Empire Savannah Star System, Langkawi Star Orbit, Seventh Military Port.
Massive dock structures resembling metallic mountains clung to the asteroid's surface, their interiors brightly lit with the constant roar of machinery and sparks from welding.
At the port berths, several "Giant Mining Barges" that had just completed their long "voyages"—their hulls rough and mottled—were slowly docking, with docking arms firmly gripping their bloated forms.
On the work platforms adjacent to the berths, numerous tracked or hovering engineering robots were already in position.
Their agile mechanical arms switched between laser cutters, plasma welding torches, and heavy wrenches, methodically "removing" the additional frames, rough outer shells, and non-functional structures used for camouflage on these barges, revealing the sharp-angled, heavily armored true hulls beneath.
Two Sub-Level Fleets under the Bloodblade Fleet, having completed their stealth arrival, were "unmasking."
Not far from the berths, at a maintenance access port on the middle level of the dock.
Several human workers in greasy overalls, faces etched with exhaustion, huddled around a ventilation duct inspection port, sharing the last hand-rolled low-quality cigarette while stealing a bit of warmth from the duct's heat vent.
This was their only break—less than an hour—after twelve consecutive hours of work.
Smoke drifted slowly in the stale air as they squinted, nearly dozing off.
The heavy sound of military boots on the metal mesh floor grew louder, approaching from a distance.
The workers jolted awake, reflexively tossing the half-smoked cigarette butt to the ground and hastily stamping it out with their thick work boots.
They quickly straightened up, bowing their heads toward the approaching figure and chanting in unison, their voices respectful yet numb.
"Good day, sir."
The newcomer was an Empire Navy Lieutenant, his uniform crisp but slightly wrinkled, his face marked by the irritability and impatience of prolonged stress.
He didn't even glance at the cigarette butts, his cold gaze sweeping over the workers' faces, smeared with grime and weariness.
"What's the holdup?!"
The Lieutenant's bark echoed through the empty passageway.
"Why is the camouflage removal progress at D-7 and D-8 berths fifteen percent behind schedule?
The cargo ships are arriving soon!
The dock must keep running non-stop, without a moment's pause!
Do you want to delay the entire fleet's deployment?!"
The Foreman, a man in his forties with thinning hair, rubbed his hands together, trying to explain, his voice pleading.
"Sir, the men have been working non-stop for twelve hours, just changed shifts...
Just a minute to smoke and rest, just one minute...
There are at least six more cargo ships to handle, it's really..."
"Rest?"
The Lieutenant acted as if he'd heard some absurd joke, striding forward abruptly.
Before the Foreman could react, he swung his arm and delivered a hard slap across the man's face!
Smack!
The sharp sound rang out starkly in the passage.
The Foreman staggered, his cheek rapidly swelling and reddening, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
The other workers trembled in fear, keeping their heads bowed low, not daring to make a sound.
"The Empire has no use for trash who make excuses to rest!"
The Lieutenant withdrew his hand, shaking it with disgust as if he had touched something filthy.
"The fleet is waiting to dock, and the enemy is running rampant in the star system! Every second you delay is another second the Empire's victory is postponed! Now, immediately, get back to your posts! Meet today's quota, or you'll all be charged with delaying military operations!"
The Foreman covered his face, his eyes flashing with humiliation and anger, but more than that, deep fear and numbness. He didn't dare look at the Lieutenant again, only muttering a vague acknowledgment.
"Yes... yes, sir."
Then he turned and urged his subordinates in a hoarse voice.
"You all heard him? Grab your tools and head to Berth D-7! Now!"
The workers silently picked up their heavy cutters and welding torches, dragging their weary steps toward the massive starship that was in the process of "shedding its skin."
The Lieutenant snorted coldly and was about to turn and leave to hurry the next work site—
BZZZZZZ!!!
Without warning, all the lighting inside the dock instantly switched to a blinding, rotating, flashing blood-red!
Almost simultaneously, a piercing full-band alarm sound, sharp enough to tear through eardrums and cut through all mechanical noise, swept over every corner like a tsunami!
"Highest level alert! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Detected large-scale high-speed aircraft signals approaching! Unidentified code! It's enemy aircraft! Repeat, enemy aircraft!"
The public broadcast system of the port transmitted the Air Defense Commander's distorted, frantic scream.
The Lieutenant's face instantly turned pale, his earlier ferocity completely gone, replaced only by terror.
The workers froze too, looking up in confusion toward the source of the screeching alarm, toward the dock dome now dyed like a blood-soaked hell by the red light.
Five seconds? Or ten? For most of the unprepared people in the port, time lost all meaning.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of deep, thunderous explosions, as if striking directly at the heart, came from the dock's outer wall!
The entire massive metal structure shook violently, fixed trusses groaning with a teeth-grating sound, lights flickering madly!
Then, the largest D Zone Dock, with its thick composite armor outer wall strong enough to withstand small meteor impacts, was torn open by a sudden burst of blinding white light and a subsequent, even larger explosion—a horrific breach over fifty meters in diameter, its edges glowing in a molten state.
The vacuum of space and the life-sustaining atmospheric pressure inside the dock instantly created an irresistible pressure differential.
WHOOOOOSH—!!!
Not the sound of wind, but the shrieking howl of gas violently escaping, like the sigh of death itself!
Air, dust, unsecured tools, lighter equipment, even a few maintenance robots near the breach...
Every object not firmly anchored was swept up by an unstoppable force, rushing toward that gaping hole shimmering with cold starlight.
The Lieutenant, who had been strutting arrogantly moments before, managed only a short, sharp cry of alarm before he was caught up in the surging airflow. Tumbling like a dead leaf, he vanished into the dark void outside the dock in the blink of an eye.
The Foreman and his crew were likewise unable to escape. They clutched futilely at nearby fixed poles or pipelines, but against that powerful suction, human strength was insignificant. Their desperate cries were swallowed by the vacuum as one by one, their figures were ripped from the warmth of the dock and cast into the eternal, cold, silent abyss of death.
The Langkawi Star Outer Ring Orbit had become a blazing steel inferno.
Swarms of Federation "Swift-V" fighter craft, like moths drawn to a flame, maneuvered with dizzying agility through the dense anti-aircraft fire net.
The Empire's defense platforms deployed in orbit were firing at full capacity.
High-energy laser beams sliced through the darkness, dense railgun barrages formed a metallic storm, and countless anti-aircraft missiles streaked upward with fiery trails, blossoming into deadly fireworks in the void.
Fighter craft were continuously struck, erupting into brief fireballs.