"Marshal, a large number of fighters have suddenly rushed out of the enemy fleet and are flying toward the space station!"
Lena Sterling's anxious voice came through Adrian Vale's communicator.
"Don't panic. How many? Can we intercept? How much time do we have?"
"We can't intercept them. There's a space station between our fleet and them, preventing us from using our main weapons. There are over 5,000 of them, and they're expected to be within range of the space station in 10 minutes."
"Order all mecha units to deploy!"
"Yes!"
"Marshal Adams, I need an explanation."
After ending the communication, Adrian looked at Adams.
"Hmm, how do you know who I am?"
"That's not important. What is important is what exactly you are trying to do."
"I never gave such an order!"
"Huh?"
Looking at Adams's expression, Adrian didn't think he was lying, so what was going on?
"This is Adams. What's going on with the deployed fighters?"
"Commander, I'm not sure either. We're investigating, but one-third of our fleet's warships are out of control!"
"Immediately shoot down all the deployed fighters!"
"We can't, Commander. They've been flying between our fleet and the negotiation point. If we attack, we might destroy the negotiation space station as well."
"Then..."
"Commander, look out!"
A sharp crack sounded. Everything happened in a flash. An Ochus negotiator suddenly pulled out a laser gun and pulled the trigger, aiming at Adams.
Another negotiator saw this and immediately pushed Adams away, but was hit by the laser and died on the spot.
Fortunately, this laser gun was an anti-personnel weapon, with very low power, and didn't penetrate the outer wall of the space station.
Adams stood up from the ground, his eyes blazing as he looked at the armed negotiator.
"Wade, what are you trying to do?"
"Apologies, Commander, but the Ninth Prince's existence will disrupt the Empire. For the sake of the First Prince, the Ninth Prince must die, so we cannot allow you to reach any agreement with humanity!"
"You're one of the First Prince's people? And you said 'we'?"
"That's right, the incoming fighters are all our people. Everyone will die here today, and then humanity will never return the Ninth Prince. Even if the Empire annihilates humanity in the future, they will execute the Ninth Prince before they are destroyed!"
"Are you so sure you can succeed?"
"When did you...? Ah!"
Adrian was already standing behind him, dislocating his right arm and pointing the gun at Wade, who was screaming on the ground.
For a moment, everyone looked at Adrian in shock, surprised by his agility.
Are you kidding? Adrian stated that his physical stats were all 350. Was he an ordinary person?
"Don't get cocky. Even if you deal with me, you won't escape the attack of 5,000 fighters!"
"That's none of your concern!"
Adrian pulled the trigger. The shot directly ended Wade's life.
"Marshal Adams, you don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not, but what do we do now? We don't have much time."
"Don't worry, just in case, this space station has a propulsion system. However, I'll have to ask Marshal Adams to come to our fleet for a while, since I can't fly toward your fleet now, can I?"
"Heh heh, I have no problem with that. After everything is over, how do you plan to deal with me?"
"Don't worry, I'll send you back after it's over."
"Alright then, I'll come over and sit for a bit!"
Adrian raised his hand and began operating his personal tactical optical computer. Soon, three hidden propulsion modules were revealed on one side of the space station and activated.
Although the speed wasn't very fast, because it was moving in the direction of his own mechas, it would rendezvous with the deployed mecha units more quickly.
"Marshal Adams, if I heard correctly just now, your subordinate said that one-third of your fleet's warships have betrayed you, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then there might be a fierce battle later, and I might destroy over 300 of your warships. I still hope you don't mind!"
Adrian still smiled as he looked at Adams.
Adams also understood very well that, given the current situation, the space station would rendezvous with the enemy's mecha units before the fighters entered range.
However, once the fighter units failed, the one-third of the warships that had rebelled would inevitably continue to attack.
A battle was unavoidable, and those 300 or so warships could already be considered rebels. Adams had no burden in his heart.
Moreover, letting them die at the hands of humans could be considered dying on the battlefield.
Six minutes later, the space station had already rendezvoused with the 9,000 deployed mechas and continued to fly toward the 101st Task Force.
The mechas were divided into two parts: 6,000 remained to engage the enemy, while the other 3,000 escorted the space station and returned together.
Five minutes later, the Ochus Empire's fighters and the 101st Task Force's mecha units met.
Mechas were humanity's only advantage over the Ochus Empire. During the Solar System Defense War, it was precisely because of mechas that Admiral Marcus Sterling achieved a 1:10 combat record. Otherwise, no matter how well they ambushed, warship-on-warship combat wouldn't yield such a high casualty ratio.
As for the Ochus Empire's fighters, although they were advanced, they were far too inferior to mechas in terms of flexibility and firepower.
The Ochus rebel fighter units retreated after losing over 2,000 fighters.
Immediately, the mecha units began searching for surrounding escape pods and soon returned to base.
Back on the flagship, Adrian arranged the remaining four Ochus Empire personnel and the human delegation's five-person negotiation team in a lounge, then headed to the bridge.
"Hmm? Where's Deputy Officer Sterling?"
"Commander, Deputy Officer Sterling, she..."
"What happened? Speak quickly!"
"She personally led the mecha unit to rescue you!"
"Who allowed her to leave her post without authorization? Where is she now?"
"Just now, we detected Deputy Officer Sterling's escape pod ejecting, but the mecha unit reported not finding it."
"Damn it!"
Foolish woman. Please don't let anything happen to you!
Adrian's heart was inexplicably flustered.
"Lena Sterling, can you hear me? Answer if you can hear me!"
Adrian directly called Lena through the communicator.
"I hear you. Sorry, I think I passed out earlier, just woke up!"
"Immediately activate your distress signal. I can't locate your escape pod."
"Already activated!"
"Good, just wait there obediently!"
After cutting off the communication, Adrian reconnected with the mecha squad commander on the flagship.
There were a total of 12 mecha bays on the battlecruiser. One had been deployed by Lena, leaving 11.
"Captain Scott, take 9 pilots and come out with me. I'll be there right away. Get the mechas ready."
"Yes!"
After hanging up the communication, Adrian looked at the bridge command team members. "Everyone, join Command Channel 2. I'll be giving you commands on the way."
With that, Adrian ran out.
Leaving only the dumbfounded command team members on the bridge.
Deputy Officer Sterling is like this, and so is the Commander?