From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 297 A battle that ends in an anticlimax

"Tsk! The rods are all gone."

Looking at the remaining ammunition values ​​on the multi-function display, Lieutenant Larry couldn't help but let out a 'tsk' sound.

The entire screen in front of me now turned into pieces, some were very clear, and some were just a whole blurry screen.

Although the combat assistance AI has tried its best to maintain the integrity of the screen, due to the severe damage to the sensors throughout the fuselage, the view of the cockpit has begun to become poor.

"I don't know which side has the upper hand now."

Since most of the warships are also trying their best to carry out electronic warfare attacks while firing, the electromagnetic environment in the entire combat space has never been worse.

The enemy-finding efficiency of the comprehensive detection unit has also been greatly reduced. In many cases, Lieutenant Larry even needs to use his own eyes to make judgments.

After just crossing paths with a team of Federation HCPs and falling into a melee, he had been separated from rookie Jeff and other comrades in the 809th Squadron, and was now flying alone in this dangerous space.

Although Lieutenant Larry finally eliminated the enemy he was fighting with, after being hit by a shrapnel fired at close range, a lot of the external 'bits and pieces' of the Priest, including the sensors, were washed away.

The combat auxiliary AI quickly marked its model, which was also a 'Priest'.

The other party obviously noticed him and drew a huge arc before turning towards him.

While the squadron leader was speaking, he also transmitted the location of the 'Labi' to Larry through the data link.

Lieutenant Larry stared at the scene in disbelief as he had lost the mothership from which he could return.

When the distance got closer, the Identification Friend or Foe device also identified the identity of this aircraft. It was not Jeff the rookie, but the squadron leader of the 809th Squadron.

But at this moment, Lieutenant Larry felt that he was hearing hallucinations, because Lieutenant Bob's deep and hoarse voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Jeff. Rescue nearby."

"Okay squadron leader, um, I saw it. But are we about to evacuate now?"

The notebook he had tied to the side of the seat before the attack floated out at some point. Bob kept flipping through the diary entries he had written, and finally stopped at the last sentence he wrote in this world. superior.

This lieutenant of the Imperial Royal Navy experienced a feeling called despair for the first time in HCP.

"I go."

But after this conversation ended, Lieutenant Larry suddenly felt that the middle-aged man named Bob had completely disappeared.

"By the way, squadron leader, Second Lieutenant Jeff and I are also separated."

Lieutenant Larry suddenly came to his senses. He took Bob's notebook back and put it in his leg bag, and then flew towards the Priest.

Especially the machine used to produce oxygen. Although Lieutenant Larry didn't know what the 'pills' the maintenance team stuffed into the machine were, this thing would eventually be used up.

Suddenly, a dazzling burst of fire erupted not far behind Lieutenant Larry.

"Don't panic! Listen, I have found a nearby friendly cruiser 'Labi', they can recover us!

The two priests quickly adjusted their direction and rushed towards the 'Labi'. They were lucky enough not to encounter any enemies blocking their way.

Although the ship's hull number was no longer visible, a dark voice in his heart told Lieutenant Larry that it was the mothership of the 809HCP Squadron, the Speeder.

"Larry?! Are you okay?"

Lieutenant Larry asked. He didn't want the last comrade in his team to disappear in such an inexplicable way.

"I don't know either, but it's better to have a boat than to be left here alone."

As an HCP pilot, a pilot fighting in the chaos of space, this can be said to be the most terrifying nightmare.

"He may be fighting, or he may have landed on another friendly ship first. Don't worry too much. Although Lieutenant Jeff is a novice, he is still a well-trained naval pilot, and he will not be killed so easily! Okay! Come on, come with me first!"

"Sorry, I didn't see him." The main monitor on the head of the squadron leader's body shook its head.

Moreover, the body's shield has also been scrapped, and the ammunition reserves are starting to run out.
Beams of light streaked across the starry sky, and fireballs burst out and disappeared in an instant.

"Squadron Commander, I'm fine but the Speedster sank."

Soon the 'Labi' also discovered these two HCPs, and the warship quickly sent out a light signal. According to the interpretation of the combat auxiliary AI, it was urging them to board the ship as soon as possible.

The notebook continued to float to one side, and Lieutenant Larry followed it unconsciously, and with this turning of his head, he saw an HCP passing by in the distance.

He looked back and saw that on the screen that was going up and down, a battleship that looked like a reconnaissance ship was constantly disintegrating in the flames of the explosion, and was eventually engulfed by a huge plasma fireball - it was a battleship-level superconducting battery stack. A performance that fails to exceed.

The Priest piloted by Lieutenant Larry raised his hand and pointed at the fireball in the distance.

This auditory hallucination only lasted for a short moment, and the words spoken were intermittent.

When the two bodies are completely attached to each other, contact communication is also established.

After closing the distance, the two priests quickly reduced their relative speed to 0, and then turned around and stuck together "back to back" in perfect harmony.

We don't know whether our unit was attacked or the enemy ship was destroyed. The entire battlefield was shrouded in chaos.

For a moment, the desperate Lieutenant Larry stopped his movements, and the entire aircraft was like a corpse floating in space.

"This is not my war"

And they sent a signal that the fleet is preparing to leave, so we have to get there quickly! Can you see the ship? "

An HCP that lost its mothership in space, in the words of veterans, is the coffin of the HCP pilot.

Although the Priest is one of the most advanced HCPs in active service in the Empire, this does not mean that its built-in energy engineer life support system can run forever.

"Yes, Bob, you are right, whose war is this?"

Although he himself felt that this feeling seemed a bit abstract, he really could no longer feel Bob's presence.

By some strange coincidence, Larry suddenly left the formation and rushed in the other direction. Before the squadron leader's question came, he sent him a sentence through blue-green laser communication: "I'm going to bring Lieutenant Jeff back." !”

"etc."

The squadron leader had no time to stop him and saw Lieutenant Larry's priest disappearing into the distance.

Larry, who was flying at high speed, felt as if he had been guided by some kind of guidance. Although the integrated detection unit of the aircraft was basically unable to detect anything, he relied on his own feelings to avoid several battle points along the way.

On such a battlefield, trying to find Second Lieutenant Jeff's plane was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But this time, Lieutenant Larry happened to get the needle.

When he saw the Priest in the distance, which had lost a mechanical arm and a mechanical foot, floating in the universe like a dead corpse, he knew he had found Jeff.

After seeing a federal HCP approaching the Priest, Lieutenant Larry pushed the throttle to the top without hesitation, and while rushing over, he removed the last remaining weapon on the aircraft - Heavy Slash. sword.

Before the federal HCP could react, the cleric had already rushed in front of it. Although the former also raised his mechanical arm and prepared to shoot at Larry, Lieutenant Larry at this moment made a series of actions that he had never completed before. With his exquisite dodge maneuver, and after successfully breaking into the opponent's left hemisphere, the battle ended with two swords.

"Jeff! Can you hear me?!"

Larry placed his body against Jeff's body and tried to get in touch using contact communication, but although the communication was connected, there was no response from Jeff. There is not much time left now. If you don't hurry up, you may be left on this battlefield.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant Larry made a bold decision. He evacuated the air in the cockpit, and then opened the cockpit of the aircraft body after adjusting the heavy hydraulic anti-gravity suit to 'extravehicular mode'.

The universe outside the cabin is full of explosions, fires, and rays from directed energy weapons, but in Lieutenant Larry's eyes, all this is like a silent mime. At this moment, he can only hear his own heavy breathing.

Although the safety rope was tied behind him, Lieutenant Larry was still a little nervous, but he quickly suppressed these emotions and carefully floated to Jeff's cockpit.

"Warning! Do not open the hatch through here unless it is an emergency."

"Found it, right here!"

Larry was overjoyed, and he first pressed a button next to the operating lever, so that Jeff's heavy-duty hydraulic anti-gravity suit would also switch to 'extravehicular mode'.

After the green indicator light representing 'can be turned on' came on, Lieutenant Larry pulled the joystick without hesitation.

The next second, the cockpit door of the Priest was also forcibly opened.

Larry quickly climbed up and took a look, only to see Lieutenant Jeff leaning on the driver's seat with his head tilted, unconscious.

He climbed into the cockpit, and after confirming that Lieutenant Jeff still had vital signs through the external screen of the heavy-duty hydraulic anti-gravity suit, he unbuckled his seat belt and dragged him out of the cockpit.

By the time the rookie lieutenant regained consciousness, Larry was already driving the Priest on the way to the 'Labi'.

"Lieutenant?! So you're dead too?"

"I'll kill you, uncle! I didn't even risk my life to come to save you! It's better for you to lie down in the cockpit and fall asleep!" Lieutenant Larry said through gritted teeth.

"Ah? Are we still alive?!" Second Lieutenant Jeff finally reacted,

"It turns out I just passed out and thought I was dead."

Upon hearing this, Lieutenant Larry was about to reply a few words, but he saw the multi-function display first blurred, and then the entire weapon unit turned gray.

"Warning! The unknown electronic warfare virus has broken through the body's firewall. Warning! The weapon unit is offline!"

"Electronic warfare virus?!" Larry was shocked. Being attacked by an electronic warfare virus at this point was not a good thing.

But he soon discovered a strange thing, that is, after the electronic warfare virus attacked the weapon unit and took it offline, there was no follow-up action.

And a 'wonderful scene' appeared in the entire warring space. All the firefights disappeared. Whether it was the federal warships, the imperial warships, or the HCPs that were fighting on both sides, they all suddenly became silent.

The universe, which had been lively just now, fell silent in an instant. The fleets fighting each other even looked a little funny against the backdrop of this "quietness".

"What the hell?"

Lieutenant Larry, who was confused, looked at a federal HCP floating near him. The other party had obviously discovered him but had not opened fire.

But he knew that now was not the time to think about it in detail, so he immediately took advantage of this strange 'ceasefire period' to rush into the Rabi's air defense circle, and finally 'rammed' into the cruiser's entry channel.

"Congratulations on your safe arrival!"

After opening the cockpit door of the Priest, the crew members of the Labi said to Lieutenant Larry and Second Lieutenant Jeff:
"You are so lucky. Just as we were recovering your machine, we received news that we were preparing to leave the battlefield!
Look! The entrance channel has been closed, now we really have to leave! "

"Yes. This is indeed good luck."

Larry helped Jeff float out of the cockpit. After handing the latter to the members of the medical team, he floated to the wall walk alone, and then looked at the notebook in his hand.

"Thank you, Bob."
-
"The Federation Navy has won a great victory! Sweeping away the invading enemies!"

"Marshal Trafalgar said this: The great navy has officially shifted to a strategic counterattack!"

"Want to prove that you are a real man? Join the Federation Navy immediately! Recruitment Office Hotline XXXXX"

After the end of the 'supernova explosion' operation, which was known to the public as the 'Decisive Battle of the Millen Galaxy', various types of news carefully produced by the Federal Navy Information Department began to radiate from the Millen Galaxy as the center to the surrounding areas.

At the same time, a special "Frontline Interview" program was produced as quickly as possible, interviewing many fleet commanders, including Marshal Trafalgar, as well as surviving naval soldiers, sparing no effort to promote the importance of this victory. .

While the recorded and edited 'copies' of this program were quickly sent to the capital galaxy, Amber, who was located in the Tower of Babel, also figured out what happened at the end of the battle with the help of Lilith.

"So the Celestial Fortress still has this kind of large-scale and indiscriminate electronic attack capability?"

"That's right, Master~ With the computing power of Celestial Fortress's host computer, it can indeed cause a dimensionality reduction blow to the control personalities of other battleships."

Lilith, who was in the virtual space, sat disheveled in Amber's arms. On the grounds that she had "restored the panoramic view of the battlefield through virtual reality", she went to great lengths to trick Amber into the virtual space and completed some things. event'.

"Using a crushing attack to forcefully penetrate the ship's firewall, disintegrate the anti-virus program, and then take the ship's weapon unit offline, it's so smooth~
The only problem may be that we are still in the stage of 'no distinction can be made between ourselves and the enemy'
However, people can also understand that if the Identification Friend or Foe function is added, a lot of computing power will be taken away. By then, the fortress control personality will probably not be able to "go all out" without any scruples. "

"Lilith, just say it again and don't mess around."

Amber held Lilith's shoulders, stopped her from twisting, and then said:
"I didn't expect that the Empire has never used this ability before. I don't know whether it's because Duke and Duke William's celestial fortress hasn't had time to implement it, or it's just a bottom-line ability and they don't want to be exposed easily."

Thinking of this, Amber couldn't help but recall it in her mind and confirmed that the first-generation celestial fortress in the previous game did not have this ability.

This made him wonder whether it was because of changes in the world line that the empire upgraded the celestial fortress?
"Master, I also have a question~"

"uh-huh?"

"I thought there was nothing wrong with the previous steps. I would have done the same thing, which is the last step. Why take the weapon unit offline instead of finding a way to directly overload the fusion furnace or superconducting battery stack?"

"This is pretty easy to explain." Amber changed into a more comfortable position and continued:

"Both the superconducting battery stack and the fusion furnace have safety devices. From the beginning, the design took into account the situation after the entire ship is penetrated by the electronic warfare virus. Therefore, once an abnormal command is input and no crew member manually confirms it, it will It was determined to be 'encountering an electronic warfare virus attack', and then directly disconnected from the main system of the warship on the physical level.

Another reason is what you just mentioned. This is an indiscriminate large-scale electronic warfare virus attack. It is impossible for the empire to think of detonating all its own warships? Therefore, temporarily taking the weapons unit offline is the safest approach at this stage."

"I see. Then do you need Lily to develop this ability? Maybe she can accurately identify one-way attacks from both the enemy and ourselves~"

"Hey, are you so sensible?"

Amber was a little surprised. Although Lilith was now obedient to his words, this was the first time that she had actively asked to work overtime.

On weekdays, this quirky strong artificial intelligence always uses different methods to catch fish.

"Of course, but I still have a small request."

Lilith lowered her head and poked each other on her chest with her two onion-like fingertips.

"Say it, as long as it's not a particularly outrageous request."

"Really, then Master should spend more time with Lilith in the virtual space today~"

With a 'pop!', very quickly, the virtual space that was originally a 'combat intelligence room' style was switched into a luxurious king-size bed room.

The stool Amber was sitting on also turned into a soft mattress.

"No, wait, why are you twisting again?! Hiss"

(End of this chapter)