While almost everyone else tasked with figuring out what was coming next assumed that something powerful was inbound, one individual came up with a completely different theory! Ves and many other people in the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim turned their attention to the young but clever man that dared to make a counter-intuitive claim. "We are all working on the idea that something powerful is about to arrive on the battlefield, sir. I do not think that is the case. The Boryan System is a star system that is engulfed by the powerful magnetic field activity of a neutron star." "What does that mean?" "It means that outsiders should not be able to accurately teleport to our location. Any attempt will either fail or misfire so badly that any incoming arrivals will go wildly off-course." "Then what is your alternative theory?" "I think that the assumption that reinforcements are coming is wrong." The science officer claimed. "According to my analysis, it's the reverse. We are all about to get displaced. Wherever the spatial fluctuations have reached will soon be swept away from the Boryan System and appear in a completely different location! In other words, we are about to get caught in a trap!" "WHAT?!" Many more scientists and other geeks who possessed at least a passing familiarity on phasewater technology and its various displacement applications began to analyze the data from a different angle. They no longer tried to assess whether a super phase whale or a small moon was about to drop in from afar. Instead, they utilized a different set of formulas and methods that worked the data in different fashions. They soon discovered that while they couldn't produce any precise answers, the data became a lot more decipherable by their altered approach! "His hypothesis is likely correct! The ongoing phenomenon is likely produced by the lengthy activation process of an unknown but incredibly powerful spatial device! This object is currently drawing upon a huge amount of power to displace an incredibly large volume of space from the Boryan System to a completely different location!" More and more shock and alarm spread throughout the bridge and beyond as the scientists produced more and more indications and proof to support their latest assertion. Ves and many others started to grow incredibly afraid. Teleporting far away from the edge of the border between the Krakatoa Middle Zone and the Zelmar Upper Zone had never been on their agenda! The Golden Skull Alliance had already moved close enough to the active frontlines of the ongoing invasion. If they jumped a lot deeper in the wrong direction, they might emerge deep in the middle of alien territory with hardly any friendly human stronghold within their reach! "What is the range and direction of this probable displacement?!" Ves demanded another answer. "We cannot tell, sir! We do not possess enough of an understanding of phasewater technology or the super device that is responsible for producing the spatial disturbances. Our best estimate is that this will not be a short-ranged displacement. It will likely bring us hundreds if not thousands of light-years away!" Getting teleported a hundred or so light-years away did not sound like a big deal. As long as the destination was not in the middle of a hidden alien stronghold, it shouldn't be too big of a deal for the human coalition to get back to familiar territories. It was different if they were about to get dragged over a thousand light-years away, especially if their new location was situated a lot closer to the center of the dwarf galaxy. Ves already started to recall all of the action dramas that he had watched in the past when he was a young kid. He never imagined that those stories about ships or fleets getting teleported deep into unknown or alien space would actually befall his expeditionary fleet. Just thinking about all of the deaths, tragedies, losses and trauma that took place over the course of all of those popular series sent a shudder through his spine. Not just him, but many other people did not look forward to getting stranded in deeply hostile territory either! "Fix this, Ves!" Gloriana screeched at him! "You brought us into this mess. Now help us get out of it before the worst-case scenario happens!" Their children had picked up everyone's distress. Though Aurelia and Andraste tried their best to put up a brave face as they had been taught by their mother, their younger brother was not as prepared. The escalating commotion around him had woken up from his nap. As fear, panic and distress continued to spread from the bridge operators, the young boy started to get overwhelmed by all of the negativity. "Waaaaahh!" He burst into tears yet again! His mother immediately pressed him deeper into her embrace. "Hush now, baby. It's okay. I will always protect you. Don't be afraid. Be a brave boy, okay?" "Maybe it is best if you take him back to his room." Ves suggested. "Our children no longer need to witness what will happen next. Can you bring them back to our grand stateroom?" "I want to stay!" Andraste protested. "I'm a big girl, now! Since I will be fighting against these aliens when I grow older, I don't want to miss what happens next." "This isn't one of those silly cartoons, daughter!" Ves admonished his second child. "Go back to your room with your mother. Your presence has become a distraction to us all. We can't take care of you if the situation becomes more dire." "No! I don't want to! Aurelia, help me out here. You want to stay as well, right?" The oldest sister among the children nodded. "Please let us stay. Both of us will lead our clan in the future. It would be better if we can learn from you. Besides, you will be able to protect us, right?" Her remarkably mature argument had an effect on her parents. "Let… Aurelia and Andraste stay." Gloriana said. "If the two of them think they can handle this, then let them expand their horizons. They will have to learn how to lead our clan sooner or later. They may as well start early." She proceeded to stand up and carry a frightful and emotional Marvaine out of the bridge. As soon as the blast doors slid shut and prevented anyone else from going in or out, Ves turned his attention back to the immediate crisis. "How long will this go on?" Ves asked as he waved his hand at the projection that displayed increasingly more concerning sensor readings. "It doesn't appear that the displacement event will happen in the next minute. Will we be able to escape this phenomenon?" "No, sir. The range of this phenomenon is too large and wide. Perhaps our smallest and fastest starships may be able to get away in time, but the majority of our ships will not be able to escape in time. Even the ones with warp travel capability cannot get away because the magnitude of the spatial fluctuations is already making that impossible." "Damnit! If we can't escape from this event, why not stop it, then? Have you identified where it originates from? Does it come from the V'gahnt-Zezne?" "No. We have just confirmed that the probable super device that is responsible for producing the spatial fluctuations is likely rooted deep inside the Palace of Shame." Ves widened his eyes. How could he forget about the Palace of Shame! The large and intimidating asteroid base no longer attracted as much attention as before after its perceived threat level had dropped. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 The Thunderer Mark II and had managed to wipe out most of the formidable anti-ship gun batteries installed on the surface. Its hangar bays were also empty after sending out all of the starfighters that the local pirate groups could scramble at this time. All of this meant that the Palace of Shame should no longer be able to threaten any outside enemies anymore. The story would probably be different from any invaders that attempted to step foot inside the asteroid base, but that could easily be dealt with after the human coalition gained control over the surrounding space. What was happening at this moment completely defied everyone's expectations. They never thought that the 'secret treasure' that had lured the Gemini Family into organizing this joint operation turned out to be able to threaten their entire fleets at this junction! Ves narrowed his eyes. "We need to attack the Palace of Shame and disable whatever is inside as soon as possible. Has the Gemini Family said anything?" "The Geminis are still deliberating after we have supplied them with our findings. Wait, they have just transmitted a message. They agree with our assessment and have decided to switch to Plan X." Plan X was one of the contingency plans which assumed that the Palace of Shame posed an existential threat to the human coalition and needed to be handled in the most expedient manner possible. If the situation had deteriorated to the point where such extreme measures were needed, then no one should hold back on account of preserving whatever valuable treasures the aliens had hidden inside the mysterious asteroid base. Securing their survival was much more important than increasing their profit! Everyone recognized that it was impossible to enjoy any spoils if they died in the process! Ves turned grave. "I don't know what is going on, but I doubt the aliens who are in control of the Palace of Shame will be charitable enough to do us a favor. We need to break open this asteroid base as soon as possible!" Everyone moved quickly. The Eye of Ylvained along with other ranged mechs no longer paid much attention to the remnant pirate starfighters and warships that were still in the fight. Instead, they all began to open fire at the Palace of Shame, prioritizing any areas that were no longer covered by segmented energy shields. The amount of damage they could inflict on the asteroid base was massive, but the problem was that it was covered by so many reinforced alloy walls and other artificial structural elements that it became increasingly more difficult to drill to the center. "Let us do the work!" Compared to all of the regular mech forces, the ace mechs were much more capable of drilling their way to the core of the alien asteroid base! As always, the Thunderer Mark II excelled in inflicting mass destruction. Though Saint Jelmer Osenring previously received instructions that prohibited him from dealing too much damage to the interior of the Palace of Shame, his latest orders played a different tune! The ace mech's formidable artillery mechs pounded at the Palace of Shame and inflicted impacts and shockwaves that tore huge chunks of internal space apart! The Mars, the Infinite Gear and the Embodiment of Love utilized their own ranged weapons to follow up on the strikes of the Thunderer Mark II. The overwhelming firepower of four powerful ace mechs resulted in a rapidly deepening hole. The tunnel ignored any existing internal layouts and drove straight towards the center of the enormous base! As the ace mechs continued to open a way forward, the spatial fluctuations continued to rise in scope and power. Not only did the disturbances affect a larger area, but they also began to interfere with the performance of many different transphasic systems. "Our Gravity Net is down!" "Any attempts to activate a warp drive will cause an explosion!" "Our ace mechs are able to retain their original functionality, but their pilots are reporting that they need to exert increasingly more power to resist the adverse environment." Ves had the feeling that they were running out of time. If they didn't take action in the next minute or so, it may be too late for them to stop the event! "Our ace mechs have hit something!" Everyone quickly turned their attention to the main feed which displayed what the ace mechs had bumped into after drilling a hole to the center of the Palace of Shame. "That's… a spatial barrier. Wait, there is something underneath. It… looks organic." As the hole continued to widen after the ace mech launched follow-up attacks, it slowly dawned on everyone what had been hiding in the center of the Palace of Shame all along. "That's… a phase whale!" Everyone's hearts skipped a beat when they realized the horrible truth that had been hiding under their noses all along! Though Ves initially accepted this shocking finding, he quickly grew suspicious when he sensed something disturbing about the creature buried inside the asteroid base. "That's… not a regular phase whale. A noble and intelligent creature like that wouldn't randomly hide inside a giant space rock called the Palace of Shame for no reason. I'm afraid this beast is something worse. We may have stumbled upon an outcast of the phase whale race." "You mean…" "I think we have just drilled a hole in the cell of a rare but dangerous unclean whale!" An unclean whale! Unlike regular phase whales who continuously augmented their enormous bodies by engaging in bioresearch, an unclean whale instead engaged in cannibalism to steal the augmentations of their own kind! They were the most feared and notorious criminals of the Red Ocean! Their danger level exceeded that of regular phase whales due to how violent and unscrupulous they behaved!