Night had fallen, and the forces of the Bureau of Order crept closer to their attack range. Giant mechanical beasts lumbered forward, drones skimmed silently through the sky, and laser beams sliced through the darkness, illuminating the mountains around the base.

A sharp alarm rang out. Li Chuan stared at the screen, his brows furrowed. "We know where they are. Why aren't we striking first?"

He Ling calmly replied, "Their defenses are too strong. Normal weapons won't work."

"Isn't there another way?" Li Chuan asked, tension creeping into his voice.

Suna raised her head. "There is. The Rupert vessel. It hasn't been tested in combat, but theoretically, it can evade their detection."

All eyes turned to Suna.

Xiao Bai rapidly scanned through the data. "The Rupert's super-material hull can cloak it, but we don't know if it can dodge their radar."

Suna, her voice steady: "Theoretically, it can. Once we breach their defenses, we can launch the Rupert’s Tears."

Li Chuan frowned. "What's that?"

Suna explained in a low voice, "A fragile nanobomb. Once it hits, it triggers a chain reaction inside their shields, breaking down their defense systems."

He Ling looked skeptical. "Sounds promising, but what's the catch?"

"We only have three. We can’t waste a single one," Suna said firmly.

Outside, the roar of the Bureau's forces grew louder as they approached the base. Suna adjusted the control panel, tweaking the Rupert's engine. The data flickered, unstable. She gritted her teeth. "The engine isn't fully prepped, but we need to take off. Now."

Li Chuan didn’t hesitate. "Launch it!"

The ship shuddered as it took off, streaking like lightning into the Bureau’s radar blind zone, vanishing from their detection systems.

Tension filled the cabin. Suna, Li Chuan, and Xiao Bai were laser-focused, monitoring the Rupert’s cloaking system. The stars outside seemed calm, but they all knew there was no turning back.

Suna scanned the dashboard. The outline of the command ship grew larger on the screen. That steel fortress shimmered in the night sky. "We have three Rupert’s Tears. We need to hit the weak points precisely."

Li Chuan glanced out the window. "Patrols are circling. If we get spotted, we lose our chance."

Xiao Bai, tense: "We’re barely shielded. We’ll need to avoid the patrols, but we’re low on weapons."

The ship slowed as they neared their target. Suddenly, three patrol ships appeared in their path. Suna’s hand hovered over the trigger. Her heart raced. "Don’t move."

Li Chuan, his voice cold: "They’ll see us soon. The cloaking won’t hold much longer."

The patrol ships crept closer. Suna held her breath, gripping the controls tightly. Their shadows nearly covered the Rupert. Li Chuan glanced at the radar. "We’re about to be spotted!"

Suna’s voice was steady. "EMP now, scramble their radar!"

Li Chuan hesitated. "That’ll blow our cover."

"Better exposed than dead."

Li Chuan clenched his teeth. "Fine. Let’s do it."

The EMP hit the patrols, knocking their radar offline. Suna seized the moment, adjusting their course. The Rupert slipped away, nearing the command ship.

As they closed in, the command ship’s multi-layered shields became visible, pulsing with energy. Li Chuan stared at the data. "These shields are more complicated than we thought."

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Xiao Bai sifted through the readings, uneasy. "There’s a brief decay window in the shield, but we don’t have enough data."

Suna kept her cool, adjusting the controls. "A slim chance is better than none. Prepare to fire the first Rupert's Tear."

The ship lined up with its target. Li Chuan’s hand hovered over the trigger as the screen displayed the shield’s energy fluctuations. The moment the shield weakened, he fired. The first Rupert’s Tear cut through the outer defenses. A chain reaction began to erode the enemy’s shield.

But the defense systems quickly rebooted. The shield recovered faster than expected. Li Chuan scowled. "It’s recharging too quickly."

Suna narrowed her eyes. "We’ve only got three bombs. We can’t afford mistakes."

Suddenly, the command ship detected the energy disturbance. Missile systems locked onto them. Xiao Bai paled. "We’ve been spotted!"

Suna jerked the controls, narrowly dodging the first wave of missiles, but the cloaking system restricted their speed. The missiles closed in.

Li Chuan, calm under pressure: "Drop the cloaking, full speed!"

Suna gritted her teeth. "Do it!"

The ship surged forward, but a missile grazed their hull. The shields collapsed, and the cloaking failed. Suna took a deep breath. "No more stealth. We have two bombs left. We have to make them count."

Li Chuan watched the dashboard. "No cloaking means we’re sitting ducks."

The Rupert closed in on the command ship’s core. Suna adjusted the flight path, locking onto the target. Enemy turrets locked onto them in return.

Xiao Bai’s voice was barely a whisper. "The shield is back online."

Li Chuan’s voice was firm. "The second bomb will take out the shield. The last one hits the core."

Suna fired the second Rupert’s Tear. The shield shattered under the impact. Xiao Bai couldn’t hide his excitement. "The shield is down!"

Without hesitation, Suna launched the final bomb, aimed at the command ship’s core. Li Chuan held his breath, heart racing.

In the night sky, bright flashes illuminated the outer shields of the command ship. Each bomb hit its mark, setting off a chain reaction. The shields trembled violently, energy fluctuating wildly.

But after the third bomb exploded, the command ship remained. Its massive frame stood defiant in the air. Though partially fractured, its core systems were still functioning. The shield began to reboot.

Li Chuan stared at the screen, sweat beading on his forehead. "How? We hit their weak point! That shield should be gone!"

Xiao Bai frantically checked the data, despair creeping into his voice. "It’s not working! The ship has multiple power nodes, they’re rerouting energy. There’s still too much power left."

At that moment, the radar blared. More patrols were closing in from all directions, like bloodthirsty predators. They locked onto the Rupert. Missile alarms echoed, fire lighting up the skies around them. Suna clenched her teeth, weaving the ship through the dense barrage.

Xiao Bai stared at the screen, his voice trembling. "Three bombs… and it’s still standing?"

Li Chuan growled. "The shield collapsed, how is it still holding?"

Suna, eyes locked on the controls, watched the patrols grow nearer. "No time. The shield is coming back online."

Li Chuan slammed his fist against the seat, frustration and desperation in his voice. "If this keeps up, we’re done for!"

Suna stopped her adjustments and glanced at her crewmates. "There’s only one option. We ram it."

Li Chuan blinked, stunned. "Ram it?"

Suna’s grip tightened on the controls. "This ship is a bomb."

Silence filled the cabin. Li Chuan, wide-eyed: "But what about us?"

Xiao Bai, still working furiously on the console, replied, "There’s an escape pod… we might make it."

Li Chuan clenched his fists, then slowly nodded. "Alright… let’s gamble."

The enemy’s firepower intensified, and their shields were fading fast. Suna inhaled deeply. "Get ready for ejection."

Xiao Bai’s fingers flew across the console, sweat dripping down his face.

Suna aimed the Rupert at the heart of the command ship. The massive vessel loomed larger by the second, its cracks like wounds slowly healing.

"Ready…" Suna’s voice was steady, filled with determination.

The ship hurtled forward. Explosions erupted all around them. Li Chuan and Xiao Bai fixated on the countdown, their hearts pounding in sync with the clock.

The target was closing fast. Suna’s hands gripped the controls. The command ship’s core was within reach, and in this moment, hope and despair intertwined.

"Now!" Suna ordered.

Xiao Bai activated the ejection sequence. The cabin shook violently. The Rupert became a blazing comet, crashing directly into the enemy’s core. In the final second, Suna, Li Chuan, and Xiao Bai were ejected, hurtling toward the planet’s surface.

The explosion tore through the sky, flames soaring upward as the shockwave catapulted their escape pods even farther.

Their pods shook in the high-altitude winds, alarms blaring. Outside, the wreckage of the Bureau’s command ship rained down, burning as it streaked across the night sky.

The enemy ship’s core engine had finally collapsed, the entire structure breaking apart into countless fragments, scattering like a meteor shower, lighting up the battlefield below.

Inside the escape pod, the trio was breathless, watching the destruction unfold. Li Chuan gripped his seat tightly, his heart still racing. "God… we did it."

Suna leaned back in her seat, exhaling slowly, though her gaze remained intense. "We did… but it’s not over yet."

Xiao Bai quickly scanned the systems, sweat trickling down his face. "The patrols are still up there! And they’ve probably locked onto our position."

Li Chuan glanced out the viewport. Several patrol ships had emerged from the wreckage, speeding toward them.

"They’re not letting us get away…"