The Electromagnetic gastructures had been far from idle during this period. Although the few 300 ter Mature Bodies they had just launched were intercepted mid-flight by Daqi drones, their defensive forces were finally breached, allowing new 300 ter Mature Bodies to press forward and deploy to designated positions.
These large combat units of the Swarm barely stabilized their forms before lunging toward the four transferring warships.
Facing the ferocious space octopuses, the three numbered Daqi warships began converging on the Chisaya to provide desperate cover. anwhile, the Chisaya ignited its engines and began accelerating.
—
“Your Majesty, what do we do?” a Blade asked.
Sarah Kerrigan’s expression wavered slightly. The four warships had recently gathered escape vehicles from the Doria. Any one of them could potentially be the target chosen by the alien Supre Commander.
The Swarm’s combat units in the area had been nearly annihilated earlier, and the newly arrived forces were too few to intercept all four warships simultaneously. A focused effort was required.
From the current situation, the Chisaya, the largest of the ships, was the most probable target. Moreover, the protective actions of the other three warships subtly suggested soone important might indeed be aboard the Chisaya.
Yet, this very situation made Sarah suspicious. She sensed that such actions might be a ploy—a facade intended to mislead. Raising her head, she put herself in the alien commander’s shoes.
Earlier, they had transferred from the largest flagship to the second-largest escort ship, the Doria, which then beca the focal point of the Swarm’s assault.
From this, it seed likely that the Swarm was judging the importance of warships by their size.
Thus, after the destruction of both the flagship and the Doria, the Chisaya, being the largest remaining vessel, should logically be the most dangerous place on the field. However, the Chisaya had also suffered significant damage earlier when it shielded the flagship, with severe damage to its left-front hull.
Sarah shook her head. If she were the alien commander, she would never choose such an obvious and already-damaged warship as her ride.
If this line of reasoning held true, the Daqi’s current actions were likely an attempt to draw the Swarm’s attention to the Chisaya to cover the retreat of the true command ship.
Narrowing her eyes, Sarah scanned the battlefield, focusing on the four warships. Monts later, she suddenly marked one of them. “Found it!”
Still, with the chaos of battle, illusions and deceptions were rampant. The Chisaya’s engines had already fired up—any misjudgnt might allow the commander to escape.
However, in such ti-critical circumstances, hesitation was not the hallmark of an excellent commander. After only a fleeting mont of doubt, Sarah made her decision: “Full-scale assault!”
This ordinary warship, while posturing as an escort, had its bow angled slightly outward, standing in a peculiarly isolated position. It appeared to hover near the Chisaya, but its location placed it furthest from the Swarm’s operational units.
If the Swarm were to focus entirely on the Chisaya, its position would block much of their assault trajectory, subtly shielding this smaller warship.
The space octopuses that had originally been rushing toward the Chisaya suddenly veered, changing their target.
And next, the Daqi fleet’s reaction confird Sarah’s deduction.
Including the Chisaya, the remaining three warships suddenly accelerated madly, converging in an attempt to intercept the oncoming space octopuses…
“XXX! What the hell is going on?! How did they figure it out?” Prince Diallo had completely lost his composure, cursing furiously.
He indeed had not transferred to the Chisaya; the damage to that escort ship was far worse than it appeared externally. Thus, he had devised a plan.
The DX12497 he occupied had secretly redirected most of its energy reserves to its interstellar engines. The mont the Swarm attacked the Chisaya, the other two ordinary warships would risk everything to block the assault, even if it ant detonating the Chisaya. anwhile, Diallo intended to use the opportunity to escape this disastrous battlefield.
Unfortunately, the plan had been exposed almost as soon as it began.
“Hold them off! Start the engines! Force an escape!” Diallo barked orders as Aslit hastily relayed them.
In truth, it would have been more efficient to directly command the shipboard AI at this mont. However, for various reasons, the Daqi Empire had always restrained the authority of artificial intelligence.
At this mont, a 300 ter Mature Body led the charge. It leapt onto the DX12475, quickly scuttling across its hull to the opposite side. Compressing its body, it launched itself like a spring toward the Chisaya. Mid-air, its massive tentacles extended toward the Chisaya’s command tower and coiled around it.
Using the inertia, the creature swung a full circle around the command tower before flinging itself at the DX12497.
The sequence of movents was fluid and seamless. In close-quarters combat like this, chanical warships were simply too cumberso.
“Bang!” Amidst the hail of bullets and shells, several warships were inadvertently struck by friendly fire, leaving a few scorched craters on the Mature Body. However, it pressed forward undeterred, crashing into the DX12497.
Seizing the mont when the other warships hesitated to avoid collateral damage, the creature bolted toward the rear of the warship. A single tentacle stabbed directly into the portside main thruster.
“Boom!” A violent explosion ensued. Trading a tentacle for a main thruster? A worthwhile exchange!
Diallo steadied himself against the tremors caused by the explosion, his expression dark. “Use every ans necessary to keep that 300 ter space octopus pinned to the DX12497’s rear!”
“Your Highness! That’s too dangerous!” Aslit quickly objected.
“Shut up! Execute the order!” Faced with Diallo’s nacing glare, Aslit dared not argue further and hastily transmitted the commands.
The Daqi’s execution capabilities were terrifying. Whether it was suicidal defenses or firing on their own commander’s vessel, as long as the orders were credible, they were carried out without hesitation.
The main and secondary cannons, which had briefly paused, resud their barrage. The Mature Body, having just sacrificed its tentacle in the thruster exchange, was caught off guard by the Daqi’s disregard for their own commander. It was overwheld by the relentless firepower and rendered incapable of further combat.
At the sa ti, the DX12497 suffered severe damage. Of its 1,600 ter long hull, over 500 ters of the rear section was left in shambles.
Having prepared for this contingency, Diallo had secured himself beforehand. Though he was thrown about by the vibrations, he remained uninjured. Under his command, the Daqi warships—unconcerned about friendly fire—unleashed a frenzied assault, quickly annihilating the remaining small Mature Bodies and Larval Bodies.
However, the cost was steep. The DX12475 was entirely removed from combat. The Chisaya, DX12490, and DX12497 sustained critical damage. Nearly all these losses stemd from their mutual friendly fire in their desperate bid to eliminate the Swarm’s combat units as quickly as possible.
Their battered forms were not far from complete destruction.
“Your Highness, the Swarm’s electromagnetic cannon has launched, and the next 300 ter space octopus has been deployed…”
“It doesn’t matter. This round, we’ve won!”
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