In a split second, the dark sky of Cronos I ignited in blinding white!
The Goeil family following the confrontation on a hill outside their village was montarily blinded—
Then a shock wave deafened them, destroying their ears and hurling them several ters!
The children scread in pain, but their parents couldn't hear their cries, helpless to do a single thing in the face of such destruction.
The explosion's shock wave hit a third of the planet's surface, affecting it far worse in so places than the deafened villagers. Several cities directly beneath the explosion were leveled, and many Geoils even further away suffered severe burns.
A wave of panic spread across the panic as Cronos I's inhabitants imagined more and more weapons of this caliber exploding in their planet's atmosphere!
***
CRONOS I PLANETARY ATMOSPHERE
Despite the Federation's attempts to flee the explosion, so of their closest ships were damaged or destroyed, though they'd managed to flee thousands of kiloters from the center of the blast.
This bomb was one of the Federation's most secret weapons, a prototype 1 gaton antimatter bomb. The Federation had never been overly intimidated by the imnse military and economic superiority of the Orc Empire in large part because of this bomb's existence.
The Federation knew that the Orcs were inferior in terms of military technology, and so this was a weapon the Federation could use against them without fear of retaliation in kind.
In his flagship, Grand Admiral Azerof turned to his second in command. "Announce the Federation's victory. No, wait! Announce 'my' victory."
His subordinate didn't react to this egomaniacal abuse of power, but only nodded to signal acknowledgent.
But as Azerof savored his victory, a detection officer shouted, "Enemy signals spotted! There were survivors!"
Azerof didn't let his shock show on his face. "Survivors? Deserters, more likely! Clarify at once!"
The officer's answer ca slowly. "No... They're much too nurous! Hold on, collating teletry from just before the explosion… The enemy flagship and the remaining ships never approached the frontlines, Commander! There really are survivors in the Orc fleet!"
Azerof marched to the control station and stared at the holo display.
The officer's data was correct. The Orc fleet had suffered huge losses, but the bomb was supposed to wipe them out completely! It seed that Regnier had been so cowardly that he'd hung back very far from his fleet—and had ten corps with him.
One thousand Orc ships, still ready for battle.
Azerof imdiately ordered all the remaining Federation ships to return to battle formations—
But the Orcs wasted no ti! Rather than retreat, they imdiately swooped into a spearheaded attack formation and surged across open space towards the thirty-four remaining Federation corps!
***
TERRA
Citizens filled the streets in celebration! They waved the flag of the Federation, a blue field with a geotric eagle and stars upon it. Everyone chanted Azerof's na, hailing their hero who had just dealt a crippling blow to the savage Orcs and, probably, stopped the war! In everyone's minds, Azerof was a true hero of the people.
In the presidential palace, far above the celebrating civilians, two n watched a huge holographic screen on the far wall.
These two were Chancellor Souley and General Ralfot, of course.
"Our next fight," muttered Ralfot, "will be against Grand Admiral Azerof himself. This new popularity will be extrely dangerous for us, and for the Federation as a whole. I propose that we set up a mission to eliminate Azerof imdiately upon his return. Also, we should arrest all known Human Supremacists! They can't be allowed to overthrow the rule of law."
Chancellor Souley replied, "No. If Azerof and the Supremacists try to overthrow the governnt, they will be tried for their cris. However, I don't want to start a civil war. That 'will' happen if we comnce such an operation, Ralfot.
"For now, please realize that Azerof and the Supremacists will be unprepared for the difficulty which the political spotlight will bring them. Politics crushes the soul and breaks down idealism, even that of the Supremacists."
But before Ralfot could reply, the holo feed suddenly erupted into action once more as the surviving Orcs attacked the Federation fleet!
***
Azerof was clever and cunning. The Orcs had begun a suicide mission, but he wouldn't be arrogant and simply throw all his ships at the enemy. Instead, he sent fifteen corps to fight the Orcs, leading nineteen in reserve.
If Regnier had any tricks up his sleeve, this would allow Azerof the opportunity to counter Regnier's plan!
The two fleets made contact, ships flying around one another and returning to a very standard battle. The Orcs, no longer able to make use of their usual strategies involving overwhelming numbers, seed almost on the verge of panic! They were no longer able to have two corps flank a single enemy corps which strayed too far from its allies, but had to face more skilled opponents on equal footing!
Moreover, the morale of the Orcs was clearly broken. It was devastating to the psyche of any pilot to see almost all your allies wiped from existence in a single instant… let alone to wonder whether what other similarly powerful weapons your enemy might be wielding!
These disadvantages proved too much for the Orcs to handle, and it seed as though the Federation ships would wipe them all out, sending them after their dead allies—
Until an intense beam of red light exploded in the middle of the battlefield before collapsing again.
A dark gray humanoid, several hundreds of ters long and wielding a huge sword of red crystal, floated in outer space.
His weapon pulsed in the light of the system's star, as though made of living blood. A red halo ford behind his head, giving the illusion of a bloody solar eclipse.
The giant creature was none other than Regnier.
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