The deck shook, and the violent flash of the blast made the entire artillery position as bright as day. Arrays of weapons were destroyed one by one, and human voices wailed and screams resounded throughout the ship.

Gazing at the scene and listening to these screams, Lazar Hamon, the captain of the 'New Hope', picked up his laser pistol with a trembling hand, not knowing whether to shoot himself or the fleeing crew.

He wanted to roar and tell them, where can you run? They're already everywhere! It's better to stay together and make a last stand!

But he can't do it, he's collapsing.

Starting with the trembling of the fingers, to the full thought. Every part that used to be like an arm is now crumbling little by little, and fear has taken control of him.

He looked down and frantically at the datapad in his hand, flipping through the ship's general situation, the retina completely occupied by the shining red warning.

The armory has been destroyed, as has the power generation core. The life support system was still functioning, but the four transfer stations designed around it had all been lost.

The plasma cannons, heavy bombs, and laser destroyers that were housed inside were completely lost as if they never existed. The soldiers and officers in charge of them did not even report or explain, and simply died neatly with the positions they were responsible for.

Not only that, but the forge, the connecting avenue, the ground floor cabin, and the engine room, all of which he could name, and which had a place on his ship, were all lost at this moment.

The entire ship showed a manic red color in the data board, and the warnings continued, and Lazar Harmon picked up the laser pistol in despair, finally making up his mind to commit suicide.

- They must not be caught. That's what he thought and he tried, but he couldn't succeed. In a violent jolt, his laser pistol fell to the ground and immediately slipped away.

Lazar Hamon's eyes widened and he screamed in despair, but he couldn't stay awake. The explosion was accompanied by a violent flash of light, and the last artillery position on the New Hope was completely lost.

I don't know how long it took, but he woke up slowly, and he didn't feel any pain, only a bit of dizziness. He turned his neck and began to look at the new world in front of him, seeing burning corpses and fragments of barricades blocking his way. He grunted unconsciously, trying to get himself to sit up.

It took him a few minutes to do this, but he didn't notice his legs, until a voice rang in his ears to alert him.

"Save your energy." The voice whispered. "You can cry, repent, despair. But you can't sit still. ”

What do you mean?

Lazar Harmon looked up in confusion and saw the face of a skeleton reflected in the light of the fire. Blood streaked all over him, and the giant in the gloomy blue armor of midnight stared coldly at him through his scarlet eyepieces, carrying several heads in his hands.

"You're damned." The giant said. "Lie down."

Lazar Harmon did as he was told.

He finally felt the pain, and in the last second before he died, he saw a pair of leather boots not far away, stained with blood, and a half-broken leg stuck in one of them. The boots were familiar, and they seemed to be his.

Sevita slowly let go of her hand, letting her head fall from her hand. He turned and walked to the porthole on the other side with the crackling of the flames. These high-strength glasses were also not destroyed in the explosion and even still retain their integrity.

Through the porthole, Sevita saw a battle in deep space, like a pas de deux, slow and graceful. The Tridesia and four strike cruisers staggered by, brutally cutting several other ships moored in orbit on the planet Cappadocia.

They tried to resist, but the resistance was ineffective. The lethal spears of light will shatter their Void shield first, and then the hull itself. They are sliced apart and die silently in space

Is all death so quiet? Sevita couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"This is Bellos von Sharp, and that's my record. Right now, I'm following a hunting squad from the Nightblade, and there are seventeen of them involved in this gang jumping. ”

"In the last forty-seven minutes, they have completely dismembered the resistance offensive organized on the dreadnought-class light cruiser New Hope, and the means are very bloody. The Nightblades' style has become very different from what they did on their reconquest missions, and I don't see a single traitor alive, and everyone in sight is dead. ”

"Their dying screams continue to echo through the communications of the taken over ships, which should be a very effective psychological tactic. Ambushes and massacres are everywhere, the traitors have not been able to organize any effective counter-thrust offensive, at least as far as I can see so far, no one has survived the brutal onslaught of the Nightblades."

Sevita sighed slowly, lowly.

He turned away.

"Do you have to keep track of these things in the process of jumping into the gang?" He asked in an unkind tone. There was a wave of anger swirling in my heart.

"Of course, honorable Captain Sevitalyon!"

Bellos von Sharp excitedly waved the short shotgun in his hand and replied to Sevita's words in a high tone. His bulletproof armor and trouser legs were stained with blood, and in terms of shape and quantity, they were not something that could be dyed at will.

Sevita's eyes narrowed slightly behind the eyepiece, and she shook her head quietly, "You will call me by an honorific title now." ”

"Haven't I always been so polite?" The gray-haired man laughed loudly. "But I must also admit that when I talked to you before, I did have emotions on a few occasions, and I apologize for that!"

"There is no need to apologize. Don't use honorific titles anymore, you made my power armor coat fall off. ”

"Okay, okay—" Bellos von Sharp nodded kindly. "So, can I ask you a few questions as the captain?"

Sevita sighed again.

"The mission is over." He pressed his temper, tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, and slowed down his speech. "So, it doesn't matter how many questions you want to ask."

Bellos laughed again, as if he didn't sense the threat implied in Sevita's words, and lowered his head in high spirits as he straightened the recording device around his neck. After that, he spoke.

"Why didn't the Midnight Blade destroy the New Hope with it? Is it because you want to recycle it? ”

"No, we don't need more light cruisers." Sevita said coldly. "The reason why it jumped was only because it needed to set a model."

"We'll launch a raid on Cappadocia in a few hours, and every death on this ship will add more efficiency to our raid. The lives of traitors are worthless, but it is better to let them bring more blood than to let their blood die in vacuum. ”

"Very poetically described!" Bellos exclaimed. "Thank you, Captain Sevitalyon. So, how are you going to go back later? I mean, back to the Tridesia ”

"Shuttle." Sevita rolled her eyes behind her helmet. "How else do you think we're going to get back? Launch the boarding torpedo again on the spot? ”

"So, what about the ship? Where will the fate of New Hope go? ”

"It will be turned into stray scum in a vacuum by a salvo."

"I see!" Bellos nodded in realization, lowered his head, and began to fiddle with the recording instrument. Sevita watched him quietly, feeling a slight sense of disobedience at this moment.

In the past few days, Bellos von Sharp has introduced himself as a poet, a writer, a painter, a photographer, a musician, and no doubt that these titles are self-appointed, and that he does act like an idiot who likes to show off himself.

But at this moment. This self-proclaimed and boastful man stood among the flames and corpses everywhere, but his expression was calm, without half of the emotions he should have. The fingers that fiddled with the instrument didn't even tremble, and it was amazingly steady.

Sevita narrowed her eyes again, and spoke a few seconds later.

"You asked me two questions, Mr. Bellos." He turned off the voice changing function of the breathing grille and said in a low voice of his own. "So, can I ask you two questions as well?"

Bellos von Sharp looked up, looking a little surprised. He raised his hand, pushed his glasses, and replied, "Naturally! ”

"What's the matter with your blood?"

"Oh, this—" The narrator smiled and patted the short shotgun that was slung from the rope over his shoulder. "—I also killed a few traitors."

"Didn't my squad protect you?"

"Of course they do, otherwise how could I possibly find you? It's just that I personally don't like to be protected all the time, Captain Sevita Leon. ”

Bellos von Sharp burst out laughing again, and though his words were still tinged with sourness, they were no longer funny.

"You see, we relied on the Emperor to get to where we are today, and these traitors have shamelessly rebelled against the Empire. As a citizen of the Empire, I can't just watch these people move freely."

"I also have a sense of indignation in my heart, Captain Savitarion." So said the gray-haired narrator.

Sevita was silent for a moment, then gestured to him to end the conversation. He turned away and began to observe the battle in the vacuum, saying no more.

Half an hour later, they returned to the Tridesia by shuttle.

There is one more chapter.

(End of chapter)