bone and a low, muffled groan of pain.
She raised Vael’s head again. Seeing that tiny flicker of resistance still lingering, she smashed his face into the deck once more. And again. And again. She repeated the brutal process a dozen times, stopping only when every trace of defiance had been erased from Vael’s face.
What was left in his eyes was nothing but hollow emptiness.
Only then did Ritika stand back up, casting a cold, disdainful glance down at him. "As it should be. Remember your place, Illyrian Admiral. Your fate is no longer under your command—it belongs to us humans."
Turning away, she set her eyes on the central command console, moving forward to claim full control of the fortress. There were still several critical tasks that needed to be executed. As she walked, she barked an order through her comms: "Take him away. Transport him back to our flagship and throw him into the brig. He will stay there until we return home, where His Majesty will personally deal with his punishment!"
"Yes, High Admiral!" multiple voices responded crisply over her internal communications channel.
Two heavily armored Marines stepped forward and seized Vael. They locked his arms and legs into specialized restraint.....