Out on the orbital construction yard of Solar System No. 1, sparks flew like golden rain as ten thousand crane-ships hoisted nine colossal, torpedo-shaped brass cylinders onto the front artillery cars of Dry-Well Express No. 1.
Pei Xuan stood on the elevated command gantry, his Star-Realm robes glowing in the light of the Fusion Cube spinning three hundred feet overhead.
Into the Cube’s golden vortex floated the three hundred blazing Rank 8 Golden-Crow Fire Seeds shaken out of Emissary Jin Huo’s pockets, nine Heavy Star-Train Rail-Guns, and nine prefabricated sets of Solar Jackets & Brass Thermostats.
“Nine dying suns across eighty frozen planets, and only seventy-two hours before their cores go cold forever,” Pei Xuan said, his eyes bright and focused. “We don’t have time to bolt the clamps on by hand one system at a time. We need an all-in-one package we can shoot straight from the train window without slowing down!”
CLANG—LOCK!
Nine gleaming, five-mile-long golden-brass torpedoes—each one painted with the smiling emblem of a steaming soup bowl and marked [ DRY-WELL INSTANT SUN-STARTER — HANDLE WITH CARE ]—dropped into the breech-chambers of the nine colossal rail-guns mounted at the front of the train.
Down on the platform below, General Tie Zhan patted the barrel of Rail-Gun No. 1 and grinned from ear to ear. “Lord Pei, with these nine big firecrackers loaded up, we just need to drive within fifty million miles of each dying sun and pull the trigger! The only trouble is the dark asteroid…
