Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 138: ATMT (8)

Chapter 138: ATMT (8)

The live stream audience, along with the military teams stuck outside the island, were left in shock.

Everything had escalated too quickly.

In a control room far from the action, Vice Admiral Myer took swift command of the situation. With a wave of his hand, he barked, "Prepare for immediate landing! We’ll split into two teams!"

Then he turned toward Ansel, waiting for confirmation.

Ansel nodded, his expression steely. "I’ll handle the enemy leader."

"I’ll lead the team to rescue the students!" Myer replied without hesitation.

Meanwhile, back on the island, Lyra wasted no time. She hoisted Aurelius up and shoved him into the mecha, quickly activating the map and heading full speed toward the control room.

Without breaking stride, she threw a bit of healing energy his way.

Aurelius coughed as he slumped into the co-pilot seat. His blood-stained form resembled a delicate, bruised flower. "Where are we headed?" he managed, his voice strained.

Lyra glanced at him briefly. "I’m going to save my teammates."

There was a pause as Aurelius took in her calm demeanor. Her face didn’t quite match the intensity of her words.

Aurelius said, "And you’re taking me along...? I’m not too eager to dive into a death trap."

The idea of charging into enemy territory alone wasn’t his idea of heroics.

"Don’t you want to save your brother? Or your teammates?" Lyra asked, her eyes still locked ahead as she pushed the mecha to its limits.

Aurelius scoffed, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. "If they’d followed orders, they wouldn’t be in this mess. They chose to back my brother over me, so whatever happens to them is their problem."

Lyra couldn’t argue with his logic. "Fair point," she replied, casually checking the sound settings on the mecha to make sure nothing was being broadcast. After a pause, she added, "If he dies, the inheritance is yours."

Aurelius’ eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion before his face darkened. "You’re right."

But the thought of what awaited him—potential retaliation from the queen’s supporters and his father’s wrath—lingered heavily in his mind.

Despite the tension, Lyra pushed forward, managing to reach the control room area faster than the military team, which had just started landing on the island’s coastline. But just as they entered a small grove, they found themselves surrounded by imperial agents, weapons drawn.

"Get down!" one of the spies barked, their guns locked onto the mecha.

Aurelius was curious to see how Lyra would handle this. To his surprise, she yelled, "Release our people! We’ll fight you!" Then, with reckless abandon, she charged the mecha forward, straight into enemy fire.

The mecha didn’t last long, getting shredded almost instantly by the barrage.

Lyra was forced to crawl out, clearly outmatched.

As Aurelius followed her, he felt something cold burrow into his open wounds, the sharp pain making him wince. He shot a venomous glare at Lyra, but held his tongue.

Meanwhile, Lyra quickly hid a Space Button beneath her skin, unnoticed by their captors.

The audience watching the live stream couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

"Come on, did she even have a plan? She just charged in blindly!"

"I thought she was some kind of super soldier, but she ended up as a hostage. And now our prince is caught too!"

"Say what you want, at least she’s out there risking her life to save people. What about you? Still hiding in your mom’s house?"

"Exactly! If it weren’t for Lyra, that Aegis Shield would still be up, and the military wouldn’t even have a chance of reaching the island."

"Seriously, if you’re not going to help, stop complaining."

Despite the mixed reactions, one thing was clear—the audience was glued to their screens, desperate to see how this would play out.

With so many students, some of the best and brightest of the Alliance, now in the hands of the Empire, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The question on everyone’s mind was simple: how would the military manage to pull off a rescue?

"As long as they can get the kids out, it doesn’t matter if the enemy gets away," one viewer commented, voicing the hope shared by many.

Online, frustrations boiled over, with people condemning the military’s slow response and accusing the Empire of heartless tactics. But no matter the complaints, everyone had one wish—that the students return home safely.

Inside the enemy camp, things were bleak. Lyra and Aurelius had all their gear confiscated, their hands and feet locked in metal restraints.

They were herded into an open clearing where the other hostages—students from the Alliance—were being held.

But Lyra was singled out and placed separately, away from the others. The reason for this remained unclear, but it didn’t look good.

Lyra raised an eyebrow and asked calmly, "I want to know—who’s got it out for me?"

The man standing guard shrugged with indifference. "The one who let us in."

The crowd erupted in disbelief. A traitor? It was worse than anyone had thought.

Lyra didn’t flinch. "Then why capture a bunch of students?" she asked again, her tone steady but sharp.

The man’s grin widened, malicious and cold. "Because capturing all of you will humiliate the Alliance. It’ll tear down their pride. And once we release the video..." He laughed, relishing the thought.

The plan was twisted but effective. These were the brightest minds of the Alliance, future leaders and soldiers. If they were captured and humiliated in front of everyone, the damage to the military’s reputation would be devastating. Public trust would crumble.

From a psychological warfare standpoint, it was genius. Brutal, but genius.

Suddenly, someone monitoring the situation yelled out, "Damn it! The Alliance military has landed! Myer’s on his way, and Ansel’s gunning for the general!"

The tension in the room spiked instantly.

"Alert the general!" a grim-looking man barked. "How much time until the passage opens?"

"Five minutes!"

Lyra’s ears perked up at the word "passage." Something clicked in her mind.

These guys had arrived undetected, likely through this so-called passage. And how had they known where to strike? It probably involved Ansel.

Lyra had a sinking feeling that the price of their deal was her.

A bitter smile tugged at her lips. The irony wasn’t lost on her.

Ansel, her supposed ally, had sold her out to the enemy.

Years ago, her parents were executed on false charges of treason. Now, she was caught in a web of betrayal herself.

The universe had a cruel sense of humor.

The five minutes passed in a flash.

A strange, violent energy crackled through the air. Before their eyes, a tiny black dot formed, rapidly growing into a two-meter-tall, oval-shaped wormhole.

This was the "passage" they had spoken about.

Even Lyra couldn’t hide her surprise. If the Empire had mastered this technology, it could bypass any defense, no matter how strong. This was a game-changer, a weapon that could cripple entire nations.

The middle-aged man pointed at the captured students, his voice cold and unfeeling. "Throw them in first."

"Yes, sir."

Two guards immediately stepped forward, heading toward the group of students. They were helpless, paralyzed by fear.

On the livestream, millions watched in horror, their hearts sinking at the sight of the Alliance’s brightest being led to what seemed like certain death.

The first ones to be dragged to the edge were from EPMA, including their team leader.

They knew what was coming. Their faces reflected pure terror. Being thrown into that hole meant disappearing forever.

Just as the guards prepared to toss them in, a flash of light severed their arms clean off.

Chaos broke loose.

The middle-aged man reacted quickly, summoning ropes of sand to subdue the remaining students. But before they could strike, a glowing green shield appeared, wrapping around the group like a protective cocoon.

Lyra, now fully armored, didn’t waste a second. She charged forward, landing a brutal punch against the man’s sand wall. It absorbed the impact effortlessly—he was a level-seven, stronger than she expected.

Grinding her teeth, Lyra unleashed several glowing bands from her back, aiming to pierce through the sand and strike him directly.

Their battle raged, while chaos erupted around them.

The control room staff scrambled, frantically launching attacks at the green shield protecting the students.

Meanwhile, Aurelius, still recovering from his injuries, suddenly felt the metal embedded in his wound begin to shift. The metal transformed into a sharp blade, slicing through the restraints on his hands and feet. Quickly, he freed the others around him.

With no time to lose, they launched a counterattack, catching the enemy completely off guard.

With Elsie and Nicholas—both formidable level-six fighters—the tide quickly turned in favor of the students.

Their swift, coordinated attacks caught the Empire’s spies completely off guard, leaving the enemy scrambling to regain control.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man fighting Lyra was losing patience. His face twisted with fury as he summoned a powerful sandstorm, trapping Lyra in its suffocating grip.

The sand coiled around her tightly, pinning her in place.

He wasted no time, turning his attention to the bound EPMA students still perilously close to the black hole.

"I’m taking a few with me!" he snarled, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he ensnared the students in thick tendrils of sand.

With a furious roar, he hurled them toward the gaping void, aiming to toss them into the unknown.