High above the Central Heavenly Capital, the three ten-mile dreadnoughts hung in low orbit like black iron coffins.
A deep, rhythmic hum vibrated through the flagstones of the city. The dorsal turrets of the lead flagship whirred, pivoting their sixty-foot-wide laser barrels toward the Supreme Harmony Palace. Inside the five-thousand-foot holographic projection, Star-Envoy Varkos sneered, his crossed arms resting against his spiked astral chest plate.
“You have forty-five minutes to open your gates and surrender the specified biological collateral,” Varkos’s voice boomed across the sky. “To demonstrate the futility of resistance, I shall now vaporize your eastern watchtower as a standard intimidation courtesy.”
On the bridge of the dreadnought, a targeting beam of thin crimson light locked onto the eastern gate tower.
Up on the floating pavilion, Lin Mo tapped his chin, looking at the targeting beam with a look of mild professional disappointment.
“An intimidation courtesy,” Lin Mo said deadpan. “In corporate property management, firing high-energy munitions at a commercial asset before completing the inspection is a blatant violation of municipal building codes. Master Lu, how are the pylon connections?”
Master Lu Jian spat on his calloused hands, his yellow hard hat tilted back on his sweaty forehead. “Chairman! Every single Star-Gold Pylon is linked through the continental leylines! But if those off-world guns hit us with orbital plasma, the local grid will overload in thirty seconds! The transformers in the east district will pop like roasted chestnuts!”
