The engagement clearly showed the Wraith fighters were expertly equipped to handle capital ships, striking their weak points with the precision of assassins, leaving the enemy unable to mount an effective defense.

Even a medium-class vessel like the Triceratops, boasting heavy armor and three Level-3 laser cannons, was considered among the most advanced, elite, and comprehensively powerful medium warships in the solar system, surpassing some older large-class battleships. While the Valkyrie's main cannon inflicted limited damage, the Triceratops rapidly lost its protective layers under the relentless assault of the Wraith fighters. Against the warships lurking in the Asteroid Belt, the outcome would have been even more definitive.

When the battle finally ceased, the bridge erupted into a wave of elation.

“Sisters, we can celebrate later. Resume your duties now. Search for escape pods, isolation chambers, fighters—any location where survivors might be found. I won't allow the immense effort put into maintaining secrecy to be undone by some minor oversight.”

Lilia poured a bucket of cold water over the jubilant crew, forcefully redirecting their focus back to their posts.

“Report on the situation around the battlefield. I need updates on the fight at Kussen, the Bluebird’s location, and those minor factions attempting to capitalize on the chaos,” Yang Ying requested, simultaneously downloading the combat data from the warship’s computer onto a data chip intended for the General Staff.

“The fighting outside Kussen continues. That Triceratops earlier proved incredibly stubborn, inflicting heavy losses on the Kussen Corps; five medium and small warships were destroyed, and most of the remaining fleet, including the flagship, sustained damage. The engagement between the fighter wings has concluded in a mutual bloodbath. The Kussen Corps lost over fifty fighters in total, including those lost to the missile barrage earlier. Furthermore, an Orangutan Ace joined the fray, destroying over a dozen Kussen fighters. However, based on the intelligence analyzed so far, the Kussen Corps still maintains the advantage; the Triceratops’s defeat was inevitable.”

“Since separating from us, the Bluebird has remained hidden in the designated meteor zone and has not moved.”

“Those minor factions have already been neutralized discreetly.”

The Observer and the Communications Officer relayed the required intelligence to Yang Ying, piece by piece.

“Understood,” Yang Ying acknowledged.

Having finished downloading the combat data, Yang Ying closed his eyes for a moment of contemplation, then dispatched the data chip to the staff headquarters for analysis. Upon his return, the cleanup of the Triceratops wreckage was complete; every possibility of finding survivors had been erased.

After the fleet finished its mop-up operations, they proceeded to retrieve the freighter carrying the Bluebird’s cargo, then reformed their ranks and headed back toward Kussen. As they approached a distance where Kussen was visible to the naked eye, they witnessed a horrifying spectacle.

The Triceratops, engulfed in roaring flames, hurtled toward Kussen City at full speed. On the other side, the Kussen fleet desperately closed the distance, pouring all available firepower into the burning hulk. Every hit from the large warships’ Level-4 main cannons tore massive holes in the Triceratops’s armor, triggering colossal internal explosions. Yet, despite being riddled with wounds, the vessel remained fixed on its collision course with Kussen, driven only by momentum.

A few faster, smaller warships managed to catch up to the Triceratops’s stern, but their Level-2 laser cannons offered little more than symbolic resistance.

The Triceratops’s engines had long since shut down and disconnected from the reactor; only a direct hit by a Level-4 main cannon onto the reactor core could force the ship to break apart from internal detonation, but the current accuracy made such a strike highly improbable.

At this critical moment, those small warships demonstrated true valor. They lined up in formation, curved around to the Triceratops’s flank, and slammed into it at full throttle!

The Triceratops’s outer hull buckled under the impact, but the bows of the attacking ships crumpled far worse, nearly embedding themselves into the main body of the alien vessel. Simultaneously, their rear thrusters fired continuously, shoving the Triceratops off its original trajectory. Seconds later, the small warships sustained critical structural failure and detonated one by one; the intense bursts of energy pushed the Triceratops back even further.

Still, the Triceratops was agonizingly close to Kussen.

Witnessing the scene, Yang Ying was momentarily struck speechless. His gaze swept the bridge, noting how every woman there had risen from her seat, breath held, staring fixedly at the screen as the Triceratops approached Kussen.

Ultimately, the Triceratops did graze Kussen, but the sacrifice of those small warships proved effective. Instead of a direct hit, the Triceratops scraped along the city’s edge. It breached the city’s energy barrier, was caught by the artificial gravity, skidded several hundred meters across the ground, and then shot back out through the gap in the barrier into space.

After exiting Kussen’s immediate vicinity, the Triceratops coasted for a short distance before detonating in a massive explosion that scattered it into cosmic dust.

But the ordeal was not over. From the bridge screens, the crew watched as a hatch on the Triceratops’s back opened just before the final blast, launching a single escape pod that shot through the gaping hole and into Kussen.

Due to the vacuum of space, Kussen’s air rapidly vented through the two large breaches in the barrier, sucking nearby pedestrians, foliage, and plant life into the void.

A section of alloy armor, shaped like claws—narrow at the top, wide at the bottom—rose from outside the barrier, crawling up along its surface until the two sections met at the apex, sealing Kussen tightly within.

Clap, clap, clap…

On the bridge, Yang Ying began to applaud, and soon the entire crew joined in, catching his infectious enthusiasm.

Though they were strangers, the actions of the Kussen Corps’ small warships—valor and sacrifice being far harder to enact than to simply proclaim—would resonate with any compassionate human being anywhere.

“Let’s go, we head into Kussen. We still have a mission handover to complete,” Yang Ying said, lowering his hands.

“Commander…” Lilia hesitated, clearly wanting to speak.

“What is it?” Yang Ying looked at her, waiting.

“I just wanted to say… if you were in Kussen, we would do exactly what those small warships did.” Lilia’s expression was intensely serious, devoid of any jest. The other female officers on the bridge nodded in agreement.

Yang Ying paused for a few seconds before a slow smile spread across his face. “I am very pleased and grateful to have people like you working for me. But if something like that were truly to happen, please, do not do it. Because I can simply summon a warship from the Palm Interstellar and make my escape.”

Hearing this, Lilia’s expression immediately chilled. “Commander, saying that completely ruins the mood.”

“Why must the atmosphere be so heavy?” Yang Ying chuckled, shrugging lightly.

The main battleships of the Kussen Corps fleet began to withdraw, leaving smaller vessels and fighters to handle the remaining duties. The Valkyrie fleet approached Kussen Port and requested docking clearance from the tower. After a lengthy series of procedures, approval was finally granted two hours later.

This delay was because Orangutan landing parties were active within Kussen City, which had been placed under wartime emergency status and strict lockdown, causing the protracted complications for Yang Ying and his team seeking entry.

(One more update tonight, looking for recommendation votes!)