Interstellar Survival: Invasion

”Be on full alert, everyone.
The enemy fighters are attacking soon.
Prepare all our weapons, ” commanded Mayor Andi.

Having received the command, all the personnel in charge of the weapons and fortifications behind the main gate finished their preparations, loaded their weapons, and waited silently for the invasion to begin.

From the screen, we could see that three imperial Milky Way–class battleships were hovering far away.
Suddenly, the fighter drones launched the first attack without any signal.

Over a hundred fighter drones shot forth, with a few of them unleashing about a dozen guided missiles toward the main gate.
The guided missile struck the steel gate, resulting in a massive explosion.
However, the gate stood firm, with the few marks on its surface the sole sign that it had just been attacked.

While the fighter drones were attacking, all the rail cannons, laser towers, heavy tanks, and fighters in the city opened fire at the same time.
I even saw some foot soldiers madly shooting their rayguns and tracer machine guns from within their bunkers.

The fighter drones were submerged in a deluge of bullets, red laser beams, green artillery shells, and yellow guided missiles.
In less than 10 minutes, the fighter drones in charge of attacking the gate lost their shields and were completely eliminated.
Cheers erupted within the command center.
As someone who had witnessed the empire ’s true military might, I sighed when I saw their joy.

”Mayor, the imperial army will launch an even stronger offensive soon.
Get everyone to calm down and not let a small victory get to their heads, ” I reminded the mayor anxiously.

”Order everyone to get to their positions.
The enemies will launch an even bigger attack soon, ” said Baron Sisse.

”Canyue, Canyue, can you hear me? ” Zhang Bao ’er ’s voice suddenly came from the communicator.

”Yes, I can hear you clearly.
How are things there, Bao ’er? ” I asked.

”Old Du and I are in charge of a heavy tank.
This iron hunk is amazing.
Its firepower is incredible, ” said Zhang Bao ’er in excitement.

”The enemies might launch a counterattack immediately.
Be careful.
Stay in touch with me, ” I said.

Several massive missiles were suddenly unleashed from a Milky Way–class battleship.
The missiles streaked through the sky and landed in front of the main gate.
Intense explosions erupted, creating a thick purple smoke that reduced visibility to zero.

”Activate the infrared scanners immediately, ” commanded Baron Sisse.

”Reporting, the infrared scanners can ’t detect anything, ” said the intelligence officer.

”Laser scanners and ray scanners.
Try everything, ” said Baron Sisse, who was getting agitated.

Even after trying all the scanners, we weren ’t able to pinpoint the enemy fighters.
The purple smoke was clearly produced by some unique materials for the purpose of rendering detection tools ineffective.

”Reporting to the mayor, a red laser beam is being used to cut the main gate, ” reported the young official anxiously.

”Have everyone fire at will, ” roared Mayor Andi.

All the weapons in the city started shooting madly, but they did not seem effective.

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”Reporting to the mayor, the red laser has managed to pierce through the gate.
They are currently trying to cut a circular hole into the gate, ” reported the intelligence officer urgently.

”This won ’t do.
We ’re wasting time, ” I said.

”What idea do you have? ” asked the mayor.

”This is an emergency.
The drones are probably gathered together to create the concentrated laser beam that they are using to cut the gate.
I have seen the empire do this exact thing before.
If the purple smoke can block our scanners, it can probably block their own scanners as well, ” I said.

”Canyue is right.
After so many years of working together, our combat system is rather similar to the empire ’s, ” said Baron Sisse.

”I suggest we open the side gate and send out a special assault unit to attack their drones from a close range before they notice anything, ” I said.

”How do we locate the drones after going out? They are all hiding in the smoke, ” asked the intelligence officer.

”The purple smoke is covering a huge zone.
Just form a square formation beneath it with our heavy tanks and shoot into the air, ” I suggested.

”Can the tanks shoot through the firing ports from within the city? ” asked Mayor Andi.

”Yes.
Our firing ports were designed in accordance with all our weaponry.
However, some angles will be hard to reach.
Also, some of our firing ports have already been damaged by enemy fire.
They just haven ’t noticed it.
We can no longer cover all angles if we shoot from within the city, ” said the intelligence officer.

”Don ’t hesitate.
Have all the heavy tanks attack.
Intelligence officer, highlight all the angles covered by our remaining firing ports.
Send the data to those operating the rail cannons and laser towers.
Have the fighters be on standby, ” said Mayor Andi.

”One-quarter of a circle has been cut into the gate, ” reported the intelligence officer.

”Attack immediately.
Hold nothing back, ” commanded Mayor Andi with a roar.

The order was carried out immediately.
All the heavy tanks used the cover of the smoke to sally out from a side gate.
The fighters were also turned to face the side gate to prevent any enemy surprise attack.
All the rail cannons had also been updated with new attack coordinates.
No attack came to the side gate, proving that our analysis of the smoke blocking the detection of both sides was correct.

”All heavy tanks are in position.
We may attack at any time, ” a voice came from the communicator.

”Follow the predetermined coordinates and fire into the sky, ” roared Baron Sisse.

A series of deafening explosions rang out.
Amid the endless sounds of the artillery barrage were the sounds of objects exploding into pieces.

”Reporting to the mayor, the red laser has stopped cutting through the gate, ” reported the intelligence officer in excitement.

”Looks like the mission is a success.
Have all the attacking units retreat, ” commanded Mayor Andi.

The tanks withdrew speedily upon receiving the command.
During the operation, not a single tank was lost.
This was yet another full victory for our side.
Due to the previous lesson, nobody in the command center celebrated this time.
Rather, everyone focused even more on the battlefield.

Suddenly, a blinding light erupted.
Then, red smoke started rising and mixing with the purple smoke.
Red and purple mixed, and before long, the smoke was cleared.
The wreckage of fighter drones and air defense drones could be seen all over the ground.
Thanks to the advantage of the terrain, we had successfully defeated two waves of attacks from the empire.

”Intelligence officer, what is the status of the ground forces? ” asked Mayor Andi.

”The situation is intense.
The enemies have more people and stronger firepower.
They are even equipped with heavy tanks.
We can only rely on a small number of rail cannons to provide cover to our foot soldiers.
Most of our heavy weaponry is concentrated near the main gate, ” said the intelligence officer.

”I asked for an update, not the problems faced by the soldiers, ” said the mayor.

”Reporting to the mayor, the battle is desperate.
The opposing ground forces have covered one-third of the distance to the main gate, ” said the intelligence officer.

”Tell Dasille that all ground forces will be under his command.
I don ’t care what he does, but before we lose the main gate, I do not want to see a single enemy infantry approach.
Otherwise, tell him to remove his own head from his shoulders, ” said Mayor Andi.

”Roger, ” replied the intelligence officer.

While the mayor was giving out his command, the empire ’s third offensive began.
A massive warhead shot out of a Milky Way–class battleship and slowly flew toward the main gate.
The warhead looked extremely familiar to me.
Suddenly, I recalled seeing a similar warhead on Lidu, with the difference being that this warhead was much bigger.

”This is bad! That is a contained explosion guided missile.
It is extremely powerful.
Can you release the shield to protect the gate? ” I roared in alarm.

”All fighters, concentrate your energy shields and protect the main gate! ” commanded Baron Sisse.

”Bao ’er, Old Du, the empire is attacking with a contained explosion warhead.
Watch out, ” I said anxiously to the two.

”Don ’t worry.
We will erect our defenses, ” replied Zhang Bao ’er, alleviating some of my worries.

The warhead slowly approached.
Before long, it reached us.
By itself, it opened up, aimed at the gate, and produced a pink enclosure around the gate.

”This is bad.
The explosion will be very intense.
Have everyone near the main gate pull back! ” I roared.

The order was transmitted quickly, and apart from the fighters, all other weaponry and their personnel started retreating in an orderly fashion.
After the enclosed space was produced, the warhead exploded.

The explosion bloomed like the rose of the death god.
The explosion churned and roiled within a radius of less than 30 square meters within the pink enclosed space, magnifying the force of the explosion by at least 50 times.

Soon, a pink radiance flooded the immediate vicinity of the explosion.
The pink radiance was mesmerizing and beautiful, yet it was also capable of turning anything it touched into ashes.

No matter how strong the steel gate was, there was no resisting an explosion of such power.
Thirty fighters released their shields to protect the gate, but the massive explosion kept chipping at their shields.
The gate started caving in at a speed visible to the naked eye.

”This is bad.
The gate is going to be blown apart.
The fighters need to retreat, or we will lose both the fighters and the pilots, ” I reminded the mayor anxiously.

”Order the fighters to retreat in an orderly fashion.
Watch out for the explosion, ” commanded the mayor.

Even after receiving the order to retreat, the fighters still demonstrated a high level of discipline as they took turns retreating.
The fighters retreated one after another, eventually leaving only four fighters behind that were still staunchly resisting the explosion.

At this point, a massive protrusion had appeared from the side of the gate facing the city.
It would be blown apart at any time, but the heavy tanks were still in the process of withdrawing.

Meanwhile, the four remaining fighters stayed behind resolutely.
It was clear that the moment they retreated, the gate would crumble apart.
The roughly one dozen heavy tanks remaining would all be pulverized by the explosion.
However, if the four fighters did not retreat soon, they would lose the opportunity to do so because the coming explosion would be powerful enough to drown them into it.

Nobody in the command center issued a command to the four fighters.
It wasn ’t easy to issue a command to tell someone to sacrifice themselves.
Every single weapon and soldier was very important for this war.
Nevertheless, the soldiers still had the right to make the call whether they wanted to sacrifice themselves or not.

The four fighters did not show any signs that they were going to retreat.
They continued protecting the gate with their shields.
About three minutes later, all the heavy tanks finally finished their withdrawal.
The pilots of the four fighters had clearly made their choice.
The protrusion on the gate kept growing as the might of the explosion continued to increase within the enclosed space.

”At this point, they can no longer retreat in time, ” said Baron Sisse sorrowfully.

Mayor Andi stood straight and gave the four pilots a silent salute.
Everyone in the command center also stopped what they were doing to offer a salute to the four brave heroes.
Then, a blinding pink erupted and a thick light beam pushed through, destroying everything in its path.

A massive hole had been created in the main gate, and the thick energy beam had reduced the four fighters into nothingness.
About 10 minutes later, the explosion finally faded.
The shockwaves from the explosion had wreaked havoc beyond the gate, destroying numerous buildings and objects in the underground city.
Then, with a loud boom, the badly ravaged gate collapsed onto the ground.