The sun sets.
A black curtain falls over the desolate land.
With a thud, all searchlights and lighting devices turn on.
The light from the searchlights shoots straight into the darkness.
The soft white lighting illuminates the faces of the soldiers, revealing without reservation the tense expressions of troops who have lost the ally of sunlight and are now on high alert.
“All of you, remain calm!”
“We can win if we unite our strength!”
The officers and non-commissioned officers raise their voices to encourage the soldiers.
But due to the heavy tension ahead of the great battle, most of the soldiers merely size each other up and offer little in response.
At that moment, a noise spreads through the front line.
Koooouuuu….
Golden ships appear above the long trenches and enter the battlefield.
The alien ships, which shine golden even in the thick darkness, reveal their presence.
However, their outer armor does not bear the symbol representing the alien empire but instead displays the white eagle with outstretched wings.
“Ohhh!”
“It’s our fleet! The reinforcements have arrived!”
The shadows on the soldiers’ faces lift.
Underneath the ships, searchlights shine, driving away the darkness that had covered the battlefield, and cheers spread through the trenches.
The human fleet, made possible by Edu’s base and efforts.
A multitude of ships hover above the trenches, take their positions, and shuttles and transport ships emerge from the arsenals to reinforce the defense line with troops.
Flagship, the Red Lion’s Command Bridge.
“All ship deployments are complete, Supreme Commander.”
“What is the status of the ground forces deployment?”
“It’s still ongoing. It will take a bit longer due to the large number of troops.”
“Make sure to finish as quickly as possible; they will come soon.”
Freya gives an order while gazing deeply into the dark.
The steel invaders, Invaders.
They are well aware that many living beings fear the night.
The chief officer nods in agreement with the accumulated intelligence from previous experiences and enemy actions.
“Understood. Hasten the troop deployment.”
“From the flagship, to all ships: hasten the troop deployment.”
Upon hearing the orders, the shuttles and transport ships further speed up the delivery of soldiers, equipment, and supplies to the defense line.
Just as almost all preparations were coming to an end, the radar operator suddenly turns his head and looks toward Freya.
“Radar response! Supreme Commander, they’re moving!”
Responding to the urgent voice, a red dot rises in the dark distance.
The red light source glows ominously, like a sun dipped in blood.
Starting with this, red lights rise in the darkness and spread out in all directions.
The scale is enough to create the illusion that a beast with red eyes in the darkness has awakened.
A great wave of red spreads across the horizon, and above it, a large red circle rises, as instructions are issued from the fortress of despair to the entire force.
[Order: commence attack.]
Simultaneously, flashes erupt on the horizon.
Freya raises her voice, knowing exactly what that means.
“Incoming enemy fire! Maintain the maximum output of the ship’s upper and frontal barriers; relay the order for the defensive line’s troops to prepare for enemy fire.”
“Maintain maximum upper and frontal barriers on all ships, and let the entire army know to prepare for enemy fire.”
Soldiers take cover in the trenches, and armored devices deploy their barriers.
An unpleasant sound of projectiles cutting through the air spreads, and merciless bombardments rain down on the front defense line, igniting flames.
Booooom!
Impact on the ships’ barriers.
Woooong…
Inside the ship struck by artillery, a roar like a great beast resounds, and the shockwave spreads.
“Ah!”
“Withdraw! Withdraw!”
Soldiers raising their voices to point at the blind fire falling between the ships.
Thanks to the barriers of the reinforced exoskeletons, most only tumble to the ground, but a few unlucky ones are struck directly by shells and meet their end.
After withstanding one round of enemy attacks on the defensive line, Freya stretches out her hand.
“Commence counter-fire, all forces!”
“Respond! Begin counter-fire from all ships!”
Wheeeing…clang.
The ship’s cannons aim toward the red horizon.
BOOOOOM!
Simultaneously, a dark red glow erupts all at once behind the third defensive line, and volleys of shells are fired into the sky.
“Fire!”
At the chief officer’s call, all ships unleash their weapons.
High-output beam cannons and large-caliber naval guns fire toward the clearly shining red light trails.
BOOOOOM!
In retaliation, the vanguard of the Invader army is engulfed in explosions and flames.
Rolling bots, light tanks, and armored vehicles.
At that moment, a shadow slowly moves forward from beyond the burning flames.
Gurrrrrr…
With a heavy rumble, hundreds-ton super-heavy tanks approach the front line.
They mercilessly crush and push aside the remains of the broken allies, approaching the defensive line like anvils and shields.
“Supreme Commander, the enemy’s super-heavy tanks are approaching!”
“We will respond! Deploy fighters and bombers!”
Orders are relayed to the aircraft carriers waiting away from the battlefield.
Beep- Beep- Beep- Beep…
The alert signal for scramble sounds as the hangars and flight decks, previously dark, light up. The pilots in the cockpits fix their gaze forward.
-[Emergency launch, emergency launch! A support request has come from the main force. All aircraft, depart immediately!!!]
Orders echo through the hangar.
The engines of the idling fighters start roaring, and blue flames shoot out from beneath them.
[Alright, let’s go. Nobody fall behind!]
[[[Roger.]]]
Responding to the squadron leader’s orders, the pilots.
The knights of the sky take off toward the battlefield like birds spreading their wings.
Meanwhile, vibrations travel through the ground.
An innumerable number of Invader forces continue advancing, galloping across the land.
“Take cover!”
POOOOOONG!!
Curved fire from Invader tanks strikes the trenches where the soldiers are stationed.
Koomg, BOOOOOOM!
The bombardment against the super-heavy tanks strikes the ships, with bots zipping by their sides and forming a firing grid.
“Damn, the enemy’s bombardment is too intense!”
“What should we…?”
As the soldiers lower their heads and observe the situation, a shadow falls over them.
[Look up, brave soldiers, for we shall now become your shield.]
A mature woman’s voice flows from the two-legged walker weapon equipped with armor on its legs.
Kang.
With powerful strides, the walker force moves forward, and tanks beside them charge past the trenches toward the front line.
[Hey hey, no stealing all the cool moments, right? Kids, don’t fall behind the lame ones!]
[[[Yes, Chief!]]]
The tanks line up in front of the trenches to form the defensive line, and behind them, the walkers take position, opening all turret doors and armaments.
[Unload everything! Give humanity hope!!]
[Destroy them all!!]
The weapons fire all at once.
Countless missiles rise into the night sky, and from the tanks, fire erupts, lighting up the front vividly.
POOOOOOM, BOOOOOOM!!
A devastating blow that sweeps across the enemy’s super-heavy tanks and their rear.
Great flames and smoke cover the enemy, and the constantly flickering red sensors momentarily disappear.
“OOOOOH!”
“WAAAAA!”
The soldiers cheer loudly.
But that moment was brief, as the Invader super-heavy tanks emerge again through the smoke.
The Invader super-heavy tank division approaches with a reckless charge, pushing and scattering their fellow wrecked metal to aim their turrets at the allied tanks and walkers.
A flash, and the shells are fired.
[Yo! Incoming enemy fire!]
[Brace yourselves!]
POOOOOOONG!!
An immense explosion occurs almost simultaneously with the commanders’ cries.
The merciless violence from the large-caliber main guns swallows up the tanks and walkers forming the defensive line.
The slowly dissipating explosion.
[Ahhh…]
A voice flows out from the thick cloud of dust, and the forms of the tanks and walkers reappear.
[?!]
The super-heavy tank division momentarily stumbles at the unexpected situation.
Prrrrs, prrrrrrrtch…
Meanwhile, the barriers of the tanks and walkers finish their job and stop working.
[Hmph, I thought we were done for. Apparently, they’ve been improved in various ways with good performance.]
[This isn’t the time to be saying such things! Fire!]
[Understood, fire!]
The walkers and tanks once again unleash fire at the enemy.
Another explosion and flames engulf the enemy, and a few of the super-heavy tanks, hit by concentrated fire, stop in their tracks.
[What’s wrong, you tin boxes?]
The confident tank commander.
Even so, the Invader armored force continues to advance, with the super-heavy tank turrets retargeting them.
[…Shit, something’s not right here.]
[Scatter the troops! Prepare for enemy fire -]
At that moment, the commander raises his voice.
[We’re coming to save our allies, engage!]
Simultaneously with the transmission, missile barrages from the sky penetrate the ground.
[?!]
The Invader army, hit by the top attacks, breaks and scatters, with the knights of the sky crossing over the heads of the Invader force and scattering to either side.
The enemy continues to be torn apart by successive bombings and air raids.
[Kids, what took you so long?!]
Seeing the scene, the tank commander loosens up and calls out, mixing in some jokes toward the pilots.
[Haha, this is us rushing as fast as we could. It’s not like we were excessively late, right?]
[Yah, whatever; just blow them all away!]
[We’ll respond to the request.]
The knights of the sky tease the Invaders.
Some tear through the enemy lines with their machine guns while precisely targeting and firing air-to-ground missiles on high-risk targets.
The aggressive advance of the Invader force begins to slow, and the executive officer raises his voice toward Freya, observing the scene.
“Supreme Commander, it seems to be going well.”
A situation clearly advantageous to anyone who sees it.
But Freya’s face remained as stiff as stone.
“…No, this is just the beginning.”
“Huh?”
The executive officer wears an expression of not understanding Freya’s response.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
It was an appropriate answer, but Freya had a certain sense of certainty.
The Megabase, despite having sufficient firepower, was not launching a full-scale assault but seemed to be observing them, deploying forces moderately.
This behavior left Freya with an inexplicable sense of unease.
‘They’re plotting something….’
….
[…]
The large red sensors gaze intently at the battlefield.
Inside the pyramid-shaped colossal body, the thought circuits move ceaselessly.
– The vanguard’s cumulative damage, local power losses are occurring.
– The enemy is not using strategic weapons; assume that there is an intent behind it.
– No Bug sighted; maintain vigilance.
Even if not at the level of high-processing units, the Megabase swiftly and accurately analyzes and keeps a close eye on the battlefield situation.
Meanwhile, the exchange of attacks continues.
The rain of shells fired toward the sky and the explosions and smoke covering the front lines of the enemy and ourselves.
As flames rise from the ground, more of our forces break and perish with the passage of time, but the Megabase does not flinch even slightly.
Because all of it was merely a small step toward victory.
[Operation proceeding as planned. Is the main force’s situation normal?]
[Operation good; continue maneuvering please.]
[Good, entering radio silence with this transmission.]
The final report from the separate unit.
Supply vehicles gather around the Megabase.
Massive amounts of energy flow into the Megabase through cables connected to the vehicles.
The invader’s blade is slowly sharpened, but its movement is perfectly concealed by the deep darkness and the Invader force surrounding the Megabase.
