Chapter 27 - Dark Elves Again?

Artillery fire burst out of the fort in great amounts and rained onto the Aether Dominion.

For some time, the bombardment was relentless.

However, the defense matrix on Aether Dominion absorbed the shock effortlessly and protected the ship.

Inside the pyramid, several dark elves stared intently at the surveillance monitors. Their faces turned grim as they watched the Aether Dominion's astonishing defenses.

"Doctor! Our artillery cannot penetrate the target's armor at all!" one of the operators exclaimed.

A dark elf in a white coat narrowed his eyes at the screen, his brow furrowing at the sight of the Aether Dominion's resilience.

An S-class ship on this world? he muttered in wonder. Withdraw cannons. They're ineffectual against it,

He whirled to his followers and gave them briefer orders. Go signal the mother nest: use the giant sandwurm in an attempt to knock out this ship!

The white-coated elf's face clouded. Far sooner than they had anticipated, their laboratory had been uncovered.

But the final test was almost done.

Nothing else was required except transferring the critical data. When it was safe, the laboratory -- and the alliance personnel within the laboratory -- would be too much of a risk.

The artillery operators ceased laying down fire and hid away the cannons as ordered.

From his deck on the Aether Dominion Rodgraim watched as the pyramids moved.

He had a sudden surge of assurance — this was no mere ancient ruin, but it was manmade.

At that very instant, a blip came from the radar.

The air seemed to vibrate with the low rumble.

Sandworms. Several were burrowing towards the surface. Rodgraim reacted automatically, ordering the Aether Dominion to lift off.

In the blink of an eye, gigantic sandworms erupted from the ground, their gaping maws lunging toward the Aether Dominion.

Rodgraim's eyes did not flicker. He reached out with a practiced hand and pushed a button on the console.

"Jump space!"

In the blink of an eye, the Aether Dominion disappeared, leaving the sandworms snapping at empty air.

The ship reappeared 10,000 meters above the ground, hovering high above the chaos below.

From this altitude, Rodgraim viewed the scene below him.

Sandworms moved around the pyramid like an on-rushing tide.

He looked puzzled. Certainly, there was something of the locals that did not want a visitor to ever come up to the place.

He focused his stare. "Let's have a peek at what lies in that pyramid."

With another resolute motion, Rodgraim turned on the fusion warheads.

Aether Dominion changed the orbit to target the monster sand-worms gathered around the pyramid.

The first warhead launched, shooting through the sky.

One of the sandworms lunged to intercept it, its massive jaws snapping shut around the projectile.

But a split second later, the warhead detonated within the creature.

The explosion shook the desert with a deafening boom.

Debris mushroomed from the ruptured body of the sandworm, sending it into disarray all over the dunes.

Other nearby sandworms were caught in the blast, their huge forms battered by the shockwave.

Dust filled the battlefield, and the pyramid trembled with the power of the explosion.

Dark elves inside the pyramid began to break out in cold sweats as they watched the monitors.

"That… that was a tactical nuclear weapon!" one of them stammered.

"What is this ship's origin?" another muttered, their voice filled with dread.

The white-coated dark elf clenched his fists. The Aether Dominion was unlike anything they had prepared for — a fortress of impenetrable defenses armed with devastating firepower.

Another boom reverberated through the air as the second fusion warhead struck its target.

Two gigantic craters scarred the desert landscape, missing the pyramid but destroying the sandworms in the vicinity. Those caught in the blast were completely destroyed, their bodies strewn across the sands.

The battle was far from over.

[Vikings deployed.]

A fleet of Viking from the Aether Dominion's hangar roared to life, their powerful engines ready to unleash their fury on the pyramid.

The agile crafts swarmed the pyramid, raining missiles upon the remaining turrets.

Explosions lit the desert as turret after turret succumbed to smoking rubble.

Alarm bells screamed within the pyramid as dark elves scurried about to act.

"Doctor!" one of them cried. "All our batteries are destroyed!"

The white-coated elf glared at the speaker.

"Do you think I am blind? I can see that for myself!"

His voice became colder.

"Too late to evacuate everything in this lab. That ship is targeting us specifically."

He turned to the others and barked, "Release the Zerg warriors. Do not let them reach the lab!"

Then he pointed to a console.

"You, come with me. Transfer all the research data right away. The Zerg experiments cannot fall into the Alliance's hands!"

With that, the white-coated elf stormed out of the command center, followed closely by his subordinates.

Deep within the pyramid, thousands of human crew members were held captive like livestock.

In one cell, a captive perked up at the faint tremors rocking the structure.

Hope flickered in his eyes. "Captain! Someone's attacking the pyramid! We might be saved!"

Another crew member shook his head grimly.

"Saved? If they bomb this place, we'll be buried alive."

"It has to be an Alliance ship," someone muttered.

"But if they know what's happening here, they'll raze this lab to the ground without hesitation. We're done for either way."

A heavy silence filled the cell as the reality of their situation settled in.

Inside an even darker corner of the prison was the photograph Theo slowly pulled out from his pocket.

It is of Seraphina, so quiet and still she remained looking at him from his old photograph.

Deep heave for a long while on one breath, escaping as soon as it happened.