The sight before them shook many soldiers. None of them had ever seen a Zrathras mothership. There republic wasn’t embroiled in conflicts of a large enough scale. Who would have ever thought that such a behemoth would intrude into their territory.

Noticing the dropping morale, the commander loudly shouted:

“Soldiers! This your time to be strong! Before us is a mothership of the Zrathras Clan! Those are our eternal enemies! If we can bring this ship down, you will be heroes of humanity! Heroes of the republic!”

From the corner of his eye the commander noticed some of his subordinates straightening up. He nodded slightly, glad that at least some of the officers here had a spine.

Unfortunately, there were still many despairing faces in his vision. Those soldiers had never thought that they would actually face a serious enemy one day. They weren’t the Luminous Army. They joined the Ri Army for an uneventful job in a cushy space station. They weren’t more than some glorified guards.

The commander gritted his teeth in anger. He knew how to motivate those soldiers, but he felt this was beneath himself. If the situation wasn’t so serious, the commander would send all those cowards through a hellish training. But right now, he only had one option. Thus, he announced loudly:

“If we bring the mothership down all of you will be rewarded with a promotion and one million Ri credits!”

Watching multiple eyes light up the commander shook his head in disapproval. He realized it was time to strengthen the republic’s military. How could those soldiers ever defend their country if the flames of war spread to them?

For now, the commander had to put these thoughts at the back of his mind. He focused on the mothership. Metallic turrets extended from its fleshy hull. They turned quickly, aiming at their base.

“Lure their missiles away! Reflect their energy attacks! Fire at will!”

Suddenly a massive spectacle ensued in this normally calm part of space.

The Zrathras mothership slowly circled around the human space station. Missile after missile was fired. Some were lured away, some hit the station directly. For now, only country missiles were fired. Continent missiles were already at a level where they were expensive to produce.

At the same time runes lit up from time to time. Colorful energy beams shot through space. They seemed unspectacular as they only produced some ripples in the station’s shields. But the second the shield was exhausted the mana attacks would show their horrifying potential.

Naturally the defense station wasn’t taking this lying down. Their own missiles bombard the enemy. Flesh burned and scales splintered as the Zrathras didn’t bother defending against country missiles. Runes lit up around the ship. Their fleshy armor regrew at unbelievable speeds.

Meanwhile white shields appeared from time to time around the mothership. They would quickly block incoming energy attacks. Mostly green, corrosive beams were blocked and reflected. Some of them shot back towards the space station. With every hit its shield would dim the tiniest bit.

Suddenly a hangar opened at the mothership’s side. Dozens of smaller ships flew out, shooting towards the defense station. Proving their maneuverability they weaved between the incoming attacks. The station quickly reacted, firing smaller and faster attacks. Whenever a spaceship was hit fireworks would brighten up space.

The Zrathras pilots didn’t care about their comrades. They were sent to fulfill a mission. Many of them managed to get close to the station. At this range it was hard to fire at the slippery targets. They danced around the station, quickly hunting down the human squadrons trying to destroy the chain.

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Eldrak could see from the bridge that the chain was already close to breaking. Multiple cracks spread between its links. Even the fire burning on it wasn’t spread evenly anymore. But the terrifying flame fueled by mana continued doing its job. As long as it burned it would continuously waste the shield’s energy faster than they could replenish it.

Suddenly a shout echoed through the bridge:

“Enemy spaceships on our rear!”

“So they did lay an ambush. Send the third squadron!”, order Eldrak with a calm smirk.

Multiple human spaceships raced towards the enemy’s rear. Unfortunately, they were quickly greeted by another squadron. A dogfight ensued in space. However, it quickly became apparent that the humans weren’t the Zrathras match. Once again, the Ri army had to admit that they weren’t used to fighting anymore.

The pressure on the space station continued to grow. They were at a heavy disadvantage on all fronts. Their firepower was not enough. If this continued, they would run out of energy first. This would end in disaster.

The commander’s body tensed. His anger boiled as he observed the fight. Finally, he came to a decision.

“Red guard, gather! We will face the enemy! Buy me enough space so I can reach their ship!”

“Red guard ready!”

No one tried to dissuade the commander. They all knew that this was the purpose of his arrival. Although the commander was only supposed to attack when both parties were close to using up all their energy, they understood that this was already hopeless.

Behind the commander stood two indistinct figures. They were one man and one woman clad completely in red robes with strange white diadems on their heads. They held massive spears weighing multiple tons before their bodies. With their stoic faces and dangerous aura everyone knew that those were terrifying warriors.

Those two figures were from the red guards. They were responsible for the security of the republic’s upper echelons. Protecting the commander, who was a former senator, they were always ready to die in the line of duty.

From the Zrathras mothership Eldrak observed the enemy station. He knew he had the upper hand here. It was only a matter of time until they won. If the station was prepared for a desperate move, it would now be the time for it.

Just as this thought came to his mind, he noticed three humans leaving the space station. The two red robed figures readied their spears as runes lit up all over them. Their weapons quickly shot forward, carrying their wielders with them. At the same time an old man in a rather vintage uniform transformed into a shadow, suddenly vanishing from Eldrak’s sight.

The Zrathras warrior’s eyes lit up. Excitement gripped his heart. His blood boiled. All his muscles brimmed with power.

This was what he had been waiting for. Ever since he heard about the arrival of reinforcements, Eldrak was hoping for them to show up.

“Haroktok, keep up the pressure! I will meet our enemies!”

A strange tension filled the bridge after this announcement. Haroktok slowly turned around, a frown on his face:

“Sir, is there a need for this? Our enemy is senator Tuv. From our information he is a level 81 overlord ranked warrior. We can still deal with him. But if you…”

Suddenly a massive pressure bore down on Haroktok. The Zrathras’ bones began cracking, his eyes bulging.

Eldrak’s terrifying eyes focused of the officer. He took a step forward, grabbing Haroktok’s neck.

As his hand slowly squeezed, he spoke with rage in his voice:

“Haroktok, are you defining the captain’s order? Are you rebelling?”

Horrified eyes stared back at Eldrak. Haroktok did his best to slowly shake his head.

“Good. Then SHUT UP! And DO your job!”, bellowed Eldrak as he crushed Haroktok against the ground.

Without turning around the proud warrior left the bridge. Until Eldrak left, Haroktok didn’t dare to move. His mind was shaken. He didn’t know what came over him. Why would he question his superior? Was he blinded by Eldrak’s reputation?

Haroktok slowly propped himself up, his whole body in pain. His eyes angrily scanned the room.

“What are you all looking at?! Back to work! Back up the captain! If something happens to him, I will personally drag you before the elder council!”

The other Zrathras’ eyes grew wide. What a vicious threat! Why were they responsible if their genius threw his life away? Just replace him with another genius. The clan still had enough females who could give birth.

Of course no one dared to voice their thoughts. They obediently went back to work, watching Eldrak who had just left the ship.

An exited but silent laughter left Eldrak’s mouth as he shot through space. Two massive, dark wings had grown from his back. They allowed him to traverse space with high speed and maneuverability.

Focusing on the approaching enemies Eldrak shot forward. His arms shot out from time to time, destroying some missiles in his way. With his strength country missiles only blasted apart a few of his fingers. Such a small injury was healed in no time.

Nothing could stop the proud warrior who lusted for his first battle since a few years.