A Desperate Gamble

As Constantine stepped off his private yacht that had landed at the Terra Sky Tower, his adorable little daughter Nova Terra, ran toward him, her white, ruffled princess dress resembling a blooming Tarsonis flower.

Despite his depressed mood, Constantine forced a smile, hugged his six-year-old daughter, and couldn't help but think to himself that Nova was truly his angel.

Since she was old enough to understand, the eldest daughter Clara has stopped clinging to Constantine. This once innocent and carefree child is gradually growing into a true Tarsonis noblewoman. She is elegant and romantic by nature, but her fascination with power and luxury has already begun to show.

The ten-year-old second son, Zebediah, excels at everything and possesses an extraordinary talent for running a company. This future Heir of Constantine is both outstanding and likable, but the rascal is not as charming, gentle, and understanding as Nova.

"Daddy, why are so many people dying?" Nova Terra, who had a sweet smile on her face, suddenly turned pale as her father held her in his arms. Her innate level 10 Psionics her to see the horrific scenes that Constantine had imagined.

Orange-red mushroom clouds rose over the vast, beautiful grasslands, pastures, and farms, while silver-white steel and crystal-clear glass buildings melted in the furnace-like flames and high temperatures.

After the deafening roar of collapsing mountains and the extreme brightness, the once lush garden world became a monotonous, black, radiation-affected wasteland and ruins. The city, inhabited by millions, vanished like melted sugar cubes, and all traces of their lives were permanently erased.

In some places that miraculously escaped the nuclear blast, radiation spread like a death wind. People's skin began to fester and peel away in chunks. Children died in their homes clutching their toys. The surviving animals mutated; the Sterling hounds, friends of the Korhal, became horned monsters, and grotesque creatures devoured the corpses of the dead.

That planet will become a dead world filled with terrible radiation.

"Death, what a painful thing for those people. Why does it have to be like this?" Nova wept, tears falling like scattered crystal necklaces from her pale green eyes.

"It's alright, Nova." Constantine blamed himself for his carelessness; Nova's powerful telepathic abilities meant she could uncontrollably hear the thoughts of those around her. He was reassuring both his daughter and himself. "It's not that bad. It's not that bad."

"It won't turn out that way; things are far from reaching that point. We still have room to salvage the situation," he said.

Constantine couldn't help but feel relieved for Korhal. Fortunately, the Terran Confederacy Fleets still had to deal with the threats from the Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan. Otherwise, in peacetime, once the resolution was passed, the Fleets could leap from Tarsonis to Korhal IV in just a few standard Earth solar days, and the Korhal wouldn't have had time to escape.

Now, there's still a little over a month left.

"Well, death is the most terrible thing. Why do humans kill each other?" Nova looked at Constantine with tearful eyes.

"You're too young, Nova. You can't yet understand the true meaning of death." Constantine looked earnestly into his daughter's eyes and said, "And humanity, according to our history, is a race that has been constantly dividing, hating each other, and killing one another. Perhaps only a powerful enemy can unite all of humanity."

After saying this, Constantine handed his daughter to a maid standing nearby. "I have important things to do, and I must remind Angus."

Constantine then dismissed the butler and the manager of the family business who were supposed to follow him, and went into a secluded room in the Terra Sky Tower. The room was simply furnished, containing only a single sofa and a small Holographic Projection projector.

When the Holographic Projection projector is activated, a set of Terra English words rotates and decomposes into beams of light and shadow outlining three-dimensional Holographic Projection images.

About half an hour later, the encrypted data signal was translated and amplified by hundreds of galactic relay stations before being relayed again and interpreted as an audio signal, which was then displayed on the Holographic Projection screen in front of Constantine.

"I am Angus Mengsk." The person on the other end of the line was Angus, who had rushed home from parliament. "Mr. Constantine, I understand you have something extremely urgent to discuss with me."

"Yes." Constantine noticed that Angus looked much older than the last time he saw him. "I have a recording of the Confederate Congress here."

"."

Upon hearing about the Apocalypse-class Nuclear Missile, Angus's straight back swayed slightly, but the weakness lasted only a moment. "Are they really going to do that?"

"Just before June arrives this year. As far as I know, that's when the sunflowers and midsummer gardens of Sterling are in full bloom, the second most important festival of the year for the Korhal people after Christmas," Constantine said.

"We have two orbital defense platforms under construction, and a space-based weapon station, all aided by Umojan." Angus sat as still as a statue, his newly grown beard trembling. "But that's far from enough. Our ships can't even penetrate the armor of a battlecruiser."

Angus lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "The evacuation of civilians must be expedited. We have less than half a month, no, even including the arrival time of the Fleets from the outer star systems, we still have four weeks. If Umojan helps us, it will be much easier."

"Use large transport ships and cargo ships to continuously transport civilians, fill all the rooms with people, and evacuate everyone." He said, "Korhal can be rebuilt if it's gone, but if the people of Korhal cease to exist, I might as well shoot myself."

Fortunately, Korhal only has tens of millions of people; if it were Tarsonis, with a population of over two billion, the time would be absolutely impossible.

"I can provide ships for Korhal," Constantine said. "But there are still some Terra Family factories on Korhal, and I need to reclaim the modules from those factories, otherwise the Terra Group's losses will be incalculable."

"The Mengsk Family will cover your losses." At this moment, Angus suddenly turned his head to listen intently. "Wait a moment, Mr. Constantine."

Angus left for a few minutes, and when he returned, he had several stacks of papers with text printed on them. "I just received news from the Holt Family and Colin Family. A member of the Confederate Congress who was being blackmailed by the Umojan agent with a sex scandal has also confirmed the Confederacy's plan to use nuclear weapons."

"My son Augustus had considered this possibility, but he never imagined it would happen so quickly."

"Evacuating civilians and relocating them to other planets is certainly an effective method. But how are you going to do it?" Constantine said.

"First, a forced evacuation will definitely cause panic. How many people will believe you is completely unknown, and how many will be willing to go with you is also uncertain. Then, Korhal will fall into internal chaos, and you will collapse on your own before the Confederacy Fleets arrives."

"Then this information must be made public," Angus said to Constantine.

"I stand with you out of my conscience. God knows the pressure I bear and the effort I have put in." Before shutting down the communication, Constantine looked at the Holographic Projection screen. "We may not be friends forever, but at this moment, I stand with the people of Korhal."

May 17, 14:56 onboard time.

In the spacious captain's cabin of the Hyperion, one wall was covered with sheathed alloy steel knives and melee weapons, and next to the bookshelves piled with books was a chair facing the captain's cabin observation window.

"Did you see it all?" Angus's voice came through. "Our friends in Tarsonis told us."

"A thousand Apocalypse-class Nuclear Missile would be enough to level Sterling and the surrounding mountains, and evaporate an entire ocean. At the epicenter of the nuclear explosion, people and buildings would vanish in an instant—a true annihilation."

"Migration," Augustus uttered, then continued, "To Umojan, to those paradises far beyond the Terran Confederacy and even the Koprulu Sector, those undiscovered lands."

Augustus had tried his best to prevent the Confederate Congress from passing the resolution, but the bill appeared and was passed too early, leaving no time for any maneuvering or preparation. He did make some friends in Tarsonis, but not many.

"The Umojan Council is very efficient. They convened a brief meeting on the 17th and decided to provide all the ships of the Umojan Protectorate to Korhal IV, while mobilizing all civilian ports and ships, and shutting down all interstellar routes. Umojan promised to accept 20 to 30 million Korhal people. Providing accommodation and food for so many people is no easy task, even for such an efficient government," Angus said.

"The Terra Family provided twelve Leviathan -class transport ships, capable of carrying a total of 200,000 people, while the Holt Family's transportation companies dispatched five Mammoth-class Transport Ship. This type of spaceship is even larger than a Behemoth-class Battlecruiser and can carry 250,000 people."

"Mercenaries," Augustus. "If that's not enough, I know a group of mercenaries who will have ships, as long as the money is right."

"Squeeze in as many people as possible; survival is the most important thing," he said.

"Time is of the essence. Plans can't keep up with changes, and the situation has evolved beyond my expectations. The Phoenix Plan must be modified immediately. The raid on the Dalarian Shipyards must be brought forward."

"But the current Fleets strength is still insufficient. The Dalarian Shipyards has a Fleets permanently stationed there, including at least four Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, with more than three hundred accompanying starfighters," Angus said worriedly.

"With the Kel-Morian Combine completely defeated, they won't believe that a Fleets would dare to attack the Confederacy's largest shipyard," Augustus.

"No, wait a little longer before I give you more warships." Angus said, "Someone must remain in Korhal. There are satellite bases and orbital defense platforms in Korhal's orbit that have already completed their main structures. We will fight the Confederacy Fleets to the death in space."

"Before I lead the Fleets to seize the Confederacy's shipyards, someone must hold out in Korhal." Augustus looked at his gray-haired father.

"I have already appointed Field."

"No, I will stay in Korhal," Angus said.

"I disagree," Augustus said firmly.

"But I made the decision." Angus smiled. "I am your father."

"."

"We still have ways to buy time and create chaos." Augustus stood up and paced uneasily.

"The meeting video provided by the Colin Family and the recordings from the Terra Family gave us an opportunity. We must spread this message to help us successfully evacuate civilians and gain public support."

It must be said that the complete video recording provided by the Colin Family is even more outrageous than Constantine's audio recording. If they didn't already have inside information and know what the meeting was going to discuss, it means that they recorded every single meeting.

"Even with strong public protests and calls, the chances of getting the Confederate Congress to abandon its plan to launch a nuclear missile at Korhal are extremely slim, but it might sway some conscientious individuals within the Confederacy Army to our side."

"That's what I was thinking too, but the publicity from the newly launched newspaper Truth and the Korhal Global News Network is far from enough," Angus said.

"Then let's seize the UNN headquarters," Augustus. "Leave that to my men."

Angus nodded, said goodbye, and the signal disappeared in the blink of an eye.

In the silence, Augustus picked up a cup of unsweetened strong coffee and, gazing out the observation window at the dark, empty expanse of space, issued his command:

"Ghost 24718 and all Security Council agents, you are en route to Tarsonis. Your flight logs indicate you will arrive in two standard Earth-solar days."

"You will be informed that the orders have been changed after you awaken from your hibernation pods."

"The order is changed to: At 1:00 AM on May 21, 2489 (Standard Earth Calendar), you will work with the Umojan Shadow Guard and Umojan National Intelligence Agency agents to seize control of the UNN Universal News Network headquarters building in Tarsonis City and hold it for at least fifteen minutes. Upload the following audio materials to the UNN studio: Confederate Congress SVA-89-13-44 video and Confederate Congress SVA-89-14-22 audio track."

"A new mission briefing will be sent to your personal terminals. Please read it carefully after waking up from your hibernation pods, as it concerns the fate of Korhal IV."

"I must tell you the significance of this operation—we must expose to the entire universe, through the UNN, the crime of the Confederate Congress's resolution to drop one thousand Apocalypse-class Nuclear Missile on Korhal IV in June. Whether they admit it or not, this will inevitably provoke further resistance, because the people will know the heinous atrocities the Confederacy can commit against its own people."

"It is with a heavy heart that I tell you, your parents, your families, and your fellow citizens whom you have never met but are connected by our shared home planet Korhal, are constantly under the shadow of nuclear attack. The great planet that has nurtured generations of Korhal people is about to become a land of death, and our loved ones will suffer terribly from nuclear radiation."

"Finally, I want to tell you how urgent time is. We are racing against time. The fate of the entire Korhal IV and all the Korhal people rests on your success or failure." After saying this, Augustus slowly finished his cup of strong coffee.

"We need to buy time for our compatriots in Korhal to evacuate, and for this, some people will have to make sacrifices, including me."