Chapter 162

　　"Yanis Samira, please present your plan for the city`s defence." Argyle ordered after thanking Kal and the others for the overview. The older veteran immediately leapt to attention, striding confidently to the front of the room and slapping a datapad on the table.

　　In a moment, a detailed overview of the Dyson Sphere appeared as a hologram in front of them. Even the city`s buildings have been accurately represented, with roads and walking paths clearly delineated. Yanis had pulled the report from the scouting parties that had been scouring the Sphere over the last few days.

　　"The plan is simple. This vessel will travel to the Vore Hive, where it will begin to slow as power is transferred from its propulsion systems to its defensive shields and offensive weapons. As impressive as these systems are, we anticipate they will be inadequate to hold in the time required for the artificial sun above us to detonate.

　　"As such, we will be setting up protective lines in concentric circles from the Pyramid to approximately a thousand miles in each direction. Aurelius has assured us that the flight path of the Sphere has been programmed to have the pyramid on the Sphere`s far side when we make contact with the Hive, ensuring that any breach will be far enough away to give us time to respond."

　　"If, in the unlikely event the Vore attempt to open a rift closer to our lines, we have the ability to weaken a specific point on the surface, essentially guiding them where we want." Yanis finished the images showing complex defensive lines and troop positions, well supported by Mobile Suits and heavy artillery.

　　After a few more questions and a detailed explanation of the tactics they would be using, the meeting ended.

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　　The following weeks were spent in intense preparation. The city surrounding the Silver Pyramid was levelled, and the buildings used to create fortifications and defences for a thousand miles in every direction.

　　The scale of this conflict would make it one of the largest in history. Most battles of this size would be in space, where the positioning of troops was paramount. With the fighting contained within the City, it would mean a level of control that space rarely provided. They knew which direction the Vore would approach from.

　　The humans would make use of the distance to wear the enemy down, only falling back when necessary and ensuring that every mile would cost the Vore dearly. If a section of the city was lost, explosives would be detonated to take out as many of the Vore as possible.

　　The thousand Starships that Argyle had brought were carefully positioned in what they hoped would be out of the way of the fighting. The defenceless ships would be their only means of escape, requiring them to be protected but close by for the last-minute retreat.

　　Once the core of the Dyson Sphere was ready for detonation, they would have only a few minutes to reach the Starships and Jump to safety. Until that time, they would need to do whatever they could to protect the Silver Pyramid where the systems were located.

　　By the time they retreated, it would be too late for the Vore to stop the inevitable explosion of the Dyson Sphere. The power of the blast was estimated to be enough to wipe out multiple systems and should either destroy the Vore Hive or cause significant damage.

　　Despite their unending quest to consume life, the Vore were not completely devoid of intelligence. Aurelius assured them that they would know to assault the Pyramid, that the energies being gathered there to overload the sun above them would draw the Vore down to the structure.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

　　Kal spent his time training with Katherine, her comfort with the Hyperion growing every day. They would be needed on the front lines during the fight with the Vore, and even though the Titans were nearly godlike with their abilities, there was a good chance that the Monarch variants would appear.

　　Kal wanted them both to survive the encounter and would train with Katherine during nearly every waking hour. As Titan Pilots, there was nothing else for them to do. The preparations for the battle were out of their hands.

　　Almost a month after they had first arrived, Kal stood in front of the silver pyramid, marvelling at the changes their time here had caused. The city had been transformed into a field of fortifications and killing fields, layers of rock and stone, followed by a no man`s land where the enemy would be open to air support and artillery barrages.

　　Supply depots, medical triage facilities and bunkers had been erected in evenly paced lines. Even Kal, who hadn`t experienced many battles at this scale, could follow the logic of the coming battle.

　　They were as ready as they would ever be.

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　　The Dyson Sphere travelled through the empty void between galaxies.

　　Even Aurelius, with his extensive study of the spacecraft, didn`t understand how it could travel faster than light without using the Jump. It was clear that something propelled it through space at impossible speeds, but it required no input from its occupants.

　　The Imperial Engineers they had brought studied it extensively and concluded that it used a variant of the Jump Engine that was slower but more efficient, allowing an object of the Sphere`s size to travel continuously in FTL.

　　In under a month, the Milky Way galaxy was a significant distance behind them, and a notification came through their sensors that they were approaching their destination. It had taken the Vore thousands of years to traverse the space between galaxies, and their course had been clear to the Envoys before they perished.

　　In this void, the Vore Hive drifted onward in its silent journey when the creatures that dwelled deep beneath its cracked and pitted surface felt something disturb the emptiness around them.

　　The Dyson Sphere`s emergence from its Faster than Light travel sent energy undulations throughout the space in front of the Hive. Immediately, the slumbering creatures began to shake off the lethargy of their prolonged stasis.

　　On the exterior, the Dyson Sphere was a smooth, metallic sphere with lines of power running across great rents on its surface. Energy pulled from the artificial sun at its center gave the vessel more power than any stellar object could provide.

　　Glowing brightly, the Dyson Sphere gradually slowed as it neared the Hive. The lines of energy burning across its surface were brilliant in the darkness, surrounding the entire Sphere in a protective shield. So bright was its luminescence that it appeared as if a star had been pulled from the galaxy behind it and placed in the path of the Hive.

　　The Hive did not slow its advance, and its only response to the abrupt appearance of an enemy was to unleash its Psychic Virus.` Instinctual, it was as quick as a thought in its deployment.

　　The ground of the Hive rumbled, and waves of distortions formed around the massive object. Like the rising tide, a force emerged from the Orb and rushed toward the Dyson Sphere, crashing ineffectually against its shields.

　　The glowing barrier around the Sphere brightened in response, effortlessly holding against the attack. But the wave`s true purpose was to harm the vulnerable humans that were sheltered within the Sphere. The human defenders felt the Psychic Virus` assault their minds.

　　The City around them was filled with a horrible keening wail, like the sound of millions of claws scratching against the stone and concrete surrounding them. Many clutched their heads, collapsing onto the ground and crying out for the noise to stop.

　　For long moments, the sound continued until it ended as abruptly as it started. In the air above the city, six enormous mobile suits hovered in the sky. With wings of light stretching out behind them, they imposed their will upon the city, driving back the Psychic assault from the Vore.

　　This was the result of the Emperor`s secret enhancements on the nobility. Using all his learnings about the Vore, he crafted a vaccine against this virus. But to better protect the minds of the soldiers here, he needed a way to keep the Vore from crippling the psyches of the humans fighting them.

　　The answer lay with the Titans.

　　While the Noble Houses piloted them, they would generate a field of energy that would oppose the Vore`s Physic Virus, protecting everyone within their influence. As long as the Titans survived, they would be safe from the onslaught on their minds.

　　The humans climbed back to their feet, reinvigorated by the Titans above.

　　The true battle was about to begin.