Chapter Summaries

Levi rejected the Lair’s offer to join the Academy of Sciences, while Augustus revealed to Nartes that a Solar System fleet was approaching Proxima Centauri. Augustus intended to recruit Levi to organize the planet’s workers and Marus into preparing for war, which he believed was inevitable.

• Levi angrily ordered the Lair out and summoned guards after the Lair offered safety for him and his family in exchange for joining the Academy of Sciences.
• Nartes reported to Augustus that Levi had rejected the proposal, and Augustus said Levi would eventually come to them because he had a major role in his plans.
• Augustus told Nartes that a Solar System fleet was traveling toward Proxima Centauri at ten percent of the speed of light and would arrive in about fifty years.
• Augustus declared that war was inevitable and planned to fortify Proxima Centauri, defeat the fleet, and capture its ships before the star’s remaining 120 years ran out.
• Augustus said Levi had to join them so he could make the Proxima Centauri people and the Marus refit ships and build defenses, then send them into battle as cannon fodder.

Levi agreed to join Nartes’s project in exchange for ten places aboard the ships for people close to him. Years later, as the human fleet’s arrival approached, Levi oversaw Proxima b’s defenses, and Augustus ordered him to finish them within ten years and prepare for war.

• Levi worried that the worsening cold was disrupting starship construction and feared that fewer Proxima Centauri people would escape.
• Aquitas asked Levi if he was all right, and he promised to get her off the planet before she left.
• At the Central Academy of Sciences, Levi agreed to join Nartes after securing ten ship places for people he chose.
• By 2130, Levi had directed the conversion of escape ships, construction of orbital weapons and giant laser cannons, and completion of an underground city.
• Augustus demanded that Levi complete the Circumplanetary Defense Project within ten years and prepare for war.

Humanity's fleet reached the outskirts of Proxima Centauri after secretly disappearing from the Proxima Centauri Civilization's detection. Zero awakened the crew aboard Home One and began preparing them for war, while Lü Yongchang watched the approaching star.

• Five years earlier, Augustus learned that the Solar System Fleet had vanished from detection and ordered every device to scan for it.
• Humanity's fleet reached its designated position 0.01 light-years from Proxima Centauri, and Zero began the Awakening Program aboard Home One.
• Zhao Zijie awoke from hibernation, learned the fleet had reached Proxima Centauri, and drank nutrient solution to regain his strength.
• Zero assigned Zhao Zijie a week of rehabilitation training and scheduled his bathing, clothing change, and physical examination.
• Zero awakened the scientists and Starship pilots across the fleet as Lü Yongchang watched Proxima Centauri from Earth's command center.

As Human Civilization prepared for its first interstellar battle, Lü Yongchang selected Zhao Zijie to command the First Fleet. Zhao Zijie received orders to report to Earth, while Gao Yang was assigned to assist him.

• Lü Yongchang reviewed the pilots’ records and chose Zhao Zijie for a command position after examining his Titan service record.
• Zhao Zijie received an appointment naming him commander of the First Fleet, while Lü Yongchang remained the overall fleet commander.
• Gao Yang learned that he would assist Zhao Zijie with fleet command duties and joked that he might be his secretary or errand boy.
• Zero ordered Zhao Zijie to report to Earth, and he set off with Gao Yang.

Lü Yongchang declared war on the Proxima Centauri Civilization and led the expeditionary fleet toward Proxima b. After the fleet evaded detection, it launched a surprise strike and changed course, leaving the projectiles hours from their target.

• Bai Yixuan admitted he feared for humanity but vowed to fight, and Lü Yongchang declared war over the fleetwide communication link.
• The expeditionary fleet left its original orbit and traveled for more than half a year toward a position one astronomical unit from Proxima Centauri.
• The fleet detected the Proxima Centauri Civilization's active scan, but Zero reported that the ships' radar-absorbing coating made them appear like a larger asteroid.
• Zhao Zijie and the other fleet commanders ordered their ships to lock onto Proxima b, and Lü Yongchang commanded 250 Golden Crow battleships to fire their electromagnetic cannons.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the fleet to change course and limit Hall Thruster output as the projectiles headed toward Proxima b.

Augustus and the Proxima b defenders discovered that the Solar System Fleet had launched a barrage of projectiles toward the planet. The orbital defenses intercepted many of them, but the attack destroyed installations and let several projectiles through toward the surface.

• Augustus ordered the observers to keep searching for the Solar System Fleet after five years without finding it.
• Proxima b's detection network detected a group of fast-moving objects 120,000 kilometers away, and Augustus recognized them as electromagnetic-cannon projectiles.
• Augustus activated the automatic interception sequence, and the orbital cannons began charging as the projectiles closed in.
• Laser and electromagnetic cannons destroyed many incoming projectiles, but one struck a laser cannon and triggered a micro nuclear bomb.
• The explosions damaged Proxima b's orbital defense network, and several projectiles slipped through toward the planet's surface.

As the Solar System Fleet attacked Proxima Centauri, Levi urged Aquitas and Hicks to shelter underground and trust the Academy of Sciences. After nuclear-tipped projectiles breached the defense network, Levi saved Hicks and brought his family to safety, while Augustus learned the fleet had vanished from observation.

• Aquitas asked Levi about the Solar System Fleet’s attack, and Levi said they should stay in the Underground City until the Academy of Sciences called them to fight.
• Hicks urged Levi to attack the invaders without waiting for orders, but Levi insisted that they needed the Academy of Sciences’ leadership.
• When nuclear-tipped projectiles breached the defense network, Levi carried Aquitas toward the Underground City and pulled the stunned Hicks along as a shock wave approached.
• Levi, Aquitas, and Hicks survived the explosions in the elevator, and Levi reassured Aquitas that the war could not be avoided because neither side would give up its home or ships.
• Augustus learned that the attack had destroyed ten percent of the electromagnetic and laser cannons in affected areas, while the giant ground-based laser cannons remained undamaged.
• The Observer reported that the Solar System Fleet had repositioned and could no longer be located, leaving Augustus unable to predict its direction.

The human fleet analyzed Proxima b’s defenses and identified weaknesses in its interception system after a probing bombardment. As the fleet prepared a second attack, Augustus and Levi struggled to locate the attackers and decide how to respond.

• Zero reported that 151 projectiles penetrated Proxima b’s defenses, striking 63 defensive installations and 88 targets on the planet.
• Lü Yongchang asked Zero to simulate the enemy’s interception process, and Zero identified weaknesses in the defense network.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the human ships to remain silent and launch a second bombardment in one week.
• Augustus refused Levi’s call at first, then ordered it connected after learning Levi might halt the planned counterattack.
• Levi confronted Augustus about the breached defenses and asked how they could locate the human fleet, but Augustus said their detection systems had found nothing.

Levi persuaded Augustus to deploy vast numbers of Micro-Probes to locate the human fleet while Proxima b endured continued bombardment. When the probes detected the fleet, Lü Yongchang ordered the ships out of silent running, revealing their position to the Proxima Centauri Civilization.

• Levi proposed manufacturing Micro-Probes to sweep the region, but Augustus initially rejected the plan because of limited factory capacity and difficulty processing the data.
• A second enemy attack inflicted heavier damage, including damage near the Giant Ground-Based Laser Cannon, and the Proxima Centauri Civilization struggled to adapt its defenses.
• Augustus reconsidered Levi's proposal as bombardment continued, destroying more than half of Proxima b's orbital defense installations and exhausting human fleet supplies.
• After more than a month, dozens of starships deployed hundreds of millions of Micro-Probes around Proxima b.
• When the probes detected the human fleet, Lü Yongchang ordered the ships into Deep-Sea Mode, ended silent running, and activated their detection equipment and weapons.
• The Micro-Probes closed in and located the fleet, and Lü Yongchang saw a crude 3D model of one of them.

Lü Yongchang discovered that the Proxima b probes were crude signal beacons, but their network exposed the fleet when it moved. The Proxima Centauri forces launched a counterattack, and the Golden Crow battleships prepared to engage while the Earth and Glutton retreated.

• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to capture and dismantle a probe, then learned that the devices only signaled the location of nearby large objects.
• Augustus and Levi discussed the probes’ limits until an alarm announced that they had detected the moving enemy fleet.
• Levi left Aquitas and joined the Proxima Centauri counterattack as over a hundred disc-shaped spacecraft launched from Proxima b.
• Lü Yongchang abandoned his guerrilla plan and ordered the fleet to pull back after the probe signals exceeded a hundred thousand.
• Zero warned Lü Yongchang that 120 approaching enemy ships would make contact in 160 seconds, so the Golden Crow battleships stopped to prepare to fire while the Earth and Glutton continued retreating.

Zhao Zijie’s fleet opened fire on the Proxima Centauri ships, but their erratic evasive maneuvers made the initial barrage ineffective. When Professor Lü unlocked Zero’s assistance features, Zero precisely targeted the enemy fleet, devastating it and forcing Levi to order a retreat.

• Zhao Zijie ordered the First Fleet to fire electromagnetic cannons at the advancing Proxima Centauri fleet, whose ships scattered into unpredictable evasive maneuvers.
• Zhao Zijie called on the Second, Third, and Fourth Fleets for support, and all four fleets unleashed a Metal Storm.
• Professor Lü unlocked Zero’s assistance features, and Zero calculated the enemy ships’ flight paths and precisely adjusted the electromagnetic cannons’ aim.
• Levi struggled to control his fleet as the first barrage passed with no losses, but Zero’s more accurate follow-up barrage destroyed Proxima Centauri ships.
• After fifty ships were destroyed, Levi shouted for the Proxima Centauri fleet to retreat.

After the Proxima Centauri Fleet fled from the electromagnetic cannon barrage, Lü Yongchang ordered the First and Second Fleets to pursue. As they approached Proxima b, Zhao Zijie suspected an ambush and proposed probing ahead with electromagnetic cannons.

• Zhao Zijie requested permission to pursue the fleeing Proxima Centauri ships, and Lü Yongchang sent both human fleets after them.
• Augustus ordered Levi to lure the pursuing ships toward Proxima b and promised to send forces to meet them.
• Zhao Zijie noticed the approach was suspiciously unopposed and ordered the First Fleet to decelerate.
• Lü Yongchang agreed that Proxima Centauri might have an ambush near its homeworld and told Brad to slow the Second Fleet as well.
• With the fleets 80,000 kilometers from Proxima b and just outside active detection range, Zhao Zijie suggested probing ahead with electromagnetic cannons.

The human fleet discovered that 5,181 Proxima Centauri ships were waiting near Proxima b, but Lü Yongchang used Giant Flares to reveal the enemy fleet and ordered an assault. The chapter ended with both sides firing on each other as the 120 Golden Crow battleships charged forward.

• The 120 Golden Crow battleships fired a full salvo at Proxima b, and Zhao Zijie’s active detection revealed thousands of enemy ships.
• Augustus and Levi prepared the concealed Proxima Centauri fleet to attack, but the humans’ electromagnetic barrage forced them to intercept the incoming projectiles.
• Zhao Zijie saw the detected enemy count reach 5,181, and Brad ordered a retreat before Lü Yongchang overruled him and commanded Zero to launch Giant Flares.
• The Giant Flares exposed the Proxima Centauri fleet, and Zero’s analysis showed its ships ranged from enormous vessels to craft under 50 meters long.
• Lü Yongchang ordered the human fleet to advance and attack, while Levi fired at a Golden Crow battleship and the Proxima Centauri fleet and defense network launched their own barrage.

Bai Yixuan’s [Golden Crow] fleet survived the Proxima Centauri Fleet’s opening Electromagnetic Cannon strike, but enemy lasers began damaging their armor. Lü Yongchang realized humanity’s fleet was outranged, with four hours still remaining before it reached the battlefield.

• Bai Yixuan ordered the [Golden Crow] fleet to intercept incoming Electromagnetic Cannon projectiles, and its lasers destroyed most of them.
• The Proxima Centauri Fleet combined Electromagnetic Cannon fire with laser attacks, repeatedly striking the same spots and damaging [Golden Crow] armor.
• Bai Yixuan ordered all 120 [Golden Crow] battleships to accelerate and maneuver erratically, reducing the damage from the enemy lasers.
• The [Golden Crow] fleet fired occasional Electromagnetic Cannon volleys, but the Proxima Centauri Fleet’s Circumplanetary Defense Network stopped them from causing damage.
• Lü Yongchang learned the enemy ships were 80,000 kilometers away, beyond the 50,000-kilometer effective range of humanity’s Laser and Ion Beam Weapons.
• Zero reported that Lü Yongchang’s fleet aboard the [Earth] would take four hours to reach the battlefield.

The Proxima Centauri flagship joined the battle and used ion beam weapons to devastate the [Golden Crow] fleet. Just as Bai Yixuan faced another attack, Lü Yongchang's reinforcements arrived and began a counterattack.

• Lü Yongchang worried whether the 120 [Golden Crow] Battleships could survive until reinforcements arrived.
• Levi and Augustus deployed the Proxima Centauri flagship because 381 human reinforcements were approaching.
• The flagship destroyed Wu Ran's [Golden Crow] Battleship with an ion beam, and Bai Yixuan ordered his fleet to run.
• The Proxima Centauri fleet overwhelmed the [Golden Crow] Battleships and destroyed more than half of them in an hour.
• Lü Yongchang's reinforcements arrived, struck the enemy flagship with electromagnetic cannon projectiles carrying Micro Nuclear Bombs, and announced they were ready to counterattack.

Bai Yixuan’s Golden Crow A21 damaged the Proxima Centauri flagship but had to retreat after pursuing it too far from the main force. Aboard Earth, Lü Yongchang ordered the launch of humanity’s Nuclear Torpedoes against the fleeing enemy flagship.

• Metal Storm rounds struck the Proxima Centauri flagship, and Bai Yixuan ordered Golden Crow A21 to counterattack.
• Bai Yixuan’s ship closed within range and fired an ion beam, breaching the flagship’s armor, but the enemy ship accelerated away.
• Zhao Zijie ordered Bai Yixuan to retreat after A21 strayed deep into enemy lines, and Bai Yixuan complied.
• Lü Yongchang ordered Zero to launch the Nuclear Torpedoes at the damaged flagship fleeing toward Proxima b.
• A deep-blue plume of flame erupted from the side of Earth as the Nuclear Torpedoes launched.

A Nuclear Torpedo struck and destroyed the Proxima Centauri flagship, avenging Wu Ran and throwing the enemy fleet into panic. Zhao Zijie then ordered the First and Second Fleets to begin an Ion Cannon assault on Proxima b's largest starships.

• Lü Yongchang's Nuclear Torpedo approached the battlefield from the flank while the human fleet kept the Proxima Centauri forces occupied with heavy fire.
• Bai Yixuan spotted the torpedo as it accelerated toward the retreating Proxima Centauri flagship.
• The torpedo detonated fifty kilometers from the flagship and sent a plasma beam through it, destroying the ship.
• Bai Yixuan withdrew Golden Crow A21 after Zhao Zijie ordered it to recover and prepare for an all-out assault.
• The flagship's destruction sent the Proxima Centauri fleet into panic, allowing the First and Second Fleets to approach Proxima b.
• Zhao Zijie ordered the First and Second Fleets to fire an Ion Cannon volley at the enemy's largest starships.

The Solar System Fleet and the Proxima Centauri Fleet charged into a brutal close-quarters battle after the [Golden Crow] battleships destroyed Proxima Centauri's secondary flagships. The [Golden Crow] fleet suffered heavy losses, but support fire helped its survivors break through toward Proxima b while Zhao Zijie's request to commit [Earth] was denied.

• The fifty [Golden Crow] battleships revealed themselves, destroyed Proxima Centauri's two secondary flagships and other ships with an ion cannon salvo, and drew hundreds of enemy ships toward them.
• Zhao Zijie ordered the human forces to fire at will and prepare for close-quarters combat, while Levi urged Proxima Centauri's citizens to charge.
• The Third and Fourth Fleets advanced and fired on the Proxima Centauri ships, and close-quarters fighting began as the two sides met.
• A damaged [Golden Crow] battleship rammed an enemy formation and self-destructed, and after minutes of combat only twenty of the original fifty remained.
• Zhao Zijie asked Lü Yongchang for permission to send [Earth] into battle, but Lü Yongchang denied the request because the enemy might have another weapon.
• The Third and Fourth Fleets destroyed enemy reinforcements and supported the surviving [Golden Crow] battleships as they broke through the enemy line toward Proxima b.

As the Human fleets advanced toward Proxima b, Augustus sacrificed Levi and the small Proxima Centauri ships to stall the invaders, then ordered the land-based laser cannons activated. One cannon instantly destroyed a leading [Golden Crow] battleship, halting the battlefield.

• The Proxima Centauri ships under Augustus began retreating, and he told Levi that he had served as cannon fodder.
• A Human Ion Cannon destroyed Levi's ship, and the retreating Proxima Centauri small ships were caught in disarray and fired upon by both the Human fleets and Proxima b's defenses.
• Augustus dismissed a subordinate's concerns over the ships' destruction and ordered the land-based laser cannons activated.
• The Circumplanetary Defense Installations shifted to reveal gaps, and a laser beam pierced and destroyed a leading [Golden Crow] battleship.

The Proxima Centauri Civilization used powerful Land-Based Laser Cannons to destroy twenty [Golden Crow] battleships and force the Solar System Fleet to halt its attack. After testing the cannons, Lü Yongchang learned that the fleet could not approach Proxima b until it found a way to eliminate all twelve weapons.

• Lü Yongchang ordered the fleet to stop attacking Proxima b after four laser beams destroyed twenty [Golden Crow] battleships.
• Zero estimated that the cannons were at least ten times as powerful as humanity’s laser weapons, and Lü Yongchang deduced that Proxima b’s cold atmosphere and the cannons’ ground-based power supply enabled their strength.
• Augustus revealed that the twelve Land-Based Laser Cannons and the Circumplanetary Defense Network would let the Proxima Centauri Civilization prolong the war until the Solar System Fleet ran low on supplies.
• A week later, Zero reported that tests using disguised [Glutton] starships had identified the cannons’ number, locations, range, and power.
• Lü Yongchang concluded that the [Earth] could withstand only two or three hits and rejected Nuclear Torpedoes and electromagnetic bombardment because the Circumplanetary Defense Network and dwindling ammunition made those attacks unreliable.