by <unknown>
Nakapu remained expressionless. “A Calamity Grade Super, this is slightly troublesome. We don’t have any high levelled combatants here, so we can immediately rule out the option of fighting through our warships. Luckily, it’s just a pugilist. Any other news?”
“Other than the Godorans, there’s another force that is on Planet Aquamarine, the Floating Dragon Field Team’s Black Star Mercenary Group. They too own over ten spaceships.”
“Black Star…” Nakapu remained unmoved. “They’re the mercenaries who ambushed us on Noriosse, right? They’re also a bunch of annoying fellows. Seems like Planet Aquamarine is slightly more special, with a defense far above that of the previous two planets. This will be a little thorny. Let’s go with Plan 4.”
Even after hearing that Black Star was on Planet Aquamarine, Nakapu was not surprised. To him, it was merely another enemy that they needed to deal with. There was no need to kick up a big fuss.
It was not that Nakapu was looking down on them. After calculating the contrast of combat power between both parties, he had decided to carry on with the execution of the attack.
In other words, the addition of a Black Star Mercenary Corps just made him feel slightly more troubled, and that was it.
…
“DarkStar may appear at any time. I need all of you to react at the first sign, so all of you had better keep your eyes wide open for me and raise your spirits!”
In Planet Aquamarine’s orbit, the warship squadron commander of the Godoran troops, Barette, was shouting loudly through the comms channel. He was a short Godoran with an explosive temper. His voice boomed like thunder, echoing through the receivers.
“Commander Barette, the radar has discovered our objective. A fleet is approaching us at a fast speed… They’ve stopped! The coordinates are C-02-07!”
Barette immediately gazed at the radar screen, seeing more than a hundred blips being displayed on it. This was the DarkStar fleet. He then looked out of the porthole, but there was no sign of the DarkStar troops approaching. The distance between the two was closing fast, reaching the extreme limits of both parties’ cannon range.
Ohm!
At this time, the alarm in the command room suddenly blared, flashing with a red light.
“Warning! Detected a high index energy response rapidly approaching! Impending collision!”
Outside the porthole, the inky darkness of the universe was suddenly lit up with thousands of green light rays as the densely clustered ion guns shot from afar.
Nakapu’s fleet was employing over-the-horizon strikes!
Chapter 537. Raid (2) |
The attacks arrived abruptly!
The plasma shells of the ion guns mostly impacted on the golden shield of the Godoran frigate; however, a few of them slipped through the seams between each Godoran shield, falling toward Planet Aquamarine.
The beams got smaller in one’s field of view, some falling into the sea, causing small waves to rise up. Some landed on the ground, blasting out mini mushroom clouds. At least when in outer space, the view was considered small.
“Open the Weiss magic protection shield!” Barette screamed.
The Godoran frigate changed their formation, gathering in the direction of the attack. They shot out golden rays of light, which formed ten gold semi-circular shields in front of the frigate. The shields tightly sealed off any attacks from that direction into Planet Aquamarine.
The next round of ion rays from Nakapu’s fleet quickly arrived, slamming into the protective shields. The ion cannons fired constantly, and the rays appeared like a shower of light, causing the shields to continuously ripple.
“Increase the power output!” Barette’s huge hands were sending out command signals nonstop. “Don’t just be sitting ducks, retaliate! Retaliate! Retaliate!”
The Godoran fleet locked on to their target through their radars and began to launch their own over-the-horizon attacks. They launched beam after beam of golden lasers into the empty space of the universe.
While both sides were unable to see each other, the exchange of green and golden lasers never stopped, intensely firing. If not for the fact that they were warring in a vacuum, the people on Planet Aquamarine would have heard the sounds of battle, akin to the continuous rumble of thunder.
Barette quickly notified his superior and sent the intelligence to Nagakin.
…
On Planet Aquamarine, the Six Nations had already discovered the confrontation between the two parties through the Natural Satellite and were thoroughly panicking.
While they did not have a clear idea of what DarkStar was, they had learned from Nagakin that they were a strong enemy, even on an interstellar level, that could easily crush them. The Six Nations did not dare dally, immediately beginning the evacuation. The refugees all entered the underground bomb shelters.
In the first wave of attacks, a dozen ion bombs fell on the surface. Most of them landed in the wilderness, with the one landing in a suburb near the Six Nations’ territory. It resembled a bolt of green thunder falling from the sky.
Boom!
A miniature mushroom shaped cloud shot toward the sky, as a huge crater appeared on the ground. The subsequent shockwave levelled an entire street, leaving only ruins in its wake as dust filled the air.
The evacuation also started to be rushed as the tense atmosphere gave way to panic. While the refugees were still unaware of what was happening, it did not stop them from thinking. With the tightly packed crowd, stampedes broke out. Due to the large number of people present, many of them had also not received the suppressant, and this resulted in the mutation virus triggering, spreading, and causing havoc.
The guards rushed in, but small-scale chaos was everywhere, and it was difficult to manage them at the same time. Bennett had a grave expression as he continuously issued commands, barely stabilizing the situation.
At this point, the players triggered an emergency mission. The mission introduction read, “Planet Aquamarine has encountered an attack from a fleet from outer space! Help is needed to ensure safe evacuation of the refugees!”
Almost every player looked up at that moment, and it was faintly clear that there were rays flashing about in the sky above them.
“Are there battleships outside of Planet Aquamarine attacking us?”
“A pity we can’t even see it properly, d*mn!”
Curiosity was akin to a feather tickling the hearts of all the players present, causing them to feel an itch in their chests. They clearly knew that there was a Super level battle happening in outer space, but the inability to participate or see it in person was just too torturous!
The suppression of the rioting refugees would be left to someone else; it was not within Han Xiao’s consideration. While he had also triggered the same emergency mission as the rest of the players, the experience reward was too small in his opinion. He had no interest in the task and instead opened his communicator, contacting Nagakin.
“How’s the situation?”
“The fleet is currently engaged with DarkStar, but we do not know when the reinforcements will come. I need to return to help them.” In the scene, Nagakin was boarding a spaceship hurriedly, his tone urgent.
“Then I’ll first restrain my troops and wait. Don’t switch off your communicator. We’ll keep in touch.” Han Xiao nodded. With Nagakin and the Godoran fleets in the battle, there was no need for him to join.
He was not surprised that DarkStar had suddenly launched a raid. In fact, he sighed in relief, with the emotion of someone who had been waiting for far too long. Looking at the soldiers beside him, he was not worried at all.
DarkStar would not destroy this planet—this was the crucial intel that Han Xiao had received. Based on the intel, the probability of the enemy landing was not high. Instead, they would choose to attack from space to reduce their losses.
Furthermore, Han Xiao had calculated that there should be a team of DarkStar agents lying in wait on Planet Aquamarine. The other party wo
uld definitely be aware of Nagakin’s and his presence. After all, DarkStar was well aware of the importance of information. They would definitely calculate every variable before deciding on the method of attack.
In his previous life, Han Xiao had also experienced such a matter. He was deeply aware that this was the key point and immediately ordered the mercenaries to board the spaceships and travel to the territory of the Six Nations. While the rented spaceships had basic capabilities, they had a shield that they could deploy to resist the falling cannon shells from the sky. The power of the battleship’s ion cannons was no joke. One shot on a human would cause around 2,000 damage even after factoring the damage reduction!
To the current players, a cannon shot would be able to destroy an entire team! Naturally, Han Xiao would not be such a fool to take the blow head on. In this sort of battle, only the pugilist class would dare to streak around unprotected, thanks to their thick skins.
As a result, this would not cause the [Mutation Disaster] mission to drop too much in the overall progress. However, to the players, each visit that the DarkStar made would be a cheat whereby large chunks of their progress bars would disappear for their mission.
DarkStar naturally would not just attack Planet Aquamarine. The rest of the calamity planets were attacked at the same time. While Han Xiao did not have the capacity to aid the other calamity planets, he could at least reduce the losses on Planet Aquamarine, putting a halt to DarkStar’s plan to destroy the disaster relief results. Otherwise, all their previous work would be wasted.
“The Godoran fleet is now resisting the enemies, and Nagakin has also gone up. There’s no one for me to ask about the situation.” Han Xiao rubbed his hands as he stared at the real time image of Nagakin that was being transmitted.
He hoped that Godora would be able to force DarkStar to retreat without him making a move. DarkStar was unaware of his current power, and the longer he hid this trump card of his, the better.
…
As Nagakin left the atmosphere, he immediately caught sight of the ten golden shields. The Godoran and DarkStar fleets were still exchanging shots over the horizon, and with his experience, he immediately saw that while this method looked intense, it could not restrict both parties.
The ion cannon shots were being forcibly blocked by the shields. Even if one shield was broken, due to the distance, the troops were able to quickly react and send another spaceship to swap and replace the shield. As such, the formation continued to hold steady.
Other than the conventional ship-borne ion guns, most of the other weapons did not have the range, and nuclear energy guided missiles would be blasted apart midway by the ion guns. The technology levels of the Godoran and DarkStar fleets were similar. Without any overwhelmingly powerful weapon, if both sides wanted to cause irreparable damage to the enemy, they had to draw closer.
Beep beep!
Barette linked to Nagakin’s comms channel.
“The shields can’t be maintained forever, and we cannot stay on the receiving side. If this goes on, there will not be any injuries on DarkStar’s side. I’ll draw closer, Nagakin; you will lead the assault and crush them!”
“Don’t take the risk!” Nagakin yelled. “Right now, the situation is to our benefit. As long as we continue this stalemate, DarkStar will eventually retreat.”
“Nonsense! DarkStar’s technological level is about the same as ours, but we have you, and your capabilities are enough to completely topple the enemy. This is the best chance to defeat DarkStar!” Barette shouted into the channel. He was considered a more radical officer, believing that rather than protecting the calamity planets, it would be better if he took the opportunity to attack the armed forces of DarkStar.
Just as Nagakin was about to reply, Barette screamed into the mic.
“Wait a minute… the radar indicates that the enemies are moving backward. DarkStar is retreating‽”
…
Nakapu’s eyes were narrowed into slits as he stared at the radar screen, his hands folded behind him. His fingers subconsciously rubbed the hem of his clothes as he shook his head. Finally, he opened his mouth to give the command. His tone remained passive throughout, without the slightest emotion.
“Attention, prepare for the transition.”
Chapter 538. Choosing to Pursuit |
On the radar screen of the Godora fleet, the hundred odd light blips representing the DarkStar fleet had started to pull away, and the ion cannons’ shots had also become sparse. All this signified that the enemy was retreating.
Barette’s expression changed as he hypothesized, “DarkStar is unable to break our defense, so they’re going to retreat before our reinforcements come. They’re giving up on the attack this time!”
Observing the battle, Nagakin furrowed his brows. “Looks to be the case…”
“The distance between us and them is getting further. I’m going to pursue them; we can’t let them go so easily!” Barette bellowed.
“Don’t be careless. This could be the enemy’s ploy to lure us out. We’re better off maintaining our current position.”
Barette’s face was unpleasant as he growled, “DarkStar rarely appear. I’m not going to let the opportunity slip away! We were passively slammed a volley of shells previously, and now we’re going to just watch as the enemy saunter away? This is not my style!”
The DarkStar fleet was retreating without pause. Once they passed a certain distance, the radar would no longer be able to see through the stealth mode of the other party, and DarkStar would once again enter stealth mode and become an invisible fleet.
As he gazed at the blips moving further away, Barette was sluggish, wishing to move.
Nagakin also hesitated a little. The safest tactic was naturally to stand by their current position; however, opportunity was always fleeting. Besides, he himself was not sure if the enemy was really retreating.
If they pursued and engaged DarkStar, with their strength, they could probably destroy a few DarkStar assault ships. In addition, if they could delay the retreat of the enemy until their reinforcements came, it would allow them to hit DarkStar hard!
The first two attacks had caused a lot of losses for Godora. The entire War Bureau was holding in their anger; even Nagakin wished to obtain some accomplishments in the war.
Furthermore, Barette was currently the commander of the frigate. While Nagakin’s rank was higher, he could not directly overrule Barette’s orders.
“Nagakin, stop hesitating!” Barette said in a low voice. “Whether you come or not, I am going to make a move.”
Nagakin’s eyes sharpened as he made a decision. “Transfer a portion of them to remain on sentry.”
He no longer tried to persuade Barette, instead preparing to pursue the enemy.
“I don’t need you to remind me!” Barette’s eyes lit up, and he immediately sent down the new orders.
The next moment, the Godora frigate was divided into two teams, where eighty of them chased in pursuit of DarkStar and the remaining forty stayed in Planet Aquamarine’s orbit, awaiting further orders.
Barette had decided to pursue the enemy, but he did not put all his eggs in one basket. The enemy’s fleet numbered about one hundred and ten. Since he was the pursuer, it was sufficient for him to utilize eighty spaceships. On one hand, he could pose a threat, and on the other, he need not be afraid of retaliation from the enemy, able to hold their own on the battlefield. Furthermore, they had the Calamity Grade Super Nagakin, who could put up a fight even if the enemy had one as well.
The pursuing troops quickly caught up, and the ion guns erupted in succession. Golden lights flashed as they carried out an attack over the horizon while releasing interference rays to prevent the enemy from escaping.
Since DarkStar was retreating, Barette adjusted his strategy to maintain sufficient distance to compensate for reaction time. His objective was to harass and delay them, but at the same time, he took precautions for if the enemy were to suddenly turn back or pos
sibly launch an ambush.
Both fleets moved in the universe, gradually distancing themselves from Planet Aquamarine.
At this moment, in the opposite direction of Barette’s departure, dozens of transition jumps appeared, stopping in outer space near Planet Aquamarine. When they revealed themselves, it was a new fleet of DarkStar spaceships, with the few dozen all being assault ships.
Nakapu’s fleet actually consisted of over two hundred battleships in total, but Godora only had one hundred and twenty battleships at hand, almost half of DarkStar’s numbers. As such, Nakapu had chosen to split his fleet into two formations, commanding the main fleet to tangle and sap away the strength of the Godoran fleet, luring the tiger away from the cave.
As for the other strike force, they would then take the opportunity to attack, piercing through the blockade created by the Godoran fleet, and complete their objective of wrecking Planet Aquamarine.
If the Godoran fleet did not separate, this strike force would still appear and launch a pincer strike.
In the command ship far away, Nakapu, who was being chased by Barette, sent out the order to the strike force.
“Attack!”
The forty battleships that were still patrolling around Planet Aquamarine immediately reacted, rushing to set up a resistance. This time, the strike force did not engage in an attack from over the horizon but instead went for a close-range shootout. Various explosions could be seen on the shields of both sides as they fought intensely.
The size of this strike force was twice the size of the remaining Godoran fleet. The troops fought a bitter battle and immediately informed Barette of the situation.
After receiving the news, Barette’s eyes flashed. “So, it turned out to be this tactic. Humph! The enemy actually had twice our number. That’s why they could carry out such a plan… All units, listen up, pick up the speed and pursue. Don’t let the enemy escape our field of vision! Tell the defending troops to give up on Planet Aquamarine and immediately rendezvous with us!”