Chapter Summaries

Zi Guang’s unprepared fleet at the Deo Defense Line was ambushed by returning Zerg and forced to retreat, abandoning part of its forces. General West received Zi Guang’s message that Deo had fallen.

• Zerg Ion Beams destroyed or damaged many Allied Coalition warships before most had completed combat preparations.
• Zi Guang moved combat-ready ships forward, but bug nests arrived around the defense line and began releasing Combat Bugs and Sprayer Bugs.
• Zi Guang ordered the mobile warships to warp away and reported Deo’s fall to headquarters, leaving the remaining ships to be overwhelmed.
• Helme mocked Socrates after watching the Allied Coalition’s retreat through the Zerg psychic network.
• General West received Zi Guang’s message at Viers Defense Line headquarters confirming that Deo had fallen.

Admiral West concluded that a powerful new Intelligent Zerg had orchestrated the fall of Deo and alerted Leader Verto. Three months later, the allied forces encountered an enormous swarm around Hain’s fleet, while the Four Overlords’ concealment of the danger left him unaware of the new Queen Zerg.

• West learned that Zerg Warships and thousands of trillions of Zerg had overwhelmed Deo, and he inferred that a new Intelligent Zerg had planned the attack months in advance.
• West ordered his adjutant to connect him to Leader Verto so he could report the new threat.
• Three months later, Hain noted that his advancing fleet had encountered no large-scale swarms, while the Four Overlords continued withholding the truth about Deo from lower-ranking commanders.
• Hain detected millions of Bug Nests gathering ahead of his five hundred million warships and ordered his fleet into a spherical defensive formation.
• Fifteen million Bug Nests released their Zerg warriors, surrounding Hain’s fleet, and he called on the two hundred billion warships stationed behind him for fire support.
• The reserve fleet began warping toward Hain’s designated coordinates.

Hain’s fleet came under attack from Helme’s Zerg, including 500 billion Zerg Warships that ambushed the rear fire support fleet. The first volley devastated the allied forces, leaving Hain to confront heavy losses.

• Hain received a 200 billion-warship fire support fleet but remained wary of the Zerg’s behavior.
• Helme ordered the Zerg to begin their attack after watching Hain’s fleet through the Zerg Mental Network.
• Hain learned that 500 billion targets had appeared behind his fleet, and his adjutant discovered they were Zerg Warships rather than bugs.
• Hain ordered the rear fleet to evade, but the stationary ships could not move before the Zerg Warships fired.
• The Zerg Warships’ first volley destroyed 9 billion Level 3 and 400 million Level 4 allied warships.

Hain’s fleet used rotating formations and irregular maneuvers to limit losses while damaging the Zerg, but Helme revealed that the battle bugs were now responding to commands. The bugs turned toward the Level 3 and Level 4 Civilization fleet, which had left itself exposed behind Hain.

• The Zerg’s second and third attack waves inflicted progressively smaller losses as the allied fleet completed its formation adjustments.
• Hain ordered area-saturation fire, but the Zerg Warships’ hardened shells absorbed most of the damage and the allied fleet’s first strike destroyed relatively few of them.
• The allied fleet used Disordered Navigation and rotated damaged warships to the rear, gradually gaining a favorable loss ratio against the Zerg Warships.
• Helme ordered more than one thousand trillion battle bugs to stop attacking Hain’s fleet, turn around, and charge the Level 3 and Level 4 Civilization fleet.
• The Level 3 and Level 4 Civilization fleet realized too late that the Zerg were no longer acting on instinct and were now following commands.

Hain tried to open a route for the Level 3 and Level 4 fleets to retreat, but Helme’s Zerg countered with concentrated fire that overwhelmed the Vera Federation’s Spatial Shields. Hain then ordered his fleet to flank the Zerg warships and attack from the sides.

• Hain realized the Zerg were alternating attacks to keep his fleet from repositioning while their swarms threatened the Level 3 and Level 4 fleets.
• Hain ordered his fleet to charge the Zerg warship formation so the Fire Support Fleet could warp away.
• Helme directed 500 billion Zerg warships to concentrate fire on Hain’s fleet, destroying three million warships and breaking through their Spatial Shields.
• Hain ordered his fleet to split up and arc around both flanks of the Zerg formation.
• Hain commanded the flanking forces to cut into the Zerg warships.

Hain’s fleet pushed into the Zerg formation, only to discover that the Zerg Warships were remotely draining their energy cores. Hain ordered an immediate breakout as the fleet risked losing the power needed to keep its shields active or warp away.

• Helme recognized Hain’s flanking attack and sent orders through the Zerg psychic network, while Hain prepared to withdraw his forces after they entered the Zerg formation.
• Hain noticed the void turning faintly red as his adjutant reported that the warships’ energy cores were rapidly losing power despite no malfunction being detected.
• Hain ordered an all-direction scan, and the results showed energy flowing from every warship into the surrounding Zerg Warships.
• Hain realized the Zerg Warships were remotely extracting his fleet’s energy and ordered his ships to break out at maximum speed.

Hain organized the Level 3 and Level 4 Civilization fleets’ retreat while Helme’s Zerg Warships continued firing on them. The Fire Support Fleet withdrew at heavy cost, leaving Hain’s Level 5 Civilization fleet as the only force still to retreat.

• Hain split the Fire Support Fleet into groups of 150 billion and 50 billion warships, using the smaller group as a wall while the first group prepared to warp away.
• Hain ordered his fleet to fire on Helme’s Zerg Warships, but they ignored the attack and continued targeting the Level 3 and Level 4 Civilization fleet.
• The first group endured repeated volleys and lost 6.8 billion warships before completing its withdrawal.
• Hain ordered the second group to lower its shields and activate its Warp Drive Engines without turning, and it escaped after losing 18 billion warships.
• Hain relaxed slightly once both groups had withdrawn, leaving only his Level 5 Civilization fleet to retreat.

Hain’s fleet attempted to escape the Zerg by turning and accelerating, but the Zerg Warships nearly matched their speed and pursued them through sustained attacks. Just as Hain believed his fleet was nearly safe, Helme ordered a massive strike aimed at Hain’s flagship.

• Hain ordered his fleet to turn through curved flight and widen the distance from the Zerg Warships.
• The Zerg fleet completed its turn first and attacked Hain’s fleet, destroying millions of warships as it finished the maneuver.
• Hain learned that the Zerg Warships were traveling at 80,200 kilometers per second, leaving his fleet with only a slight speed advantage.
• Hain ordered his fleet to maintain maximum combat speed and make irregular evasive maneuvers during the Zerg pursuit.
• Hain’s fleet endured thirty minutes of attacks and lost nearly 200 million warships before opening a gap of more than 4.9 million kilometers.
• Helme ordered more than 100 million Zerg Warships to fire a concentrated strike at Hain’s flagship.

The Big Four agreed to reveal the new royal insect’s existence while hiding their earlier knowledge and declaring the escaped Deo garrison dead. After learning that Hain’s death resulted from withheld intelligence and discovering another betrayal, Belt activated an unfamiliar device to contact an outside figure.

• Xis, Moros, and Hussein urged disclosing intelligence about the new royal insect and retreating to the Viers Defense Line.
• Verto agreed to release limited intelligence, blame Deo’s defeat on the annihilated garrison, and secretly eliminate its more than 20 billion surviving warships; the others approved.
• The Big Four agreed to portray the Deo garrison as heroes who died holding the defense line and to reward their alliances.
• Belt read General West’s report and concluded that the Big Four’s withheld intelligence had caused Hain’s death.
• Belt opened a second intelligence file, grew furious at the Big Four’s continued schemes, and activated an unfamiliar technological device.
• A figure appeared before Belt and greeted him.

Bert asked Lin Fan to help the Vera Federation and the Milky Way’s stranded fleet after The Big Four planned to silence it to cover up their failures. Lin Fan agreed to provide refuge and a Super Star Gate, and Zi Guang prepared the 27.8 billion warships to escape to Human Federation territory.

• Bert met Lin Fan and asked him to help the Milky Way and the Vera Federation recover from their crisis.
• Lin Fan read Admiral West’s document detailing The Big Four’s plan to eliminate the 27.8 billion warships, and Bert revealed that West and two other remaining admirals were his students.
• Lin Fan and Bert agreed to discuss an operation to save the stranded fleet.
• Zi Guang told the commanders of the 398 Level 3 Civilizations that Lin Fan had agreed to shelter them in Human Federation territory.
• Zi Guang explained that Lin Fan would send Super Star Gate components to Lan Feng so the fleet could travel to the Orion Arm, and the commanders unanimously approved the plan.

The Human Federation arrived to escort Zi Guang’s fleet to the Large Magellanic Cloud, revealing that it controlled all twelve of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies. Meanwhile, Bert and West prepared to expose The Big Four’s conspiracy and overthrow Verto, hoping to win over Randy and Wack.

• Li Cangqiong told Zi Guang and the assembled civilizations that he had come to escort them to the Large Magellanic Cloud.
• Li Cangqiong revealed that the Human Federation controlled the Milky Way’s twelve satellite galaxies, shocking Zi Guang and the other commanders.
• West told Bert that humanity had reached the fleet’s assembly point and that the evacuation would soon begin.
• Bert and West discussed their plan to expose the conspiracy and overthrow Verto after the rescued people returned to public view.
• Bert urged West to persuade Randy and Wack to join their cause, while West warned that he would act if they refused.

West revealed Verto’s alleged crimes to Randy and Wack and asked them to choose sides in a plan to overthrow him. Randy and Wack refused to join a rebellion but said they would obey whoever became the Federation’s Leader.

• West met with Randy and Wack aboard the Haidon and asked them what they thought of Verto.
• West questioned them about Bellt’s trial, White’s defection, the heavy front-line casualties, and Hain’s death.
• West showed Randy and Wack documents implicating Verto in actions that endangered Vera civilization and the Milky Way.
• Randy and Wack realized West intended to overthrow Verto and suspected Bellt and the other generals were involved.
• West asked Randy and Wack whether they would side with him or Verto.
• Randy and Wack refused to take part in an internal struggle but said they would obey whoever led the Federation.

West and Belt placed Randy and Wack under house arrest after the two agreed to remain neutral in the Federation’s power struggle. A month later, evidence and accusations about the De-Ao defeat spread, forcing Verto into a crisis that ended with William confronting Belt at gunpoint.

• West consulted Belt about Randy and Wack’s refusal to join a rebellion, and Belt ordered them confined aboard the Haidon for three months.
• Randy and Wack accepted the house arrest, and Randy warned West to lead the Federation better than Verto if he succeeded.
• The Big Four issued a report praising the forces at De-Ao and rewarded the participating civilizations after covering up evidence of the defeat.
• Rumors and evidence accusing Verto’s administration spread through the Vera Federation, and Verto threatened William with dismissal if he failed to stop them.
• West and two other generals publicly demanded that Verto explain the events, including Belt’s dismissal.
• William led more than thirty armed people to surround Belt’s residence and asked whether Belt had any last words.

William tried to kill Belt and frame him, but Belt’s rescue was broadcast across the Federation, sparking outrage against Verto. Verto fled aboard a warship toward the hidden star system Girt, unaware that Randy and Wack had been detained.

• William led armed followers to Belt’s residence and admitted that Verto wanted Belt eliminated, while concealed cameras broadcast their confrontation across the Federation.
• Belt’s military forces arrived, and snipers killed William’s gunmen before troops arrested William and took him to military headquarters.
• Federation citizens celebrated Belt’s rescue and demanded Verto’s removal, while Verto escaped the Leader’s Mansion aboard a warship commanded by his trusted follower Beers.
• Verto ordered the Third Garrison Fleet to travel to Girt, where he had secretly built a force of five billion advanced warships.
• Verto planned to join Randy and Wack at Girt, not knowing that both had temporarily lost their freedom.

Belt’s allies traced Verto’s escape to the vanished Third Garrison Fleet and uncovered records of secret military funds sent to the uncharted Star System Gilt. As they prepared to take control of the Federation, public opinion turned decisively toward Belt, leaving him poised to become its next leader.

• Lyons reported that Beers and the Third Garrison Fleet were suspected of helping Verto escape.
• Soo discovered that Verto had secretly diverted military funds to the missing Star System Gilt, and Belt ordered Federation bases to search for it.
• West told Belt that he had restrained the Big Three by controlling their fleets and confirmed that the takeover plan would proceed.
• Belt decided to assume control of the Federation as planned, and his allies began the operation the next day.
• West and his allies shaped public debate by presenting more than thirty possible leaders, prompting widespread calls for Belt to take the position.

Bellt won the Federation leadership vote and restored the government, then learned that Gilt was hidden near Haiti. A reconnaissance ship found billions of warships there, but Gilt’s forces detected and destroyed it, leaving the Federation facing a massive threat.

• The Federation held a public vote, and Bellt won 87% of the ballots before quickly restoring the administrative departments.
• Soo told Bellt that a new survey had found an uncharted star system only 6.5 light-years from Haiti.
• Bellt ordered a reconnaissance ship to investigate Gilt and requested a live feed upon its arrival.
• The ship emerged from warp and discovered at least five billion warships bearing a style similar to the Vera Empire’s.
• Gilt’s forces detected the reconnaissance ship and locked weapons onto it, then destroyed it and cut off the feed.

Bert consulted Lin Fan after a reconnaissance ship was destroyed by an unfamiliar weapon, learning that it was a primitive Gravity Cannon. He prepared to mobilize against Gilt, while Verto realized his hidden base had been discovered and his generals were under house arrest.

• Bert showed Lin Fan the reconnaissance ship's final footage, and Lin Fan identified the weapon as a Gravity Cannon with a range of no more than three million kilometers.
• Lin Fan explained that the Gravity Cannon used spatial technology to create gravitational tides and tear apart objects at a target point.
• Bert told Lin Fan about Gilt and asked to purchase weapons from the Human Federation; Lin Fan agreed to pass the request to the Federation leadership.
• Bert ordered the fleet to prepare an encirclement of Gilt and nearby bases to block Gilt's jumps.
• Verto learned that Randy and Wack were under house arrest and realized the reconnaissance ship's destruction had probably revealed Gilt's location.

Lin Fan negotiated a sale of Zero-Point Energy cores and a Fortress-class Gamma Ray Cannon to Berto in exchange for the Vera Federation manufacturing one billion warship hulls. Half a month later, Lyons surrounded Gilt with twenty billion warships and ordered a surrender message sent.

• Lin Fan and Lin Zhen agreed to sell Berto a few Zero-Point Energy cores, with safeguards to prevent the Vera Federation from exploiting the technology against humanity.
• Lin Fan told Berto that the Human Federation would sell Zero-Point Energy, and Berto agreed not to research it or use it against humanity.
• Berto asked for a Fortress-class Gamma Ray Cannon for the coming campaign against Gilt, and Lin Fan later confirmed the sale of three cores and one cannon.
• The Vera Federation agreed to manufacture one billion warship hulls for humanity as payment, using blueprints supplied by the Human Federation.
• Half a month later, Lyons surrounded Gilt with twenty billion warships, made the Knox Titan-class Warship his flagship, and ordered a surrender message sent.

Verto’s fleet fought the Federation forces encircling Gilt, using superior technology and Gravity Cannons to offset their numerical disadvantage. Lyons recognized that Verto’s troops had been brainwashed and, after suffering heavy losses, ordered Gamma Ray Cannon modules deployed to break the stalemate.

• Verto rejected Lyons’s demand to surrender and handed command of his fleets to Biers.
• Lyons realized Verto’s forces had been brainwashed and ordered the attack on Gilt to begin.
• Verto’s five billion warships charged Lyons’s twenty billion warships, using Gravity Cannons to inflict heavy losses.
• Lyons’s forces encircled Verto’s attacking fleets, but lost more than five hundred million warships at roughly twice the enemy’s rate.
• Lyons ordered his forces to deploy Gamma Ray Cannon modules and prepare to fire.

Admiral Lyons used the Knox’s Gamma Ray Cannon to destroy Biers’s flagship and devastate Verto’s fleet, then ordered a search for Verto. As fleets and troops closed in on his hiding place, Verto activated his base’s self-destruct system and began evacuating.

• Lyons ordered the Gamma Ray Cannon prepared and warned friendly fleets to clear its firing path.
• Biers recognized the cannon, ordered his fleets to evacuate the danger zone, and realized the Lappus was in its center.
• Lyons fired at Biers’s position, destroying the Lappus and Biers, then swept the battlefield with the cannon.
• Lyons’s forces surrounded and annihilated Verto’s remaining fleet after three cannon firings.
• Lyons ordered a search of Gilt’s planets, while Verto activated his secret base’s self-destruct system and ordered its personnel to evacuate.