1262 1262 Second Wave

Any thoughts about going to the Cygnus Imperial Capital would have to wait, as only minutes after the invaders were repelled in the strongest of systems, the portals opened again, and a pair of Greater Energy Beings, accompanied by a horde of Lesser Energy Beings flooded through into reality.

There was an energy signature following them, protecting them from the damaged laws and empty alternate layers of this region, Max noticed. That could only mean that the Gods had made their move, and that this was the full offensive, everything that the enemy could possibly send.

Both Nico and Max flew out of the hangar bays of Absolution, moving to intercept before the enemy could pose a threat to the lives aboard their flagship, while the defensive armies prepared to disperse this second wave with a massive Disintegrator wave.

They knew that it was effective, and that the Energy Beings had nowhere to run to escape the attacks, so there was no hesitation. As the first time, because of the massed firepower, the battle at Rae 5 was a single - sided slaughter. The Enemy didn't even try to increase their numbers here, they just sent the same force everywhere and counted everything as acceptable losses.

But they weren't done with Rae 5, and after the first burst, the Greater Energy Beings began rapidly absorbing the energy from the lesser members of their force to reform themselves, and finish the attack.

"Nico, you're with me. Intercept as much of that energy as possible for use in the new Mecha." Max ordered as he charged toward the edge of the solar system. This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l--Biin site.

Max checked his sensors to make sure that the enemy wasn't going to break through their lines and get any closer to the planet than where they were fighting, but found the strangest phenomenon. They were already bleeding energy, and quickly.

It was being pulled from their bodies to the deepest reaches of the barren layers, and despite their powers, they seemed helpless to stop it. That would never do, that energy was his, and he wasn't going to let the rebel gods use it to empower themselves enough to attack.

He fired his Mass Drivers, equipped with Antimatter explosives, into the attacking wave of Greater Energy Beings, tearing a sea of energy free of them, but no matter how hard he tried, it was being pulled away into the deepest reaches of space.

[Something's not right. There is something else here with a stronger attractive force than my equipment can manage.] Nico complained.

Crap, Max knew what it was, the Darklings had warned him that the dead gods were placed here. If their bodies were still more naturally attuned to the energy of their kin than he was, they wouldn't be able to replenish the storage for their Mecha at all, except by having him and Nico generate it in this layer of space.

[Send the others forward with us. If we can pull it in early enough, we can at least maximize what we can hold as it flows over. There aren't a lot of the Demigod Mecha, but it should be enough to keep them fighting for the rest of this battle.]

The void filled with the pulse of energy weapons as the combined force of Demigod Mecha moved forward behind them, burying the attacking wave in light, while limitless energy poured into them from the other side of the portal they had used to get here.

No matter how much was torn away, how much damage his weapons did to their shields, they were being replenished by their gods.

Their counterattack slammed into the shielding of the incoming Mecha, doing little damage, but sending them flying, and the attacking wave began to spread into a spherical pattern to surround the Rae 5 system.

[That's a pretty good trap. We can't get to the stable region to use portals to get to the rest of the universe until we kill them all, but their gods are bleeding power to keep us here, while whatever is hiding in the dead layers takes the spoils of war.] Max noted.

A translucent energy being formed a face that looked like a bull's and smiled at Max as he came to the realization that the enemy never had any intention of fighting him. They were just here to trap the real fighting force of the humans and their descendants inside, while the Energy Beings allies ravaged the rest of the universe.

[Nico, align the two World Ships, I want a portal opened outside to send the Demigod Mecha through. Do it as suddenly as possible, before the enemy can react.] Max ordered.

If the enemy wasn't going to properly attack, there was no need for him to properly defend. They would send the strongest Mecha out to the worst battles and turn the tides back with an ocean of blood.

Not even the Destroyer Class Cathedral Ships could withstand a full barrage from those Mecha. One per system would be enough to go on a rampage before they were destroyed or ran out of stored energy, and that should buy some more time for humanity to fight back.

While Nico worked on the Portal, and the Demigod Mecha gathered into a cluster to attack the barrier that was going up around the Rae 5 system looking for weak points, Max mentally sorted through the messages they were receiving.

The first wave was just as devastating as expected, and a number of systems hadn't broadcast anything past the first attack report, but others were arranging to help defend neighbours, and none of them had reported the incursion of the second wave, or at least not at this level.

Many of them reported Energy Beings, but in large numbers, the battleships and Super Heavy Mecha could deal with one Greater Being. Unless there were attacks that ended too quickly to be reported, it looked like every Greater Energy Being in existence was right here, around the Rae 5 system.

Instead, he turned his mind to seeing what the attackers were thinking.