Chapter 135

Destruction

Hostiles have accessed files of Planetary Defense Command Center. Such actions are determined as extremely hostile with a 83.333% similarity to the actions of an invader’s scout. Match probability rises to 79.674%.  Threat level is now irrelevant. a.s.signing a.s.sault Unit #12 to erase hostiles. Preparing a.s.sault Unit #12. Time until dispatch is 1 minute, 57 seconds, 32 microseconds.

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Chu Shen nodded. “A solar flare of course! That would explain the interference the holo-display showed around it. The intense electromagnetic energy would have disrupted any long-range scanners.”

Aslo was confused on the other hand. “Uh, what is a solar flare exactly?”

Lucas, who was busy studying some records he had found, answered unconsciously. “It’s when a sun sends ma.s.sive surges of radiation outwards but this solar flare is way outside normal specs. As a matter of fact, I would say it might even be engineered. We have devices that can disrupt a sun's magnetic field, creating a solar flare in the area we want.”

The hologram changed suddenly. There was now slightly more blue s.h.i.+ps but there was a hole in their formation which was blocking an army of red s.h.i.+ps. Lucas pointed at the hologram, explaining some of his concerns to Chu Shen while Aslo and Chrissa looked on in confusion.

“If you look at this right here, you can see where those alien invaders managed to get ten s.h.i.+ps past the blockade. They sent half of them towards this planet, which were destroyed before even coming close, and the others were sent towards the sun. They flew right into the sun, essentially committing suicide. I believe they managed to deliver a weapon that caused the solar flare. This was two days before the solar flare actually happened.”

He closed his eyes for a second before sighing. “I calculated the trajectory of the planet relative to the solar flare. It should have been a direct hit. The ionosphere of the planet wouldn’t have been able to handle such immense amounts of radiation. The radiation would have been able to leak through to the planet's surface, killing every single living thing on the planet. 

“It does appear as though the Nugitraaiil did antic.i.p.ate something like this happening. They had isolated bunkers set up for every major city which is probably why we didn’t see any dead bodies in the street. They would have been able to withstand direct nuclear bombs and had forcefields set up. Unfortunately, the solar flare would have caused radiation far beyond the bunkers ability to withstand. They would have died soon after the solar flare hit, a day at the most.

“I don’t know how long ago the solar flare impacted but it should have been at least five hundred years ago otherwise the radiation wouldn’t have diminished this much.”

Aslo and Chrissa were both completely lost at this moment. Radiation, bunkers, nuclear bombs… All of this was far beyond their understanding. “Sooo. Does this mean everyone is dead?” Aslo finally asked.

Chu Shen nodded. “Yes it does.”

Chrissa gasped before covering her mouth. She turned away, a small tear trickling down her cheek. Aslo shook his head silently, his face grim. They had just managed to gain revenge for their sect which had almost been wiped out. The Nugitraaiil had truly been wiped out, down to the last man. No wonder the twins empathized with these aliens so deeply.

Chu Shen sighed at the twins’ emotional outburst before continuing to converse with Lucas about the specifics of the records. “So do we have any records about after the solar flare?”

Lucas shook his head. “No. Well actually, that isn’t accurate. There is a report here about the forcefield that kept the Tactical Room isolated from the outside which is the only reason why there are still computer records. If there hadn’t been a forcefield, then the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) would have wiped the systems data and we wouldn’t have found anything.

“The initial electromagnetic force disrupted the power supply for the forcefield. It was able to use batteries to keep it up for another day before running out of energy. However, the Tactical Center lost contact with all facilities outside, effectively cutting them off. That’s what I meant by we don’t have any records after the solar flare. We know what happened inside this room but not what happened outside. The officers in the tactical room committed suicide by leaving the forcefield early which is why there aren’t any dead bodies inside.”

Chu Shen and Lucas looked at each other. What would they do with this information?

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a.s.sault Unit #12 was not dispatched. Error in teleportation system has arisen. Diagnostics running… Diagnostics complete. Quantum wave interference detected. Quantum wave interference often caused by hypers.p.a.ce jump. Running tracer scan… Tracer scan complete. Quantum wave interference is coming from Gust’op, the seventh planet of the planetary system. Activating telescope array… Telescope array has discovered s.h.i.+ps that resemble alien invaders from 12.3 cycles ago.

Sh’lteek protocol activated. Moving to wartime footing. Activating all fighter groups. Activating all Mechanized Armor groups. Activating Planetary Defense Platforms. Manufacturing and mining plants have been activated at 100% capacity.

a.s.sault Unit #12 is ordered to activate normal drives. ETA to Planetary Defense Command Center is 3 minutes, 39 seconds, 1,200 microseconds.

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Chu Shen, Lucas, Aslo, and Chrissa decided to go around the rest of the Planetary Defense Command Center looking for further information. As they walked next to each other, Lucas brought up some of his concerns to Chu Shen.

He had on a concerned expression as he talked to Chu Shen. “This just isn’t adding up. The Nugitraaiil are a species that live in my galaxy. They’ve always been very secretive about their past but we’ve had contact with them for three hundred years. Yet here, in an alternate dimension, we find traces of their existence. The same genetic make-up and the same language, all of which couldn’t be faked. This just brings up so many questions.”

Chu Shen shrugged. “Maybe they discovered a way to travel to different dimensions?”

Lucas shook his head. “No, it can’t be that. If they discovered something like that then they would need the ability to manipulate black holes. My dad, Xentus Viri, was just starting to experiment with them whenever we left.”

Chu Shen threw up his hands. “I don’t know then. I have no clue as to how they were able to appear in a completely different dimension. On the other hand, we’ve already been to two other dimensions where there are humans that speak the same language as me. Maybe it’s like that and the Nugitraaiil just coincidentally appeared in both dimensions.”

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a.s.sault Unit 12 has located the hostiles. Hostiles are currently inside the Planetary Defense Command Center. Dispatching Drone Scouts #1, #2, and #3. Mission goal, termination of hostiles.