*Empress Rouhu's chamber*

"Ah-Xiang!" The Empress rushes towards the young girl and embraces her possessively. "I missed you, my child. How have you been?"

YiYang coughs and clears his throat, trying to attract his mother's attention, "Who would believe that I am your son. You are pouring all your love onto her, mother. Please, leave some for me too."

The graying lady leaves an exasperated breath, "Can a mother ever run out of love for her children? Silly child," her eyes drat towards the doors, "Where is Ah-Huang?"

"With father. He has something to discuss with him." YiYang takes his mother's hand in his, "Have you been having nightmares again?"

It was an open secret that YiHuang was not Rouhu's son; thus, the Empress replies sincerely, "Maybe I am being punished for showing favoritism towards YiYang." She glances at Li Xiang, "Ah-Xiang, how is your brother?"

The young lady purses her lips, "I don't know if I should answer, your highness. It might worry you unnecessarily."

"Has Li Kun still not returned?" It's YiYang who enquiries. His doubt that the Emperor had done something to his best friend solidifies but not wanting to worry Li Xiang and his mother, he keeps it to himself.

"Not yet." The young lady replies in a small voice and steals a glance at YiYang. "I am sure I am worrying unnecessarily. After all, who would dare to  keep the General's son against his will." She adds, trying to make light of the situation. It works; the Empress relaxes and nods, "You are right." She pauses and addresses her son, "Ah-Yang, could you wait outside for a few? I need to discuss some private matters with Ah-Xiang."

Once the crown prince leaves, the Empress and Li Xiang get busy discussing the nightmares. The General's daughter had specialized in internal force maintenance and rejuvenation. Over the years, she had helped the older lady deal with the destabilization of the force. It has been occurring more often due to the nightmares.

Barely moments after he has stepped outside, YiYang's mind link activates. 'Brother, the wormhole will stabilize within two hours. Father restrained me when I asked permission to leave. I didn't tell him anything about Zhang. He has the charm. He wants to use Professor Kwan as leverage to get me to cooperate. I am afraid that he will send for you as well. I am sure The Third is close by. Zhang must have realized that he would have to prepone the mission. Go to him for me. He must have left-'

The transmission cuts off abruptly, scaring YiYang, 'Did father do something to Ah-Huang?' Rhythmic footfalls interrupt his thoughts, and he ducks behind the wide ornate pillar. He watches the guards announce themselves and enter his mother's chamber. 'So Ah-Huang was right.' He concludes and immediately mounts his sword and leaves for GuHai.

YiYang knows that his signal would be tracked, and camouflaging it would only anger his father and suspect him as well. Just before leaving the Palace gates, he beckons a guard and whispers, "Go to the Emperor and tell him in secret that something came up and I had to make an urgent trip to GuHai."

The word GuHai makes the guard quirk his brow. But he holds his tongue. After all, what the crown prince does is none of his business.

"Tell him that I will be back shortly, alright?" YiYang presses on, "Tell him that I tried to contact him but couldn't reach him." He looks over his shoulder and wonders aloud, "I think he must be in the observation tower. Go quickly!"

After covering his tracks, the crown prince exits the Palace gates.

*****

*GuHai: Launch bay*

Zhang finishes making the last adjustments to the space pod and looks at the live feed. He opens the launch bay's exit route, and seating himself within it, he positions the pod at its mouth. Having been trained in aerial battle tactics, Zhang knew that the wormhole would not be left unguarded. YiHuang had already informed him about the drones stationed outside the barrier and the blind spots that he could use to get out of TengFei's airspace undetected. He waits for the perfect moment, and just when the sun hits the horizon, he activates Xue's thrusters, pushing the pod out of GuHai.

The pod, as it shoots upwards, making its way towards the barrier covering TengFei's sky, remains invisible to the naked eye. Within seconds, Xue breaches it like a hot knife through butter. Before the drone sensors can detect the breach, a viscous fluid exits from Xue's exhaust, and like a patch, mends it before dissolving into it.
After successfully executing the first part of the plan, Zhang carefully maneuvers the vehicle towards the wormhole. He is aware that his one mistake could alert the enemy. He decides to approach the wormhole by flying underneath Neptune, planning to use the planet's gravitational force to hold the ship back from getting sucked into the gaping hole that was pulling everything adrift in its insatiable stomach.

The plan was to eject the Intex manipulator into the vortex without getting dangerously close to it. However, just when Zhang is about to send the device flying, Xue gets hit with an unexpected laser beam, making it fall out of the planet's gravitational reach. Zhang engages the reverse thrusters, immediately realizing that he had underestimated the Arial strikers. A moment later, another beam grazes Xue's top. Any lower, and it would have breached the pod, ending his life and the mission.

Zhang changes his plan. 'I can't fail. If I fail, Ah-Huang and everyone Yuanjian and human will perish.' He closes his eyes. YiHuang's face flutters across his mind's eyes, 'I will always be yours, Ah-Huang.' He mutters. Disengaging the thrusters holding the pod from getting sucked into the wormhole, Zhang flies into the jaws of death.

*****

*GuHai*

An empty room greets YiYang when he enters it. Thinking that the human was perhaps in the launch bay, he enters the resting pod, ready to enter it shortly. His eyes land on the vial and the ComD that YiHuang had left in the human's care. Hoping against hope that Zhang might still be around, he waits for the passkey to be announced. Barely moments later, there is a knock on the door.

"Code Red!" A voice warns from outside, "Please gather under the establishment. Passkey is AlpTt102 "
YiYang leaves a relieved sigh, and quickly punching in the passkey, he makes his way towards the holding area. However, instead of waiting there, he slips out undetected and enters the launch bay.

It's empty.

YiYang takes the exit, the same one Zhang had taken earlier, and enters GuHai through the backdoor. He picks his target, a beautiful lady in purple robes- a color worn only by the families of royals and high-ranking officials and proceeds to flirt with her.
Sure enough, it earns him a slap and curious glances from all and sundry. Offended, the lady leaves, but not before cursing him and his ancestors.

Not deterred, the crown prince accepts every insult as if they were titles of merit being conferred upon him by his Majesty, Emperor YiLei himself. Then standing up and directing his most charming smile at his audience, he walks out of the establishment and flies towards the Imperial Palace.

No one, neither on TengFei nor on land, hears the explosions going off at the edge of their solar system as one human risks his all to save them.

*****

General Teng enters the observation deck with Hu Kwan in tow. The two men are surprised at what they witness: YiHuang gagged, bound and unconscious with YiLei standing next to him and in deep conversation with Li Xiang.

The young lady is the first to notice the two men. Rushing over to them, she bows. Her eyes dart past her father and settle on Hu Kwan. She closes the distance, and without warning, places her fingers on either side of his temples. A faint tremor rocks his frame, and his eyes roll back in his head. Shortly after, he falls unconscious.

"Child, you mustn't expose yourself like this where anyone can see you. " The Emperor joins Li Xiang and his General and gestures the guards to lay him beside YiHuang.

"Your Majesty, everyone here knows who I am. And the ones who did not know are lying unconscious. The memories of General Kwan that I modified at the facility are still in place;  when he wakes up, there will be nothing left for him to do. My only concern is that the key did not react to me as it should. It should have opened up to me and linked my mind with the second prince's, but it did not. Unless I know what he knows...Your Majesty, are you sure that the only way to save us is to let XudianJi find us?"

Li Xiang exposes her wrist and holds up the small, bleeding gash on its underside. "We have given it-"

"Your Majesty," A young officer dressed in grey uniform calls and informs. "We have detected an unidentified flying object close to the wormhole. It seems like it's using Neptune's gravitational field to anchor itself to the planet."

"I knew it!" YiLei bites out, "Hu Kwan is not someone who backs down easily. He must have had a backup plan." He orders, "Destroy it."

"Wait, Han." The General interrupts.
"Your Majesty, what if it's the XudianJi? Maybe they sent a vehicle to survey the system."

"But the wormhole hasn't stabilized yet."

"I know, but if a vehicle is small enough, it can pass through the wormhole without sustaining damage, isn't it?"

The Emperor contemplates for a few seconds and asks the young technician to run an identification check.

The young Yuanjian officer complies and reports, "Your Majesty, the basic diagnostic test suggests that it's indigenous. As far as I can tell, it's...it's shaped like a medical pod."

"Destroy it. It's probably unmanned. No one in TengFei is qualified to fly a space vehicle. Whoever is doing it is either on land or on TengFei."

The officer activates the Astro destroyer and aims it at the unidentified flying object. After the first shot, he reports, "The pod is barely holding itself back from falling into the hole, General."

Without losing any time, The Emperor orders the second shot to be fired. It misses the target by a few inches. But then, just when a third shot is about to be fired, the technician states, "Your Majesty, we lost its signature. I think it got sucked into the wormhole."

{Author's Note :- Word count 1783

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