Interstellar Survival: Invasion

The corridor was located on the sixth level. As Sarje and I ran toward the corridor, we noted that the floor of the corridor had already been destroyed by the explosions, leaving the railings at the sides of the corridor. The flame had already reached the railings, pushing the temperature of the railings to a rather high level. I took the chance to look around. Zhang Bao'er and the others were nowhere to be found while my communicator still wasn't working.

"What’s happening? Where are they?" I became doubtful.

"Canyue, this corridor no longer has its floor. Looks like we won't be able to get through," said Sarje.

"If this is the only path remaining, we need to get through. We'll take the railing. I'll help you with my morph-capable shield," I said.

I extended my shield and included Sarje within its protection. Then, I grabbed the railing with both hands and started moving forward while hanging onto the railing. Even with the protection of my shield, I could still feel a burning sensation from both my hands. However, the only thought I could entertain in my brain at that moment was to escape.

As a Gando warrior, Sarje had a burly build. The moment he climbed onto the railing, the badly damaged railing started shaking. However, we had no choice but to grit our teeth and continue onward.

The hangar was a raging sea of fire, and the soldiers and drones previously in here had already escaped. The environment was harsh, but both Sarje and I continued moving farther and farther from danger. Suddenly, a buzzing rang out behind me. An enemy drone had appeared behind us.

"Damn this drone! Why is it still here?" I cursed.

The drone was apparently ignoring the raging flames and collapsing structures in the area, flying slowly at a low altitude in search of something. It was about to reach us soon, so I could only stay still and pray that it wouldn't notice us.

The drone flew above the railing, and soon, it flew past the position we were hanging from. It did not seem to have noticed us. Further ahead, it accelerated and entered a room ahead of us.

"Looks like there must be something valuable in that room," I said to Sarje.

"Let's go there. We'll see what's so valuable," suggested Sarje.

"Ok. Let's see if we can find anything useful inside. We can't come this far and return empty-handed," I said as I moved even faster. Finally, the two of us were through the collapsing corridor.

Right after we stepped onto solid ground, the corridor behind us collapsed loudly into the sea of fire below.

"My god. If we were even a second slower, we would have died. That was way too close," said Sarje. He couldn't believe how lucky we had been.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The drone had entered a room ahead of us. We did not have the time to hesitate, so we hurriedly rushed toward the room. With the cracking sound of the raging flames in the background, we slowly approached the drone. I could already hear the noise made by the drone.

Sarje and I slowly moved ahead and hid behind a metal wall. There, I saw the drone stopping behind two individuals. The two were clad in protective suits and were busy downloading some information from the system. They were rather short and small, and although their suits had covered their true appearance, their bodies resembled those from the Sacred Wing race. 

Since we could not afford to waste any time, I signaled Sarje with my eyes, and then the two of us dashed forth at the same time. The two individuals were quickly taken down. When Sarje took off the mask of one of them, a familiar Sacred Wing face was revealed before our eyes.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" asked the nervous Sacred Wing.

"Are you stupid? A battle is raging outside, and I'm not a member of the Divine Empire. Who else could I be?" I asked.

"Someone from the league? Those fighters had escaped. There are still some left behind? Lamo, you were too careless! See, we're in trouble now!" the Sacred Wing complained to his companion.

"You were very sure that there was nobody here. I told you to not be too greedy. What's the point of stealing this battleship's core system? You'll get something similar after you're promoted to priest. Are you happy now? We're now prisoners!" complained the person called Lamo.

"Sigh," the other Sacred Wing let out a heavy sigh, looking incredibly gloomy.

"Shut your mouths! I'm in charge here! Are you putting on a show for us?" said Sarje fiercely.

"Friends, did you enter the battleship by riding the drone? I thought the drone couldn't carry passengers," I asked.

"Who says a drone can't carry passengers? Anything I modified can perform any task I wish," said Lamo.

"You talk too much. That will be the death of you," complained the other Sacred Wing.

"He's Lamo. What about you?" I asked.

"I'm Somo. What's your name?" 

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I was actually being interrogated by someone I was interrogating.

"Are you courting death? How can the name of Superior Li Canyue be known by someone as insignificant as you?" said Sarje, though his counter was rather stupid.

"Oh, so you're Li Canyue. I didn't expect you to look like this," said the two little fellows, who, for some reason, were turning excited.

"What's wrong with my looks? Tell me. Looks like you're very familiar with my reputation," I said, feeling rather smug at the attention I was getting.

"You don't have that much of a reputation, but the high priest and Master Wind both mentioned you before. Among those from a planet-level civilization, you can be considered a lucky one," said Somo.

"Master Wind? You know Master Wind?" I asked.

"Of course. He had visited us many times to compare notes and exchange knowledge," said Lamo.

"Then do you know Temo?" I asked.

"Temo? Are you referring to the person who was sent to watch over a warehouse because he was the least educated among us?" asked Lamo. I found myself speechless. So Temo was actually the least educated among the Sacred Wing race?

"I think so. He made a ship called Markus. It is fighting bitterly outside. I need you to take me to him," I said.

"Markus? Hahahaha!" the two burst out in laughter.

"What are you laughing about? Shut up, or I'll teach you a nice lesson!" threatened Sarje.

"Markus is a stupid transport ship. I heard that Temo had modified a transport ship, but how powerful can a transport ship be?" said Somo.

The reply caused me to take a deep breath in shock. I had not expected that the ship we regarded as an extremely high-end product was actually a low-end product for the Sacred Wing race. I realized that the height of technology was not something my brain could even begin to comprehend.

"Stop wasting my time. Can your drone take us out of here? If there's not enough space in your drone, both of you can stay here," threatened Sarje.

"No, no, of course there's enough space. It will be a tight squeeze, but there is enough space," said the two, who were finally feeling nervous. 

"Then let's get going. This place is going to explode soon. Open the drone's door. We'll get in first," demanded Sarje.

The two Sacred Wings ran toward the drone and opened the door. The modified drone had its weaponry system removed to make way for a rather large empty space inside. It would be able to carry all four of us fine. With the door opened, Sarje entered first before calling me over.

"You two, wait a moment," I suddenly stopped the two little fellows.

"What are you thinking of doing?" asked Somo and Lamo. They seemed rather nervous, perhaps due to Sarje's threats.

"Don't worry. You're here for the battleship's core system, right? You forgot to retrieve the data you downloaded. You can take what you downloaded with you," I said.

That reminded the two of them of their initial purpose. They must not have expected that I would remember what they had been doing. They shot me a look of gratitude before Lamo rushed back to retrieve the drive he had used to download the database.

I waited for them to finish everything and enter the drone before boarding after them. The two little fellows piloted the drone toward the exit. Along the way, we witnessed a scene of carnage. The terrain was extremely difficult to navigate, but the two little fellows were able to skillfully move through numerous gaps as if this was their home. Before long, we were out of the burning hangar.

After going through a door, we reached a different hangar. The place was bustling with activity, but the flames had not spread this far yet. The soldiers and drones that had escaped the previous hangar had all gathered here.

"Everyone, retreat immediately. The battleship's core is becoming unstable. A massive explosion might happen at any time. All soldiers, get into your respective ships and leave," a robotic voice was being broadcast in the hangar.

At that time, I saw several drones flying toward us.

"Don't play any tricks and get us out. Otherwise, I'll find your heads a new home," threatened Sarje.