ROTK - War of the Gods
Chapter 14
Zhuge Liang stood in shock at the lineup of super powered beings. Sun Jian wasn't just asking for the Earth's moon, he was demanding it! Could Zhuge Liang truly consent to something like that without his Lord's approval?
The six men stared down at Zhuge Liang. He had a slight suspicion that they were altering their size slightly to appear bigger. Were they threatening him? Finally, the Angel said to them, "Liu Bei would be honored to hand over the moon for the kindness that your Lord has shown. Without his help it is certain that Liu Bei would be destroyed. Mind you, though, that Sun Jian would be the next to fall to Cao Cao's might."
Zhou Yu glared at him angrily. "Sun Jian will never fall to Cao Cao," he said through clenched teeth. Zhuge Liang smiled at him.
"We have a long journey ahead of us," Zhuge Liang said. "Let us not keep destiny waiting."
---------------------------------------------------
Cao Cao was in the middle of a planning session for the invasion of Earth when an urgent message arrived. "Sun Jian has amassed a fleet of 500 ships my lord," Sima Yi said. "I suspect he is trying to conceal his intention to attack you by keeping them out in the void, far below this solar system. I came across them only by chance in my wanderings."
Cao Cao stood up from his table and turned from the people seated there. They were the Gods Xu Shu, Xu Huang, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan. Cao Cao placed his hands behind his back and said thoughtfully, "This is even better than I had hoped. If he is storing ships out in space, they must certainly be unguarded. If we crush Sun Jian's fleet there, he will be unable to come to Liu Bei's aid when we attack."
"There is more sir," Sima Yi said. "The fleet is perched directly above the event horizon of a massive black hole. I was unaware of it's existence until I saw the way that star light bent around it's black mouth. I fear it may be some sort of trap."
"What is the name of this black hole?" Cao Cao asked.
"It is called Chi Bi my lord." Cao Cao thought deeply about the name and it's meaning, but could learn nothing from it.
He turned around and said to his assembled Generals. "If this is a ruse on Sun Jian's part, I have absolute faith that we will see through it. We have 5000 warships available now that we were going to use for the invasion of Earth alone, and I say we go to this small fleet perched above Chi Bi and destroy it on our way."
His generals agreed and an army was assembled consisting of 500,000 archers and 500,000 infantry. Less than a week later, the fleet was moved into space and began it's long journey to Chi Bi. When they arrived, Cao Cao set the fleet across from Sun Jian's on Chi Bi and went out and began railing against him.
"Sun Jian, you impostor! How dare you bring your fleet here to plan an invasion of my kingdom! I will destroy your puny fleet and cast your entire family into this black hole!"
Zhou Yu came out from his flagship with his Generals and began shouting back. "Cease your blasphemy dog! How dare you come here calling yourself the true ruler of Heaven and Earth. We are here on a training exercise only, but since you are here now and have defiled the Lord's name, we will gladly punish you for it!" Zhou Yu then went out into the space between the two massive fleets.
"Who will bring me this Angel's head?" Cao Cao asked his assembled officers.
"I will take his head father," Xiahou Yuan said. He went out and began combat with the Angel Zhou Yu, but neither of them could gain the advantage. After thirty bouts, Xiahou Yuan ran back to his own side.
"Fall on now!" Zhou Yu yelled out. His fleet came forward, firing enchanted arrows at the enemy fleet and Gods. Though they were horribly outnumbered, their superior tactics kept the enemy ships at bay and forced Cao Cao to pull his fleet back in a full retreat. He went back across Chi Bi and rearranged his force there.
Sima Yi approached his Lord after the battle and said to him, "Master, why have you stopped in your attack? Even though their tactics are superior, we have numbers on our side. As long as we press the attack, regardless of our fortunes, we will win the day."
"No," Cao Cao said. "This fleet is needed for the invasion of Earth. We will simply wait here until the enemy makes a tactical mistake and then we will crush them completely and efficiently."
--------------------------------------------------
"I demand to know why we cannot go through with your plan now!" Zhou Yu screamed at Zhuge Liang. "I swear to you that if you are double crossing Sun Jian, you will rest at the center of the black hole with Cao Cao!"
"I warned you before we began this expedition that there were many details to see to. The longer you scream and yell at me, the longer those details will take to finalize." Zhou Yu shook out his sleeves in anger and stormed from the room. Zhuge Liang went back to the ship that Pang Tong was living on and said to him : "Are you ready?"
Pang Tong agreed that the time was ripe. The two teleported to the hold of Cao Cao's flagship and Zhuge Liang left him there while he went back to Zhou Yu's flagship. Pang Tong lost no time at all. He put his hermits robe on and placed his giant hat upon his head. He went up to the viewing deck where he knew Cao Cao would eventually show up.
As expected, Cao Cao came out after him to look at Zhou Yu's military formations to decipher any errors in the Angel's arrangements. When he spotted Pang Tong on the deck, he immediately said, "Who are you?"
Pang Tong turned, making sure his hat would cover his face. "I am called Pang Tong my lord?" Cao Cao looked at him carefully, puzzled by the human's behavior.
"Take your hat off so that I may look at your face."
"I'm sorry my lord, but I do not wish to offend you. I suffer from a horrible skin disease which makes me unfit for viewing."
"Who are you?" Cao Cao was definitely suspicious now.
"I am the captain of the third archery division, my lord. I had an idea about how to defeat Zhou Yu and I wanted to share it with you. I knew it was wrong of me to come here like this, but the idea is so simple that I fear it may have been overlooked."
"What is it?" Cao Cao said angrily. "If it is truly a good idea, I will let you live."
"Sir," Pang Tong said, "It takes away too much of your power keeping individual energy shields around all 5000 ships. If you were to contain all of the ships in one shield, it would free up more of your strength - strength that will help you crush not only Zhou Yu, but Liu Bei as well."
Cao Cao stared at the strange man for a while, not saying anything in response. Finally, he said, "Go now human, but never approach a God again. If you do, I will kill you myself." Pang Tong left, but he was pretty sure that Cao Cao would take the advice since he had been allowed to live. He quietly went down to the holding area and waiting for his friend Zhuge Liang to come and rescue him.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cao Cao's Generals were all against the idea. Cao Ren insisted that it would leave them vulnerable to fire attacks. Cao Cao scoffed at the idea. "Do you not remember Hu Lao Gate? The Great Red Hare could not hurt us because no fire can travel in the vacuum of space. There is no oxygen to keep the flame alive."
And so, Cao Cao erected one large energy shield around his fleet, giving him back much needed power. After this happened, Zhuge Liang went into the hold of Cao Cao's flagship and rescued his friend Pang Tong, taking him back to the other fleet. "Stay here now Pang Tong," he said to him. "The attack is about to begin."
To be continued...
Chapter 14
Zhuge Liang stood in shock at the lineup of super powered beings. Sun Jian wasn't just asking for the Earth's moon, he was demanding it! Could Zhuge Liang truly consent to something like that without his Lord's approval?
The six men stared down at Zhuge Liang. He had a slight suspicion that they were altering their size slightly to appear bigger. Were they threatening him? Finally, the Angel said to them, "Liu Bei would be honored to hand over the moon for the kindness that your Lord has shown. Without his help it is certain that Liu Bei would be destroyed. Mind you, though, that Sun Jian would be the next to fall to Cao Cao's might."
Zhou Yu glared at him angrily. "Sun Jian will never fall to Cao Cao," he said through clenched teeth. Zhuge Liang smiled at him.
"We have a long journey ahead of us," Zhuge Liang said. "Let us not keep destiny waiting."
---------------------------------------------------
Cao Cao was in the middle of a planning session for the invasion of Earth when an urgent message arrived. "Sun Jian has amassed a fleet of 500 ships my lord," Sima Yi said. "I suspect he is trying to conceal his intention to attack you by keeping them out in the void, far below this solar system. I came across them only by chance in my wanderings."
Cao Cao stood up from his table and turned from the people seated there. They were the Gods Xu Shu, Xu Huang, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan. Cao Cao placed his hands behind his back and said thoughtfully, "This is even better than I had hoped. If he is storing ships out in space, they must certainly be unguarded. If we crush Sun Jian's fleet there, he will be unable to come to Liu Bei's aid when we attack."
"There is more sir," Sima Yi said. "The fleet is perched directly above the event horizon of a massive black hole. I was unaware of it's existence until I saw the way that star light bent around it's black mouth. I fear it may be some sort of trap."
"What is the name of this black hole?" Cao Cao asked.
"It is called Chi Bi my lord." Cao Cao thought deeply about the name and it's meaning, but could learn nothing from it.
He turned around and said to his assembled Generals. "If this is a ruse on Sun Jian's part, I have absolute faith that we will see through it. We have 5000 warships available now that we were going to use for the invasion of Earth alone, and I say we go to this small fleet perched above Chi Bi and destroy it on our way."
His generals agreed and an army was assembled consisting of 500,000 archers and 500,000 infantry. Less than a week later, the fleet was moved into space and began it's long journey to Chi Bi. When they arrived, Cao Cao set the fleet across from Sun Jian's on Chi Bi and went out and began railing against him.
"Sun Jian, you impostor! How dare you bring your fleet here to plan an invasion of my kingdom! I will destroy your puny fleet and cast your entire family into this black hole!"
Zhou Yu came out from his flagship with his Generals and began shouting back. "Cease your blasphemy dog! How dare you come here calling yourself the true ruler of Heaven and Earth. We are here on a training exercise only, but since you are here now and have defiled the Lord's name, we will gladly punish you for it!" Zhou Yu then went out into the space between the two massive fleets.
"Who will bring me this Angel's head?" Cao Cao asked his assembled officers.
"I will take his head father," Xiahou Yuan said. He went out and began combat with the Angel Zhou Yu, but neither of them could gain the advantage. After thirty bouts, Xiahou Yuan ran back to his own side.
"Fall on now!" Zhou Yu yelled out. His fleet came forward, firing enchanted arrows at the enemy fleet and Gods. Though they were horribly outnumbered, their superior tactics kept the enemy ships at bay and forced Cao Cao to pull his fleet back in a full retreat. He went back across Chi Bi and rearranged his force there.
Sima Yi approached his Lord after the battle and said to him, "Master, why have you stopped in your attack? Even though their tactics are superior, we have numbers on our side. As long as we press the attack, regardless of our fortunes, we will win the day."
"No," Cao Cao said. "This fleet is needed for the invasion of Earth. We will simply wait here until the enemy makes a tactical mistake and then we will crush them completely and efficiently."
--------------------------------------------------
"I demand to know why we cannot go through with your plan now!" Zhou Yu screamed at Zhuge Liang. "I swear to you that if you are double crossing Sun Jian, you will rest at the center of the black hole with Cao Cao!"
"I warned you before we began this expedition that there were many details to see to. The longer you scream and yell at me, the longer those details will take to finalize." Zhou Yu shook out his sleeves in anger and stormed from the room. Zhuge Liang went back to the ship that Pang Tong was living on and said to him : "Are you ready?"
Pang Tong agreed that the time was ripe. The two teleported to the hold of Cao Cao's flagship and Zhuge Liang left him there while he went back to Zhou Yu's flagship. Pang Tong lost no time at all. He put his hermits robe on and placed his giant hat upon his head. He went up to the viewing deck where he knew Cao Cao would eventually show up.
As expected, Cao Cao came out after him to look at Zhou Yu's military formations to decipher any errors in the Angel's arrangements. When he spotted Pang Tong on the deck, he immediately said, "Who are you?"
Pang Tong turned, making sure his hat would cover his face. "I am called Pang Tong my lord?" Cao Cao looked at him carefully, puzzled by the human's behavior.
"Take your hat off so that I may look at your face."
"I'm sorry my lord, but I do not wish to offend you. I suffer from a horrible skin disease which makes me unfit for viewing."
"Who are you?" Cao Cao was definitely suspicious now.
"I am the captain of the third archery division, my lord. I had an idea about how to defeat Zhou Yu and I wanted to share it with you. I knew it was wrong of me to come here like this, but the idea is so simple that I fear it may have been overlooked."
"What is it?" Cao Cao said angrily. "If it is truly a good idea, I will let you live."
"Sir," Pang Tong said, "It takes away too much of your power keeping individual energy shields around all 5000 ships. If you were to contain all of the ships in one shield, it would free up more of your strength - strength that will help you crush not only Zhou Yu, but Liu Bei as well."
Cao Cao stared at the strange man for a while, not saying anything in response. Finally, he said, "Go now human, but never approach a God again. If you do, I will kill you myself." Pang Tong left, but he was pretty sure that Cao Cao would take the advice since he had been allowed to live. He quietly went down to the holding area and waiting for his friend Zhuge Liang to come and rescue him.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Cao Cao's Generals were all against the idea. Cao Ren insisted that it would leave them vulnerable to fire attacks. Cao Cao scoffed at the idea. "Do you not remember Hu Lao Gate? The Great Red Hare could not hurt us because no fire can travel in the vacuum of space. There is no oxygen to keep the flame alive."
And so, Cao Cao erected one large energy shield around his fleet, giving him back much needed power. After this happened, Zhuge Liang went into the hold of Cao Cao's flagship and rescued his friend Pang Tong, taking him back to the other fleet. "Stay here now Pang Tong," he said to him. "The attack is about to begin."
To be continued...
