From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 543: Regaining Glory (Big Mistake)
In an interview with the original members of the "Renaissance Alliance" many years later, the host curiously asked a question to Johnny Ridden, who had become a "famous ace pilot", "true red lightning on the battlefield", and "lucky man".

That was what it felt like when he took part in his first large-scale space battle.

Johnny Riding obviously had a deep memory of this battle, and answered without hesitation on the spot:
"I regret it. I really regretted it at that time! I especially regretted cooperating with Manfred."

It can be said that Johnny Riding's regret had already appeared after he and Manfred attacked the enemy camp in a "coordinated advance" manner.

When they launched a pursuit of the escaping two-seater reconnaissance boat, they chose to rush towards the attacking HCP fleet without hesitation to cover Manfred.

Looking at the 18 murderous HCPs in the distance, Johnny Riding had to admit
At that moment, he chickened out.

But he also knew that it was useless to be cowardly at this time. If he turned around and ran away, he would definitely die. Instead, he might have a chance of survival if he mustered up the courage to rush forward.

"Maybe this is 'living towards death'?"

After this thought flashed through his mind, Johnny Riding directly increased the power of the deflection field generator, then increased the power of the plasma propulsion array, and rushed towards the enemy.

At the same time, under the mapping of the control operating system, the red fully-equipped 'Holy Shield' he was driving also took a posture of charging with a shield and sword.

He knew very well that it would be hopeless for him to engage in medium- and long-range shooting with just one machine against 18 enemies.

No matter how good he was at dodging, no matter how poor the opponent's shooting skills and accuracy were, the pressure from the attacks of 18 sets of long-range weapons was still too great.

Therefore, the best solution is to find a way to close the distance and engage in hand-to-hand combat, and then, assuming that the opponent does not have any "ace pilots", rely on your own technical advantages to deal with the opponent and hold on until the support troops arrive to save your "dog life".
You see, this is a very 'Atlas' solution.

Although Johnny Riding was still a member of the 'Renaissance Alliance' combat force in theory, after this period of training, especially after being taught by Murat, he had already transformed into the shape of 'Atlas'.

"Warning, you are locked!"

"Warning, a strong electric field reaction has been detected, the characteristics are judged to be heavy particle cannon fire!"

"Warning, missiles incoming! Missiles incoming!"

"warn."

A warning buzzer sounded, followed by a series of warning messages from the combat support AI - the enemy's attack had begun.

Johnny Riding quickly glanced at the 'prediction line' of the enemy's directed energy weapon attack calculated by the combat support AI, and then, while maintaining the current general course, he dodged into the gap.

The entire process was smooth and there was no delay at all. It took less than one second from the time the alarm sounded to the time the HCP started to make evasive maneuvers.

And when this second was over, the blue-white beams produced by more than ten heavy particle cannons blocked the place where he had just been.

If Johnny Ridden had been a little slower, he would have become a space ghost caught in the jets of heavy metal particles.

However, he did not relax after dodging this round of attacks, but adjusted his body's direction again, firmly protecting his shield in front of him, and then used the close-range defense laser to intercept the approaching combat missiles. Then, several heavy particle cannons in the "diffusion irradiation mode" irradiated, completely covering his current position.

Although in the 'diffusion irradiation mode', the heavy particle cannon's attack width becomes extremely large, which causes the power of these heavy metal particle jets to be greatly reduced.

However, if the attacked unit does not have sufficient defense, it is inevitable that a lot of external equipment and sensors will be wiped out.

However, Johnny Riding had previously increased the strength of the deflection force field to the maximum and always maintained a heavy shield to protect himself, which allowed him to successfully withstand this round of covering attack without any injury.

"So far, the opponent's attack pattern is exactly the same as what the instructors said. If this is the case, then what should we do next..."

Johnny Riding, who felt like he was taking an open-book exam, continued to maneuver at high speed after the opponent's heavy particle cannon attack ended. He then deployed the electromagnetic reconnection cannon in low-voltage rapid-fire mode and fired all the aerogel shielding bombs.

These programmed warheads, after leaving the acceleration orbit and continuing to fly for a distance, exploded one after another without even waiting for the opponent's body to intercept with high-energy lasers.

Soon, a layer of "aerogel wall" appeared in the battle space between the two sides, which was enough to protect Johnny Riding's single machine.

After the opponent fired a salvo of heavy particle cannons, the subsequent charged particle cannon and high-energy laser attacks were just blocked by the aerogel wall that had just been formed.

The laser and charged particle beams began to refract and reflect wildly in this aerogel, and even formed a "light curtain" that obscured the red "holy shield".

"Okay! What the instructors said is true. Use the heavy particle cannon to attack the 'Lottery' first. If the battle cannot be resolved, use the near-light-speed weapons with higher accuracy."

Johnny Riding, who was admiring the "pre-exam" training of Murat and his team, which made him feel quite comfortable in the current 1V18 battle, suddenly found that his confidence seemed to be slowly returning.

On the contrary, the mentality of the 18 pilots on the opposite side has changed.

Especially after discovering that the first two rounds of attacks by their side were fruitless and that the target was approaching quickly under the cover of aerogel and was ready to drag them into hand-to-hand combat, these HCP temporary commanders became a little panicked.

"Quick! Everyone, load the electromagnetic reconnection cannon with compressed helium warheads and blow away these aerogels!"

"Warning, strong magnetic field reaction detected, judging to be the electromagnetic reconnection cannon preparing to fire!"

When the combat support AI's warning sounded in the cockpit, Johnny Riding actually showed a smile on his face, and he regained his confidence at this moment.

So far, all the opponent's countermeasures are exactly the same as those judged by the instructors of Atlas, which makes Johnny Riding even have the illusion that he is fighting a simulated battle, because the opponent's attack process is even more standard, or stereotyped, than the opponent simulated by AI.
"Are you planning to blow away the aerogel? Then I'll see if you can re-energize it in time!"

Johnny Riding's expression froze. While the other party was firing compressed helium warheads to blow away the aerogel, he was also using his ever-increasing relative speed to rapidly close the distance between himself and the nearest local HCP.

Although the opponent's HCP realized that something was wrong and was ready to distance himself under the cover of his teammates, it was too late after the blue "blade" of the plasma heavy sword in the hands of "Holy Shield" lit up.

(End of this chapter)