𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟗: 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 (5)
Obsidia Drake is protected by thousands of state-of-the-art defense satellites and a fleet of 170 flotilla-class and the Fractal.
Kreion countered by sending 10 Chimeraz fleets to each of the other 7 celestial bodies: Bluesteel which was destroyed by Equillocke, Fayda which was occupied by Jiannettera, and Altblubber which was occupied by Phlegeth.
And now, the direct invasion of Obsidia Drake begins.
“The Fractal Fleet is 170 fleets. . . . We are 160 fleets due to the forces restraining the other 7 celestial bodies. . . .”
“Although the numbers are somewhat similar, we cannot clash head-on. We will be exposed to their firepower.”
Then Kreion orders.
“Ludwig. You will be in charge of the main force with me this time as well.”
“It is my honour. . . .”
“Phlegeth. Clear the path for the fleet battle so that you can directly attack the Fractal Fleet.”
➖I will do as commanded.
“Jiannettera, move with Phlegeth and take on the role of responding to weapons that the enemy has yet to reveal.”
➖Understood.
“Equillocke. Your swarm will guard the rear of the main force, and on the flanks, move the majority of Shockphonia and infected fleets to search for the enemy’s weaknesses.”
➖I understand.
With the approach of the enormous Chimeraz fleet, Drake’s Fractal Fleet also moved. Each fleet spread out in formation to correspond to the direction from which the Chimeraz Fleet was approaching.
The Phlegeth swarm charged ahead, resulting in the first volleys of fire from both sides, colourful beams of light crossing each other through the vast space. The fleet battle that began from the edge of each fleet’s firing range seemed to re-emphasize the unrelenting nature of the war.
Euryale, Lemegeton, Fleetcupper, and Shockphonia continued to charge while enduring the Fractal Fleet’s cannon fire. They spread out more widely during their charge in order to disperse the enemy’s fire net.
Following them, the Jiannettera swarm took advantage of the space created by Phlegeth’s sacrifice and fired countless purple plasma beams at the enemy.
The Fractal Fleet did not even deploy a collective shield when faced with the overwhelming attack of the Chimeraz Fleet’s Organic Accelerator Cannons.
Instead, each ship in the fleet deployed individual partial shields to block the attack.
The shield output of the Fractal Fleet was still considerable, and knowing this, the Chimeraz Fleet continued to approach and spread out as a whole.
The orderly formation meant to solidify the fleet and the net-like formation that attempted to induce chaos and find gaps in the enemy’s lines met each other.
Finally, the Chimeraz Fleet succeeded in enveloping the Fractal Fleet, sending out numerous Cresecter and Crepitus.
The Cresecter swarm, dotting the space with red, became entangled with the fighters of the Fractal Fleet and began to engage in combat. Unlike the fighter engagements of other species and different factions, their movements were thoroughly collective and elaborate. The same was true for the fighters on both sides.
The tactical control of the superior artificial intelligence and the dominance of the phenomenal collective consciousness competed with each other.
Although the fleet battle between the Drake Star Nation and the Chimeraz appeared to be a primitive form of destruction, it was in fact a battle where every unit was connected to each other, waging a fight by moving tens, hundreds of millions of pieces on the complex chessboard of space with calculations in the hundreds of millions made in mere seconds.
When the Fractal Fleet distorted space towards the Chimeraz Fleet, the Chimeraz Fleet recognized the distortion of space and quickly escaped, allowing as many of their numbers to survive as possible.
When the Fleetcuppers ejected tungsten lifeforms and utilized the bending particle weapons of the bio-electromagnetic accelerators, the escort ships deployed shields that completely covered their hulls while the assault ships tracked the heat and light of the Fleetcuppers and fired armor-piercing shells and destructive energy at the predicted trajectory.
When the battleships fired particle weapons with their powerful main guns, the Shockphonia, Lemegeton, and Euryale responded by erupting bio-barriers into space.
The Drake Star Nation’s shield technology was highly advanced, and in particular, there was the Knightfortress, whose shield output far exceeded that of its hull.
Having recovered the hull of this bipedal war machine, Jiannettera thoroughly analyzed the shield technology and provided it to their kin.
Based on their superior shield technology, Kreion and Gnox made it possible for the Chimeraz to also use a defensive measure such as shields in fleet battles.
The bio-barrier had evolved to survive in the extreme environment of space for up to 3 hours, and thanks to this, the Chimeraz fighters that could house Mindrockers inside their bodies were able to erupt bio-barriers in fleet battles.
The Euryale, Lemegeton, and Shockphonia were beings of a size that could erupt a bio-barrier.
Of course, the defensive power of a bio-barrier was inferior to that of a human shield.
However, the advantage of a bio-barrier was that it ‘distinguished and allowed friendly fire to pass through’, unlike shields.
This became an enormous advantage in the Chimeraz fleet battles.
Until now, the Chimeraz, who had invaded the Drake Star Nation, had never shown such an ability in fleet battles. Perhaps because of this, the Fractal Fleet appeared to be wasting some of their firepower on the Chimeraz’ black shields.
The armor-piercing shells and particle weapons that passed through the bio-barrier lost their speed, the missiles lost control and exploded arbitrarily, and the high-powered projectiles scattered in strange directions.
‘An ability that our fleet has never shown before, even though we could have used it, even though so many of our children died because we didn’t use it.’
‘All for the sake of breaking through their formation at this very moment.’
Beside Kreion, who had his eyes closed and was concentrating on the fleet battle, Ludwig reported with his voice.
“The children of Phlegeth have broken through to a firing range where they can attack Fractal. . . .”
“Attack.”
Having dug deep into the enemy fleet’s formation, the Phlegeth swarm approached Fractal to a threatening distance.
The Drake’s flagship, command ship, and the artificial intelligence command tower that replaced the Ministry of National Defense.
Fractal, the largest ship possessed by humanity, boasting a length of 46km and a tonnage of 99 million.
They were finally able to reach out to it.
‘Let’s see how it responds.’
Fractal soon displayed its might befitting its monstrous specifications.
The 256-barrel plasma cannons fired a continuous stream of colourful beams of light that fell somewhere between blue and purple. Fortunately, most of those beams were disintegrated within the bio-barrier, failing to inflict much damage on the Phlegeth swarm.
Then, out of the 1720 barrels of Fractal’s 48-barrel interceptors, about 1000 barrels aimed at the Phlegeth swarm fired 150 crimson-coloured armor-piercing shells per minute, while about 400 barrels of the 4-barrel intercepting laser defense cannons opened up, piercing holes in the bio-barrier with invisible clashes of light.
The diagonal lines created by the speed of light within the bio-barrier precisely matched the diagonal lines through which each armor-piercing shell could pass, and as a result, one-third of the Phlegeth swarm was wiped out.
“Master. . . . That ship is too powerful. . . .”
As if that was not enough, Fractal partially rotated its enormous hull, revealing a multi-purpose gravitational acceleration injector launcher that looked like a missile launcher from the old days, and fired missiles.
‘Nuclear missiles. . .?’
At that moment, Kreion had doubts.
Of course, missiles could be used effectively at that range.
However, the Phlegeth swarm had dug deep into the enemy fleet’s formation. If a weapon capable of causing a powerful explosion and electromagnetic pulse was used against the Phlegeth swarm that had gotten so close, wouldn’t that sweep away Fractal’s friendly ships as well?
‘No matter how excellent the shield output of each ship is, the power loss of your allies would be severe if a nuclear explosion occurred at such a close range.’
Soon, the missiles fired from Fractal reached and exploded in front of each fighter of the Phlegeth swarm.
Only then did Kreion realize.
➖Master! My legion has suffered too many casualties!
They were not ordinary missiles.
Whatever the principle was, the missiles that exploded in front of the Phlegeth swarm each drew countless plasma beams, piercing and detonating the Chimeraz fighters.
And there were several plasma beams that were straight toward the friendly ship without hitting the Chimeraz fighters.
Suddenly, those beams that had missed their targets bent abruptly and disappeared into the distant space.
It was as if the plasma beams had distinguished between friend and foe.
However, that was impossible.
‘Powerful computing power. . . . They used magnetic fields or gravity as a means to control the trajectory of the plasma beams.’
The plasma beams were actually travelling at the speed of light. The enemy had calculated all of those beams at the speed of light, or even calculated them again at a speed faster than light to control them as they intended, and then used technology related to magnetic fields or gravity.
‘What a profound level of technology. . . .’
And it was also a very coveted technology. If they could just crash a single Shockphonia into that Fractal, they would be able to create a huge variable.
For now, Kreion relayed what he had just inferred and thought to the leaders through waves. He then ordered.
“Jiannettera, devise a way to break through Fractal’s defenses. And Phlegeth, distance yourself from Fractal and engage in the main force battle until we come up with something else.”
Meanwhile, Equillocke’s infected fleet on the flank of the Fractal Fleet was detonating nuclear explosions. They were actively trying to take advantage of the fact that the electromagnetic pulse from the nuclear explosion had a negative effect on the enemy but none on the Chimeraz.
At that moment, Kreion momentarily detected a very subtle change occurring around Equillocke’s swarm.
A vulnerability in the centralized control method that he had been assuming with Gnox all along. He saw it for just a split second.
A portion of the enemy fleet that was fighting Equillocke’s swarm.
A nuclear explosion went off in the space between that portion and Fractal. Immediately following that nuclear explosion, the fighters on the opposite side of Fractal displayed inefficient movements for a moment.
From this, one could infer.
‘Weapons, armaments, fighters, ships. They were all connected to Fractal as the highest level of their system. There was nothing that was not connected.’
Therefore, Fractal’s role in this fleet battle, in the war against the Drake Star Nation, was indeed very much like that of a brain.
Fractal had to be neutralized quickly. Even if they couldn’t neutralize it, they had to inflict damage on it somehow. That was not just one of many strategic options, but a ‘necessity’ from the very beginning.
➖I have devised a way to break through Fractal’s defenses. Would you like to hear it now?
Just in time, the wise leader, the pioneer of the evolution of their species, Jiannettera, made a remarkable proposal.
“Speak.”
➖Equillocke’s infected fleet can generate intentional magnetic fields and shields. . . . If we combine all of their outputs, protect a single Euryale, and send it charging towards Fractal, we might be able to make contact with Fractal if we release all of the Shockphonia at once.
➖We will lose a single Euryale, the entire infected fleet, and several Shockphonia, but I think it’s worth a try.
“Even if we use the shields and magnetic fields of the infected fleet, they will still be destroyed by Fractal’s firepower.”
Ludwig, who had been listening, presented a compromise.
“How about filling several Lemegeton with Mindrockers and bio-barriers? . . . If we erupt bio-barriers in succession, we might be able to defend against Fractal’s physical attacks. . . .”
Then Gnox stepped forward.
“Kreion-nim. They are beings that perform calculations faster than the speed of light. Even if Euryale manages to approach successfully, Fractal is likely to notice the intentions of the Shockphonia that have been dispatched and mobilize the surrounding fleet.”
“. . . .”
“Crashing a Shockphonia-sized fighter in the midst of all that will be really difficult against Fractal. To be honest, I think the probability and risk of failure are too high.”
After much deliberation, Kreion analyzed the fundamental problem of this operation and changed his approach.
“. . .Is it possible to disperse dozens, hundreds, thousands of Shockphonia at a close range?”
“Pardon?”
“Master. . . . We currently have 324 Shockphonia. . . . I don’t think we have enough time to gather thousands of Shockphonia. . . .”
“If we had thousands of small, fast beings that could use the abilities of Shockphonia, it might be possible.”
In other words, he meant that he would create the necessary beings on the spot. It was a very Chimeraz-like decision to respond flexibly to the enemy’s tactics and characteristics.
“Ludwig. Take over the fleet battle for a while. It must be a pain because there are so many children, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“. . .Don’t worry and leave it to me. . . . I will gladly carry it out. . . .”
Kreion opened his eyes and rose from his throne.
His purple eyes revealed the extreme stress and fatigue from the war.
How many orders had he processed through waves, how many deaths of his brethren had he felt? How many thoughts had he had to break through the obstacles to finally reach this point?
Perhaps he wanted to end this dreadful war right now. However, as the ruler of his species, he had a goal that he had to accomplish, and it seemed that he was enduring even though his spirit was being worn down. That was the look in his eyes.
“Jeez. . . .”
Gnox felt sorry for Kreion, a being who was higher than him.
“Are you okay? Kreion-nim. . . .”
“Let’s go. Gnox.”
Even so, he did not collapse.
He stood up from the throne and, once again, he was taking steps forward without fail.
“W-Where are we going?”
“To create biological bombs.”
‘Biological. . . . Bombs. . .?’
“If we can’t conquer Fractal, we won’t be able to set foot on the planet.”
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