Chapter 221: Artillery Duel! Assault Landing! Extermination!
Under Morgan Blackhand's command, the carrier-based aircraft launched from the hangars swarmed out like a hive of bees, initiating a fierce assault on the Reapers' mothership.
The combat pilots unleashed a relentless close-range barrage against the enemy capital ship, deploying vast quantities of metallic hydrogen bombs and various laser cannon systems.
But the Reapers' mothership immediately launched a counterattack.
Countless energy cannons erupted from its close-in defense systems, and swarms of smaller fighter craft burst from its bays, charging directly into the fray with the massive corporate fleet's fighters.
The two sides clashed violently in front of their respective fleets, their carrier squadrons locked in a brutal firefight.
At that moment, the battlefield plunged into a white-hot deadlock.
The truth was, both sides' carrier-based forces were evenly matched in terms of numbers and overall combat power.
As long as a hit landed, it could bring down an enemy craft. However, the corporate fighter jets had an edge: their exteriors were protected by anti-matter shields.
The Reapers' fighters, by contrast, had no such defenses.
As a result, in this round of firefight, the corporate fleet clearly enjoyed a higher survival rate.
Still, the Reapers undoubtedly had more reserve fighters than the corporation—they simply hadn't thrown all of them into the fray at once.
When the Reaper Queen saw that the corporate squadrons weren't falling quickly enough, she immediately deployed another wave of fighters.
Meanwhile, bombers that had expended their ammunition began to retreat from the frontlines in an orderly fashion, using their speed and agility to shake off their pursuers.
While the main corporate fleet continued to exchange intense fire with the Reaper mothership, V's assault ship had already crept into position near the enemy capital ship.
At this point, two Infinity-class dreadnoughts and a cruiser began laying down a dense and powerful anti-air barrage with their electromagnetic acceleration cannons, shielding the returning squadrons.
The Reaper fighters attempting to intercept and destroy the corporate ornithopters and Scorpion-class craft were cut down like mosquitoes on an electrified net.
Crackling explosions lit up the skies—flashes of light followed by utter destruction and death.
Simultaneously, the main fleets of both sides were hammering each other with primary and secondary batteries, relentlessly bombarding enemy hulls.
The Reaper mothership, however, had long lost its energy shield and was now fully exposed to the corporate bombardment.
Meanwhile, each of the corporation's warships was protected by a self-regenerating anti-matter shield, rendering the Reapers' retaliatory cannon fire nearly useless—barely leaving a scratch on the Infinity-class warship.
Put simply, this interstellar naval battle had reached a point where the Reapers were taking a full beating while the corporate side remained largely unscathed.
Their only real losses? A few dozen downed AI drones—barely even a footnote.
Aboard the command center of the Infinity-class flagship:
"Enemy hull integrity has been degraded by 19%. Our structural integrity remains completely intact."
"Reporting to headquarters: We've lost 96 drones from our carrier wings. No pilot casualties reported."
"..."
Captain Morgan Blackhand listened to the real-time updates in silence, nodding thoughtfully as he kept his eyes fixed on the tactical holo-display.
To him, this impressive kill-to-loss ratio was no surprise.
After all, they'd spent two and a half years preparing for this interstellar war—and even scored a sneak attack on the Reaper mothership along the way.
When both sides had comparable ship strength and firepower, whoever struck first had the advantage.
It was like a 6-item ADC mirror match—whoever landed the first auto-attack was far more likely to win the duel.
In this case, if they'd initiated the ambush and still gotten smashed in return, that would've been utterly humiliating.
Now that the corporate fleet had reached the designated target zone, Morgan finally issued a fresh command, calm and unhurried:
"Adjust our heading. Lock onto the damaged section of the target and keep widening the breach. Tear it wide open."
"Also, notify the assault squads—it's time to get to work."
—
Onboard the assault shuttle carrying the Astartes warriors—
V, having received Morgan's latest orders, turned to the assembled warriors and delivered his final briefing.
"All personnel, listen up—we need to complete the drop in under ten minutes. Gear up for the assault."
"This time, we'll be using Anti-Hulk Armor propulsion units for our descent."
"To ensure a smooth landing according to plan, check your armor launchers immediately."
"If your launcher fails and the Anti-Hulk Armor doesn't auto-equip properly, contact HQ for a replacement unit at once!"
"And finally…"
"Good luck, and may the Universal Megacorp emerge victorious!"
As V's voice echoed across the squad-wide comms, every Astartes warrior—including David Martinez—snapped into full alert.
This was their chance to earn glory and merit. Once this mission was over, they'd bask in the honor of the entire warband.
On each of their HUDs, slightly elevated heart rate readings appeared—clear signs of rising excitement as the warriors readied themselves for battle.
To be fair, these young Astartes weren't lacking in experience compared to veterans like V and Jack.
Many had participated in landings on Pandora, fought shadowy Phantoms, shelled towering Bloomspawn creatures—
They had even taken part in the assault that captured Omega.
In short: battle-hardened through and through.
Their current objective was essentially the sci-fi equivalent of a traditional naval "boarding action."
Using the propulsion systems on their Anti-Hulk Armor, they would enter the Reaper mothership through an exposed breach.
This kind of tactical operation was already second nature to them—they had trained and executed coordinated entry assaults many times before.
BOOM—!
The shuttle began its final approach maneuver, while nearby Scorpion-class fighters provided fierce cover fire to ensure V and the others could carry out the boarding.
As enemy fire shook the vessel violently, many Astartes could feel their blood starting to boil.
"Hah! Too bad Commander Wells isn't here. He'd be swearing up a storm in excitement by now."
David grinned, having clearly picked up some of Jack Wells' rowdy charm after serving under him for so long.
Seeing that morale and focus remained high, V nodded in satisfaction.
"Remember the mission, everyone. Don't get so caught up in the killing that you forget the objective."
"We need to sow chaos inside the Reaper mothership and protect the Engineering Division team as they seize control of the enemy's command center."
"There might be billions of bugs in there—but no matter how many there are, they won't stop us!"
"Now follow me. Let's finish this assault, claim our victory, and go home to collect our rewards."
His voice barely faded before the warriors roared in unison:
"Yes, sir!!"
"Excellent. You're one step closer to becoming the next Primogenitor warriors."
As V smiled and encouraged his troops, his HUD displayed that the assault shuttle had completed its rotation and was now closing in on the designated breach zone.
"Prepare for deployment!"
---
As soon as he finished speaking, V turned his head, locked onto the direction ahead, and then leapt through the jagged breach in the Reaper mothership with a thud.
Almost simultaneously, he activated the Hulkbuster armor system. In the blink of an eye, the functional modules from the Veronica system rapidly assembled propulsion units around his body.
Driven by the powerful nuclear fusion engines, V shot forward at an incredible speed, hurtling straight toward the Reaper mothership.
The clear, intense feeling of acceleration made V feel like a flying Superman, soaring freely through the cosmos.
Through the visual feed projected onto his helmet's screen, V could see that he was getting closer and closer to the massive breach blasted open by the Infinity-class main cannon.
Of course, V wasn't alone. The entire Astartes assault team was also flying toward the Reaper mothership under the propulsion of their Hulkbuster units.
To ensure these flying Astartes could land safely, nearby AI drones and fighter squadrons held off the brunt of the enemy's close-range anti-aircraft fire.
The Reapers weren't blind—of course they saw the wave of Astartes warriors rushing toward their mothership.
In that moment, a deadly barrage from the close-in defense cannons burst forth like a swarm of locusts, aiming to shoot down the soldiers attempting to board mid-flight.
Fortunately, the propulsion systems of the Astartes could automatically adjust their flight paths, and their holographic displays provided early-warning indicators to help them dodge incoming fire.
AI drones also helped by exchanging fire with the enemy and preemptively detonating their energy blasts, preventing the soldiers from being shot down.
Watching the unidentified flying objects getting closer and closer to their mothership, the Reapers operating the close-in defense systems began to feel a creeping sense of despair.
They even started to wonder if the mothership's faster-than-light navigation system had accidentally warped them to some other galaxy.
Because this... this wasn't the human civilization they remembered at all!
...
Inside the Reaper mothership.
The internal layout was surprisingly spacious and meticulously organized, with towering skyscraper-like structures rising within its vast interior.
Across the decks lay soil suitable for Reaper habitation, along with lakes, dense forests, and a variety of flora and fauna.
Rather than calling it a warship, it would be more accurate to say the Reaper mothership contained an entire miniature planet within it.
Whooosh—!!
Due to the gaping hole blasted open by the Infinity-class railgun and laser cannon, air was rapidly escaping the area, causing a severe drop in pressure.
At the edge of the forest, a group of Reaper "soldier ants" clad in exoskeletal gear had quickly assembled, weapons at the ready and on full alert.
Clearly, they hadn't anticipated that the human fleet would actually be capable of breaching the mothership's shields.
The Reaper Queen, who commanded this mothership, was thrown into chaos by this sudden and unexpected turn of events.
According to her original plan, the mothership was supposed to smoothly reach Earth's orbit, deploy the City Destroyers, and annihilate humanity's military power.
Then the swarm of soldier ants and the reactivated mimic army would quickly sweep the planet—conquering, occupying, and enslaving humanity.
But reality had turned out quite differently: the Reaper mothership had been blasted wide open by the human fleet—and the breach was still expanding.
A wave of human soldiers had even managed to pierce through layers of close-in defense fire and entered the breach zone!
What was supposed to be a godlike opening move had now turned into a humiliating counterattack by human civilization, to the point where human soldiers were executing a direct boarding assault.
How could the Reaper Queen possibly accept such disgrace?
She immediately dispatched a swarm of soldier ants and repair drones to patch the breach in the mothership.
At that moment, the upper edge of the breach was swarming with Astartes warriors who had already reached the combat zone.
Hssss—!
The soldier ants below raised their weapons and opened fire, but before the energy blasts could strike, the Astartes disengaged their flight systems and plummeted toward the ground.
BOOM!!
In an instant, each warrior crashed down like a meteor, slamming onto the enemy mothership with thunderous impact.
Many of the Reaper soldier ants were instantly crushed beneath the rain of "walking iron coffins," splattered into pools of gore.
This dramatic, Titanfall-style entry was the Astartes' signature landing method.
After all, their very arrival was enough to crush a wave of enemy ground troops with sheer weight alone!
Boom! Boom—!
Having landed, the Astartes wasted no time. Without a word, they raised their boltguns and shredded the soldier ants in front of them into pieces.
"Are those little gadgets in their hands supposed to be squirt guns? They're completely useless."
"Let's just kill these disgusting bugs already. Every time I see one, it's like spotting a cockroach in a toilet."
"Wrap it up quickly."
Voices from David and the others crackled over the Astartes' comms.
Having completed their initial landing operation, the Astartes immediately formed an impenetrable firepower barrier on the spot.
This was to protect the second wave of airborne troops and the engineers from the research division who would be arriving shortly.
Thanks to the Mark X power armor's enhanced vision systems and targeting assistance, the Astartes' boltguns roared with a deadly fury, spitting brilliant tongues of fire.
Faced with this terrifying assault force, the newly arrived Reaper soldier ants crumbled and fled almost instantly.
With the surrounding area secured, V's assault team had successfully established the first front of their boarding battlefield.
And after clearing out the immediate threat, V led the team in launching a new offensive toward a massive structure within visual range.
...
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