NOT YET FINISHED
[Location: High Altitude - The Flying City of Atlantis]
[Velocity: Mach 3]
[Status: Ascending.]
The sensation of riding a city into space was not smooth. The ground shook violently. Buildings rattled. The massive waterfalls that usually cascaded from the city edge were now defying gravity, the water turning into mist that trailed behind us like a cot’s tail.
I stood at the helm of the HMS Profit Margin, which was currently docked atop the highest spire of Atlantis. My hands were on the controls, but I wasn’t flying the ship. I was flying the island.
"World Engine output at 110%!" Sparky scread over the roar of the atmospheric friction. "The mana conduits are glowing red! If we push any harder, the city foundation will crack!"
"Let it crack," I said, my eyes fixed on the burning sky above. "We just need it to hold until impact."
The Planetary Shield grid was directly ahead. A massive blue net that separated us from the void. Beyond it, the red lights of the Interstellar Fleet were waiting. They looked like a swarm of angry hornets hovering over a hive.
"Approaching the breach point!" Sylvia announced from the sensor station. "Sector 4 shield dropping in 3... 2... 1..."
"NOW!" I shoved the throttle forward.
The blue grid flickered and vanished. A hole, five miles wide, opened in the sky.
To the alien commanders waiting on the other side, it must have looked like a surrender. The shield dropping. The defenses lowering. They probably prepared their boarding parties, expecting a desperate plea for rcy.
They didn’t expect a continent to punch them in the face.
BOOM.
Atlantis smashed through the hole.
We exited the atmosphere. The roar of the wind vanished, replaced by the silence of the vacuum. But the violence didn’t stop.
Directly in our path was a heavy cruiser of the Hegemony Fleet.
It was sleek, silver, and the size of a mountain.
But Atlantis was the size of a country.
CRUNCH.
The cruiser slamd into the city’s outer wall. The impact was silent in space, but we felt it. The entire city shuddered. The coral towers flexed, and the ancient stone groaned under the stress.
The alien ship crumpled like a tin can. Its hull buckled against the ancient, magic-reinforced coral stone of Atlantis. Fuel tanks ruptured. A silent explosion blossod, tearing the cruiser in half.
Debris bounced off the city’s forcefield.
"First blood," I grinned. "Hull integrity?"
"City shields down to 80%!" Sparky reported. "We took so structural damage in the lower districts! The slum area is... gone."
"Those were the slums," I waved my hand dismissively. "Urban renewal. Less mouths to feed."
We cleared the debris field. The enemy fleet was in disarray. They scrambled to re-position.
"ENEMY FORMATION DETECTED," Sol’s voice bood. "THEY ARE REGROUPING. 1,000 SHIPS TARGETING US."
I looked at the tactical map. A wall of red dots was forming ahead. Dreadnoughts. Carriers. And thousands of fighter drones swarming like angry bees.
"They’re going to focus fire," Sylvia warned. "The city shield can’t tank a volley from a thousand ships. We’re too big a target."
"I know," I said. "That’s why we brought reinforcents."
I tapped the comms.
"Gallywix. Initiate Protocol: at Shield."
"You an... the ’Valiant Sacrifice’ Protocol?" Gallywix’s voice crackled, sounding hesitant.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Deploy them."
On the lower levels of the city, the massive hangar doors ground open.
Thousands of shapes poured out into the void.
They weren’t ships.
They were Undead.
Gargoyles made of stone and bone. Drakes resurrected from the frozen wastes. Necro-chs with jetpacks strapped to their skeletal backs.
They sward out like a cloud of locusts. They didn’t have weapons to fight starships. They didn’t have shields.
They had mass.
"Advance!" I commanded.
The undead swarm flew directly into the path of the incoming enemy fire.
The alien fleet fired. Lasers, plasma bolts, and kinetic rounds.
They hit the swarm.
[System Notification]
[Minion Lost.]
[Minion Lost.]
[Minion Lost.]
Thousands of notifications scrolled past my vision. It was a massacre. The undead were vaporized by the thousands. Bone dust and stone fragnts filled the space between us and the enemy.
But the lasers didn’t hit the city.
The swarm absorbed the first volley. They acted as a living, ablative armor.
"Cruel," Seraphina whispered, watching the slaughter of the dead. "They didn’t even have a chance."
"They were already dead," I said coldly. "They served their purpose. They bought us ti."
"Ti for what?" Ahri asked.
"Ti to reload."
I looked at the central spire of the city. The forr Imperial Palace of Atlantis.
"Sparky. Activate The Big Stick."
"Power diverting!" Sparky yelled. "Shutting down life support in sectors 1 through 9! Diverting all mana to the Main Cannon!"
The lights in the city went out. The gravity generators whined down. The entire tropolis went dark.
All the energy was funneled into the spire.
The tip of the palace opened up like a flower. A massive barrel, ten kiloters long, extended from the center.
It began to glow. A deep, blinding blue. The gathered mana of an entire planet condensed into a single point.
Sol took control of the targeting.
"CALCULATING TRAJECTORY... TARGET: ENEMY CLUSTER CENTRAL MASS."
The alien fleet saw the energy spike. They tried to scatter.
"Too late," I whispered.
"Fire."
VWOOM.
The recoil was so massive that it pushed the entire city backward. If we hadn’t been in space, the sonic boom would have shattered every window on the planet below.
A beam of pure, concentrated Aether shot out. It was five miles wide. A solid pillar of destruction.
It crossed the distance in a microsecond.
It hit the center of the enemy formation.
It didn’t just destroy ships. It erased them.
The beam punched a hole through the fleet. Dreadnoughts vanished. Carriers were cut in half. The beam kept going, hitting a moon in the distance and cracking its surface.
When the light faded, there was a gap in the enemy line. A tunnel of empty space where 500 ships used to be.
[System Notification]
[Multi-Kill: x500.]
[Experience Gained: Astronomical.]
[Level Up: 44 -> 46.]
Debris rained down on our shields.
I raised my hand. The [Void Ring] pulsed.
"Auto-Loot. Range: Max."
Thousands of items flew toward . Scrap tal. Alien engines. Fuel cells. And the souls of the alien crews.
[Loot Acquired: Scrap tal x 50,000 tons.]
[Loot Acquired: Alien Souls x 20,000.]
"Efficient," I noted.
The enemy fleet was in chaos. Their formation was broken. Their commanders were panicking.
"Now," I said, turning to my crew. "While they’re confused."
I disconnected the HMS Profit Margin from the city dock.
"Gallywix," I ordered. "You have the helm of the city. Keep firing the secondary turrets. Don’t let them regroup. If anyone tries to land on the city, vent the atmosphere."
"You’re leaving here?!" Gallywix squeaked.
"You’re the Governor now. Defend your property."
I cut the link.
The Profit Margin drifted away from the floating city. We were small compared to the dreadnoughts around us, but we were faster.
"Where are we going, Boss?" Sylvia asked, taking her seat at the helm.
I pointed at a massive ship drifting near the edge of the battle. It was a World-Breaker Class Dreadnought. It had survived the blast, but its engines were flickering.
"That one," I said. "It looks expensive."
"We’re going to fight it?"
"No. We’re going to steal it."
I walked to the airlock. I checked my gear. The Star-Slayer sword. The Void Ring. The Handgun.
Ahri cracked her knuckles. Seraphina blessed her staff. Sylvia drew her ice-blade.
"We broke their nose," I grinned, putting on my void-helt.
"Now let’s go steal their wallet."
I turned to the team one last ti before depressurizing the airlock.
"Ahri, you’re on crowd control. Use your fox fire to lt any drones that get close. Sylvia, freeze the engines. I don’t want them jumping to hyperspace. Seraphina... try not to convert any aliens to your cult unless they’re high-ranking officers."
"Understood, Master!" they chorused.
"Open the door, Sparky."
HISS.
The airlock cycled. The void stared back at us.
I kicked off the hull. My magnetic boots deactivated, and I floated free.
Below , the battle raged. Atlantis was trading fire with the remnants of the alien fleet. Green and red lasers crossed the darkness.
But I wasn’t looking at the war. I was looking at the prize.
The World-Breaker Dreadnought.
It was shaped like a hamrhead shark. It bristled with cannons. It was worth more than my entire planet’s GDP.
"Mine," I whispered into the comms.
I activated my thrusters.
We flew across the gap between ships. It was a silent, deadly spacewalk.
We reached the hull of the enemy dreadnought.
I landed near an exhaust port.
"Locked," Sylvia noted, tapping the tal.
"Not for long."
I placed my hand on the hull.
[Skill: Liquidate.]
"I’m buying entry."
FLASH.
A circular section of the hull dissolved into gold coins. The coins scattered into space, glimring like new stars.
A hole opened up.
Air rushed out from inside the ship, carrying a scream alien crew mber with it.
I grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled myself in.
Gravity reasserted itself. I landed on a tal floor.
Red lights flashed. Sirens blared in an alien language.
"INTRUDER ALERT. SECTOR 7."
I stood up and dusted off my suit.
Ahri, Sylvia, and Seraphina landed behind .
"We’re in," I said.
I drew the Star-Slayer. The blade ignited with a holy, void-infused light.
Alien soldiers rounded the corner. They were insectoids. Four arms, chitinous armor, holding plasma rifles.
They chittered aggressively.
I smiled.
"Greetings," I said. "I am here to discuss your extended warranty."
"KILL THEM!" the lead alien screeched.
They opened fire.
I deflected a plasma bolt with my sword.
"Wrong answer."
I charged.
The boarding action had begun. And I intended to own this ship before dinner.
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