“Dark Lightning, Attention!” Douglas’s voice was firm, “Based on the coordinates I transmitted, set the FTL to jump. When you jump into the atmospheric layer of the first, second, and third planet, they will suffer the fiercest attack from the Zergs’ ground defense system. We need to throw ten nuclear bombs within 30 seconds to destroy their military defenses. Even if we complete the task and you are alive, our fuel cannot support another jump from there, after you jump to the ground, you most likely will be killed by the Zergs, or you will be captured. You understood?” “Yes, sir!” The twenty-some men responded. Their voices had no hesitation or anguish at all. Emerald sat in the main seat of a Cheetah. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, not to let Patrick’s low voice replay in her mind and not let the death threat in front of her shake and weaken her will and spirit. She only had one affirmative idea - to live on! “Prepare the engine….” Douglas’s voice appeared again. “At my order...five, four, three, two, one - jump!” The sky of the Zerg planet was permanently covered by the thick cloud of persistent freezing mist, overshadowing the planet. On the cold ground that had been frozen for so long, the spaceships took off and landed one by one. Armed troops pushed groups of people to the labor camp inside the mountains toward a mining area. The Zergs’ caves were mostly established in the mountains. And the caves on the edges were warmer than those on the ground. The military defense and factories were established on the plane at the foot of the mountains for the convenience of transportation and manufacturing of resources. The temperature, which remained extremely cold even for the Zergs, was unbearably cold for humans. On the way from the airport to the labor camp, they started to freeze, with pale faces and purple lips. Fortunately, they were all young adults and resistant. Walking into the shabby open labor camp, they witnessed a few Zerg workers dragging stiff human bodies, like garbage, outside the camp. This was their new future. The crowd was silent and angry. The highest species in the galaxy were tortured under the lowest Zergs’ tread. The head worker was a brown crawler, as tall as a tall human, but looked more like a beast with sharp iron-gray hooks to prove its aggressiveness. It crouched beside the camp door, escorted by an array of Zerg workers behind him. “Obedience! Absolute obedience!” It shouted in a stiff human language. “Human and Zergs, in harmony! You will all become people of the Queen!” The head worker suddenly stopped and raised its flat head. Its black double-eyes looked at the sky confusedly, listening to the low yet sharp cry that seemed to split the air with something. The auditory sensors of Zergs are more advanced than humans. All the Zergs looked up, followed by the humans. In the empty and dark sky, several tiny black fighters appeared. They looked like black arrows, suddenly sliding through the peaceful sky and pointing into the farthest distance. Several tracks dropped from the sky onto the ground and soon disappeared! When the first brilliant but horrible mushroom cloud rose from a distance, countless defenses on the ground seemed to wake up from a dream, and millions of bombs jumped like locusts into the sky, attacking the fast fighter! The Zergs on the ground started to run and shout as the Zerg fighters rapidly flew up in the sky into the direction of the Cheetahs! The human workers were shaking by the incessant bomb waves and fell from dizziness and sickness. But they were happy.“It’s our army!” Someone shouted, “It must be! They’re here to rescue us!” The sky was in chaos. In front of the powerful defensive system of the Zergs, seven Cheetahs were shot down one by one and disappeared, only leaving a line of thick smoke in the sky. They had accomplished their task as expected, throwing at least 30 nuclear bombs within seconds. These nuclear bombs destroyed most key defenses on the planet, including the airports, weapon manufacturers, and defensive system operation units, which had been identified by the mercenaries preliminarily, meaning the local defense force was almost destroyed. Humans on the ground were in chaos. They were screaming, shouting, and running in the direction of the Cheetah. Their hope of survival was restored, although no reinforcement was visible in the sky.Temporarily, the situation was out of control. As the flying fighters returned one by one, the general Commander on the ground notified the army - all invading human fighters had been destroyed. The enslaved humans immediately suffered from the Zergs’ anger and frustration. Despite the chaos in the labor camp, where almost all humans were dispersed, they were recaptured by the Zerg soldiers. Only due to the Queen’s order didn’t kill these humans. But lashes, hunger, and coldness were waiting for them over the coming days. Major Douglas’s fighter was the last one to be shot down. At the moment his Cheetah was shot with a bullet in the belly, he heard the delightful news from the other two planets that their task was completed. While his Cheetah was falling, he reported the news to the command center with the calmest tone and briefest sentence. “Commander, please send the troop!” With his voice resounding softly in the communication channel, there were no cheers in the operation center like during previous battles. From Douglas’s report, the communicator lost the signals, and there was no voice at all. “Jump!” Patrick’s cold voice was heard across the communication channel. He stood firmly in front of the podium. The captains had waited for a long time to get their orders; the ground crew was running back and forth; the pilots were ready on the deck, waiting to onboard the fighters. Hundreds of fighters went out and approached the atmosphere of the three Zerg planets after the second jump. The war was about to start. From this moment on, Patrick stayed in the command center. He had no smile, and everyone at the Dragon knew that their Commander had sent his woman to the battle’s frontline. A part of his heart had died, and only war and blood could pacify it. On the ground of the Zerg’s first planet, Emerald felt like all her bones would fall into pieces. Everywhere she looked was glaring smoke, filling her eyes with tears. She saw the copilot trapped under the huge wreckage and reached with her hand to check if he was still breathing. His breath had stopped.