Chapter Title: The Lion's Hijacking
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Gavin's days in the infirmary were anything but pleasant.
Every day, countless military doctors in white coats subjected him to all sorts of physical exams, his hands cuffed behind his back the whole time, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.
It wasn't that the military doctors could do anything to him—though the Ninth Fleet boasted an all-Alpha lineup, even down to medical and logistics, their discipline was ironclad and not to be underestimated. Anyone caught secretly laying a hand on an Omega would get the snot beaten out of them by the entire fleet!
The problem was that Alphas naturally harbored desire and protectiveness toward Omegas. A sweet-scented, pure, unmarked Omega was like a walking aphrodisiac, setting the whole fleet's blood boiling. Soldiers found every excuse to swarm the med bay just to gawk, enough to circle Red Mars thirty times over.
Good thing they'd cuffed him up, or there'd have been a spike in bloody incidents for sure.
After that day's routine blood draw, a medical lieutenant escorted Gavin back to his room. Passing a long metal corridor, he caught sight of the sky outside the window—countless faint lights twinkling on the horizon, like a surging sea of stars.
"That's the Imperial Fleet, here for the memorial."
Gavin turned. The lieutenant stared fixedly at the floor, his expression feigning calm, but his tone betrayed a hint of eagerness to get closer.
"...
Memorial?"
"Red Mars is where Alliance Commander Celia fell in battle. His Majesty and the military brass come to pay respects every ten years... Of course, it's classified. To the public, it's just a state visit. Want to go take a look? The Imperial Fleet's a rare sight!"
Gavin stood before the glass in the night, gazing at the approaching sea of stars on the horizon. For some reason, a profound sadness welled up, spreading from his heart like dark tides.
"Why bother? It's just disturbing the dead's peace."
The lieutenant blinked.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Gavin bowed his head, his heart inexplicably heavy with grief.
He had no idea where this emotion came from. It wasn't from the stranger marshal's death, nor the emperor's arrival and homage. If he had to pinpoint it, just hearing "Alliance" filled him with an involuntary weight of sorrow.
As if something had been lost forever.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean..." The lieutenant hurriedly bowed.
"Want some water? Let me take you back, okay?"
Gavin looked up at the lieutenant—a typical Imperial Alpha, nearly eight feet tall, with hard facial lines that screamed soldier at first glance, but his eyes betrayed instinctive affection, full of vulnerabilities.
Gavin stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled faintly.
"No, please... take me to see the Imperial Fleet. Okay?"
Aaron stood at the tower's control console, struck by an inexplicable pang in his chest.
It made no sense—the memorial prep was complete, the Imperial Fleet's escort airtight. Nothing for this battle-hardened general to worry about.
He gripped his coffee mug, dazed for a few seconds, then turned to the colonel.
"Cleared the landing pad?"
"Third sweep half an hour ago."
"Signal sync?"
"Linked with the Imperial Fleet vanguard."
"That Omega?"
"...
Isn't he with the med team?"
Aaron opened his mouth, but an aide burst in, pale-faced.
"General! Med Team Three's lieutenant has an emergency—he demands to see you!"
"What?"
"That... that Omega's dead!"
Aaron's mug shattered on the floor, though he really wanted to smash it into the aide's face.
"Where is he?!"
"O-outside! Should I let him in?"
Aaron shoved the aide aside and stormed out of the command room, face ashen.
With the Imperial Fleet inbound, most of the general's personal guard had been pulled to the landing pad; the rest clustered outside med, leaving the command tower nearly deserted.
The Omega's death was too sudden. As Aaron rushed out, only the colonel and one aide followed. Rounding the corridor corner, they saw the med lieutenant kneeling with his back to them, the boy's body faintly visible on the floor.
"What the hell happened?!"
Aaron strode forward, but something felt off before he reached the lieutenant's back.
"Hey, you..."
Before he finished, the lieutenant's body was flung aside like a heavy sack; then Gavin shot forward like a loosed arrow, slamming Aaron to the floor with a thunderous *bang!*
A deafening crash echoed as the skinny youth's hands clamped Aaron's neck like iron vise.
"Don't move!"
The two subordinates broke into cold sweats, guns half-drawn and frozen.
Aaron's face was inches from Gavin's. At this range, he could clearly see his own reflection in the boy's eyes—including the laser pistol barrel pressed to his forehead.
"You...
You can't escape."
Gavin's reply was a swift buttstroke to the face, spraying blood from Aaron's mouth and nose.
"We can chat about that on the run. Now get up—you two, back off, toss your guns over!"
The colonel and aide exchanged glances, slowly dropping their pistols, voices trembling.
"Don't do anything rash..."
Gavin didn't respond, kicking the guns away. He hauled Aaron up by the neck like a meat shield, backing slowly toward the door.
"...
You can't escape. My guards are outside—you'll be riddled with holes the second you step out..." Aaron forced calm, his voice oddly strained.
"Drop the gun and come back to the Empire with us. A kid your age will get the best care and treatment—no one will harm you... Why throw your life away here? You're just an Omega. Think you can hijack me and flee this planet?"
"You're too kind, Your Excellency the Imperial General, held hostage by an Omega." Gavin smiled, whispering in Aaron's ear.
"Save your lip for confessing your own cowardice and incompetence."
"...
You!"
"What 'you'? Shut up!"
Before Aaron could react, Gavin kneed his ass.
"Move, or I'll blow your ass to kingdom come!"
Aaron:
"...
!!"
The general felt like he'd been struck by lightning, soul shattered.
2.
They backed tight to the corridor's end. Gavin yanked Aaron's hair, forcing his left eye to the retinal scanner. The alloy door slid open.
"Go!"
Gavin dragged Aaron out in a sprint—just then, the colonel dove back into the command room and hit the alarm in two seconds flat!
A shrill siren pierced the landing pad, like cold water on hot oil—the tower's thousand soldiers exploded into action!
"The general's been taken hostage!"
"Snipers ready! Airborne squad ready—!"
Countless shuttles rocketed up, swarming like bees, cannons everywhere locked on them. One direct hit would leave no bone scraps. Aaron's sweat dripped from temple to chin.
"Don't—don't do anything rash!"
"Shut up!" Gavin jammed the barrel under his chin, bellowing.
"Have them prep a ship and fuel. You're coming with me!"
"Where to?! Ninth Fleet's a hundred thousand strong—you can't escape!"
"I'll waste you first if they catch me!"
"You fucking Omega or not?!" Aaron's worldview shattered as he roared.
"Enough! Without a taste of your own medicine, you really think I'm..."
—*Boom!*
A massive shockwave hit from the horizon, shaking the earth!
Shuttles plummeted from low air, metal and fire raining down. Aaron took a stray cannon tube to the head, flying meters away to crash hard.
"What the—?!" He clutched his bleeding forehead, scrambling up—only for Gavin to gun-whip him back down.
"—Stay! Don't move!"
"You..." Aaron started cursing, then froze at the distant night sky.
A colossal ghost mecha had appeared, cannons arcing through the sky to nail the Imperial Fleet lead ship!
The royal flagship carrying Emperor Set Heinrich erupted in a brilliant fireworks bloom, half the night sky blazing like day!
"His... His Majesty the Emperor..."
Shock rippled before anyone recovered—the mecha carved a lethal arc through the air:
"Set Heinrich!"
"Traitor to the Alliance—today you die—!"
A high-energy particle beam saber ignited in the mecha's hand, slashing toward the smoke-belching flagship!
Ninth Fleet's hundred thousand were ground-bound; the Imperial Fleet scattered by the ghost mecha. The beam saber's power rivaled an interstellar nuke—one chop, and everyone aboard, emperor included, would be vaporized!
Aaron cried out.
"Your Majesty!"
In that hair's-breadth moment, the world froze—
Then an unimaginable blaze of white erupted from the smoke-wreathed flagship, a massive alloy arm thrusting out to *boom!* clamp the descending saber with earth-shaking force!
"Your Majesty!"
"It's His Majesty!"
Cheers erupted from all sides. High above, smoke cleared to reveal a dragon-like golden mecha wielding a greatsword, batting the ghost mecha hundreds of meters away!
—3S-class Golden Mecha Bi'an!
Emperor Set Heinrich's personal battle armor!
"Who truly betrayed the Alliance—you and I both know." Heinrich's voice boomed deep and majestic, earth and mountains trembling faintly.
"Only by wiping you out can the dead truly rest in peace."
He swung his greatsword, whipping up a gale across the heavens.
"General Aaron—!"
Aaron sprang up.
"Yes!"
Ignoring the gun to his head, he tore at his cufflink—revealing a thick scarlet-gold arm bracer below his elbow. Crimson energy fluid linked its ends, erupting in vast power—
Gavin realized something, pupils contracting.
No memories, but instinct surged: S-grade pure mecha marrow fluid!
The energy and soul of intelligent mecha!
This... this was what he needed!
The bracer shed light, morphing and expanding. Alloy armor layered over Aaron and Gavin in seconds. Moments later, a towering scarlet-gold mecha lion stood on the plain, roaring fury!
Emperor Set Heinrich, in his cockpit, quietly averted his gaze.
The Scarlet Gold Griffin was one of the Empire's few 3S-class mechas. Beyond Aaron's prowess, its tech outstripped the galaxy by centuries—a god-slaying, demon-crushing fortress.
The rebel ghost mecha was strong, but Griffin and Bi'an together could shatter planets, reducing rebels to cosmic dust.
*About time*, he thought coldly.
These rats, fifty years ago selling out the Alliance to grovel before the Empire, now dragging the Alliance's name to defy them and disturb the dead—they belonged in hell, atoning with filthy blood and heads!
—His Majesty's vision was splendid; Aaron thought so too.
But ideals are plump, reality bony. General Aaron should've known: since landing on Red Mars, Marshal Celia's spirit hadn't blessed him once.
"What are you doing here?!" Aaron gaped.
"Who let you in?!"
Gavin shrugged innocently in the cockpit, then pistol-butted Aaron bloody without mercy.
"Griffin! Griffin!" Aaron rolled on the floor, clutching his head in agony.
"Virus again? No non-owner in the cockpit—that's intelligent mecha rule one! What crap did you download this time?!"
"Uh..." Cockpit nerves extended glowing green tendrils, circling Gavin tentatively. A deep mechanical voice rumbled.
"Apologies, Lord Aaron. The intruder's mental threshold exceeds yours. I couldn't resist such high-end intrusion..."
Aaron choked on blood.
"Don't joke! An Omega's mental threshold beats mine?! Go jack off to porn!"
"I don't think my hobbies are problematic..."
"Shut up! Connect the nerves!"
Gavin advanced gun-first into the cockpit depths. Unlike imagination, advanced mechas lacked manual controls—few buttons or sticks. In the dark hovered endless green neural bands—the mecha's true soul.
Intelligent mechas communed thus: bands linked the pilot's brain, mind controlling combat.
No need for eyes or reflexes—mental power decided victory.
Gavin instinctively reached for the green bands.
*This is your world*, a subconscious voice whispered.
*Your domain, your territory. You were born a king ruling the heavens.*
The pistol clattered free. Gavin spread his arms; neural bands swarmed joyfully, enveloping him.
Aaron, prepping to link, turned at the noise—stunned by the spectacle!
The scene shifted wildly: the boy's frail form housed a monstrous mental beast. It awoke amid the bands, roaring blissfully!
Under this unimaginable surge, the galaxy cascaded like a waterfall, drowning the world in radiant stars—a vista so vast Aaron couldn't even cry out before being dragged into the boy's mindscape.
He couldn't stay conscious, adrift in vast cosmos, trillions of stars shining tenderly from afar.
"Marshal...
Celia..."
He murmured instinctively, reaching for the memory's figure—but it shattered like illusion.
His awareness faded into dark abyss.
"I cannot submit to you," the Griffin's voice echoed from cosmic depths.
"You're strong—even more than Aaron... but I don't accept you as master."
Gavin stood serene amid the stars, then coldly replied after a beat.
"Who cares about your acceptance?"
Griffin:
"..."
"You misunderstand. I'm not one to treat mecha like buddies—you're just machinery to me."
Gavin raised his hand; high-energy particles coalesced above:
"No need to accept—just obey. Skip the man-machine bonding crap. Lose this fight, and I'll scrap you first."
Griffin:
"..."
The Griffin felt like it'd met a thug, ten thousand grass-mud horses stampeding in its heart.
On Red Mars plain, ghost armor and golden Bi'an faced off tensely; seconds later, the Griffin's shoulder cannon beeped—
—*Boom!*
High-energy particle cannon arced romantically toward the fleet front, instantly blasting the emperor two hundred meters away.