Chapter 84: The Final Stand
Chapter 84: The Final Stand
“There are quite a lot of plains in North Korea.”
“Jaeryeong Plain and Pyongyang Plain are quite famous.”
“It’s an optimal location for building a megacity.”
He couldn’t build a megacity right away, but it was important to plan the city so that it could have the foundation for it.
Fortunately, all of North Korea’s urban planning was entirely under Russia’s control.
Everything from basic civil engineering to finishing stages was carried out under Russia’s supervision.
They didn’t monitor every single material, but the entire payment process went through Russia, so it was impossible to embezzle.
Yu Ji-ha wrote his name on Terra Island.
“This is Megacity Pacific. And North Korea is Megacity North.”
North Korea’s latitude was not enough to be called North, but he wrote it for convenience.
Arma wrote his name on the South Sea area.
“Then this would be South.”
Megacities were built all over the map.
With the land he had acquired so far, he could build four megacities, which was not enough for his goal of 15.
“But it’s not slow considering we’ve done this much in three years, right?”
“The schedule is almost error-free.”
“We can build at least six more if we get Manchuria.”
This schedule was based on the assumption that Plague would invade in 2103.
But Arma reported that he might have to revise the plan completely.
“Master, something flew to the moon.”
“Didn’t you catch it beforehand?”
“The range of the gravity radar is limited.”
Settler was currently in orbit, but it was busy enough to monitor Earth.
The space plant was specialized in production and the mining ship was not worth mentioning.
Yu Ji-ha felt a sigh coming out suddenly.
“I thought I had achieved a lot in three years, but I don’t even know what’s coming to the moon.”
“It will get better when we start developing the moon properly.”
“I hope so. Send an explorer and check it out.”
An explorer separated from Settler and headed for the moon.
It fell on Mare Tranquillitatis, which faced Earth, so many countries, including the US, found out about it.
It was impossible to hide it because there was even a seismic wave.
The astronomical observatories that were observing the moon went crazy and the explorer cautiously headed for the crater while avoiding their surveillance.
And a shocking fact was revealed.
“Master, it’s a relic of Golden Record.”
“…”
It couldn’t have come already.
But what was caught by the explorer’s camera was undoubtedly a relic of Golden Record.
Yu Ji-ha groaned as he looked at the dark gray metal capsule.
“…Golden Record came already? Didn’t you predict it for 2030?”
“Maybe the warp gate we passed through had an effect.”
He used the warp gate twice to bring various things.
As a result, the entire timeline might have been distorted.
“Can you recalculate the invasion date?”
“That’s…”
Most of Plague’s information was unknown, so even Arma, who specialized in massive calculations, couldn’t know.
“Just bring that. Let’s check if the record is correct first.”
While the explorer retrieved Seonji’s relic, Yu Ji-ha couldn’t hide his gloomy face.
All his plans were based on Plague invading in 2103.
If the timeline was pushed forward like this, it would be difficult to cope with it.
‘I haven’t even touched on Project Psychic…’
He brought Fatima from Afghanistan, but he had to wait until she became an adult to analyze her genes.
Psychic abilities usually manifested as they got older.
Yu Ji-ha, who joined the military in his mid-teens and showed extraordinary abilities, was a rare case.
Anyway, everything was going smoothly, but he was suddenly faced with a crisis.
He sat in his chair and looked out the narrow window of the space station.
There was a creepy red mist in the space where there should have been nothing.
Mars, which was called the red planet by humanity.
No, it was now Mars that had been dismantled into pieces.
The Plague army that had penetrated deep into the solar system devoured all the inorganic matter and finally reached the orbit of Mars.
Humanity tried to stop them, but it was not enough.
They won every battle, but they lost the war.
They couldn’t handle their enormous quantity.
That’s how they reached Mars and started to break and devour the crust like breaking a cookie.
The red mist that looked like a galaxy was the Red Cloud phenomenon that occurred when Plague devoured the crust.
The end of the planet.
Yu Ji-ha heard the dying scream of Mars.
And between them, he heard a glimpse of Plague Queen’s thoughts.
‘They’re looking for something…’
It’s strange.
He was an exceptional psychic who could catch the psychokinesis of Plague, which he usually maintained.
But he never expected to hear the will of Plague Queen as well.
Her psychokinetic field was so powerful that it felt like a meaningless scream.
When they devoured a planet, ordinary psychics had to be locked in specially designed facilities or cockpits of assault armors.
But today was different.
He sat on the bed and read all kinds of thoughts that Plague Queen emitted.
‘Poor creatures… Why do they treat us like this?’
He had already felt enough that Plague was an intelligent being, but he never thought it would have such concrete emotions.
Before he knew it, his consciousness was separated.
He returned to the past and saw himself in the L2 space station in 2177.
‘That’s me from before.’
To be precise, it was himself who was resting after getting a vacation just before Plague Legion launched its final offensive.
At that time, all the soldiers of the United Space Force were exhausted by the endless battles and the situation was very bad.
The commander of the Space Force, Captain Alexander Maxtol, gave them a vacation.
“They’re too busy devouring Mars anyway. Let’s have some rest for ourselves.”
After devouring Mars, it would be Earth.
Everyone knew that, but they were immersed in the sweet rest for now.
Yu Ji-ha also relieved his stress with Lucia, who came up from Earth for a rare occasion.
‘Come to think of it, Lucia was here…’
He turned his eyes and saw a brown-skinned woman sleeping on her back in the middle of the bed.
Lucia Rosano.
He had relations with many women, but she was the only one he truly connected and fell in love with.
She was the head of the artifact analysis agency ARC, a member of the Supreme Council, a teacher and a colleague… and a lover.
She twitched her shoulder and opened her eyes.
A faint smile appeared on her lips and she hugged his broad back from behind.
“What are you thinking about?”
Yu Ji-ha in 2177 was still looking out the window.
“Just… wondering when it will be our turn.”
“What a romantic guy.”
“This is not a situation for romance.”
Something was strange.
The voice of Plague that Yu Ji-ha in 2028 heard did not seem to reach him.
‘Am I dreaming of my past memories again? As a result of contacting the prophet’s artifact?’
He was not even sure if this was a dream.
He watched their intimate act in silence.
“I had an examination today… but unfortunately, I’m not pregnant.”
“Lucia, I’m telling you again…”
“I know. You don’t want to have a child. But it doesn’t matter if it’s mine.”
“How does it not matter? It’s our child.”
“I’ll raise it by myself. A wife who sent her husband to the battlefield talks to the child in her belly while waiting for him. She says, your daddy is fighting scary space monsters to save humanity.”
“…”
He turned his head again, as if he had nothing to say.
Her long fingers started to caress his chest.
“I know your mind is complicated. But you’re with me today. Just look at me.”
He felt a determination to get pregnant no matter what in her sparkling eyes.
He didn’t know what it all meant when the end of humanity was approaching soon.
As moans filled the officer’s room, his vision changed.
…
This time, he was standing inside the bridge.
Walkers and officers were bustling around, while outside, a splendid fireworks show was unfolding.
‘The final battle.’
Before he was abandoned in space with the cockpit of his assault armor, he had several missions.
The situation was so urgent that he received overlapping orders, and one of them was to escort the pioneer fleet.
The only force mobilized for the mission was a single Sydney-class battleship with a squadron led by Colonel Yu Ji-ha on board.
The captain, Colonel Han Jinmyung, adjusted his hat after hearing the order.
“It’s unusual to put a colonel in such an escort mission.”
“It seems that the headquarters are busy in many ways.”
“They finally admitted that the situation is tilted. The pioneer fleet is more important than the nest.”
“The pioneer fleet… I wonder if they can make it to Nox.”
“Personally, I think it’s difficult, but who knows? Maybe a miracle will happen.”
Colonel Yu Ji-ha chuckled
“There’s no point in relying on me. I won’t even shed a tear.”
They had the same rank, but he had been a colonel when she was just a lieutenant.
She had no choice but to stay as a colonel because she couldn’t quit being a pilot.
Even Alexander, the commander of the United Space Force, couldn’t treat her lightly.
He knew that without her, humanity would have been doomed decades ago.
Maybe that’s why he gave her this mission.
A communication came from the headquarters and it was broadcasted throughout the ship.
“Warning, Plague 7th Fleet detected. They have blocked our route precisely.”
The 7th Fleet was a main force with several Leviathan-class ships that were over 1km long.
The United Human Federation had no way to break through with their depleted power.
It was risky to use the reactive warheads for the pioneer fleet, because they didn’t know what was beyond the warp gate.
They had to navigate in another universe, and they couldn’t afford to waste all their weapons.
And the pioneer fleet itself was barely mobilized.
They had been sailing for a while, but they didn’t even fill half of their capacity and they were not properly trained. They were practically operated by artificial intelligence.
Basil, the leader of the pioneer fleet, was supposed to be here, but he was on a mission to attack the nest.
It was a mess in every way.
‘Is this how they put their last hope on us…?’
Colonel Han Jinmyung looked at her with a bitter smile.
“Colonel.”
“Get ready soon.”
She put on her hat and left the bridge.
As she went down to the hangar, Colonel Eshil Paul greeted her with a smirk.
He was a man with long blond hair and a light impression.
“Did you see the size of the 7th Fleet, sir? This is like a suicide squad, don’t you think?”
“Our mission is not suicide.”
“Yeah, sure. But how are we supposed to survive with this ship?”
Eshil pointed his chin at the pioneer fleet outside.
There were about 30 ships lined up behind the settler ship.
They had reactive warheads loaded, but their assault armors were old models.
They had spent all their power on fighting the Plague Legion.
Now they had to pierce through the Plague 7th Fleet with one battleship and lead the pioneer fleet to Nox.
It was a hopeless mission.
‘But we have to do it.’
She pushed aside Eshil, who was whining, and entered the hangar.
Colonel Bok, who had a huge body, walked beside her with big strides.
“The flight squad is ready.”
“Tell them not to be nervous. It’s nothing.”
“They all look relieved because you’re here, sir.”
“Is that so? Or are they happy that we’re going to die together?”
As Eshil, who had followed her, started to talk nonsense, Bok frowned deeply.
“Why do you have to say such things on a day like this?”
“Look at this desperate situation. We can’t win with our power.”
“So you want to surrender to the Plague?”
“They might accept us if we beg. I guarantee you, sir, you will definitely…”
“Enough.”
She said one word and they both shut their mouths.
“I know you guys like to joke around, but today you have to be serious about your mission. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Bok was always serious, but he thought it was his mistake to be associated with Eshil and closed his mouth.
The pilots of the flight squad gathered in front of Colonel Yu Ji-ha.
“You all look good. This might be our last briefing. As always, those damn Plague Legion are blocking our way. The only way for us to live is to smash them.”
“I know it’s hard. It’s almost impossible with our current power. But we have to do it. Because we have our comrades, friends and humanity behind us.”
Yu Ji-ha took the helmet that Walter Jun gave her and put it on her head before looking at her subordinates for the last time.
They had been together for more than ten years in this tough war.
“Don’t die. Let’s meet at the pioneer fleet alive. For humanity.”
“For humanity.”
“All pilots prepare for launch.”
The broadcast rang in the hangar and the assault armors were loaded on the rails one by one.
“Lock bolts released. Ejection ready.”
“Maverick 1, ejecting.”
Yu Ji-ha’s assault armor jumped into the dark space.
Far away, the Plague 7th Fleet was emitting a powerful psychokinesis field.
Now she could feel their clear will.
—Find him.
Who are they looking for?
The light flickered and that’s how humanity was destroyed.
Only Yu Ji-ha was left behind.
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