The moment the communication channel connected, a piercing alarm tore through the signal, flooding directly into the supreme command conference room of Azure Star.
On the primary monitor, the live feed from the Master Control Zone of the Herta Space Station shuddered violently.
Blinding crimson warning lights swept back and forth across the lens, painting half of Asta’s face in harsh red and leaving the other half pale white.
The corners of her eyes were flushed, and her fingers gripped the console so tightly her knuckles had drained of color, yet her spine remained straight as a steel rod.
Behind her, researchers clutching data pads scrambled through the chaos, but not a single soul abandoned their station.
In the background, the dull, rhythmic thud of massive claws slamming against the exterior energy shield echoed without pause.
On the opposite end of the transmission sat the brightly lit, suffocatingly tense Supreme Defense Conference Room of Azure Star.
High-ranking officials in pristine military uniforms and tailored formal wear lined the long mahogany table.
At their head sat the gray-haired Supreme Defense Commander, Admiral Leizer, his epaulets heavy with military honors.
He was a hardened veteran who had fought alongside Herta to repel the nineteenth apocalyptic calamity, and he remained the most unyielding enforcer of Herta’s ironclad laws on Azure Star.
“Station Master Asta, we have already assessed the severity of the assault on the space station,” Admiral Leizer spoke first.
His voice carried the weight of solid rock, laced with an absolute resolve.
“However, Madam Herta left behind a strict directive.
The main fleet of Azure Star must never leave the gravitational pull of our home planet.
No matter what crisis the station faces right now, without her direct written authorization, we will not deploy a single soldier.”
The moment his declaration settled, the civilian representative beside him chimed in.
“Indeed.
Our fundamental duty is to protect Azure Star.
That is Madam Herta’s absolute bottom line.
The Antimatter Legion is targeting the space station.
If we redeploy our main forces, the orbital defense of our home planet will be left wide open.
If we suffer a surprise attack, who will answer to Madam Herta?”
“I will.”
Asta’s voice cut through the noise.
It was not deafening, but it sliced cleanly through the blaring sirens in the background.
She raised a hand, projecting a digital document directly onto the shared feed.
An official letter of appointment, stamped with Herta’s exclusive digital seal, instantly dominated the secondary monitor.
The text was sharp and absolute: In the event of an emergency, Asta possesses authority over the space station equal to my own.
“I am the station master, personally appointed and granted supreme authority by Madam Herta.
In her absence, my command is her will.” Her gaze swept across the faces of the planetary elite.
Her almond eyes, which usually carried a gentle innocence, now burned with a startling intensity.
“You sit there talking about Madam Herta’s bottom line, but do you even understand what her bottom line actually is?”
Admiral Leizer furrowed his brow.
“Madam Herta’s bottom line is the absolute safety of Azure Star.”
“You are wrong.”
Asta raised her voice.
The words Kazuki had drilled into her mind were now surging through her veins, making her very fingertips tremble with adrenaline, yet every syllable she delivered struck like iron.
“Madam Herta has crossed multiple Amber Eras, fending off nineteen apocalyptic disasters for Azure Star, containing Stellarons, and slaughtering interstellar leviathans.
She did not do this because our planet is particularly special.
She did it because this is her home, and the people she wishes to protect live there.
She has shielded you for thousands of years, but not so you could hide like cowards behind a planetary barrier while her followers face total annihilation.”
A heavy silence crashed over the long table.
A few officials averted their eyes in shame, but someone still muttered a weak defense.
“But the space station is ultimately Madam Herta’s private property.
We cannot risk the safety of billions of citizens on our home planet…”
“Private property?”
Asta spun around, switching her background feed to a panoramic view of the Master Control Zone, broadcasting it directly to the supreme command.
On the screen, a young, freshly graduated technician gritted his teeth as he desperately vented coolant into an overloaded terminal.
His hands were blistered red from the searing heat, yet he refused to take a single step back.
A gray-haired senior researcher stared obsessively at the shield parameter interface.
His hands shook so violently he could barely grip his stylus, but he was still screaming at the top of his lungs, ordering another thirty percent of reserve energy to the port side to hold the line.
Two young girls clutched heavy spare energy cores to their chests, stumbling blindly toward the emergency maintenance corridor.
Chunks of collapsing ceiling crashed down inches behind their heels, but neither slowed their pace.
“Every single person here came because of Madam Herta.” Asta’s voice rang with absolute conviction, stripped of any hesitation.
“They abandoned the wealth and comfort of their home planet.
They gave up stable lives to come to this freezing, empty void.
For her ideals, for her research, they are willing to lay down their very lives.
They are not some disposable private property.
They are living, breathing human beings with families, loved ones, and an unbreakable faith in Madam Herta.”
Her gaze locked back onto the high-ranking officials, her words dropping like heavy hammer blows against their conscience.
“Today, you cling to your so-called ironclad rules and watch them die.
Even if you manage to keep Azure Star safe, you will completely destroy Madam Herta’s legacy.
When the dust settles, the entire universe will say that the home planet Madam Herta protected with her life is populated by nothing but ungrateful cowards.
Do you honestly believe that is what she wants to see?”
“I am the station master of this facility.
The lives of everyone aboard rest on my shoulders.” She took a deep, shuddering breath, meeting the eyes of the supreme command, and swore her oath.
“I will make this absolutely clear right now.
The Azure Star Fleet will deploy immediately.
If anything happens to our home planet, I, Asta, will pay the price with my own life.
I swear this on Madam Herta’s honor, and I will not take a single step back.”
The communication channel fell into a suffocating silence.
Only the dull, rhythmic booming of the space station’s failing shields pounded against their eardrums.
The first to break the quiet was a young major seated at the far end of the long table.
He stood up abruptly, snapping a textbook military salute toward Admiral Leizer.
“Admiral.
I agree with Station Master Asta.
My ancestors were pulled from the ashes of disaster by Madam Herta.
Without her, I would not exist today.
I refuse to watch her followers die at the hands of the Antimatter Legion.
I request permission to deploy the Vanguard Fleet to reinforce the space station.”
The moment his voice faded, a second officer stood.
Then a third.
More and more young commanders rose from their seats, their salutes snapping through the air in unison.
Requests to join the vanguard echoed down the length of the conference room.
Admiral Leizer stared at the young woman on the screen.
Despite the redness rimming her eyes, her posture remained unbroken.
He slowly lowered his gaze to the rusted medal pinned over his heart, an honor Herta herself had fastened there many years ago.
He remembered the exact words Madam Herta had spoken to his battered regiment when she turned back to face the swarm that day.
I protect you not so you can survive in shame, but so you have the courage to protect those who need protecting.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the cloudy haze of old age had burned away, replaced by the fierce fire of a veteran commander.
Admiral Leizer stood up abruptly, delivering the most solemn military salute of his life to the girl on the screen.
“Station Master Asta, the Azure Star Supreme Command accepts your directive.”
He turned on his heel, his voice booming with enough force to rattle the fixtures as he broadcast his orders across every defense channel on the planet.
“Relay my command.
The First through Ninth Main Fleets of Azure Star are to enter supreme combat readiness immediately.
Fully charge all carrier-based interceptors and main planetary cannons.
Target coordinates set to the Herta Space Station.
Depart immediately.”
The instant the order dropped, every single person in the conference room, military and civilian, old and young, rose to their feet.
Placing their right hands firmly over their left chests, their insignias gleaming under the harsh lights, they delivered their oath in perfect unison.
Their voices surged through the transmission, echoing across the embattled space station.
“We swear in the name of Azure Star.”
“Everything for Madam Herta.”
“Everything for protection.”
“Through fire and water, we shall not hesitate.”
Watching the sea of figures standing at attention and hearing their deafening vow, Asta felt a surge of intense heat swell in her chest.
Her fingertips trembled, but she forced the overwhelming emotion down, keeping her eyes clear and focused.
She returned the salute with absolute gravity.
“On behalf of all the researchers aboard this station, I thank you.
We will hold the line and await your arrival.”
The moment the feed cut out, the device in her pocket vibrated.
It was a brief text from Kazuki.
Beautifully done, Asta.
Asta gave a quiet sniffle, reining in the adrenaline coursing through her system, and turned to face the control room.
Every researcher had paused to look at her.
She lifted her chin, the light in her eyes burning brighter than the emergency flares outside.
A brilliant smile broke across her face as she shouted over the blaring alarms.
“You all heard them.
Azure Star’s reinforcements are on the way.
Everyone, hold your posts.
Together, we will defend the space station.”
The Master Control Zone, which had been drowning in despair just moments prior, erupted into a deafening roar of cheers.
The technicians, whose faces had been drained of color and whose hands had shaken with terror, now moved with a fiery new purpose.
They threw themselves back into the consoles, chanting cadences as they rerouted power and calibrated defense grids.
Not a single person took a step back.
Meanwhile, in the distant high orbit of Azure Star, massive starships slowly detached from their docking bays.
The glow of their thrusters merged into a brilliant sea of light against the pitch-black void, accelerating at maximum thrust toward the besieged Herta Space Station with unstoppable momentum.
Just then, a voice drifted from directly behind Asta.
“You did well.”
Asta spun around.
Meanwhile, deep within the Support Zone.
Kazuki had deliberately removed the dark crown veil from his head, swiping a standard beret off a deactivated Herta puppet and plopping it onto his own hair.
It still looked a bit out of place, but it was far less eye-catching than his previous attire.
‘No reply to my message?
Looks like she is entirely tied up.’
Kazuki knew that from this exact moment forward, the timeline had fractured.
The original plot of the universe could only serve as a loose reference now, not an absolute prophecy.
He had merely given Asta a gentle push in the right direction.
But back to the matter at hand.
He had not come to this sector to engage the Doomsday Beast in a brutal head-on collision.
His primary objective was to secure the Destiny Cards of the main cast.
If his calculations held true, a portion of the Azure Star vanguard would inevitably dock here.
Once he finished drawing his cards, he could simply hitch a ride on their cruiser back to Azure Star, using the planet as a transit hub to explore the wider cosmos.
Just as he finalized his exit strategy, a colossal shadow eclipsed the artificial lighting above him.
He tilted his head back.
The Doomsday Beast was circling directly overhead, its three pairs of massive, jagged wings fully unfurled, casting a terrifyingly oppressive aura over the entire sector.
A sudden commotion echoed from the adjacent corridor.
Himeko, Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle were already sprinting toward the main platform.
“So the Trailblazer is Stelle,” Kazuki murmured under his breath, a faint smirk touching his lips.
He took two measured steps forward, planting himself firmly in the only path the Astral Express Crew could take.
Doomsday Beast
Doomsday Beast Concept Art
[Elysian’s Note:
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