NOVPUB"All ships, listen up! This is a top-priority command!" a loud voice echoed through every ship's communication system.
"Transport ships, stay back! Keep sending reinforcements to support our ground defenders! All other combat vessels, move immediately to the coordinates being sent to you now!"
From the bridge of her grand flagship, Ys stood watching the enemy fleet begin its full-speed advance. Engines roared to life as they charged toward the southern wall of the fortress city. A smirk formed on her face.
"Ahh... you really think I'm just going to sit back and let you shift your forces?" she said, almost playfully, while her eyes gleamed with determination. "If there's one thing I've learned from all those movies and shows I watched... it's that you never give the hero a chance to transform."
With a commanding gesture, she raised her hand and pointed toward a section of the sky where the musician general's fleet was beginning to organize into a tight, defensive formation.
Just then, the space above the planet shimmered and the Khryssari fleet arrived.
This fleet was made of terrifying organic warships, their hulls pulsing and alive. Strange, twisting structures lined their surfaces, glowing faintly with ominous energy.
At Ys's silent command, these organic ships opened up. Sections of their living bodies peeled back to reveal bio-cannons and strange, fleshy turrets. A second later, they began to fire.
It looked like a storm of glowing green rain, each drop a blast of deadly bioplasma streaking across the sky, aimed straight at the musician general's formation.
"Damn it, they got us good!" the general shouted while slamming a fist against the railing of his ship's bridge. "Fire back! Don't just stand there watching! return fire now!"
And so, with weapons lighting up the sky, a fierce and violent battle erupted just above the fortress city.
What was once a distant war was now visible to everyone. Civilians, who had once felt safe, began to panic. People ran through the streets, pointing to the sky where massive warships, some kilometers wide, clashed in a chaotic ballet of destruction.
Explosions thundered above like angry gods fighting, and burning debris started falling from the heavens.
Inside the fortress city's main government building, a young secretary burst into the governor's office. His face was pale with fear, and his voice cracked with panic.
"Governor! Sir! It's bad! there's a full-scale fleet battle happening right above us!"
"I know," the governor replied calmly, though his hands trembled slightly as he stared out the wide office window. The battle outside filled the skies like a terrifying dance of fire, light, and death.
He turned from the window, his voice grim. "Send my orders. Tell our generals to fall back into the city. It's no longer safe outside the energy barrier. Also, inform the engineers to reroute all power to the barrier. Keep life support on the lowest safe setting. We're going to hide... like a turtle in its shell."
Once his orders were delivered, the governor stood there in silence. The light from distant explosions reflected in his eyes as he clenched his fists, helpless to do more.
Meanwhile, high above the fortress City the chaos continued.
"This is the 54th wing squad leader," came a desperate voice over comms. "We can't hold the destroyer Akilo anymore! It's completely surrounded. Parts of the hull are on fire; we're seeing green flames spreading everywhere. What are your new orders, commander?"
But the musician general, sitting at the heart of the collapsing fleet, had no answers. His screen showed dozens of similar messages. Reports of damage.... Calls for retreat.... Cries for help....
For every Khryssari ship they managed to destroy, two more emerged from the warp jump, instantly joining the fray. Their numbers were endless. Their firepower is unrelenting.
The general's face was covered in sweat. His fingers gripped the edge of his chair.
The musician general let out a long, heavy sigh.... a sigh of defeat.
"Order the entire fleet to retreat," he said bitterly; his voice was low but steady. "We've been beaten… like a stray dog in the gutter."
It was a decision that would have shocked the high brass of any other megacorporation.
Among those powerful warlords and corporate commanders, honor and pride were everything. They would rather burn with their ships in a glorious final stand than retreat with their reputations stained. Dying with pride meant more to them than living with shame.
But the musician general? He didn't care one bit about honor or pride.
"Honor won't feed my men. Pride won't repair my ships," he had once told a junior officer. And today, he stood by those words. In the end, loyalty was all that truly mattered, and his fleet was filled with loyal soldiers who trusted him to lead them through fire and death.
He wasn't born into nobility. There was no golden cradle or family name behind his rise. He had clawed his way up, one brutal victory at a time. Every step of the ladder had been stained with blood and sweat.
And in that long, punishing climb to power, he had come to value one thing above all: his people. His subordinates weren't just numbers on a screen... they were the heart and soul of his command. His treasure. His responsibility.
Even as the order to retreat was passed down, the fleet didn't stop fighting. As they rose higher into the sky, battling to gain enough altitude to warp, every cannon and turret kept firing.
Green plasma lit up the sky. The Khryssari swarm still chased them, relentless and alien, refusing to let go.
"General!" an officer called from the front console, his voice filled with urgency. "All ships are ready to initiate warp jump! We're just waiting for your final command!"
The general didn't hesitate. "We've done our part. We sent reinforcements to help defend the city, so no one can say we broke our deal." He raised his arm sharply. "Get us the hell out of here! Now!"
"Understood, sir!"
The officer turned back to his console, ready to send the signal that would carry the fleet away from the blood-soaked sky. But then... something strange happened.
"General!" the officer shouted while turning around in alarm. "The communication link isn't working! Every time I press the transmit key, it just... doesn't respond! But the system shows the antenna is still online!"
The general's eyes narrowed. "What…?"
And then, a flicker of golden light danced in the center of the bridge.
A strange hum filled the air, and right in front of the general's command chair, a cybernetic form began to appear, piece by piece, first her boots, then her long armored limbs, her flowing tech-draped cloak, and finally, her face.
By the time her form fully materialized, the soldiers on the bridge were already surrounding her, weapons drawn, nervous fingers on triggers. Elite guards formed a tight circle, energy rifles aimed at her head and chest.
"Who the hell are you!?" the musician general demanded an answer while stepping forward and drawing his crackling energy blade, which hummed with power as he leveled it at her throat.
Cleo took a slow look around the bridge. Her expression remained calm, serene, almost bored, as if the weapons pointed at her were no more threatening than a gentle breeze.
Her golden eyes gleamed faintly as she spoke; her voice was smooth and sharp like a polished blade.
"I am Cleo, the Kaelzar princess. And I am here to offer you an opportunity."
The general scowled. "What kind of opportunity?"
"To surrender," Cleo said with a slight tilt of her head. "Peacefully."
There was a pause. Then, the general burst out laughing, the sound wild and unhinged.
"Surrender?" he shouted. "You must be joking! Dream on! You think just because you hijacked our comms, we'll kneel? If I want to leave, I will! and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
Without warning, he raised his pistol and fired straight at her head.
The shot streaked through the air only to hit empty space. Cleo didn't even flinch.
The shot had missed.
Cleo looked at him with something like pity. "Organic life forms really are foolish," she said while shaking her head softly.
"Very well. I'll take that as your answer."
And with that, her form disintegrated into shimmering tech particles, disappearing as quickly as she had come, leaving behind a stunned bridge crew and a very uneasy general.
"General!" a voice cried out in panic from one of the consoles. "The sensors have picked up a massive object descending from orbit! It's coming straight from the planet's upper atmosphere!"
The officer's hands flew across the controls, and in seconds, the main holoscreen lit up, displaying a huge visual feed from the ship's external scanners.
Everyone on the bridge fell silent.
Through the thick clouds, something colossal was slowly breaking through. The sky darkened, and glowing golden light spread like ripples across the heavens.
There it was... a titanic structure descending from orbit, wrapped in golden energy pulses that rippled outward for kilometers. A fortress unlike any other, The Cleopatra, the mobile Kaelzar stronghold.
From its sides and underbelly, long fins and towers shimmered with pulsing veins of light. Gigantic thrusters slowed its descent, and with each pulse it released, the very air around it shimmered and twisted, as if space itself was cracking.
"...Oh. F-fuck."
The general's face turned pale. His heart sank into his stomach. He jumped to his feet and shouted with raw urgency:
"Full power to all engines! Forget everything else! just move! Scatter! Flee in all directions! Get us out of the range of that golden light! NOW!"
The bridge lit up with warning lights and sirens. Officers scrambled to carry out the order, their fingers trembling over controls. The entire fleet began to accelerate, engines roaring at maximum output.
But deep down, the general knew. He had seen this kind of light before. Years ago, during a brutal campaign on another world, he'd witnessed a capital ship release that same golden pulse.
