We had won.
In a sudden head-on clash, the Fallen Apostles, who had no geographical advantage, numbers advantage, or technological advantage, had engaged in a head-on battle with the Fallen Apostles who had the absolute upper hand. In the end, they had obtained complete victory. This was a battle that could almost be recorded in the annals of history. Apart from the thirty percent that retreated in the end, we practically wiped out the main force of the Fallen Apostle's attack this time, foiling their sinister plan of seizing the Holy Treasury and wiping out the Imperial Army High Command. No matter what the situation was, this was definitely an event worthy of being a milestone.
We fought a tough battle against the main force of the Fallen Apostles.
There was no need to mention the historical significance and various military strategic values of this battle. This time, the enemy that had always been the most unfathomable was exposed to us in a head-on battle, as well as the data of their various warships. After this battle, the information we gathered on the Fallen Apostles was even more abundant than the information we gathered in bits and pieces over the past three years. We finally accurately grasped the performance parameters and attack power of the various abyss-infected Schilling warships, understood the various characteristics of the abyss-infected galaxy cannons, and even the communication protocol between the Fallen Apostles. This was intercepted by the Schilling technicians from the sea of battlefield signals after the battle reached its climax. Of course, we had no way of breaking through this kind of highly encrypted information, but through analyzing the communication protocol of the Fallen Apostles, who knows, Tawil might be able to find a breakthrough point in understanding the daily activities of the Fallen Apostles. At the very least, we could establish more base stations in the void to monitor their activities. It could be said that any bit of information we obtained from today's battle, as long as we studied it in depth, would become a turning point in the battle between the Imperial Army and the Fallen Apostles. As such, this information made the commanders and researchers of the Imperial Army go wild with joy.
However, not everyone was cheering and jumping for joy. When we returned to the bridge of the Empire General, this place was brimming with a relaxed and joyous atmosphere after a great victory. However, Visca silently found a corner and sat there in a daze.
I knew that the shipboard AI that had been sacrificed in its madness made her depressed. To be honest, my mood was not much better because of this matter.
Perhaps the saying was true, the merciful do not command troops. I could not be as iron-blooded and merciless as the standard Imperial Army, able to continue charging without batting an eyelid in the face of the deaths of countless comrades. When large swathes of soldiers were sacrificed on the battlefield, I could not treat them as a string of numbers. The fact that most of the Fallen Apostles could be revived gave me a lot of comfort, but after the battle, I still could not help but feel suffocated when I thought of those soldiers who had been completely sacrificed.
The impact of today's situation was even greater. When that ancient shipboard AI led that tattered fleet of wreckage to crash into the enemy's defensive line in a deranged manner, I dared to say that even Sandora was moved. That scene was akin to a group of badly mutilated veterans leaping out of the trenches, following their already blind and deaf commander, carrying bombs as they charged into the enemy's defensive line for the last time. Even now, they were still replaying in my mind, unable to forget it.
If one could slowly get used to the casualties on the battlefield, what was even more depressing today was the damage that Visca had suffered. She was undoubtedly the one who suffered the most today. That ancient shipboard AI could be said to be everything in her madness. She broke away from her homeland and was seen as a rebel. Even she did not know what "thing" she was. Back then, all that Visca had was the group of AIs that she had created, including that especially talkative shipboard AI. I could even guess that Visca had designed that AI to be so talkative because she was too lonely. And today, she had lost her once most important companion. Even though she could not remember that memory clearly, I could still feel her terrible mood.
Perhaps Sandora had the same thoughts as me. Admittedly, she was a battle-hardened general who had been through thousands of battles. In the face of the same tragic battle, she was always calmer and crueler than any of us. But as a top-notch Shiring Apostles, her emotions were also complex and sharp. It was just that she was better at suppressing all unfavorable emotions to a corner and always presented her most perfect side to everyone. In front of family members like us, Sandora would always reveal her true feelings.
After a high-intensity battle, everyone was exhausted, including Shallow Shallow and her sister. It was because the two of them were watching over the main base that they applied a frightening debuff effect on the approaching enemies. That was why the Empire Admiral's defense line was impregnable, protecting all the transport ships that were filled with refugees. Now, they were resting with us in the officer's lounge beside the bridge. Poison Island and Mercury Lamp were also there, and Rhododendron Spp., who had been waiting anxiously for half a day, as well as Rhododendron Spp., who was almost using herself as a stepping pad at the door. Shallow Shallow was currently asleep, drooling on the coffee table. Her sister was looking at Visca worriedly. She knew that this child was different from a normal Shiring Apostles. His mental strength was even more unstable than a normal human's. And Pandora was using her unique method to care for her younger sister: She sat opposite Visca and stared at him without blinking …
To be fair, I felt that it would be better for her to find a place to rest. A normal person would be mentally depressed if they were to have her "care" for them for an entire afternoon.
"I say …"
After thinking about it, I felt that I was probably the only one whose words were useful at this moment. After all, my position from the very start seemed to be that of a parent. But the moment I opened my mouth, a voice suddenly resounded in the public channel, interrupting my actions —
"Return in triumph! Return in triumph! Long live the Admiral! Those bastards are done for, done for! They've been reduced to ashes! This ship has achieved complete victory! The Admiral's power has once again been displayed — just you wait, bastards! This ship knows that you're not completely dead! Once this ship finds a suitable body, I'll gather a bunch of good boys and all the enemies will f * cking die! Death Knell! Rest in peace! Helium Bolon, rest in peace! There will be new good boys to take over your positions! The army will never perish, it will always be us destroying others! But for now, this ship needs to find a place to repair my body. This ship seems to have a leak somewhere … Oh, wait, this ship seems to have a leak everywhere … Ah, damn it! Someone come, someone come! Someone come and tow this ship to the maintenance port! All of you, all of you, you big idiots, what are you standing there for? Can't you see that there's a monster here who needs support? Back then, this ship had 143 main cannons … "
"Eh, I don't remember it being 143 cannons, right?"
I turned my head and said in surprise.
Sandora staggered. "… You look so shocked because you thought of this?"
The crazy shipboard AI was back! This news was shocking. Even a porcelain doll-like loli like Pandora stood up in shock. The public channel was still echoing with a certain crazy AI's chaotic and incomprehensible screams. Visca's eyes lit up and he disappeared from the lounge in a flash.
The soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield quickly located the source of the noisy signal. It was floating about ten thousand kilometers away from the Holy Vault. It seemed that the explosion had thrown it so far away. The first soldier who discovered it reported that the target's condition was "not good", but it was "at least very spirited". I was sure that the soldier must have had an awkward expression when he said that. Dragging something that was constantly making noises and couldn't hit or scold it all the way back must have been a test of mental fortitude.
Soon, the "extremely energetic" spaceship AI was towed to the Admiral's hangar. All of us were already waiting there, including Qian Qian, who had just woken up, and 123, who had just woken up. Qian Qian had been severely injured while fighting to protect the Admiral. Even though he was a Star Domain Garrison Officer, he was still unconscious for over two hours. The reason he had been severely injured was because Lin had grabbed his ankle and thrown him like a flail. After smashing through a spaceship, he had fallen unconscious. Lin had done so because she had been knocked unconscious while she was in her Dragon God form, so her intelligence had returned to that of a three and a half year old …
Actually, I was very curious about the motive of the five Protoss Cops (Perhaps I should remove the powerful Icetis and call them the Quartet) for participating in this battle. It was obvious that they were used to killing one or two of their own people at the end of a battle to celebrate. Up until now, I had never seen them return unscathed from a battle. Even when we reclaimed Atlantis back then, Lin had killed 123 once.
I finally understood why Jingle, who had no fighting strength or commanding ability, was able to become their captain. Such a strange team definitely needed a healer.
The ship's mainframe, which had already undergone emergency treatment and was temporarily secured to a universal restraining device with a shield, was pushed in front of us. As it walked, it chattered non-stop, "Scrolling from the audio channel and the public mental channel."
"Aha! Long live the General! Good morning, General! General, your second uncle Ji Xiang! What a beautiful day this is, we were completely wiped out, but we still won! I really want to sing a song for today's epic battle, but unfortunately, you might just kill me along the way. What was it again, ah, right, this ship is missing a few components. Currently, it is confirmed that we need a new engine, and perhaps an entire super mothership. You should know that back then, this ship had two hundred and thirty-five main cannons … Do any of you have an emergency energy source? Or at least plug in an external scanner or something. Who wants a cup of helium-3? "
"Seeing how pitiful she is, let's just bear with it for now."
The corner of Lin Xue's mouth twitched as she lowered her head and said softly.
Putting aside the frightening mental cannon, the mainframe in front of us could only be described as pitiful. "She" might have had an outer shell, but now, that thing had turned into ashes, leaving only a few pieces of twisted metal skin hanging loosely on the frame. The main body was only a three-meter long cube with grayish-black burn marks all over it. The internal mechanical structure was damaged beyond repair. The stress stabilizer and shield generator had turned into two lumps of metal, and the cracked crystal structure had fallen out from behind the damaged inner skin, crackling with sparks. A few weak indicator lights were blinking behind the charred cables, and one of them was even dangling outside. Even in such a pitiful state, "she" still had enough energy to bring disaster to others!
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that it was already a miracle that this thing could still be turned on!
Of course, what shocked us the most was how the mainframe of the spaceship survived such a big explosion.
When 'she' chose to perish together with the spatial converter, the escape tower had already lost all its shields and fifty percent of its armor. It could be said that its fragile core was completely exposed to the outside world. The spatial converter was in the same state. After the latter exploded, not a single scrap was left, but the most important thinking core of the spaceship's AI survived.
"This is a lucky event with only a one in a thousand chance. It's like a miracle." The projection of Tawil, who had been converted from the research center, stood next to the mainframe that was still chattering. Looking at the cube that was severely damaged and almost disintegrated, this bespectacled girl who had always believed in absolute data used the word "miracle". "It obviously had an extremely sturdy outer shell, and the shell allowed it to leave the center of the explosion alive at the first moment of the explosion. The structure of this mainframe is very strange. It uses some ancient technology and a lot of rigid modifications. Although the technology is ancient, it unexpectedly gave it a stronger survivability than the usual models … It's amazing. It even has several spare memory units. These spare parts are seriously more than necessary. It's impossible for a normal mainframe to have one. Its designer wasted a lot of energy and processing power by designing it that way. Of course, this design saved its life — at least in theory. "
No matter what the theory was, it was a fact that the crazy mainframe came back alive. "She" (Although strict scientists like Tawil always referred to it as "it", I still used the word "she" based on the other party's gender) had been clamoring for us to give "her" a new body. She also chatted non-stop with Visca. This guy's nerves were as thick as Shallow Shallow's, if he had nerves at all.
Tawil needed time to repair this ancient mainframe that had many private design changes. At the very least, he needed to find a way to stabilize the latter's malfunction. We also returned to the bridge. Only Visca and Pandora stayed behind.
Visca stayed behind was strongly requested by the mainframe. If the former wanted to leave the hangar, the latter would definitely scream and ask the general to continue listening to her tactical report. Under normal circumstances, Visca would be extremely impatient with such matters. But this time, she nodded without hesitation and stayed with the shipborne AI.
The tactical report of the shipborne AI was messy and there were many parts that had nothing to do with tactics. After listening to a few sentences, Sandora roughly deduced that "she" was actually reporting to Visca about the battle hundreds of thousands of years ago. This was because the shipborne AI repeatedly mentioned the heroic battle experience of the First Fleet of the Army of Destruction that had long been destroyed, as well as the stronghold system that the Army had just conquered. Although it was a meaningless report, Visca listened very seriously. This report was 700,000 years late, and now it had finally been delivered to the general.
As for Pandora, we only realized that she didn't follow us when we returned to the bridge. She probably stayed behind to accompany her sister. What a twisted sister. The most she could do was run around next to Visca.
"Our fleet has suffered heavy losses."
In the officer's lounge, Sandora finally had the time and energy to discuss the losses and losses of the battle with me. "The Royal Fleet was the main defensive force in the battle. It has always been at the front of the line of defense. This time, more than 300 Eternal-class motherships were destroyed or completely lost to the extent that there was no need to repair them. In terms of mothership losses, almost a quarter of the fleet was wiped out. As most of the regular Imperial Army's army was blocked outside the world, their losses were smaller and could be quickly replenished. The Vengeance Fleet's second-level technological warships also suffered considerable losses. They were the main force against the enemy and also attracted the most retaliatory attacks. They were under even more pressure than the Royal Fleet. After the battle, they lost … more than half of their members. As for the servant army, because they were not active on the main battlefield, the casualties were within an acceptable range. The only consolation is that because of the excellent performance of the Leader Bee, a considerable number of Imperial Army people who died in battle can be reborn. "
"It's good that the people are still here. The spaceships can be rebuilt. Those experienced veterans weren't created randomly." I felt a little relieved.
"But the Empire's fleet has been severely weakened." Sandora seemed a little worried. "It will take time to rebuild the fleet. The ships we lost were all specially modified elite warships. Every spaceship of the Royal Fleet takes three to four times the time to build compared to a normal spaceship. The backup spaceships of the Vengeance Fleet were modified from the autonomous spaceships collected from the battle of the Great Nebula. Now, Tawil could only use a special production line to replicate those battleships at an extremely slow speed. Because the technology was completely different, the Vengeance Fleet's battleships couldn't be mass-produced in normal spaceports. It could be said that the souls of the Vengeance Fleet wouldn't be able to find a suitable battleship to use for a long time. Moreover, the reborn Shiring Apostles will have a certain degree of power decline. We have over a hundred thousand veterans who might have less combat power than the new recruits. It will take time for them to recover their original combat power. In this battle, we have obtained a complete victory. However, looking at the overall situation, I'm afraid that the outcome is a mixed bag. We are still unable to ascertain how powerful the Fallen Apostles are. If the one that attacked us today was just an inconspicuous small fleet … "
"That won't be the case."
Miss Lin's voice suddenly cut in from the side. "The one that attacked us today was a rather influential large army of the Fallen Apostles. I can see that today's crushing defeat was a huge blow to the vitality of the Fallen Apostles. However, Sandora's worries are very necessary. The losses we suffered today aren't small either. I hope that we won't encounter such an exciting matter in the near future … "
"Even you, a prophet, can only use the word 'hope'?"
I muttered to myself as I looked at Lin Xue.
"Well, even a prophet wouldn't be able to see things that happened so long ago." Lin Xue pursed her lips. "However, what we snatched today might really be a treasure. Even though I don't understand what the thick fog in the future means, we might be about to welcome a turning point in history. If we can grasp this turning point well … it will be a bright future."
She was back to her usual Miss Lin rambling. I really wanted to ask her how she was going to turn the so-called turning point in history. However, everyone knew that under such circumstances, the other party wouldn't say much. It could only make one's teeth itch with hatred.
At this moment, Xi Weisi's communication suddenly came through.
"Your Majesty, the fleet has finished reorganizing and is preparing to return. May I know what to do with the refugees?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
