Xyrin Empire
Chapter 428 - Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Raid

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Raid

The newly added support troops immediately turned the tide of the stagnant battle. The warships that could serve as the main forces near the Interstellar Coalition Flagship were almost all ace vessels personally overseen in construction by Bubbles and specially modified by Taville and her research team. Their captains and crews had also been rigorously selected. These warships each had combat powers almost three to four times that of other ships in their class, and the experience of their commanders was an invaluable treasure.

These reinforcements plunged into the Taldarim flank from the side, and after a round of saturation fire, they entered anti-phasing, using their maneuverability advantage to become invisible amid the overwhelming counterattack fire. They shifted positions and moved behind the enemy’s aircraft carriers to continue their saturation fire. Those well-trained commanders had calculated the cooling times of various auxiliary equipment and main cannons down to the millisecond, even including the enemy’s average firing time into the fleet’s maneuvering program. These massive warships miraculously engaged in “guerrilla warfare” on this frontal battlefield, giving the Taldarim commanders the illusion that they were surrounded: facing the Imperial Elite who used sneaky tactics to snipe from behind their main forces, the Taldarim Fleet, accustomed to head-on assaults, seemed somewhat at a loss.

Without a doubt, the overall commander of this force was Sicaro–haven’t you noticed their tactics are completely based on the experience of confronting urban management?

“The excitement is really boiling over!” Tsuruya’s eyes didn’t blink as she watched the holographic projection of the cosmic war, far more spectacular than any grand science fiction movie, clutching my sleeve tightly with her small hands, her face full of the surprise and excitement of a little girl encountering something novel. She probably thought of it as a movie…

“Indeed, it’s a spectacular sight,” Lilina glanced at Tsuruya, her eyes inadvertently resting on the latter’s hand gripping my sleeve. “But every spark there means countless lives turned to ashes; a greenhouse-grown individual like you wouldn’t understand the cruelty of war… Ah, it hurts! You’re mistreating an employee!”

This person doesn’t know what to do with herself without being hit.

Yet, although the scales of victory were undoubtedly tipping in our favor, I still felt something was amiss. Taldarim might be madmen, but they surely weren’t fools, right?

For the sake of a mineral planet, was it truly necessary to go all out, paying a price several times over, to defend to the death? And even after our support troops were in position, the enemy still showed no intention of retreating. Knowing resistance was futile and yet not preserving their forces, could it be that the highly rational Protos Race could also experience the so-called “madness in desperation”?

Just as these doubts lingered in my mind, growing increasingly intense, the main computer of the “Imperial Admiral” suddenly emitted an urgent alarm, interrupting my thoughts.

“Warning, massive gravitational collapse detected in the rear of the array, an unknown material entity is entering the Main Material Plane, repeat, in the rear of the array detected…”

I was taken aback and looked up, instantly understanding one thing like lightning.

“Activate the gravity trap!”

“Activating the gravity trap… Current space has been sealed off…”

The voice of the flagship main computer sounded after three seconds, but it seemed to be a step too late.

In the space of the universe, where nothing seemed to exist, several massive regions underwent violent fluctuations. Light twisted there into a transient, translucent fog before disappearing entirely. These spatial distortions were the result of the attackers exploding inside the time-space channels due to the effect of gravity traps. However, our detectors indicated that more mass objects had breached the belated spatial blockade, surrounding our fleet from all directions.

Was this a diversion? Or a shift of our focus to create conditions for a surprise attack?

These suspicions flashed through my mind in an instant, but one thing was certain without a doubt: we were ambushed, and it could be the largest scale ambush since this inexplicable war had begun. Anomalous mass forms filled the region surrounding the Imperial Main Fleet for millions of kilometers, and faint disturbances in gravity started to appear even tens of millions of kilometers away. The number of enemies was unknown, but certainly formidable.

A violent flash swept over a holographic display below the bridge; one of our perimeter cruisers had sustained an attack from an unknown source. The Ghost Energy Shields flickered intensely before it was shattered by an even more astonishing energy beam.

“The Main Fleet is under attack; we are entering combat status…” Bubbles, situated in the Central Machine Room, directly took control of the flagship’s mainframe, unceremoniously booting the constantly useless computer into the row of servers, “Baby’s daddy! It seems we’ve been played!”

“I know!” Already accustomed to a certain shut-in girl’s address, regardless of the situation, I didn’t bother to retort but miserably responded, “I didn’t expect that after all these days of waiting, they would choose to strike at our Main Fleet… Sandora had guessed it right.”

Yes, Sandora had guessed it right. I had to admit that this girl’s talent in warfare was akin to that of an elf’s. After the Three Races Alliance failed to attack the Imperial Main Fleet multiple times and went into hiding, she predicted that the enemy would surely gather a large force and strike again in a few days. To hasten that day and end this inexplicable situation, we had let “Imperial Admiral” and its escort fleet hang carelessly in the most open part of the Kepulu Star Zone, the East Sky Region, in a way that screamed ‘I’m Gangdamu and I fear nothing’. I had doubts about whether the enemy had the courage to challenge the Royal Guard, the most formidable combat force of the Empire. Now… well, Sandora, you win, I’ll do the dishes tonight–because the only outcome of you doing them is a handful of porcelain powder left after grinding the dishes away.

The enemy was clearly under the cover of some energy field, rendering our conventional observation methods incapable of detecting them. This technology was sophisticated, certainly not the kind of optical invisibility that would be obvious under Xyrin Technology. We obtained the energy frequency from the Starship Fleet engaged in combat, which was used to disrupt the Protos Holy Mother Ship, and then we broadcasted it–sure enough, several massive disc-shaped giant ships emerged on our monitors, just as Zeratul had said, the Holy Mother Ship itself also possessed invisibility.

If it weren’t for Zeratul being here, we might have really suffered in this respect. The Holy Mother Ship had not appeared on the battlefield for hundreds of years, and apart from real Protos Natives, few knew what kind of capabilities this ultimate warship had.

These massive disc-shaped warships were alarmingly close to us, and their bottom-mounted Energy-gathering Crystals were gradually lighting up–but I didn’t believe they were preparing to attack. With the Energy Raider present, any warship that fires an energy attack at us first is essentially signing its own death warrant.

Little Baobao became excited again, her small body twisting restlessly in my arms. Compared to the showy yet sizeably insignificant “shiny discs” from a distant perspective earlier, these massive Crystal Clusters clearly excited the hidden Giant Dragon traits of the Little One.

Beside me, Zeratul watched the Imperial’s most beloved Little Princess take even greater interest in those “Holy Spaceships,” and couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

Reflecting on how the Protos, who once considered themselves the universe’s number one and were exceedingly arrogant, were now nothing more than playthings for a civilization so powerful, even their mightiest warships would soon become a toy for a little girl, Uncle Z took another deep breath, sighing–he had almost used up a lifetime of sighs in these two days.

After slightly adjusting the interference frequency, we released the disruptive waves in full. Immediately, the enemy, which had been somewhat blurry before, was fully exposed from their spatial hiding, leaving me gaping in amazement at their appearance.

…What a spectacular alliance fleet…

Human Battlecruisers, Viking Fighters, Independent Federation Heavy Guard Ships, Insect Flying Dragons, Infected, Giant Mutated Flying Dragons, and even large, suspiciously functionally-designed, disgusting crawling organs (I suspect their mode of attack is to disgust people to death), as well as Protos-style Phoenix Fighters, Curved Light Ships, Aircraft Carriers, Multi-angled Guard Ships…

Essentially, the three major races of this star zone had assembled all the air combat units they could muster in this place.

“Phew–” I let out a resounding whistle and patted the heads of members from the Academy City tour group who were somewhat panicked upon suddenly facing such a scene, “Girls, you still have time to go back if you want, the Imperial Admiral’s space transmission system is ready–otherwise, you won’t be able to escape soon, and the big decisive battle is about to start.”

A few girls exchanged glances quickly. Despite their frightened expressions, to my surprise, not a single one of them backed down. Tsuruya even clutched my sleeve tightly, her tone resolute: “I want to be with my brother! I believe that my brother’s army will definitely not fail!”

“And judging by all of your calm demeanors,” Bai Jing Heizi interjected bluntly, dismantling my front, “you surely have greater ability, right?”

Ugh, this BT double ponytail lily lover! Will you die if you keep quiet?

I suddenly found it somewhat amusing. The enemy was the united Three Races Alliance, while under our command was a more complex united force from various worlds, with armies from various worlds and races entangled together, their origins spanning the entire spectrum of civilization from feudal to cosmic. Initially, I thought I was the Savior, but now I felt like a gang leader leading a bunch of ruffians to crash someone else’s place, causing the locals to unite and fight back…

The battle had already begun. The empire’s huge fleet changed formation with astonishing efficiency, keeping the Zerg units–eager to take advantage of their distance to swarm in–out of the deadly chaos of the Ghost Energy Shields. These guys, aided by Protos space technology, managed to rush to our side and claim a few of our unprepared Assault Ships as their victims amidst the sea of insects, but that was the extent of their achievements. Hot on their heels, the Mage Corps under the Raven’s command launched their combined array from within their own Mother Ships. Giant Arcane Novas, measured in kilometers, began to bloom throughout the universe–I’m telling you, even Antonidas himself coming over couldn’t release such huge Arcane Novas!

At this moment, several Protos Holy Mother Ships had also finished charging their gigantic crystals. Just as I had predicted, they weren’t launching an attack but were summoning troops–crowds of human Battlecruisers emerged in the brilliance of the Holy Mother Ships against the pitch-black starry sky.

“What’s going on? Haven’t we already locked down the space?”

Sandora frowned and asked her Deputy Officer.

“Analyzing data… The stability of space is intact, ruling out the possibility of super space-time transmission. According to a comparison with the data transmitted back by the 37th Starship Fleet, these Holy Mother Ships have been outfitted with a significant number of special modules, seemingly space storage devices of the Protos warp prism. Leveraging the enormous energy field of the Holy Mother Ships, they’ve managed to weaken the effect of the Gravity Traps to some extent, forcibly releasing these spaceships that were hidden in Other Space!”

Uh… Seems like this is a standard troop-storing tactic used by the Xyrin People; I didn’t expect the Protos Natives’ technology to have reached this level too. Although they haven’t reached the outrageous point where every big Soldier can carry an Other Space with them, their technological strength is indeed impressive.

As the fight went on, I gradually noticed something. It seemed that the main forces attacking our main fleet were predominantly humans and the Zerg, and the number of “Divine Race” warships was even less than one-tenth compared to the former two. Aside from those Holy Mother Ships serving as fleet warehouses and flagships, everywhere we looked were the figures of Battlecruisers and Giant Mutant Flying Dragons.

It appears their main strength was near the Noral Planet, drawing our attention, while the real DPS role on this front was performed by the remaining two Races–undoubtedly, they were using this method to combat those terrifying Energy Raiders.

It was a rather ironic situation. The Protos, due to their advanced technology, have always favored energy weapons which are powerful and reliable, giving them an edge in battles against the other two races of the Kepulu Star Zone. However, once the superior Xyrin Civilization arrived in this war-torn star zone, their energy weapons became their most fatal weakness: even the most inconsequential Laser Cannon’s accidental shot could result in an entire Aircraft Carrier being devoured within ten seconds in the voracious feast of the Xyrin Energy Raiders.

In comparison, human bullets and the spit of insects seemed much safer–well, at least that’s how they appeared.

Pandora and Visca, unsurprisingly, rushed onto the battlefield once again. In fact, having only been able to watch the starship fleets destroy the mineral planets of the Kepulu Star Zone with mindless repetition over the past few days had pushed these two little war fanatics, who seemingly had Helium-3 flowing through their veins, to the brink. The alliance army of the three races had never dared to attack the Imperial First Legion, the most fearsome military force, and as senior generals of the Imperial Army, these two little ones also knew that it was not dignified for them to single-handedly rush off half a light year away to stubbornly fight against a bunch of mineral stars. That’s why they had been holding back until now, but it seemed…

They didn’t need to hold back anymore…

When two little girls suddenly appeared on the battlefield, they might not have initially caught the attention of the forces of the three-race alliance. These mixed troops, which covered a spherical space of tens of millions of kilometers in radius, were still relentlessly attacking our medium-sized ships. These powerful warships with small squadron command functions were the biggest threat to them. However, it didn’t take long for the mixed troops to realize that the true threat often came in the least imposing package.

The two girls, who were only about three centimeters shorter than the shells of the bullets, summoned over a thousand Floating Cannons as large as Viking Fighters. Under the control of the Single Soldier Fortress-type Angels’ Envoy’s insane fire control ability, it took only a millisecond for these thousands of Floating Cannons to interpose themselves mid-jump into a human battlecruiser squadron. It was as if a flurry of iron pellets had been scattered, followed by a dazzling firework bloom spanning a radius of two hundred thousand kilometers in the cold, dark expanse of the universe.

In a second, amidst piercing shots and a chain of explosions, four hundred battlecruisers, a thousand heavy cruisers, and countless Viking Fighters and Banshee Bombers were consigned to history.

This was the destructive power that Pandora and Visca could unleash in real battle, casting aside all probing and playing.

The attack by the two sisters not only shocked the allied forces of the three races but also drew my attention. I noticed that there seemed to be a subtle tacit understanding between them. Even though they were always throwing harsh words at each other and even wrestled on the ground, on the battlefield, Pandora and Visca coordinated as if they shared one soul. Four giant ship-to-ship Ghost Energy Cannons were mounted on the arms of the two little ones, and under their exquisite cooperation, they could cover enemies that theoretically required a squadron of assault ships. Meanwhile, more auxiliary weaponry and the Personal Guard that followed them onto the battlefield were densely packed around them. This complex and tight formation should have been the biggest taboo in small-scale maneuver warfare, but they intertwined their troops and weapons without any regard, shaping a meat grinder-like fire array–indeed, if it were two average Imperial generals, they could achieve this by completely opening and merging their thought processes, but the problem was, I found out that Pandora and Visca were not engaging in a Spiritual Connection: they were not communicating, it was by instinct, intuition, that they combined into such a situation!

“How long will it take to wipe out these enemies?”

Sandora asked with her arms folded, in a tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather. She didn’t mention the question of winning, because undoubtedly, the strength of the Imperial Fleet was not something that these races, which had just entered the stages of Junior Interstellar Civilization using swarm tactics, could overcome: perhaps the Protos technology was sufficient, but even with them included, it still wasn’t enough.

“If the enemy doesn’t send more reinforcements, the battle will probably last about two days. Some of our elite warships have been called away from the battlefield; the number of enemies is the only thing causing us a headache,”

Sivis answered, her voice carrying a strange metallic quality, with light blue luminance twinkling in the calm deputy officer’s eyes.

This powerful Storm Commander, although standing on the bridge of the Imperial Admiral, had in fact joined the battle. Now, tens of thousands of ships of the entire Imperial Fleet were enveloped in her Halo, making their rate of fire faster, their defense stronger, and their accuracy higher. The effect might not be apparent on a single soldier, but when the combat power of the entire legion was enhanced, the result was undoubtedly astounding.

Given the large number of enemies we were facing, Sivis also activated the Storm Commander’s most bugged attack enhancement skill: Legion Strike.

A heaven-defying ability that allowed your attacks to simultaneously damage multiple targets. The principle seemed related to the macroscopic manifestation of quantum effects. Anyway, it sounded like arcane incantations to me; Pandora and Visca, naturally, were the top dps being emphasized. Thus, the enemies specifically “cared for” by these two little madwomen not only faced the crushing terror of their attacks but also the mind-bendingly strange phenomena…

The enemy in front of you might have casually fired at you, resulting in the annihilation of your entire squad–even if you spread out the formation far enough, it was meaningless: who knew why a beam of energy could simultaneously punch holes in thirty or forty targets scattered across the heavens and the earth! (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.NovelFire.net–more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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