Super Mothership
“No pursuit?” Isabel looked at the battlefield situation with doubt.
Why hadn’t they immediately moved to reinforce?
Was there another plan in motion? Or were they truly confident they could stop her mech assault?
By this stage, aside from the few remaining unmanned drones, both sides had lost nearly half of their mech forces. Even so, more than 900 Gemini mechs had successfully broken out of the battle cluster.
Facing such a number of mechs—could the enemy really be that confident?
At that moment, her adjutant exclaimed in surprise, “Ma’am, the enemy’s composite battleship has stopped firing!”
Isabel turned to look at the enemy’s rear formation. Sure enough, the composite battleship had ceased firing; only the Fortress-class firepower of the Immortal continued to suppress the Sea Clan fleet.
Not only that—the enemy was slowly adjusting its stance. The pentagram-shaped formation, which had been spinning on a flat plane, gradually tilted 90 degrees until it was spinning vertically.
Then, the Sea Wolf’s five mechanical arms bent, simultaneously aiming the five connected Hou Yi-class ships forward.
Now, the composite battleship looked like a spinning Gatling gun, its “barrels” aimed directly at the onrushing Gemini mech army.
Without needing Isabel’s orders, the Gemini pilots—who had already witnessed this ship’s terrifying firepower—instinctively spread their formation slightly, trying to reduce the chance of being hit.
Still, they weren’t panicked. While the five main guns were powerful, using them against nimble, small mechs was a bit like using a sledgehammer to swat flies—hardly efficient.
Oddly enough, though, the expected long-range barrage never came.
After completing its maneuver, the enemy ship simply went silent—no firing, no other movement—as if waiting calmly for the enemy to approach.
At their current speed, contact between the two sides would take about fifteen minutes…
During that time, both fleets instinctively tried to push forward, preparing to unleash supporting fire once the enemy’s rear formation was engaged.
However, the Immortal immediately increased its suppressive fire. The Sea Clan fleet, unwilling to be the first to stick its neck out, tested the fortress’s firepower while keeping a close eye on the Feather Clan fleet’s situation.
Isabel’s Feather Clan fleet also found its advance blocked. Nie Yun’s remaining mechs, together with the “defected” Sea Clan flagship, appeared before them.
Although the Gemini drone force had not been completely wiped out, what remained was too little to threaten Nie Yun’s mechs. They were practically clearing the drones around them while blocking Isabel’s path.
The battle seemed to have reached a new balance—except this time, each side’s mechs were now facing the other’s fleet.
But this situation actually favored the Gemini more.
Nie Yun’s warships had sharper main guns, but too few in number. The Gemini fleet’s guns lacked the same range and power, but they had numbers on their side, and when arranged in battle formation, they could form a complete anti-air network. Even if large numbers of enemy mechs closed in, they still had enough suppressive firepower to hold them back.
Isabel had achieved her strategic objective, but the enemy’s silent composite battleship still left her uneasy.
For a seasoned commander, the unknown on the battlefield is the most dangerous—because it means unpredictable variables…
Still, while Isabel was wary, her concern did not extend to the opponent in front of her.
A single Sea Clan flagship and fewer than a thousand Sword Immortal mechs trying to block her fleet? Naïve!
“Maintain cruising speed and keep moving forward. All ships, fire at full power! Blast them apart!” Isabel ordered calmly.
“Yes, ma’am!”
“…And one more thing—prepare our assault landing craft. That traitor Sea Clan flagship—if possible, capture it.” Isabel added after a pause.
At the very least… she still needed an answer as to why Gustav had defected.
“Understood!” the adjutant acknowledged.
…
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” “Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The Feather Clan fleet’s 35 warships fired their main and secondary guns in unison, hundreds of beams tearing into Nie Yun’s mech formations and setting off a chain of fiery explosions.
Among the wreckage were not only Sword Immortal mechs, but also a considerable number of Gemini unmanned drones.
Isabel was clearly no longer concerned about friendly fire—she had decided to abandon this drone force entirely.
Nor were only the mechs targeted. The largest target on the field—the Sea Clan flagship—naturally came under fire as well, with more than a dozen Feather Clan warships locking onto it.
Although most attacks missed, several still struck its shields, sending its shield energy plummeting at a frightening rate.
Even a flagship-class warship, with its stronger defenses, couldn’t possibly last long in a 1-to-35 exchange of fire.
But strangely, the Sword Immortal mechs that had just been fighting hard to protect this flagship during the earlier dogfight now scattered in all directions without a word, as if disaster were imminent. Under the concentrated barrage, they abandoned their posts without hesitation.
In an instant, the space around the Sea Clan flagship was left empty—leaving it looking utterly alone and exposed…
…
The silvery flow covering Gustav’s body slowly faded, seeping into the metal floor and vanishing without a trace.
When Gustav, lying on the deck, finally forced his eyes open, the first thing he saw was the chaotic battlefield before him—explosions erupting, lights flashing wildly.
Where… am I?
What… is going on?!
As his mind cleared, Gustav gradually recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness…
Wait! Wasn’t my body under someone’s control?!
Shocked, Gustav quickly looked down to inspect himself.
Hmm… aside from the fact that his right prosthetic arm was gone, all his other components were still intact—none missing.
But what exactly was happening here?
Why was he in the middle of a battlefield—and the fleet firing on him… looked like the Feather Clan?
What had happened while he was unconscious?
That, however, wasn’t the most pressing problem. The real issue was…
His shield… seemed about to collapse!
And then, before Gustav’s horrified eyes, the already flickering pale-blue shield took another hit from a heavy field-ray cannon. The flagship’s defenses were breached.
Boom! The ship beneath him shuddered violently—the hull was starting to take damage.
Even without thinking, Gustav knew exactly what fate awaited a ship that lost its shields under such concentrated fire.
“No—!”
He barely had time to shout his last words before two or three more beams slammed into the hull.
Boom! The massive explosion’s flash banished the surrounding darkness, becoming the brightest “star” in this entire battle…
…
The Sea Clan officers stared silently at the dazzling light in the distance, their emotions tangled and heavy.
Some of the most loyal clenched their fists tight, their gazes toward the Feather Clan fleet burning with fury.
Lord Gustav’s final chance of survival had been completely obliterated by the Feather Clan’s guns…
On the other side, however, the Feather Clan themselves were equally baffled at having “personally executed the traitor.”
That was… too easy?
It felt as though the enemy’s defenses had been unusually weak—had they really finished the job without even exerting full strength?
The orders had been to capture him if possible, so now what?
Claim they had miscalculated their firepower? That they’d accidentally hit too hard?
Isabel was also confused.
She had watched with her own eyes as the Sea Clan flagship was effortlessly destroyed, with not a single mech remaining to defend it—almost as if it had deliberately come forward to be killed.
After a brief moment of shock, a chilling suspicion rose in her mind…
When the rabbit dies, the hound is cooked?
Would the One-World Society… really be this ruthless?!
(Gustav: “…”)
TL Note- Press F for Gustav.....
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