For Lulian, the battlefield had become physically and mentally exhausting.
But Luna, as the overall commander of the campaign, viewed Lulian's battlefield as just one piece of a larger puzzle.
Her gaze was fixed on the vast theater of operations, encompassing over 30 light-years.
Lulian's assessment had been correct, which pleased Luna greatly. This elation stemmed from knowing she had chosen correctly.
The Federation needed more talented military leaders.
"Luna, if Lulian's mission truly fails, would you erase him?" Ayla asked, looking at the file in Luna's hand.
The file contained everything about Lulian.
Luna glanced at it.
"The Mortality Selection plan is a program for selecting military talent, not a death game."
Her answer was clear.
Of course not!
Although many lives were lost, the survivors possessed unique privileges they had earned.
The reincarnators themselves weren't just born with a silver spoon in their mouths; they'd made a contribution. They had paid a higher price than others to reach this point, and they wouldn't be returning to a life of leisure but shouldering more responsibilities.
Lulian was the strongest reincarnator in millennia. Luna had previously granted some reincarnators privileges, but many couldn't handle the truth and broke, while others gradually regressed after returning to normal life.
Luna hoped Lulian wouldn't suffer the same fate.
"Report the situation in other battlefields."
Ayla began, "Out of 14 battlefields, we have the advantage in 11. The remaining 3 are not optimistic."
"This is because the commanders in those 3 areas have made strategic errors and misread the situation."
"Instead of holding, the Filament civilization has been waiting outside the systems. They are anxious, and are actively going out of the star systems to fight the Filament civilization fleets."
The details, of course, were more complex.
Luna reviewed the information for those three locations. The Filament civilization had the fewest ships, just 7,000-8,000, while his forces in all areas were relatively similar. He was able to defeat the enemy with the same number in the rest of the area, but there is a disadvantage now.
He consulted a star chart and found the three locations weren't far apart. They weren't key battlefields.
"This is a Filament tactic. Perhaps a high-ranking officer is stationed there."
"Relocating our warships is too late; the decline has already begun. Consider abandoning those three areas. The number of escaping warships won't be significant and will unlikely pose a major threat."
As she spoke, Luna frowned; she felt something was missing.
"There's something I'm overlooking."
Luna pondered this for over two weeks.
After exhausting her mind, she decided to relax and get a good meal.
While walking along the corridor, she saw a robot changing the paintings. The painting it was putting up was a star chart.
Luna asked, "What part of space is this?"
Without labels, it was difficult to discern anything on a typical star chart. In addition to the stars themselves, there was also light from more distant galaxies, making the whole chart a mess of starlight.
"The Federation!"
The robot pointed. "This is our star system."
Luna looked closer, then suddenly froze.
She carefully examined the star chart, then accessed a holographic chart with her auxiliary brain, reviewing it from multiple perspectives.
"So that's it."
She finally understood the Filament civilization's goal.
But if that was their purpose, they had to meet another condition: the information they had might have been wrong from the start.
"Ayla!"
She called out, and Ayla took control of the robot.
"What did you find, Luna?"
Luna pointed at the star chart. "Look at this line, and this line, and this…"
"The direction of these three lines should be obvious."
Ayla analyzed it for approximately ten seconds. "So you believe the Filament civilization isn't trying to clear a path, but completing an attack?"
"But we have complete information on all their warships; it's impossible for us to have missed anything."
They had 110,000 ships fully within their grasp.
Because of this, Luna started thinking to herself that they may have been making wrong decisions all along, too.
"What if the Filament civilization had more than 110,000 ships from the very beginning?"
"They might have hidden additional warships elsewhere or used other means of concealment. I can't determine their numbers."
"But based on our current information, they're likely to abandon nearly 100,000 warships in the other 11 battlefields and directly attack the three key star systems on the Federation border. If they succeed, the Federation border will be paralyzed."
This paralysis would last a long time. Those three star systems were fuel supply depots; their destruction would leave the entire Federation border vulnerable.
"We have to factor this in."
Luna had initially believed her plan comprehensive, spanning over 30 light-years. But the Filament civilization had seen the Federation's weaknesses beyond that battlefield—terrifyingly astute.
It was then that she truly felt she was facing a formidable civilization.
"Long-range interstellar vision is crucial. I was too narrow-minded."
"If I hadn't seen this, if I'd ignored those three battlefields, I'd have walked into a trap."
"Retract my previous orders and transmit new ones. Defend those three areas at all costs, and use laser transmission to reinforce them."
Ayla asked, "Should we relocate warships to those three key systems?"
Luna considered it and shook her head.
"No, not yet. We must hold the entire border.
"Let me think…"
Luna tried to broaden her perspective, immediately making a decision.
"If they want to play that game, let's turn the tables on them."
"Their goal is to capture the three key star systems. After capturing them, and considering that the 11 fleets on the periphery have been ground down to exhaustion, they won't garrison those systems but will destroy them and return to engage the other fleet, completing a pincer movement against the 11 fleets."
She suspected a hidden Filament fleet existed in the rear.
Luna couldn't think of any other possibilities. If there were no other Filament warships, destroying the three systems would be a Pyrrhic victory.
The cost was too high. Even for the Filament civilization, it wouldn't be worth it. The main Filament force hadn't arrived yet; they couldn't afford a protracted war.
A pincer movement on the 11 fleets would mean they had returned to the Federation border, providing some defense. If the Filament civilization failed to act quickly, they would be drawn into a prolonged war on the Federation's doorstep, which would be extremely disadvantageous.
"Those three locations are indefensible. A Filament fleet will undoubtedly arrive."
"So, we'll evacuate all citizens and energy resources from those three star systems. We won't engage them directly; that will minimize our losses."
"The other 11 fleets can't afford to get bogged down. That would give the enemy the chance to defeat them one by one. Have the stronger fleets disengage from the Filament civilization and regroup with the others, creating a snowball effect until they all converge on one star system."
"Construct a star-level defense in that system to protect the star from destruction. We just need to hold out for 50 years."
"Remember to leave the laser transmission devices in the original star systems…"
With the plan laid out, this was the best solution Luna could devise. If the Filament civilization could evade their sensors, the number of hidden warships wouldn't be insignificant.
The concentration was also a lure. When the battlefield shifted to a single star system, Luna could use the laser transmission devices to bring in warships from different locations, encircling and attacking the Filament civilization's fleet from multiple directions simultaneously.
Laser transmission would skew the Filament civilization's time calculations. The actual battle would unfold faster than they anticipated. This time discrepancy would be the Federation's advantage after the laser transmissions.
...
Six months after Luna made her decisions…
The three locations had indeed fallen. Luna tirelessly studied the battle reports, ultimately concluding that while the commanders bore some responsibility, the primary reason was the Filament civilization itself.
Each time, despite overwhelming numerical superiority, his forces were defeated.
The reports all stated, "Their firepower is too strong!"
It was laughable that with an overwhelming advantage, they were being outgunned.
Moreover, this wasn't an isolated incident but occurred in every battle: the Filament civilization consistently had fewer ships but greater firepower.
Luna sought the underlying cause.
At the same time, she studied the data, searching for the hidden Filament warships.
But there was nothing.
The reports never mentioned any excessive numbers of warships.
Due to the limitations of Tachyon communication—the inability to transmit large image files—she could only learn about the battlefield through reports, lacking crucial details.
This frustrated Luna.
She desperately wanted the Galactic Federation to enter the high-dimensional era, gaining mastery over hyperspace so Tachyon communication would become a common, mature technology.
But that was just wishful thinking.
"They clearly have fewer ships, yet they possess superior firepower."
"If this were widespread, it would be understandable, but it's only occurring in these three locations."
"Luna, the three locations have fallen. The enemy is heading towards the three key star systems. The estimated travel time is 60-70 years. If they attack the three stars from outside the systems, they'll shorten that time to 50 years," Ayla reported, emphasizing the urgency.
Fifty years seemed like a long time.
But it depended on the task.
If you were asked to carry a package upstairs within 50 years, that'd be easy. If you had to write 5,000 essays, it would be more challenging. If you had to build an entire city, it would be even harder.
Depending on the task, 50 years could feel incredibly short.
For the current battlefield, 50 years wasn't much time at all.
"Okay, how many citizens are in those three star systems?" Luna asked.
Ayla reported, "The number of citizens with official status is 132.8 billion."
A massive undertaking.
"There aren't enough starships within those systems. At most, they can transport 3 waves in 50 years, requiring each trip to carry over 40 billion citizens."
"Assign all robots and simulated beings to specific engineering projects. Have them modify the Dyson Swarms, which were originally energy storage devices. They can be easily converted into starships and carry some of the citizens."
"Then, issue missions to other nearby explorers, asking them to participate in relocating these citizens. Set the rewards high; some explorers might team up with space pirates to smuggle people, so monitor closely and prevent that from happening."
The evacuation had actually begun six months ago; this was just the initial phase. It involved coordinating which area of citizens to move first and organizing the move without chaos, to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Many ships and warships were clearing out unnecessary items to maximize transport capacity, and this preparatory work took half a year.
"Secondly, allocate warships to provide some defense."
"At the same time, search for more clues about the Filament civilization. We need to understand their true scale, how they hide their warships, and where their firepower comes from."
These were Luna's greatest concerns.
If she didn't understand them now, they would suffer the same setbacks when facing the Filament civilization's main force. Then, it wouldn't be just a few star systems at stake.
...
Aboard the Heavenly Chain…
Lulian was preparing to conclude the engagement with the Filament civilization.
"Commander, orders from above state that we should not linger with these remnant Filament forces. We should prepare to depart," a junior officer reported.
The junior officer reported this information because they were behind schedule. In fact, they should have departed half a month ago, but due to Lulian's choices, the dreadnought remained.
"I admire the commander's foresight in understanding the Filament civilization's goal; his vision is astonishingly broad."
"Convergence was the right decision, but I feel it's not entirely accurate."
Lulian's decision wasn't driven by a desire to wipe out every last Filament warship; he had noticed something else.
"The Filament warships are diminishing. We launched an attack two months ago, intending to crush them. However, that attack was repelled."
"Do you remember that?"
On the other end of the comms, the officer paused, then said, "Wasn't that because we were too eager, allowing the Filament civilization to widen the battle lines and use their fewer ships to impose restrictions, causing our attack to fail at the last minute?"
"We didn't suffer any losses in that battle, and since then, the Filament civilization has focused on harassment, no longer seeking to attack."
Lulian snapped, "That's wrong!"
"That's not what happened at all."
"Though that's what the server analysis suggests, there was something off."
"At a specific moment, the firepower of some Filament warships increased by 200%, repelling our attack."
"Since it was just a few ships, and insignificant in the broader war, we didn't pay attention. But these instances weren't isolated; collectively, they had a decisive impact on the battle."
Lulian hadn't slept soundly since that battle.
He had been wondering: If those Filament warships could suddenly unleash 300% combat power, why hadn't they done so before?
It didn't make sense. They'd lost so many ships.
But if he considered it from another angle, whatever they were trying to hide, even at the cost of so many ships, must be terrifying. Lulian couldn't leave without uncovering the truth.
The Filament civilization had a profound plan that would shape the entire course of the war.
He vaguely sensed that converging in a single star system could become his tomb.
"Could those 3 failing battlefields be related to this?"
"What if it's not just a small number of ships in those three areas but a problem with all Filament warships?"
Countless thoughts raced through Lulian's mind, but he couldn't grasp the crucial information.
Perhaps…
He could only gain insight by returning to the battlefield.
...
Lulian actually boarded a bio-engineered warship.
Despite the objections of numerous officers, Lulian felt he had to do it.
In his countless reincarnations, he had faced the threat of death countless times. Those threats could sometimes be averted through his individual skills, but now he was facing a campaign.
What was a campaign?
In Lulian's eyes, a campaign was a swarm. Individual strength was meaningless within a campaign. Each swarm had countless individuals; even if you were comparable to a god, a single blast could obliterate you.
This wasn't hyperbole.
The Filament civilization's battle with the Federation was so powerful that each tiny beam of energy contained enough power to destroy a continent on a planet.
How much energy did a nuclear missile contain?
418 terajoules?
4184 terajoules?
Pitifully small.
Each energy blast on this battlefield contained the equivalent of 10 billion Little Boy bombs exploding simultaneously. While it wasn't quite planet-destroying, smaller planets offered no resistance.
What individual could withstand such immense energy?
But Lulian still went.
Because he understood a principle: going now might result in death, but not going now guaranteed it.
When faced with uncertainty, many people often chose to ignore it, hoping to deal with it in the future. But what was the result?
They become exponentially more complicated.
It's like doing summer homework. Most students procrastinate, only to rush through it in the last few days. The result is often incomplete or skipped altogether.
Similar things happen everywhere, even at the highest levels.
Lulian had seen many reincarnators die because of this. He had survived over 20,000 cycles because of his principle: "Deal with things immediately."
Besides, this wasn't just about him; it concerned the entire Galactic Federation. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but it would definitely affect the entire campaign.
He wasn't some saint trying to save everyone.
He just knew and understood that the Reincarnation space didn't appear out of nowhere. Whether it was a product of another advanced civilization or the Federation itself, if the Federation was destroyed, the Reincarnation space would lose its purpose.
He would die.
Even if he survived this war, he would only be buying some time.
As a Galactic Federation being, he had been bound to the Federation since birth, and his entire being, no matter what he did, no matter what form he took, would always be defined as: "Hey, that Federation being!"
It was an indelible identity.
Even if he transformed himself into an alien being, his actions would still carry the strong scent of the Federation.
He wouldn't deny that.
Because all of that comprised him, from any dimension, even across spacetime.
He stood firm within the warship and commanded, "Activate the ship."
All remaining bio-engineered warships of the Heavenly Chain's fleet were deployed for the battle. They sped after the Filament civilization.
"Logically, the Filament civilization might avoid us. Their warships are faster than ours, but we can use the AAA cannons for continuous harassment."
"This time, we're here to fight. There's no turning back."
"I know some of you might be unhappy with my past decisions, feeling I'm sending you to your deaths."
"But today, I want to tell you that for the Federation, anyone can die, including myself."
All the soldiers who heard that sentence understood.
Lulian was serious.
It took the warship 18 days to reach the Filament civilization fleet. They were operating outside the star's heliosphere, launching asteroid collisions to force the Federation to use its limited energy.
Almost instantly upon arrival, they were attacked by the Filament fleet.
However, the attacks were weak.
"Get closer!"
Lulian commanded, wanting to close the gap with the Filament fleet.
The bio-engineered warships began firing. Lulian, actually standing inside a bio-engineered warship, realized their weakness.
If you placed the bio-engineered warships against a Level 2 or 2.1 civilization, they would be effective. But now that the Federation had reached Level 2.3, these ships were just cannon fodder.
"The technology still isn't advanced enough."
That was natural; both the Filament civilization and the Olive Branch Civilization had been around much longer than the Galactic Federation.
The Galactic Federation was more like a nouveau riche, lacking experience.
In game terms, their level was the same as the others, but their gear was far worse.
But was the disparity that great? Not necessarily.
The Heavenly Chain hadn't truly unleashed its power. Dreadnoughts weren't just transports; they were powerful warships.
The reason they hadn't used the dreadnought was because they were fighting a defensive war. The Heavenly Chain was more effective within the star system.
If it left the star system, it would become a primary target.
As Lulian had anticipated, the Filament warships were retreating, trying to wear down the Federation's patience. If Lulian hadn't sensed something, he probably would have retreated and disengaged.
But now that he knew, this was a different kind of signal.
The Filament civilization was waiting for them to leave.
"Since they want to retreat, we'll pursue them. Don't follow their rhythm; we'll force them to this location," Lulian said, pointing to a spot on the star chart.
That location was close to the Federation; there was an invisible line there.
This line could be considered an absolute no-go zone. Crossing it meant the Filament fleet might face attacks from the other side.
Lulian knew full well there wouldn't be any attacks, however if he were to take on the other side's POV, then his POV would be that there were attacks.
Lulian pointed to a line that wasn't nearby. The chase spanned over four years.
They had to be there.
Lulian could see from the data that the Filament civilization warships were changing course, slowing down; the distance between them was closing.
But Lulian had widened the battle lines, forming a massive fan shape to pressure them.
Seven days later, in a hastily prepared but inevitable move, the Filament civilization suddenly changed from retreat to attack, unleashing an unimaginable barrage of firepower towards the Federation.
This attack was overwhelming.
Their losses quickly exceeded 100 warships. The Filament warships began to spread out, gradually encircling the Federation ships.
But what good would that do?
The Federation outnumbered the Filament warships, making such an encirclement laughable.
However, it triggered Lulian's unease.
Each Filament warship was now flying towards a point that was several times that of them ships, and, when their distances were close to 20 astronomical units, all the Filament civilizations' firepower skyrocketed!
At last!
Lulian ordered some of the warships to switch their gene pools, transforming into eyes to observe the Filament warships.
He quickly discovered something astonishing.
The extra firepower didn't originate from the Filament warships themselves, but from the void behind them.
It was as if something invisible was there, yet capable of launching attacks.
"Wait, change the observation method."
Lulian ordered the observation mode to be switched to energy monitoring, which could detect subtle radiation beyond the range of visible light.
In this mode, the Filament warships shone brightly, illuminating a large area around them.
"That's it!"
Lulian's calm demeanor shattered as he exclaimed in alarm.
"It's not that the Filament warships have more energy; it's that they're deliberately hiding other warships behind them!"
"Adjust the parameters."
Lulian wanted to observe something else, not just energy, but gravity. Warships were massive enough to generate a detectable gravitational pull. Their movement would warp spacetime, creating a funnel-like effect. The Filament civilization couldn't change this distortion.
By calculating the curvature of spacetime, Lulian shockingly discovered the Filament warships' mass was 20 times higher than estimated.
In theory, they were facing not 1,400 Filament warships, but 28,000.
Lulian felt suffocated.
He had found it…
This was the Filament civilization's plan.
In each battlefield, the Filament civilization had roughly triple the expected number of warships. Across all battlefields, the Filament civilization had over 350,000 warships.
They were using one ship to conceal the existence of others.
These ships were like shadows.
Creating a space where light couldn't propagate outwards or enter—a cloaked space—wasn't difficult; you just needed a machine that captured photons. It didn't require the complexity of creating a black hole to trap the photons.
Therefore, Lulian had never considered that the Filament civilization would use such a method to hide its ships.
In a campaign like this, gravitational detection primarily focused on detecting enemy gravity-based attacks, so they hadn't noticed the ships' anomalous mass.
After all, the battle was being fought at vast distances. Gravity could stretch infinitely, but gravitational warping was influenced by distance and the gravity of massive celestial bodies. Inside the star system, it was impossible to accurately measure the ships' abnormal mass.
This was one reason the Filament civilization dared to do this.
Luna bringing them into the star system played into their hands. They used the difficulty in measuring gravity in the heliosphere to hide the existence of its other ships.
Lulian had never imagined this battle as a one-sided slaughter, and he believed Luna thought the same.
This kind of gambit was normal.
So, Lulian calmed down.
"First, transmit the information back."
After saying that, he immediately added, "Wait!"
"The Filament civilization's decision to counterattack now isn't just because we've pushed them to the limit; it's also because they've prepared a trap."
"The information probably won't get through. Continue to monitor gravity and determine the actual number of Filament warships around us."
Lulian made the right call, as he soon received reports of a destroyed ship behind him.
The filaments connecting the Filament warships had reappeared.
Lulian tried launching some attacks, but they missed the Filament warships and were blocked, unable to leave the area.
Light couldn't escape; neither could information.
Approximately three days later, he received the information he needed.
A total of 31,230 ships, slightly more than he had thought.
"Those bastards!"
If every battlefield had that many ships and they all converged in a single star system, the forces they would face would be multiplied.
Did that differ from what Luna had said?
Luna had made her decision by considering the time dilation.
By the time the Filament civilization warships arrived, the Federation would have fully fortified the star system.
If they had that many ships from the start, they could have destroyed the star itself upon arriving in the inner star system, leaving the Federation unable to react.
Therefore, this entire war, which appeared to be led by Luna, was in fact dominated by the Filament civilization.
"Are we going to be wiped out?"
Some soldiers began to panic.
The current situation looked bleak; facing such a massive enemy force, they had no hope of victory.
Lulian felt the same.
He had two thoughts: desperately try to break through the encirclement or commit suicide and return to the Reincarnation space. He still had reincarnation attempts, but they are also limited, which also pushed to the other side the balance in the weigh.
To him, the second option was better.
But he also had to consider a problem that was out of his control.
If the Reincarnation space was a Federation product, then his suicide might be permanent. The Filament civilization was suppressing all information in the area; no message could escape.
If he chose suicide and failed, that would demoralize his soldiers; he wasn't a reckless officer.
The first option was also difficult.
They were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. How could they break through?
The enemy was on every side—left, right, up, down, forward, and back. Even if they focused all their attacks in one direction, could they escape?
Impossible!
That was his assessment.
Because this wasn't an ancient battlefield. The Filament warships seemed scattered, but they were connected, forming a single, unified force. They were using the filaments to concentrate their energy density in every direction. Not even a mosquito could escape this blockade, which spanned hundreds of astronomical units.
What to do?
What to do?
Lulian searched for a chance, but he found none. This wasn't a situation that could be resolved through cunning.
He pondered for two days.
Suddenly, he asked himself: "Do I need a chance of survival?"
That's right, did he need a chance of survival?
What was his purpose in drawing the Filament civilization here?
His purpose seemed to have been achieved. He and the soldiers on these warships had already fulfilled the mission's purpose. Why despair?
...
The moment Lulian came to this realization, his image appeared before every soldier in the fleet. He adjusted himself, looking relaxed.
"As you all suspect, we're surrounded."
"The enemy warships greatly outnumber us. I made a foolish decision, leading you to your deaths."
As he spoke, Lulian chuckled.
"But I don't regret it."
"Why?"
"Because we're soldiers. What is a soldier's duty? To protect our citizens, to protect our home."
"Did we succeed? Will our deaths have meaning?"
The soldiers looked at each other, unsure of what Lulian was trying to say.
However, Lulian's laughter was infectious. They relaxed, pondering his words.
As soldiers, they had already died the moment they stepped onto the battlefield. Even if they survived, they had to consider themselves already dead.
So, what was their mission?
To preserve their lives?
No!
To trade their lives for something greater.
Lulian continued, "In my eyes, yes. We uncovered the enemy's plot, a plot that could have led to the collapse of the Federation border."
"Look, our enemy is upset. They're angry. They desperately want to destroy us."
"Isn't that something to celebrate?"
"So how can we make these bastards even angrier, even more desperate?"
"Gene pools!"
"Bio-engineered warships are constantly evolving, and so are their gene pools. Since the Federation has entered the age of dreadnoughts, what can bio-engineered warships do besides act as cannon fodder, like the swarms?"
"Think about it. It's a new dawn."
"Why can't bio-engineered warships become dreadnoughts?"
Therefore, the bio-engineered warships would become dreadnoughts.
Flesh and blood could merge. Lower-tier planetary dreadnoughts had not yet reached the point of using exotic matter, so bio-engineered warships could become biological dreadnoughts.
But such dreadnoughts wouldn't have any combat power; they would be too cumbersome, making them vulnerable.
The Federation couldn't yet enable biological dreadnoughts to unleash tremendous combat power.
Hearing Lulian's words, the soldiers thought he had lost his mind.
Having the bio-engineered warships merge into a dreadnought would only make it easier for the enemy to destroy them.
"Think outside the box."
"The biological dreadnoughts won't have any combat power; they'll essentially become auxiliary observation vessels for ships like the Heavenly Chain."
"But think! Biological dreadnoughts' energy still exists. Concentrating that energy would create a superbomb, an explosion those Filament civilization warships couldn't withstand."
Silence.
Every soldier and officer in the bio-engineered warships fell silent.
They now understood Lulian's plan.
This was about sacrificing a portion of the Federation's soldiers and officers, while the real goal was to have that action help the Federation in a larger scale, a very broad one.
The long-term success of the effort required the troops in the ships in the immediate vicinity to turn themselves into suicide bombers.
It was to give up themselves.
For them, it was terribly tragic.
A moment ago, despite their despair, they secretly hoped for salvation.
Now, Lulian laid everything bare: a complete, hopeless sacrifice.
But…
"Haha, hahaha!!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Soldiers in the bio-engineered warships burst into laughter. If they could make the enemy angrier, wasn't that something to celebrate?
...
Several thousand Federation bio-engineered warships began converging.
Most of them were fish-shaped, resembling thousands of fish swimming in a single direction—a majestic sight.
As they converged, they gradually transformed into a single, monstrous entity.
What kind of creature was it?
A massive, crimson fleshy mass, hundreds of thousands of meters in diameter, covered in writhing eyes that observed the surroundings.
All around it were Filament civilization warships. They didn't slow down due to the transformation, and once close enough, they launched their attack.
There was no fancy maneuvering, just pure energy bombardment; that was all they needed.
The massive fleshy mass then began to detonate. In an instant, it seemed to create a miniature star.
But that wasn't from the Filament civilization's attacks; the change came from within.
The concentrated energy focused on a single point.
That point was only 10 meters in diameter, but it contained energy that would take a star decades to dissipate.
Highly concentrated, highly compressed.
This wasn't to attack anything, but to transmit a message.
In the next moment after the message left. It was the sounds of mocking. That mocking came from hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were to die. The crimson meat sphere exploded, and there were the sounds left to indicate what would happen to them.
The Filament civilization warships used the filaments to reinforce their shields in the path of the blast, but it was too late. The attack was light. By the time they saw it, it was already upon them.
The light effortlessly pierced through the Filament civilization's defenses.
That patch of space seemed to warp.
Not from spacetime distortions, but from the Filament civilization's defenses themselves. The Filament civiliation's defenses stretched throughout the skies in every location they've set forth in.
The beam continued to fly for six months before exploding.
The detonating light scattered information throughout the surrounding space.
...
Nine years later, Luna received the information.
"Immediately change tactics."
"Destroy the stars directly."
"Over the past ten thousand years, we've grown accustomed to destroying stars to harvest energy; AAA cannons are a byproduct of this process."
"Our warships also carry large amounts of equipment that absorbs energy released from destroying stars. This energy can fully replenish our warships, and the resulting regional chaos can be exploited to consolidate our forces."
"After converging, they will carry out the A Breakthrough Protocol. Every one of those vessels must break free of the Filament civilization's encirclement."
"If that's not possible, then use the B Annihilation Protocol to weaken the Filament civilization fleet as much as possible."
Why converge?
Because of speed!
The Filament civilization's ships were much faster than theirs; solo escapes were impossible.
Luna could quickly devise new tactics, but just like Lulian, it turned out that they are now having to face that side of that equation; as they were, in fact, dealing with a Civilization who's long-term was indeed more formidable than the Galactic Federation, and so they came to realize that Luna could not keep thinking of those tactics as the end all be all.
So now, she did find them more challenging, though the other side was not without weakness.
"Ayla, sometimes I arrogantly think the Galactic Federation belongs to me."
"Because without me, the Galactic Federation wouldn't exist. Without me, the Federation would have been enslaved and destroyed by the Olive Branch Civilization ten or twenty thousand years ago."
"But now I realize how naive that thought is, how ridiculous, how arrogant, how pathetic…"
In the reports, she saw a quote from Lulian.
"How can I not be proud to have unraveled the Filament civilization's plan? How can I not feel joy from deep within for fulfilling my destiny as a soldier and saving trillions of Federation citizens?"
"That's how I feel, and that's how my soldiers feel."
"In the final moments, we laughed freely, we danced and sang, we enjoyed snacks, we watched movies, we shared stories, we even played games. We were overjoyed."
"We weren't on some cruel battlefield. We were relaxed, as if we'd come home. Oh, the feeling is so wonderful…"
"Please don't grieve for us; this is the ultimate fate of a soldier."
They had changed the course of the war with their lives.
Without them, the Federation would have been defeated, the border would have been lost, and that could have been the trigger for the Federation's destruction.
"Do you want to honor them as martyrs, Luna?"
Ayla's avatar asked emotionlessly. Luna didn't blame it; that was what Ayla's primary directive is.
"Martyrs?"
"No, they are Federation luminaries, every single one of them."
"They protected the Federation in life and, in death, became the sun, moon, and stars, continuing to guard the Federation."
Luna was deeply moved.
She wondered if she could have laughed freely at that moment.
Probably not.
She would have fled. Even knowing there was no chance of survival, she would still have tried.
Because that was life's instinct.
It was because of knowing this that she realized how difficult it was to laugh in such a situation, what a steely heart and diamond-like conviction were.
Luna never stinted in her praise of others, never denied her own shortcomings.
She wasn't perfect. Even with the [Supreme Being] gene pool, she wasn't a perfect god; she was human. She had flaws.
It was because of these flaws that she strived for perfection, that she was human, that she could feel the grief of soldiers' deaths. She was glad she wasn't a god but a human, able to experience these beautiful emotions.
After this, Luna would never again say it wouldn't matter if the Federation was destroyed.
At that moment, she felt a connection to Lulian and those hundreds of thousands of soldiers, a resonance she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't bring herself to stand.
But she did.
What propped her up was a powerful sense of responsibility and the will of those hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
"Only by destroying them can there be true completion and perfection."
"The enemy's numbers must exceed 350,000. This can no longer be considered a reconnaissance mission; their goal is to break through our defensive lines. So, we need to change things."
"Initiate a full mobilization."
"They need to face our fury."
"Adjust that 'thing' as well; it's time for it to take the stage."
The Federation had undergone tremendous change in the past millennia, especially with the abundance of energy. Many things became possible.
Some things were even beyond Luna's and Ayla's comprehension.
What was the Galactic Federation's population now?
148 trillion.
Such a massive number created a new wave of economic momentum.
On Earth, it was called the demographic dividend, and the same existed in space, though it was more closely related to Luna's resource theory of imagination.
These citizens were an unmatched treasure.
The soldiers were a part of it. At a crucial moment, they served a critical purpose.