While the Earth Civilization and Nie Yun were making their moves, the Twin Stars people focused more of their attention on another problem right on their doorstep...
Kara Star, Z13 Base.
This had once been Twin Stars' largest Colonial Base on Kara Star, with a garrison of over 5,000. Two days earlier, however, Z13 Base had fallen to an enormous Hunter Corps force, and the last Sea Race troops remaining on Kara Star had evacuated under the cover of Space Battleships.
The most conspicuous thing left at the site was the enormous crater in the middle of the battlefield, the "declaration of withdrawal" left by Twin Stars' weapons of mass destruction. Wiping out a wave of attacking Hunter Corps with an area-wide bombardment before retreating had become standard Twin Stars procedure.
Wearing a black cloak, Rose stood on a high cliff several kilometers away, gazing at the ruined base with a trace of complicated emotion in her eyes.
"Father, can you see this? I've driven the Twin Stars people off the surface. The invaders have paid a terrible price for their brutality! Before long, I'll reclaim our home..."
Her murmured words drifted away on the breeze, reaching the ears of those around her.
The royal Escort Captain stood behind Rose. As he looked at Queen Rose's back, her figure gradually overlapped with the imposing figure of the late king in his memories. He could not help letting out a deep sigh, his heart full of emotion.
In roughly a month, the situation on Kara Star's battlefields had changed dramatically...
Under harassment from a seemingly endless stream of Hunter Corps, the Sea Race's ground forces had lost the vast, resource-rich jungles, and their operating area had been squeezed back to the vicinity of their Colonial Bases.
Caught off guard and battered