In a maintenance passage within the Imperial Palace's defense network, Liu Zhipeng stood quietly watching the red alert flashing wildly across the data screen before him: "Reality stability dropping rapidly." He "heard" the howls of despair, fear, and pain over the communications channel. He "saw" the Warp Rift that had torn open the sky.
"...Tch."
A flicker of cold disdain passed through the electronic eyes hidden beneath his hood.
"...Zardu Layak, was it? Quite the bag of tricks. Sacrificing a legion just to open a hole this big? What a... waste. All right, break's over."
He switched off the data screen, turned, and walked toward an internal structural wall of the Eternal Wall.
"...Time to show you natives what... real 'engineering' looks like."
He raised his right hand, disguised as a mechanical prosthesis.
"...Canoptek Scarabs. Activate."
His command spread like a silent ripple, reaching every corner of the Eternal Wall's immense bulk in an instant! At that very moment, on the other side of the Imperial Palace, enormous, spiderweb-like cracks had appeared across a wall several kilometers long, just struck head-on by a rebel Titan's Volcano Cannon! Its adamantium armor plates, several meters thick, had melted completely, exposing the fragile stone structure beneath.
"...It's going to collapse!"
The Iron Hands warriors stationed there roared in despair. They could only watch as the wall shuddered violently, on the verge of total collapse! But in the instant before it fell!
Bzzzz-
An eerie, low hum suddenly rose from within the wall! Then, before the shocked and bewildered eyes of loyalists and rebels alike, the impossible happened. Those savage cracks did not widen any further. Instead... they began to heal! Faint yet utterly unwavering strands of eerie green light shone from deep within the fissures! Within that light, the shattered stone and molten