Most of the attacks on the Trigold Cluster were swift and decisive. Nobody wanted to give them a chance to make another insane move like destroying Zunrose. Though they were somewhat distracted with their burgeoning civil war, there was still a chance that an opportunity would be found. Assuming they still had anything potentially that dangerous.

After Varghese wiped out the fleet that had come to try to deal with the remains of that star, there hadn’t yet been another similar incident. And obviously no other stars had been destroyed. Nobody would let such a large fleet get close to their stars now, if they even had the capacity to repeat the attempt. And now, the Void Scrying Sect had nothing to show for it. They’d squandered their opportunity to process the worldheart, perhaps because they had other targets in mind.

The only thing that didn’t make sense to Varghese was why they wouldn’t immediately send another group to finish off the star. Why wait so long? A whole decade, in fact. Either it took that long to construct whatever was required for the attempt- he’d destroyed everything beyond recognizability, so unfortunately they couldn’t study it- or something else had stopped them. It was a staggeringly large hesitation otherwise, for something within their territory.

If they had hunkered down in their own systems it would be one thing, as the Shining Cooperative and Lower Realms Alliance might have been content to stay in their systems after that scare… except for the repeated attacks, mainly attempts to cause widespread devastation with minimal manpower. Either because that was easier, or they simply didn’t think they had it. The losses at Zunrose weren’t easy for them to absorb.

Soon enough- which was to say after over a year of pushing into the southern territory- they finally reached the core worlds through a different route, with secure lines of supply and retreat established behind them.

Their target was the planet Egnos, under the sway of the Void Scrying Sect and their closer allies. There was another core system between Egnos and Kunion, known as Xeotov and under control of the same factions. However, though the attackers had access to that system it was better to keep themselves further removed from Kunion so as to not make the other part of the civil war feel threatened.

A grand fleet entered the system in a coordinated manner, traveling at the pace of the slowest ships. From there, it broke into three main groups. The first was set to take out outlying bases and other defenses away from the planet proper. The fleet came in from an oblique angle where the system’s plane didn’t put other planets in their path, but they had some artificial defenses set up, and from their studies there were formations on other planets that might empower the primary location.

The second fleet was headed directly for Egnos to begin the assault. If they were unable to cause any damage they would retreat and reassess, but the plan was to act quickly. They didn’t want time for something more to happen. With the Void Scrying Sect prominent in the area, they had to stay fluid. They would make use of their own diviners to try to counter potential predictions as much as possible.

The third and smallest fleet was escorting Varghese to the star within the system. Or rather, towards the central star. It was a ternary system with two red stars orbiting on opposite sides of a central orange star. The central star was the most important, as the largest among them. While he would have liked to bind all three for a perfect balance, Varghese had to consider how many he could bind to. He’d lost some cultivation time from his injuries, and while he had three stars available that would mean not taking part in future assaults. Not with the full power of Assimilation. Unless he took more than a handful of years for his cultivation to advance a star, and while the war might last that long, there were more than two or three core systems to be dealt with even if they ignored the second half of things.

Obviously Varghese was wary of the same thing happening- but if they were willing to destroy one of their own systems again just to damage him, the sacrifice might be worth it. He wouldn’t like it, but he thought he could resist any catastrophic backfire. Though more than that, he would simply lash out from the star and stop anything that even thought about getting close.

Before he began binding to the star, he carefully looked it over with his own senses. Other parts of the fleet scanned it as well, looking for any sort of trap. But as far as they could tell, it was perfectly healthy and normal. That was what made sense, but sense had gone out the window the first time a star was destroyed.

Varghese took his time confirming his initial impression, then began to bind to the star. He had no hostility towards it, and sensed none in return. Not that he expected such from a star… but it was hard not to personify them when he was connected to several. Ascribing personalities to them where there were none was human. In his mind, Azun had the appearance of a wild beast, but was closer to a drunk stumbling about without malice, its power simply beyond its control.

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This star could have watched over the planet and its inhabitants for billions of years. Who knew how long either of those time frames were. The only thing Varghese was certain about was that these inhabitants were not the original ones. Or at least not most of them.

As he refined his connection to it, its heat and light changed from harsh to comforting. He was far closer than he had ever expected to be to a star without protection- indeed, as a youth he wouldn’t have expected to even leave the security of a planet’s atmosphere. The thought of travel through space except as the invaders did on the tides of the world was foreign to him.

Once Varghese had fully established his bond, he reached deeper inside the star to more thoroughly check its health. There was nothing strange in and around it. And even deep in enemy territory, Varghese was determined to keep this one safe. Even the small portion of its power he could call upon would be sufficient to defeat anything the enemy could throw at it- even fleets of thousands of ships, now that he was prepared to activate such power from a distance. A star might not be invincible, but enemy ships were even less so. Even if they were actively made to resist vast temperatures, his active control could pierce through such defenses to some extent- which would be sufficient to cook anyone inside.

Or perhaps he would be surprised once more. But he seriously doubted that they could afford to continue to tear apart their own systems, especially as this one had more wealth that the Void Scrying Sect would care about. And most likely some of the people making decisions, though aside from names and general strengths it was difficult to find where most of their cultivators would be long term.

After Varghese completed his connection, the third fleet went to join the second. There had already been several reports of breaking through defenses scattered around the system, so things were going well there. As for Egnos itself, its defenses yet held even against its many attackers. This time, however, they wouldn’t be taking their time crushing the defenses. Instead, they would have as many active formation masters as they could aiding their targeting so they could break through as soon as possible. It might still be a matter of hours, but they could also be lucky.

Varghese found some useful ammunition in the form of enemy ships that had been sent to slow their approach. All had at least some amount of material he could magnetize to crash into the planetary barrier, and even as scrap they had some utility in that manner.

The Astral Spear captained by Kybele circled around the planet, bombarding it continuously. It was an impressive contribution for a single ship, providing valuable information about the barrier as a whole.

It was a little bit unfair to compare that to The Wayfarer, under General Gabriela’s command. One was a smaller ship that still achieved Ascension-class power to some extent. The other was a full sized capital ship, upgraded over the past centuries as technological advancements came- and as its bound captain improved.

The Wayfarer’s main cannon didn’t simply drain some of the natural energy powering the barrier, but instead punched through with every shot, often causing damage below. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always able to puncture secondary barriers, but it did provide brief moments where other ships could fire through as the barrier reformed in that location.

Combined with many other assaults, it was difficult for the barrier to keep up. All they needed was a bit more time to collapse it completely- a few hours at most. But this time, the response was quicker.

Once again, it would have been impossible to send reinforcements from neighboring systems in the available time frame. They must have launched before arrival, and with accurate timing. The biggest question was where the fleets had come from, as they were doing their best to watch most of the nearby systems. Then again, they couldn’t account for every individual ship.

With the arrival of the incoming fleet, Egnos responded with its own fleets, sending cultivators from out behind their barriers. The assaulting fleets reformed, losing their focus on the bombardment and instead focusing on ship to ship combat.

Varghese sensed something a few moments after a message arrived regarding their outermost sensors. Another fleet entering the system. The current enemy forces might not be sufficient to take them out- and even this third fleet might not do it- but they would end up with too many losses if they fought. And so far, none had been foolish enough to go near the star itself.

A retreat was called, but people did not withdraw with hearts heavy. No, up to that point they’d been experiencing a resounding victory. Even as they retreated, they brought down pursuing ships- Varghese especially delighted in crashing them into each other.

Furthermore, their secondary objectives were accomplished. The outlying defenses were taken down, and Varghese had bound the star. That meant that they could come in as a more unified fleet in the future. And they would figure out how the enemy’s fleet movements slipped past their detection in other systems. If they could see the fleets setting out in advance, they could change their course to other targets- and if they were fast enough, the enemy wouldn’t be able to keep up. Predictive abilities could only work so well.

Varghese kept his senses on his latest star, in case something were to happen again… but nobody even got close. He was content with that. He really didn’t want another star to be destroyed, even if it took out only enemies and a bit of his own cultivation. Even if his cultivation wasn’t involved, he would feel for the star. They weren’t something that could just be replaced, after all.