A Meeting Gift

Although He Xi had seen Phoenix Fighters and Void Rays take off before, she did not know how powerful those two types of spacecraft were. Her understanding of the Protoss was nearly a blank slate.

This young leader, Shen Jun, had left a deep impression on her. He Xi had never seen an Aerospace Civilization that did not treat the angels with utmost respect—the Styx had not yet been established at this time—and Shen Jun's neither servile nor overbearing attitude made her curious.

Were the Protoss really that strong?

"I hope you aren't just arrogantly overestimating yourself..."

He Xi sincerely hoped the Protoss could take down the Trigonians on their own, because the God River Body could not allow the Trigonians to develop without restraint. Variegated Blue's main forces had withdrawn from the primary battlefield, but the combined Trigonian and Beast Body army was still enormous. The Angel Civilization's fleet held no advantage.

Without the Protoss, the angels would have to devote considerable troops and effort to dealing with Variegated Blue. Fighting on two fronts was extremely unfavorable for the angels, and the casualties would inevitably be severe.

Some might say they could simply defeat the main Trigonian and Beast Body forces first, then deal with Variegated Blue. That was far too naive. Variegated Blue was merely a small part of the allied army. The bulk of its forces remained on the main battlefield, and no one knew when they would finally win.

By then, even if the remaining forces were enough to wipe out Variegated Blue, that long span of time would already be enough for the Trigonians to conceal the location of the Giant Elephant Star System. Even having the coordinates would be useless.

So, the Protoss were actually shouldering immense pressure on behalf of the angels.

As for the Deno Civilization and the Lieyang Civilization, they had also begun Form Wars in their respective star systems. They simply did not face any particularly powerful Trigonian forces; the main force was concentrated against the angels.

Apart from ten carriers stationed near Midir Star, the Protoss heroes' flagships were also here. Flagship-class carriers were a level above conventional carriers in both size and firepower. Tassadar and Selandis's carriers were resplendent and majestic, while Alarak's Death Vessel continued the Tal'darim's characteristic red-and-black color scheme.

The Nerazim, however, seemed like outliers. Whether it was Zeratul's Void Seeker or Vorazun's Prophet, neither was much larger than a Phoenix Fighter. The Prophet was slightly bigger, and neither of them was a conventional warship.

Shen Jun and Tassadar boarded the Star Shuttle together, while Talandar was not here. He was waiting at the Kaya Star front alongside the Phoenix Fighter formations.

"Hierarch, the Trigonians have crossed Blai Star's orbit. They are expected to reach Kaya Star in three hours and twenty-seven minutes. They have slowed down for unknown reasons."

The reconnaissance craft's intelligence would be uploaded by the pilots to a psionic channel specially established by Rohana, then analyzed and organized in an extremely short time before being reported to Shen Jun.

"What is unclear about that? They probably think the angels have arrived... Talandar, the enemy will reach the front in just over three hours. Lead the Phoenix Fighter formation and give them a meeting gift."

Shen Jun connected to Talandar.

"Gladly at your service, Hierarch."

"Selandis, Vorazun, head to asteroid DX2507 and rendezvous with the Void Ray formation. Reveal yourselves after Talandar makes his move."

"No problem."

"Good. That just leaves us—Tassadar, Zeratul, and Gao JianGuo."

Alarak: "..."

"Zeratul, your Void Seeker contains Xel'naga technology and can reach sublight flight speeds. In a stellar-system-scale war, no one can hit you. I have a decapitation mission for you: take Variegated Blue's life."

Whether in the Super God Universe or the StarCraft Universe, no spacecraft could surpass the speed of light, and even sublight vessels were rare. Interstellar journeys were accomplished through Great Wormhole Bridges and spacetime warps; the spacecraft themselves were not that fast.

Zeratul gladly accepted the task, his greatest specialty.

"Tassadar, once the carrier formation enters the battlefield, you will command it. Don't concern yourself with my presence."

"You needn't say that, Hierarch. Your arrangements just now were excellent. You have a talent for warfare."

"...H-Hierarch, does that mean I can only stand by and watch during this war?"

Alarak let out a dissatisfied roar. A very vicious roar.

"Didn't I just say so?"

Shen Jun looked at Alarak's holographic image on the projection screen with a stunned expression.

Alarak: "..."

Shen Jun: "I said Tassadar would command the carrier formation. You heard that, right?"

Alarak nodded blankly.

Shen Jun: "You are currently aboard a carrier, correct?"

Alarak continued nodding blankly.

Shen Jun: "So you'll act with Tassadar. Any problem with that?"

Alarak: "...No problem."

More than three hours passed quickly.

Shen Jun saw that the Trigonian signals on the psionic detector were about to enter the prearranged battle line and immediately gave the order: "The operation begins!"

Variegated Blue's army of fifty thousand consisted entirely of elite Trigonian warriors. Each one was as large as a warship, and Trigonians hundreds of meters long were countless.

Such a massive number would have blotted out the sky over any planet, yet in the vast expanse of space, they still appeared insignificant.

Soon, Variegated Blue's army broke through Kaya Star's orbit.

The Phoenix Fighter formation hidden in Kaya Star's low orbit received the order and, led by Talandar, suddenly charged toward Variegated Blue's army.

Five thousand Phoenix Fighters were concealed within the Invisibility Force Fields generated by three hundred Arbiters. Thus, only the Arbiters were exposed to the Trigonians' view.

"Variegated Blue... King... discovered... three hundred unknown... civilization... warships."

The operator Trigonian beside Variegated Blue reported again.

"Destroy... the enemy!"

Seeing that the enemy had only three hundred warships, only a little over a thousand Trigonians launched an attack. Their Mental Shock waves converged, forming three hundred nearly tangible shockwaves that surged toward the Arbiters.

"Activate the Stasis Fields."

The Arbiter pilots were utterly unfazed. After a practiced series of operations, three hundred strange ripples appeared before the shockwaves, and the Mental Shock waves abruptly stopped advancing.

Then the pilots leisurely moved their Arbiters to the side. Just as they dodged the attacks, the Stasis Fields dissipated.

"The enemy... possesses unknown... methods... to block... our attacks."

Bullshit!

Did Variegated Blue think I was blind?

How could I not see something that obvious?

The Phoenix Fighters could reach a maximum speed of one hundred times the speed of sound. When the Arbiters reached a position roughly five hundred kilometers from the Trigonian army, the Phoenix Fighters immediately broke free of the Arbiters' Invisibility Force Fields and charged at full speed toward the Trigonian army.

In barely a dozen seconds, they crossed the five hundred kilometers and plunged straight into the midst of the fifty thousand Trigonians.

A Phoenix Fighter's primary armament consisted of two Negative Charge Ion Cannons. These Ion Cannons were immensely powerful and had a tearing effect, dealing extremely considerable damage to Trigonians. With ten thousand Negative Charge Ion Cannons firing simultaneously, the scene was spectacular.

Their only drawback was their short attack range. Even with Negative Ion Pulse Crystals installed to increase that range, their controllable accuracy did not extend beyond thirty kilometers.