Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 261: A Big Fight

Chapter 261: A Big Fight

When Kogar got the order, he nearly lost it. Turning to Lyra with a bit of panic, he demanded, "How many weapons are we talking about here? Any particular models?"

Lyra just shrugged, cool as ever. "No clue. I’ll bring my team in and we’ll pick what we need ourselves."

Kogar narrowed his eyes—he wasn’t about to just hand over the codes, so he ordered nearby troops to line up and led her to the arsenal himself. But when he saw her entire squad tagging along, his jaw dropped. "Why bring all of them?"

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "To pick out weapons, obviously. What’s the delay? Open it up."

Kogar hesitated. "Wait—are they all joining this mission?"

"What, you were planning to lend me YOUR troops?" she shot back, unimpressed. "Oh, and in case you missed it, the enemy’s packing at least twenty high-grade mechas."

Kogar’s face blanched. "And you’re only telling me this NOW?" He started fumbling to contact Cohen, but Lyra was a step ahead, entering the codes and swinging the vault doors open.

"Wait a sec—" he protested, but with Cohen listening in, Kogar was out of options. He sighed, resigned to dealing with the chaos later, as she led her team into the vault.

Behind her, Shane and the others stepped inside, eyes gleaming as they scanned the racks of weapons. "Pick something you’re actually skilled with," Lyra cautioned. "I mean BEST WITH. Grab something just for show and get killed? That’s on you."

The message hit hard, sobering everyone instantly. Dreams of piloting the Alliance’s top-tier mechas vanished, and they focused instead on what they knew they could handle.

A couple of pirates murmured to each other. "Aren’t we supposed to be space pirates? Why are we fighting for the Alliance now?"

"Uh, because the Empire’s here? You think they’re gonna ignore us?"

"Good point."

Once their selections were made, the group gathered outside.

Lyra cast a quick, critical look over their choices with a sweep of her psychokinesis. Satisfied, she nodded. "Alright, let’s move."

Shane, piloting a mecha alongside her, raised an eyebrow. "Boss, you’re not taking anything?"

"Don’t need it." To her, standard weapons were little more than deadweight.

She led her squad out without a glance at Cohen’s orders to "coordinate with Kogar." She wasn’t here to follow anyone else’s playbook.

Kogar wanted to object, yet he just sighed, shaking his head. If even Cohen couldn’t rein her in, how could he? Besides, he had his own priorities—namely, shoring up ground defenses with the remaining troops.

Back at the Wyrmtrace base, evacuation alarms blared, sending everyone from engineers to officers racing toward the underground bunkers.

These reinforced shelters were the base’s last line of defense.

Meanwhile, in the LE Energy compound, Koros was busy directing his team. Beside him, a towering robot with a megaphone relayed his orders. "Stay calm and bring all critical projects along! Prioritize valuable equipment, then data and materials!" the robot boomed.

"Equipment first, work materials second, and save yourselves LAST!"

A nearby worker gave Koros a skeptical look. "Sir, why not just patch Assisbot No. 1’s voice into the main speaker system? No offense, but some people might miss your orders and leave gear behind if they can’t hear you clearly."

Koros raised an eyebrow. "Noted."

Construction workers nearby were less convinced. "Forget the equipment! The enemy’s practically at the front gate!"

Assisbot No. 1, arms on its hips, shot back, "Stay calm! You think Lyra would really try that hard, giving her life away here? If that selfish woman hasn’t bailed yet, things aren’t hopeless!"

Wide-eyed, the workers glanced nervously at Koros. "Uh, did you program it to be this blunt?"

Koros just shrugged. "Honest words, but solid logic." He knew Lyra too well—she wouldn’t leave behind a resource this valuable unless all was truly lost.

The fact she was still here meant they had a real shot at holding the line.

One of the construction workers, catching Koros’s logic, gave an approving nod. "Fair enough! I’ll go snag my favorite shovel before it’s blasted to bits!"

With that, he darted off, leaving Koros and Assisbot No. 1 to continue coordinating the evacuation.

Koros gave his assistant robot a critical look. Built out of sheer necessity, Assisbot No. 1 had been his answer to an overwhelming workload and the recent incident about the mole

. Efficient and secure, it handled department tasks almost flawlessly—aside from one minor quirk.

Modeled after Koros himself, Assisbot No. 1 had picked up his muttering habit, only it spoke out loud things Koros would usually keep under his breath.

Koros winced. "As long as it doesn’t run into HER, we’re fine."

Just then, the base lights flashed red, and a piercing alarm sliced through the air.

A vivid red laser shot down from the heavens, hurtling toward the base in a flash of blinding speed.

The sky around it glowed a sinister crimson, casting eerie shadows on the faces of the onlookers below.

"Assisbot No. 1, activate the Aegis Shield!" Koros shouted, his voice carrying over the panic.

In seconds, hexagonal layers of faint purple energy appeared, creating a massive shield around the base.

The laser struck it with explosive force, scattering energy across the barrier and creating a fierce burst of light.

Despite the shield’s strength, the blast made the air boil, and the temperature in the base surged to nearly fifty degrees Celsius.

Emergency cooling systems sprang to life, blasting chilled air to keep the base operational.

Koros scowled as he spotted loose equipment lying around. "Who left half the base’s gear out here to fry?"

Assisbot No. 1 turned to him, deadpan. "Ooops. You’re in trouble. SHE is back."

Everyone looked up just as a dark, slender figure launched into the air, blade gleaming in the sun.

Lyra soared upward, cutting through an enemy mecha with brutal efficiency.

Using the collapsing machine as leverage, she propelled herself again, darting across the battlefield like a lethal shadow.

Each arc of her blade left mechas sliced into sparking, smoldering fragments.

In response, a barrage of laser beams zeroed in on her, but she activated her armor, flickering through the blasts before landing with graceful speed.

Sprinting back to the base, she pressed her hand to her earpiece, her voice sharp and steady as she issued commands.

"Team One, maintain cover positions. Enemy sighted at eight o’clock, sixty-one targets inbound."

"Roger that," came the immediate response.

Around the base, the remains of walls and wreckage provided excellent cover.

Lyra dove behind a crumbling barricade as the mechas closed in—only for them to be met with a torrent of laser fire from her ambushed soldiers.

The moment the mechas attempted to rise, a net of laser beams shredded through them, leaving nothing but smoking debris.

Surveying the battlefield, Lyra spotted yet another wave of mechas moving in from the distance.

"Team One, shift positions to ten o’clock. Teams Two and Three, set up for an ambush," she ordered, her voice steely.

Her squads carried out the orders seamlessly, obliterating another wave of enemy mechas. But a nagging sense of something off lingered in Lyra’s mind. She quickly opened a line to Kogar.

"These numbers don’t add up," she said, her voice taut with suspicion. "Can you confirm if they’ve split up and gone elsewhere?"

Kogar was about to respond when he received a frantic call from the eastern sector. "This is Delta Squad! The Empire has breached the eastern district! They’re tearing through buildings and attacking civilians!"

Lyra’s eyes narrowed. "What’s their level?"

"Ten high-grade mechas... ah—" The transmission cut off in a strangled scream.

Kogar’s face turned grim as he relayed the update. "Half of the enemy’s forces are pushing into the east"

The eastern district. Lyra’s jaw clenched, her mind racing. Her joint projects with the Alliance were all stationed there; if the Empire obliterated those facilities, the damages would be catastrophic.

A cold, steely rage flared within her, and for a moment, the battlefield seemed to chill.

Those nearby could feel a prickling sense of dread as if the very air had dropped in temperature—a brewing storm that heralded her wrath.