Chương 628: Chapter 629: Honestly, you blow up one sun

"How long?" The captain of the capital ship asked.

"We need another forty seconds to complete docking of all our mechs and fighters," The commander replied.

"Good enough," The captain replied before turning to the weapons officer and ordering, "Prepare to deploy the solar bomb."

"Yes, sir," The weapons officer replied excitedly.

"So now what?" Stacey asked in a disappointed tone as she watched the enemy fleet preparing to leave.

"I guess we make sure the Imperial Down is alright and protect them until they can once again enter FTL or subspace," Rowena replied.

"And if they can't?" Stacey asked.

"Well, we can either transport some of them to the nearest occupied planet or wait until help arrives," Rowena answered.

"Not sure it's a good idea to let just anyone on board, Spector," Aphrodite stated.

"We let you on board, didn't we?" Rowena asked in a teasing tone.

"Well, I've proven myself trustworthy," Aphrodite replied smugly.

"I'm not sure about that," Stacey replied before adding, "You keep trying to get your claws into Adam after all."

"Hey! I've been good and resisted the urge to pounce on him, haven't I?" Aphrodite asked defensively.

"Only because we're forcing you to," Stacey replied while rolling her eyes.

"Pretty sure I recall preventing you from kissing him before we left," Rowena added. Aphrodite was about to reply when Spector suddenly made an announcement, "ALERT. Detecting solar system-level destruction weapon launch from enemy capital-class ship."

"WHAT!" All three women yelled in shock. [Whitehorn (Darah 5): WAIT WHAT! Did it just say a system-level destruction weapon?] [OfficialKasumi (Aqua Primus): The fuck are they thinking?] [NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): Who are these people who are willing to deploy a system-level destruction weapon just to kill one princess?] [MercheadAnderson (Palaxia): The Gargolian race is in deep shit, their capital planet is in that solar system.] [LadyErkath (Alastor): So that's their plan.] [NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): What do you mean?] [LadyErkath (Alastor): We know that the Imperial Down is currently unable to enter FTL or subspace. Because of this, they can't escape and so they plan to probably destroy it with the solar system-level destruction weapon.] [OfficialMuriel (Aqua Primus): Along with everyone and everything else in the system.] [Whostolemyduck (Earth): Wait, so you mean to say that a solar system-level destruction weapon does exactly that? Destroy solar systems?] [Gunlovergirl (Earth): That's so fucking hot.] [1000yearsofdeath (Earth): It does exactly what it says on the tin. Kekeke.] [Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Don't you mean casing? Kek.] [AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): This isn't a damn Ronseal advert.] [DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Yes. A solar system-level destruction weapon is capable of destroying an entire solar system. Though the way it does it depends on the weapon used, with solar bombs being the most common and effective method.]"What type of solar system-level destruction weapon is it?" Adam asked.

"A solar bomb," Spector replied. [DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): See.]"Fucking idiots, they plan to destabilise the sun and make it go supernova," Aphrodite cursed in alarm. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. [Whostolemyduck (Earth): Destabilise the sun?] [NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): Every star is a delicate balance between the explosive force of the fusion going on in its core, which tends to want to blow it apart, and the gravitational force of its mass, which tends to want to crush it into a little ball. The solar bomb disturbs that balance by enhancing the fusion in the core and thus causing it to blow up and create a supernova.] [OracleRomy (Elysium): Of course, once the sun blows up, it will no longer exist, so anything that somehow manages to survive the supernova will eventually die out without the heat from the sun.] [Noobkiller9000 (Earth): That's….. Bad.] [Gunlovergirl (Earth): That's awesome.] [Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Girl, please, we're talking about the end of all life in a solar system here. I'm not sure awesome is an appropriate word.] [SciFifanboy (Earth): That's so Sci-fi.] [RealOtaku (Earth): Honestly, you blow up one sun.] [SciFifanboy (Earth): Hell yeah, Carter.] [Superior4horns (Vinox 3): Who's Carter?] [Noobkiller9000 (Earth): A character from a Sci-fi program who blew up a sun.]"Can you stop the launch?" Adam asked.

"Negative, I am yet to gain control of their systems," Spector replied.

"Yet to gain control of their systems?" Rowena repeated before asking, "What does that mean?" Adam ignored Rowena's question and instead asked, "What would happen if we destroyed the solar bomb before it reaches the sun?"

"The bomb would naturally go critical; however, the sun would be prevented from going supernova," Spector replied.

"Good enough," Adam said before he had Spector Unit 6 jet towards the capital-class ship. [[NDS: 0%]] [[NDS Deactivating]] As the NDS system deactivated, the blue streak that was Spector Unit 6 suddenly slowed down as it began to transform again. The four shoulder cannons reverted to their normal design while Spector Unit 6's legs reattached and the head returned to its normal shape.

"Fuck, what bad timing," Adam cursed before he ordered, "Spector, get the girls out of here."

"What?" The three girls asked in surprise.

"Affirmative, entering subspace in three."

"Spector, stop," Stacey ordered.

"Two. One." A crack in subspace opened in front of Spector before it passed through and vanished.

"CAPTAIN! SOLAR BOMB DETECTED!" The sensor operator on the Imperial Down suddenly shouted in alarm.

"WHAT! WHERE?" Andria asked in shock as everyone turned to the sensor operator.

"Enemy capital ship," The sensor operator replied as the viewscreen switched to show something emerging from the capital-class ship before it streaked off towards the sun.

"DESTROY IT!" Andria ordered.

"It's out of energy weapon range and a missile won't catch up to it in time," the weapons officer reported.

"The main cannon will also take too long to charge," The commander added.

"Helm, bring us about and move us away from the sun, best possible speed," Andria ordered before turning to the commander and asking, "How are repairs coming along on our FTL drives?"

"The subspace drive is still overloaded from when we got knocked out of subspace and the repair teams are working to fix the sabotage on the stardrive," The commander reported.

"Tell them to hurry, or we're all dead," Andria replied.

"Captain, the Spector just jumped into subspace," The sensor officer replied.

"Lucky fuckers," The weapons officer remarked.

"What happened to them being here to save us?" The helm officer asked in disappointment.

"Quiet down," Andria ordered before continuing, "We can't expect them to remain and risk their lives to rescue us when we barely know each other. It was already good of them to come help us in the first place."

"With all due respect, ma'am, that's a load of bull," The helm officer replied.

"Stow it, Lieutenant, respect the chain of command," The commander said angrily.

"What's the point in respecting the chain of command if we're all about to die?" The helm officer asked.

"You're relieved, Lieutenant," Andria suddenly announced.

"What?" The helm officer asked in surprise.

"I don't need people who lose their heads in life-threatening situations, especially bridge officers," Andria explained before turning to the commander and ordering.

"Escort the Lieutenant back to her quarters. We will decide what to do with her once this crisis is over."

"Ma'am," The commander saluted before turning to the helm officer and ordering, "With me, Lieutenant."

"Tch, fine," The helm officer replied while clicking her tongue, after which the commander escorted them from the bridge.

"Captain, who's going to operate the ship?" The weapons officer asked. Andria didn't reply except to take the helm, after which she ordered, "Sensors, keep an eye on the solar bomb."

"Ma'am," The sponsor officer replied before adding, "Captain, the enemy ships are entering subspace and retreating."

"Solar bomb deployed, captain," The weapons officer of the Capital-class ship reported.

"Good," The captain replied before pressing one of the holographic controls on his armrest and then began to speak.

"Fleet commander to fleet. We have just launched a solar bomb; all ships are to enter subspace and evacuate this system before heading for the prearranged meeting point." After the captain finished addressing the fleet, they turned to the helm officer and ordered, "Helm, take us into subspace."

"Aye, Captain."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm not sure if what we are witnessing in the holographic projection is live or just a music video for Diva Lorelie's new album, but right now I'm hoping that it's the latter," Soots, the Ashes Galaxy correspondent for the USNN, announced.

"It must surely be a music video or something similar. I can't see anybody being foolish enough to launch a solar bomb," Admiral Eterna replied.

"Admiral, I thought it was only the leader of a race who could authorise the launch of solar system-level destruction weapons?" Soots asked.

"You are correct and this is why I believe that we are simply watching a promotional video, because the alternative is far more scary."

"Far more scary? What do you mean?"

"If, for argument's sake, this isn't a promotional video for Diva Lorelie's new album or anything like that, then that means that some group or organisation we have no knowledge of have access to solar system-level destruction weapons and that's scary," Eterna explained.

"Oh my," Soots gasped in realisation.