Chapter 53: Judgment Day at Jupiter Orbit

Inside the Human Federation battleship’s bridge smoke hung thick in the air.

It was just like a warzone.

First Fleet Commander Crester crouched behind a control panel, electromagnetic rifle in hand, a dozen officers at his side all taking cover behind consoles or pillars.

By the main entrance to the bridge lay the bodies of five fallen Klein warriors.

All around them over thirty Federation officers had also lost their lives.

Yes, officers—not just common soldiers.

The lowest rank among the dead was Second Lieutenant every one of them bridge crew for this warship.

At first glance it seemed the Klein invaders had finally been pushed back from the bridge but in reality…

Far off heavy footsteps unique to the Klein people were getting closer by the second.

“General, you really didn’t have to—”

Not far away stood the ship’s captain, his bright Major General insignia clear for all to see.

Gasping for breath he tried to speak to Crester.

But he never finished—the General cut him off.

“The Federation doesn’t lack another top officer, much less with so many promising young ones rising already. Only if I die do they get their chance, right?”

“Besides, after giving the order that doomed those two escort fleets, it makes sense that I stay to see it through. It’s only fair, don’t you think?”

Crester waved off the protest and spoke calmly.

Two escort fleets—sixty warships, nearly a hundred thousand crew.

One command and that many lives snuffed out. So Crester could only take responsibility by leading from the front.

As for the First Fleet, the Federation wouldn’t miss one Lieutenant General. Someone else would fill the gap soon enough.

Besides, the next generation was already ready—and especially the one who dreamed up this operation…

He didn’t have any regrets left.

“Status report?”

Crester turned to the other side of the ruined bridge—where the radar officer was huddled.

The console was damaged but the radar itself was hanging on, still connected via the tactical smart computer.

“General, it’s just us left. Every other ship has…”

“What about the time?”

“Over seven minutes have passed. Even if the enemy gets past us and notices the anomaly ahead, it’s too late!”

“Good!”

Getting that confirmation, the last burden lifted from Crester’s heart.

For the first time he felt strangely at ease.

He stood up and braced his electromagnetic rifle atop the half-shattered control console, taking aim at the door.

Seeing this the others quickly followed suit.

A few heartbeats later—

Over a dozen Klein warriors appeared just outside the bridge.

And as their leader stepped onto the deck—

“Open fire!”

——-

One minute later.

“Alum, sir! We’re reading a massive energy surge from within the planet—it can’t be real!”

“What exactly is happening?”

“Sir, if the readings are right the energy matches an astronomical impact—whatever hit must be at least 3000 kilometers in diameter!”

“What…”

Alum stood there, stunned.

An object over 3000 kilometers wide smashing into this planet… Jupiter?

But they hadn’t tracked any asteroid incoming, let alone something so colossal.

It didn’t make any sense!

Wait—!

“Quick—check all of Jupiter’s moons! See if they’re—”

“Alum, sir! The front-line fleet reports they’ve wiped out the human interceptors and moved forward, but something’s off: there should be a moon visible beyond that position, but now it’s just gone.”

“What!!!”

Alum’s eyes went wide with shock.

He’d only just started wondering about it and was about to give the order when the frontline had already sent the report in.

He hadn’t even needed to ask.

One of Jupiter’s moons was gone…

And those moons were all giants.

If one of those things fell—

But wait, was that really the point right now?

Given where the moon should have been—if it were knocked from orbit—

A behemoth over 3000 kilometers across crashed into Jupiter. The energy released would be unimaginable—far beyond what a homeworld could withstand.

So the planet couldn’t absorb the impact, and the excess energy would blast straight into orbit—a predictable outcome.

Damn it…

Judging by the trajectories, half my fleet could get caught in the blast.

So this was the humans’ true plan all along.

From the start of the war, we’d stepped into their trap without ever realizing.

“Order every ship to break orbit! Forget the formation, just run! Hurry!”

“Uh… right! Yes, sir!”

Alum shouted the command.

His officers froze for a split second, but then the gravity hit them.

They scrambled to relay the order.

But it was all far too late!

Commands were given, ships tried to veer away, anything to escape Jupiter’s orbit.

But course corrections took precious time—and leaving orbit was no quick task either.

Two time-consuming maneuvers at once could only mean one thing.

It took far, far too long.

Back on the homeworld, the entire planet was in an uproar.

The surface itself was hell on earth.

Roughly thirty seconds later the pent-up energy finally burst through, shooting up in a fan towards the sky—

No—straight at the orbiting fleets.

In a blink, more than a third of Jupiter’s orbit was consumed. Against that tidal wave of energy nothing survived; everything was reduced to nothingness.

The whole eruption lasted only a few minutes.

And when the storm passed, as the Klein regrouped to take stock—

Alum nearly lost his mind.

Three hundred warships sent to attack Europa smashed its defenses at the cost of just thirty-seven.

Then, following Alum’s earlier commands, the others had rushed to reinforce the main battle at Jupiter’s orbit.

And the result…

They ran headlong into Jupiter’s unleashed fury.

Wiped out to the last ship.

Of the 2500-plus vessels fighting for control over Jupiter’s orbit, two hundred went down in a day-long running battle.

But after Io crashed into Jupiter, over 1300 ships didn’t escape the ensuing devastation.

Now…

Alum’s fleet was down to just a thousand ships.

All the overwhelming numbers they’d counted on before—

Had all vanished into thin air.

Why…

How did it come to this?

The Klein clan had fought wars with other civilizations for decades.

But never—never had anyone used tactics like this. Not once in any recorded conflict across the galaxy.

Just who was this human commander?

“Patch me through to the Patriarch. I’ll answer for this myself.”

“Yes, sir! Right away!”