Interstellar Survival: Invasion

The shuttle only took a little time to take us to Skyhawk. After spending 10 minutes to receive the knowledge download, we all obtained the necessary skill to pilot a quantum fighter. At that point, we were 10 minutes away from the battle. Carter used the remaining time to take us to the fighter launcher area.

Looking at the row upon row of the newest quantum fighters, our eyes widened in shock. These enhanced fighters looked even more sleek than the previous versions. They were also equipped with the function of invisibility. It would seem like the league had fully utilized their findings from Jupiter II on the military.

"Commander Zhang Xingxing will remain on Skyhawk to command the battle. Everyone else, you will be working with me in your respective quantum fighters. Remember, the enemy's firepower is extremely powerful. Try to avoid total destruction. As long as your ship isn't entirely destroyed in one hit, you will be able to escape by ejecting. The ejection seat will keep you alive in space for five hours. During that time, rescue will come for you by following the signals emitted by your seat. Remember, do your best to stay alive. We really don't have that many warriors left," said Carter.

I was relieved to hear that Zhang Xingxing would be staying on the ship while Carter would be the one to join us in the fight. After all, piloting a fighter was an extremely dangerous job. It would be far safer for Zhang Xingxing to remain on the ship.

We climbed into our respective quantum fighters. The fighters were all equipped with functioning artificial intelligence, granting them the ability of independent thought. Thus, these fighters could be considered smart machines as well.

"Officer Li Canyue, welcome. I am your advisor, Daisy. The battle will begin in three minutes. The fighter is at peak condition and can enter combat at any time," the artificial intelligence spoke to me the moment I entered the cockpit.

"Canyue, these fighters are too cool. They are equipped with all sorts of top-notch functions," said Zhang Bao'er in excitement.

"Hopefully they will be good enough to ensure our safety," said Old Du. Even his calm voice was tinged with excitement. That was understandable, as piloting a fighter was completely different than piloting a battleship.

Right at that moment, loud explosions rang out. We all knew that the league had launched their final attack.

"Soldiers, stay in formation and follow me. Try to avoid single combat if you can. At the very least, try to stay in groups of two so that you can cover each other," said Carter. His fighter was the first to take off.

We started taking off as well. All around us were more launchers and nearly 300 fighters. After all the fighters left the battleship, they quickly entered formation. I could see that Carter had intentionally kept us, the newbie pilots, at the back of the formation.

Ahead of us was the rear of the empire's encirclement. Bright explosions could be seen even farther away. The league had launched an attack, with their fleet shooting forward in an arrow formation. As the attack commenced, the empire deployed more and more reinforcements to support the area under attack.

"Everyone, follow me. We'll attack from the other side of the league's fleet and try to open a path through the encirclement," said Carter.

The battle ahead of us was extremely intense. I could clearly see numerous ships exploding, littering space with chunks of damaged ships. Although the empire had numerical superiority, in this small combat zone, the two parties seemed evenly matched.

"Aim for the battleship at the edge of the enemy formation. Focus fire on its back." With the order, the weapon control system of all the fighters locked onto the Milky Way-class battleship nearest to us.

Suddenly, a massive body flew past us and attacked the battleship before we could open fire. At a closer look, I found that the newcomer was actually the fiend. Even more terrifying was the fact that the fiend had grown to the size of a small battleship. The moment it reached the enemy ship, it attacked.

The fiend collided violently with the enemy ship and tore a massive hole in the ship's shield before rushing through the hole. The people in the ship must not have expected to be attacked from the back. Thus, they suffered greatly from the sudden attack.

Carter grabbed the chance and ordered, "All fighters, target the hole in the shield. Attack!"

Hundreds of quantum fighters left invisibility at the same time and unleashed countless missiles and green tracer bullets toward the hole. The concentrated firepower struck the ship, creating fierce explosions.

At the same time, the fiend opened its terrifying mouth and unleashed a thick beam of fire toward the back of the ship, creating an even larger explosion. Our combined attacks finally destroyed the back of the ship. The remaining part of the ship started shaking, seemingly on the verge of exploding as well.

However, the imperial soldiers in the ship were veteran combatants, after all. Even in such a difficult situation, they were still able to rapidly launch a counterattack, sending numerous artillery shells toward the fiend. The fiend was too big to avoid all the shells, so not a single shell missed its target.

The attack infuriated the fiend. In its rage, it stopped using flame attacks and rushed toward the ship's turrets and tore the turrets off with physical strength alone. The attack was so brutish all of us were dumbstruck.

The fiend was able to tear the turrets as easily as tearing vegetables apart. A majority of the turrets were destroyed, and it even caused an internal chain explosion behind the turrets. Finally, the battleship lost control of itself and started spinning in a random direction.

Seeing that its target had lost its combat effectiveness, the fiend flew away and threw itself at a different battleship. I rejoiced that this fellow was still our ally. I really couldn't imagine facing a monster so fierce in battle.

The fiend started a slaughter amid the enemy army. Before long, two additional battleships were destroyed. We also took the chance to push forward. It was rather surprising but eventually, we were even able to get near the front line with our tiny fighters. We seemed incredibly close to successfully opening a path through the encirclement, but this was war, and our wish would not be fulfilled so easily.

"Canyue, we seem to be surrounded by imperial ships," Daisy reported.

Only then did I notice that behind us, the imperial ships had recollected themselves and were returning to their positions and slowly surrounding us.

Simultaneously, the fighters flying ahead of us were starting to be struck down by the enemy battleships as well. I could see an enemy battleship release some sort of electromagnetic halo. The halo spread, turning into a monster that could swallow everything in its path. That one attack destroyed around six of our fighters.

"Everyone, remain in groups of two and scatter. Stick closer to the enemy ships to avoid their main attacks," ordered Carter.

I followed the order and brought my fighter near the shield of a nearby battleship with Zhang Bao'er close behind me. Our movements made it possible for the enemy ships to harm their own ships. Sure enough, they momentarily stopped attacking.

"Open fire at will!" a new order came.

At the same time, the battleships behind us released thousands of fighter drones. Like a swarm of locusts, the drones flew toward us.

"This is bad. The enemy drones are coming," I reminded Zhang Bao'er.

"Bring it on. I'm getting bored of shooting at shields anyway," said Zhang Bao'er.

Three of the drones came after us. We were all equipped with shields, so this would be a test of our single combat capabilities. A laser beam came from one of the enemy drones and struck my shield. Daisy immediately warned me that the fighter was moving too slowly.

"Daisy, move at top speed, or we'll be struck down," I said.

"But we are in the midst of a fleet of ships. There is not enough space for us to move. If we're too fast, we will collide into the other ships. That is not something the automatic piloting system can solve yet," said Daisy.

"There is no need for automatic piloting. Switch to the manual mode. I'll personally take on these drones," I said.

Daisy immediately adjusted the fighter to manual mode. At that time, the three drones were less than 10 meters away from me. They were firing madly at me, and my fighter's shield was starting to weaken. It wouldn't take them long to shoot through my shield.

I immediately increased the speed of my fighter and flew around a nearby battleship. Using the battleship's shield, I protected myself from the drones' attacks. They continued chasing me relentlessly, and by the time I reached the other side of the battleship, I saw that Zhang Bao'er was being chased by five drones. He seemed to be in an even bigger crisis than me.

I ordered Daisy to adjust the turrets and then fired backward, aiming to slow the pursuers. However, the drones managed to deftly avoid all the attacks. They did not seem like they were going to give up on me.

"This won't do. If this continues, my shield will be destroyed. I need to shake them off as soon as possible," I muttered to myself.

"Shit! Dondon's fighter was hit!" Zhang Bao'er suddenly exclaimed.

"What? Dondon was hit?" I asked.

"Yes. His fighter's left wing was hit. But he seemed to have ejected from the fighter. He's currently awaiting rescue," said Zhang Bao'er.

"I need to do something," I told myself.

Suddenly, I noticed the familiar massive body of the fiend fighting not far to my left.