103 Not A Hero (2/2)

He would save Astrid, even if it unintentionally cost him the lives of good people that he could have saved…

Once they had cleared enough of the Infested below, the ground squads were sent down to clear up what remained, if anything. They'd follow the fleets from behind and eliminate whatever their barrages had not destroyed and their line forward.

The front part of the fleet, headed by the supercruisers, would take the brunt of the damage and defend the rear fleet.

The rear part of the fleet, mainly comprised of frigates and cruisers, would be tasked with the saturation bombardments, clearing out as much of the Infested as possible.

The ground forces below, comprised of the Chosen squads, would clear everything that survived behind the fleets, so as to ensure that they would not have to worry about their backs and focus on pushing forward.

Reed and Lu'um had been assigned to a squad themselves, but they would never show up. Instead, they had secretly moved into one of the maintenance passageways on the ship. They'd silently leave through one of the many access ports that mechanics used when they needed to enter special areas of the ship.

In order to not alert anyone, they'd left right after the next bombing run before the ground squads' deployment. The idea they'd come up with was to use the residual fallout from the bombardment as cover, same as the fleets themselves.

They silently disappeared into the storm and flew away from them as fast as they could. In a way, they'd planned to use the fleets as a distraction. It hurt Reed to think of them that way, but it was the truth.

Compared to the two of them, the Infestation was much more invested in destroying the fleets. They'd been given the perfect opportunity to head to the Reef almost unhindered save for a few nuisances. Abyssal eyes proved quite the nuisance to the pair as they flew and slowed down their speed considerably.

They'd been forced to travel low by the ground, which was what the Infestation wanted. That way, they'd have to deal with the hordes of Infested that littered the ground. A ground war against the Infested horde was inadvisable, even for Reed and Lu'um.

Millions of Infested proved a considerable threat but they'd already been in a similar situation before. Reed and Lu'um gathered Anima and summoned a flood of raging flame and light — just enough to clear a path to the Reef, but enough to attract too much attention.

The last thing they wanted was for the Infested Pupa to notice them. They weren't sure what it'd do if it discovered them and did not want to find out. Reed was sure that if it found out, the fighting would probably escalate and possibly cost them Astrid's life, at worst.

By the time the pair had reached the outskirts of the Reef, the fight afar had progressed even further than before. Reed saw that the fleet had seemingly been slowed down. The closer it got the Reef, the heavier the concentration of abyssal eyes were, among other Infested. Simply put, they'd reached an area of particularly heavy Infested activity.

And it's only going to get worse the further they make it to the Reef…

Reed grimaced. It was going to be a tough, prolonged fight now. He didn't know how long the fleet would hold but he knew that it wouldn't be long before the first warship went down.

Lu'um grabbed one of Reed's hands and pulled him forward.

He understood and said, ”I just want to get one last look at them, okay?”

”I understand, Ka'an, but we don't have time. We need to go, now.”

Reed sighed and finally turned away from the raging battlefield. He'd made his decision and now he would have to live with it.

I've abandoned the many in pursuit of the one. Forgive me, Gramps.

The Reef, covered in a veil of darkness, suddenly shone as soon as the pair approached it, as if had been waiting for them. A beam of light broke through the sealing veil that'd been put on the Reef and struck the pair, dragging them inside.

They'd left the battlefield... and the fleet to its fate. There was no going back now.