Mysteries: Arcana Wars

“Backlund time, 19:30 on Winter Rite.”

Helgi's hoarse voice came through Luna's headphones.

"Five minutes until launch from the outpost."

Luna sat blankly in the launch bay, not knowing what to think.

The bulky spacesuit held her firmly in place inside the cabin, preventing her from moving. She could only look at the outside scenery through a small observation window on the spacecraft.

The colleagues on the launch tower were busy and orderly completing their work. No one had time to worry about Luna's awkward thoughts. Their only responsibility was to keep Luna's emotions stable.

"Luna, this is your sister Mia's phone number."

It's rare for Hailji to say something like that.

Answering a phone call before launch is a serious breach of the launch procedure, but Hailji, upon receiving the call, still chose to break the rules.

“Dear Luna, I am all well…”

Mia's gentle yet firm voice rang in Luna's earphones.

"elder sister……"

Luna suddenly felt a lump in her throat. The tension of her first mission in space and the relief that her sister was safe overwhelmed her emotions, almost bringing her to tears.

"Don't cry, Luna. It wouldn't be good if your tears floated into the cabin."

Mia smiled mischievously, playing a little joke on Luna, which successfully made Luna grin.

"Sister, I'm so scared..."

In front of Mia, Luna seemed to revert to being that timid little girl again.

"I'm afraid I'll die among the stars, afraid I won't complete the mission, and even more afraid that my incompetence will cause Abraham irreparable harm..."

"No, don't say that, Luna."

Mia spoke softly.

"Regardless of your past timidity, regardless of your past attempts to escape, when you put on your spacesuit and sit here, no matter what happened, at this moment, you are Abraham's hero."

"...May your ancestor Bethel protect you, may the angels of light bless you..."

"...I wish you...a triumphant return..."

Is it really appropriate to entrust such an important task to a coward like me?

"It's time, Mia."

The voice call was cut off.

"...Thank you, Dr. Helge."

Helgi did not answer.

Luna admitted that she was scared, and her sister Mia's blessing gave her some comfort and calmed her nervous heart.

This is not a simple launch mission; at this moment, the Outpost space station is undertaking many important tasks.

The most basic task in rebuilding the outpost space station is still to guard the boundary of the safe zone for human activities.

It will take Luna to the outermost edge of the starry sky, to the boundary between safety and danger, where she will guard the outermost edge of human activity and stand the most dangerous sentry post for the entire Earth.

This time, the outpost has an even more special mission.

As part of the "Divine Retribution" project, establish a space support system.

Once the Steam Church has successfully developed its weapons, the outpost will serve as a space launch pad, deploying the [Divine Punishment] weapon to the ground with the support of the Night Church's ground system.

In the ideal plan, the [Divine Retribution] weapon would be immune to all interference from extraordinary forces, possess a certain degree of extraordinary silence effect, and ultimately destroy the mythical creatures with a high-energy thermal weapon of enormous yield.

"No matter how you look at it, this idea seems like a pipe dream," Luna thought.

Leaving aside whether firearms with no extraordinary power could actually kill an angel, controlling the range of the explosion and the intensity of the bombardment alone would be a huge challenge.

If the attack cannot be precisely controlled within a small area but with high intensity, it will instead become a disaster indiscriminately attacking both friend and foe, causing irreparable damage to human cities.

For Luna, the mission of Project [Crimson] means that during her time serving on the outpost, she will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the [Crimson] weapon.

No one knows what the [Divine Retribution] weapon looks like, nor what kind of support it will require. They can only pray that the bomb-obsessed members of the Steam Church can deliver a result that satisfies everyone.

“Backlund time, Winter Rite 19:50.”

"Five minutes until launch from the outpost."

Under immense pressure, even the timid Luna couldn't help but tremble.

She is afraid.

It wasn't just the fear of their own death, but also the fear of the mission at the outpost itself, and the fear of humanity's most fundamental struggle against an extraordinary world.

The starry sky is so vast that any human struggle seems so insignificant and laughable in its presence.

Our all-out struggle may not even amount to an ant's turn under the vast starry sky, and may not even have any impact on the cosmos.

Can humans truly understand the starry sky?

Or rather, is it possible for humanity to truly contend with an extraordinary world?

The extraordinary is so sublime, the extraordinary is so great. Humanity's "divine retribution," created by expending all its top-tier power, attempts to reclaim the right to define itself in the face of the extraordinary. But is this sacrifice, in the face of the merciless world of the extraordinary, a hymn of courage or a pathetic waste?

Whether it's this all-out launch or the hysterical "divine retribution."

Can we really succeed?

“Backlund time, Winter Rite 19:55.”

"Five minutes until launch from the outpost."

The observation window cover slowly descended.

Luna turned her head, closed her eyes, and her tightly clenched hands were slightly sweaty.

“Backlund time, Winter Rite 19:59.”

"Attention all units, one minute to prepare."

The last set of support frames was removed from the rocket.

At this moment, the outpost rocket, along with Luna, stood isolated on the vast surface of the earth.

"30 seconds."

She began to pray silently.

"Prepare!"

Ancestor Bethel, the Radiant Angel, Elder Valdas, and that poet lady "Bessie Sigurdsson"...

"10 seconds."

...Whoever it is, please, please bless me, bless Abraham!

"three.

"two.

"one.

"ignition!"

A cloud of scorching flames shot out, the intense heat tearing through the air and distorting the surveillance footage.

The immense thrust propelled the giant rocket forward, soaring into the vast and boundless starry sky.

Luna kept her eyes closed, not daring to watch the cabin shake as it lurched in the turbulence, and simply listened to the announcements through her headphones.

Escape tower separation, booster separation, first-stage engine separation, fairing separation...

"The environment is normal, you can open the face window."

Only then did Luna open her eyes, exhale a long breath, raise the shield, and look out the observation window.

A vast sphere of blue and white, a continental landscape of yellow and green, lights like fine, bright gems, scattered across the expansive planet.

Humanity's tenacious vitality is firmly rooted in this cursed world.

Luna suddenly understood her parents and sister.

"Entered the designated orbit, launch successful."

It turns out that when I was a child, I also dreamed of wandering the starry sky.