Chapter 76 - Fireworks

(A.N.: Remember, we are still in the 'ancient' era, before all the main historical happenings on Krypton. The Wrangs' invasion is several tens of thousands of years away. Just wanted to do a quick note in case some of you have forgotten. :))

---

Around the red dwarf star Rao in the depths of the Andromeda Galaxy, a fierce conflict was at its highest point close to a central planet called Krypton. Two fierce factions faced up against each other, waging a relentless, but at the same time, a pointless war against each other, costing the lives of thousands in the process.

On one side were the Krypton Moon Alliance, led by the strongest of the four moons orbiting the exotic Earth-like planet, the Wegthor.

On the other side, were the Kryptonian main forces, led by the strongest city-state on the planet, the Erkolians.

The problems between the planetary forces and the moon colonies started many centuries ago, conflicts were a common occurrence. The two sides liked to test the waters, defending their 'borders', and that often resulted in the loss of a few battleships.

The battle today was of the same occurrence, the Wegthorians tried sending a small vessel to infiltrate the planet, hoping to build a gateway for the troops to invade. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the Kryptonians' defenses, and they were promptly destroyed. Enraged by this, the Wegthorians send a small contingent of ships, thus arriving at the present situation.

"Prepare the Photon Cannons! Destroy those fucking Erkolian dogs!" A big-bellied, scruffy man sitting in a large central seat on the main deck of the central ship bellowed angrily. He kept smashing the armrest of the reinforced unknown-alloyed armrest of his seat, in a futile attempt to vent his anger.

He was raging, barely containing his anger! The elite group he personally has overseen was shot down just like that! How could he keep his calm? Unless he can take down at least a few ships, he will be held responsible and will most likely lose his position and maybe even his life!

"Photon Cannons are ready to fire captain! What are your orders?" A feminine voice came from the side, grabbing the captain's attention. Looking at the red-haired woman, he couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the curvature of her heavenly body. However, he quickly shook his head; this was not the time for lustful thoughts.

There will be time for that after he manages to salvage this disaster! Regaining his clarity, he nodded at the woman, Ensign Dala, the weapons officer on the bridge, and bellowed the command.

"AIM AT THE CENTRAL SHIP AND FIRE AT WILL!!!"

The illogical command puzzled Dala for a moment, but as it was a direct command from her commanding officer she didn't dare question it and sent the command to the relevant crew maintaining the cannons. A few seconds later, rows of numbers, calculations flashed through the main screen on the bridge, and yellow energy beams were shot out from the sides of the ship.

However, just as the energy beams were fired from the cannons, space shattered between the two confronting sides, rapidly forming a tear in reality. A moment later a new and never-before-seen ship appeared. Its design was unique, something that neither side had ever seen before.

As it materialized, the energy bolts shot by the Wegthorian main battleship collided with the newcomer, releasing a blinding flash of light, illuminating the dark space for a brief moment.

The bearded captain harrumphed at the sight, not giving it too much thought. He turned towards the ensign once more, giving another command.

"PREPARE THE CANNONS AGAIN, AND FIRE AGAIN!"

"But Captain… There seems to be a new vessel between the Kryptonians and us. What are your commands?"

"Hmpf! Ignore it! Whoever it was, it's probably already dead. Who told them to sneak here? It probably was a spy craft sent by the Erkolians or maybe the Xans!" The captain responded disdainfully, not giving any thought about the potential innocent casualties.

"But Captain…" The Ensign tried again, much weaker than before.

"Enough Officer! OBEY MY ORDERS!" The captain bellowed once again.

The crew onboard the bridge, shivering in fright hearing the captain's tone and no one daring to raise their opinion anymore. The Ensign gave the command to the crew, preparing the ship for yet another strike.

Meanwhile, on the other side, a tall and buffed man was looking at the screen, his brows furrowed, he was deep in thought. The crew on board was ready, but for a while now, he was silently staring at the screen.

They naturally saw the enemy main ship preparing its cannons and getting ready to fire, and was ready to respond in kind when the sudden tear in the void signaled the arrival of an unexpected third party. The design of the ship that appeared was unique, something he had never seen before. While its size was not comparable to their vessels, his battle-hardened instincts signaled him of a great danger from their direction.

However, before he could contemplate more, the Wegthorians decisively fired at it, most likely destroying it before he could get answers to his bubbling questions.

He kept scratching his trimmed silver beard, as he was deep in thought. Keeping his attention to the flashing blind light that slowly began to dissipate, he gave out his orders in a calm and collected tone.

"Lieutenant Lunn, please scan the Unidentified Vessel once again, and tell me its status. Ensign Noza, please stand at the ready and keep our shields active. Ensign Vun, keep the weapon systems on alert for now but do not fire. I have a feeling that ship has more surprises in store."

Contemplating what that third-party ship could possibly be, the general was briefly distracted from the raging battle that ensued, bringing all of his attention to the surprisingly still intact foreign ship. Whilst he observed, he began to notice a cannon abruptly forming on the side of the ship, watching as it pointed in the direction of the Wegthorian general's vessel.

"General! Scanners show that an immense amount of antiparticles are converging at that ship. I suggest we create some distance before we get caught up in what it's doing!", Lieutenant Lunn appeared to be genuinely worried by the readings being displayed by the ship's scanners.

Before the general had time to accept the suggestion and issue the command, a glowing phantom black beam of antimatter was shot from the ship, swiftly piercing through the energy field around the Wegthorian commanding vessel as the ship was promptly atomized out of existence, taking all of its inhabitants with it.

The general was instantly awestruck with fear at how easily that significantly smaller craft had just wiped out a Wegthorian general's ship. The shock didn't end there, the ship proceeded to atomize more of the fleet with one continuous beam of antimatter energy, cutting through the row of battleships akin to slicing through butter.

--------

Inside the Bioship, Spencer and Bey'on could be seen in the cockpit of the ship eating something similar to popcorn as they watched the fireworks of varying colors, sitting on a couch with their feet up on a table.

"What do you think? Beautiful isn't it?" Spencer asked Bey'on with a mouthful of snacks as she seemed rather uninterested in the whole thing as she would much rather be in her lab at the moment. Getting up from the couch, Bey'on began walking back to her lab.

"Guess I'm the only one." He simply threw another handful of his snack into his mouth before continuing to watch the fireworks by his lonesome.

After realizing that he has already atomized a significant portion of the ships facing the area he got shot from, he signaled Hex to stop firing as he simply began to observe the rest of the battle with his artificial popcorn.

----------

The general leading the Kryptonians and all of the fleet members were overwhelmed with shock, witnessing the instant atomization of a large chunk of a fleet done so casually by a single ship scared them.

"How is that possible!? What should we do General?" Ensign Noza was greatly worried about this event. A blast of that scale could easily breach their barriers as well, killing them just as easily as the Wegthorian's spacecraft. "We can't possibly attack that ship, we'll all be killed if we do!" Ensign Vun also gave her fearful opinion on the matter as well.

Keeping a close eye on the ship ahead, the general noticed that the ship no longer had the antimatter cannon protruding from its frame as it was no longer doing anything, simply stagnant in the same location it had arrived in.

"We must take this opportunity to assault those filthy Wegthorian's and crush them beneath our feet! We may not know what that ship is, but it has created a chance that we may never get again! Inform the other ships to charge against the remaining enemy ships and annihilate them on-site!" The general could not let this massive opportunity go to waste, signaling all of his soldiers to assault the enemy forces with all they have.

All fleet troops engaging, the Kryptonian fleet fired upon the last survivors, destroying all ships that attempted to escape the battlefield, leaving none to escape.

The battle barely lasted a substantial amount of time as the Kryptonian fleet swiftly and efficiently wiped out the remaining Wegthorian's. Claiming a decisive victory with ease, the Kryptonian fleet celebrated their sudden victory, jumping from their feet as they hugged and cheered, briefly forgetting the cause of such an easy triumph.

"Settle down! We still have one more thing to address." Bringing back everyone's attention, the general recalled the foreign invader that made all of this possible. "Lieutenant Lunn, see if you can establish a communications channel with our unexpected benefactor! See if we can establish some form of contact! If we can form an agreement with such a force, we could benefit greatly." Weighing the possibilities, he deemed it a risk he was willing to take.

Lieutenant Lunn, though hesitant, immediately attempted to communicate with the ship before them, sending out signals as he waited for a response.

"Let's pray this doesn't end badly..."