The course of events always takes unexpected turns—the outcomes you least desire inevitably appear before you, leaving you powerless to resist.
Liu Hai was currently in a state of panic. Even though he knew panicking was useless, he couldn't help it.
The conflict in the Stardust Star Region had suddenly escalated. The Energy weapons deployed by the Katon Fleet indicated that their energy technology had advanced further, now surpassing the Federation's current mainstream Armament.
To lag behind is to be beaten.
This was an indisputable fact, as the results were right before their eyes.
The Pioneer Mixed Fleet was in dire straits under the Katon Fleet's assault. Each wave of attacks destroyed dozens of warships, with weaker Corvettes sometimes being pierced through two at a time if the angle was favorable.
The Xue Jia Fleet had yet to arrive, the Fifth Star System was nearly lost, and key surrounding airspace had been ambushed—a series of sudden incidents left everyone overwhelmed.
The involved parties were thoroughly exhausted. The Katon Civilization's offensive was simply too fierce. With their superior firepower and range, they dominated the battlefield, and the casualty ratios left all Pioneers heartbroken.
What terrified Liu Hai was that his Brolly Star System lay at the rear of the Stardust Star Region. Given the current state of the war, even if the Pioneers weren't completely driven out, they would suffer devastating losses. The entire Pioneer forces in the Third Spiral Arm would face massive casualties.
In the future, confronting Katon's Exploration Fleets would no longer be like before, where they held the advantage. Instead, the tables would be completely turned.
Without numerous Pioneer Fleets shielding the frontlines, could he even continue to develop?
He'd likely be blockaded every other day, and once his combat strength was assessed, he'd be wiped out in one fell swoop.
Liu Hai desperately hoped the Federation military had some countermeasures to push back the Katon Fleet and restore the previous balance of power.
Unfortunately, half an hour passed, and the Xue Jia Fleet had already entered the battlefield. The massive armada spared no cost in closing in on the Katon Fleet, using numerical superiority to unleash dazzling barrages that suppressed the Katon Fleet's advance.
To preserve the fleet within the Fifth Star System, the Li Family team also made another heavy sacrifice, gathering their hidden forces in the Third Spiral Arm to form a new mixed-army unit and join the battle, slightly alleviating the situation in the Fifth Star System.
After initial probing, the struggle for control over strategic airspace entered a white-hot phase. Fortunately, these positions were mostly Warp Nodes established by the military, so the defensive forces were relatively strong—outperforming equivalent Pioneer Fleets—and could still hold their ground.
The staff officers handed Liu Hai a report, and after reading it, his heart grew even heavier.
The report indicated that, given the current situation, the Pioneers would lose 40% of their warships before forcing the Katon Fleet to retreat—solely because the energy demands of their Energy weapons were too high, making the Katon Fleet unable to sustain the consumption.
It was utterly absurd!
If they didn't have enough energy this time to wipe out the Pioneers entirely, would they be able to do so in the next battle?
"Ah!" With a sigh, Liu Hai could only urge Li Yali to act quickly. They had to clear the Shade Beasts from the Life Planet and retrieve that Star Behemoth Biological Tissue before the next battle commenced.
Whether they abandoned the Brolly Star System or decided to dig in, they would at least have a clear plan—rather than being paralyzed by fear on both fronts.
Li Yali had been closely monitoring the battle throughout, learning much about fleet command from Xue Renli. Though she felt regret over abandoning their original mission halfway, she understood the Starsea Fleet had no better options now.
Throwing herself fully into the task, Li Yali led the fleet directly to the far orbit of Brolly Planet. Previously, she had been reluctant to devastate the ecosystem of a life planet, but now there was no room for such considerations.
All Fighter Mechs were deployed, Clone Soldier squads stood ready, and every high-powered weapon available was equipped. Liu Hai had crammed in over a thousand Armed Robots—all hastily manufactured Fire Support Robots.
More than a dozen warships arrived above the Target Laboratory, their Ship Cannons aimed at the Shade Beasts in the designated area. Hundreds of weapons locked onto their targets and fired in a prearranged sequence.
The Electromagnetic Cannons and Particle Cannons fared well—though their power weakened slightly within the planet's atmosphere, the warships' firepower was strong enough to compensate.
The Laser Cannons, however, struggled. Lasers dispersed severely in the atmosphere, and the containment fields were disrupted by the planet's magnetic field. A single shot, initially several meters in diameter, could expand to over a hundred meters, inadvertently achieving an area-of-effect strike.
The Orbital Bombardment continued for over an hour, wiping out Shade Beasts within a hundred-kilometer radius around the Target Laboratory. Without the detection loophole discovered in the Shade Beasts' cells, such thorough cleansing would have required a large-scale ground invasion.
"Target Laboratory—prepare for landing!"
Stallone, clad in brand-new Exoskeleton Armor with four Ion Floating Cannons mounted on his back, stood ready, his cold visor reflecting a metallic gleam.
At his command, over a dozen Landing Craft launched from the warships, following behind thousands of Fighter Jets and Mechs as they raced toward the target zone.
The Fighter Jets entered the atmosphere first, diving down wreathed in flames. Guided by the fleet's radar, they targeted suspected Shade Beast locations, launching Concussion Grenades from their undercarriages even before reaching the stratosphere.
The Mechs landed shortly after, touching down ahead of the Clone Soldier squads. Their mounted Particle Cannons deployed immediately, while their handheld Ion Cannons activated, charging straight for the laboratory—their mission was to carve a path for the Clone Soldiers.
The violet-red Brolly Planet, untouched by war for millennia, was once again engulfed in conflict.
The Target Laboratory lay beneath a desolate stretch of wasteland, its only surface structure a server-room-like building about ten stories high.
Hundreds of Mechs closed in from all sides, their portable Shade Beast detectors blaring alarms as they approached within a thousand meters. Large red dots flooded the projection screens.
The Mechs' Particle Cannons rose from their backs, charging briefly before unleashing searing orange energy beams that punched meter-wide holes into the building's walls.
From within the structure, over a hundred Shade Beasts—each twenty meters long—burst through the walls, streaking toward the firing Mechs with deafening sonic booms.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In the violent collisions that followed, more than a dozen Mechs, too slow to evade, were smashed to the ground, their frontal armor dented visibly by the Shade Beasts' strikes.
The nearby Mecha quickly locked onto their targets, unleashing a barrage from their Ion Cannons. The intense heat scorched the air around the Shade Beasts, distorting it with waves of thermal energy.
"Mmm..."
A series of agonized shrieks erupted as the wounded Shade Beasts grew increasingly frenzied. Their movements created sonic booms, charging toward the firing Mecha with hurricane-like force.
The Mecha formed coordinated assault formations, maintaining relentless firepower. Under this overwhelming barrage, the Shade Beasts' bodies were torn apart, their surrounding shadows burned away. The remaining broken forms collapsed, captured by the Mecha using Cage Force Fields.
The Mecha formation advanced methodically. Whenever a Shade Beast was detected, they attacked at full strength. Whether the targets were eliminated or not, all remaining Biological Tissue was secured within Force Field Cages by the Mecha.