Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 122
Was there really anything in the world that could break through the defenses of a military satellite?
The answer was right in front of the governor. Its name was the Sword of the Queen direct flight squadron.
When the satellite fired a scorching beam of light at that green arrow, the governor inwardly mocked the enemy for being reckless enough to attempt a head-on collision. But when the light faded and the screen returned to its normal brightness, the governor saw that the flight squadron was completely unharmed! The moment the positron cannon fired, the wedge-shaped formation immediately dispersed in four directions, dodging the fatal shot, and then reassembled, once again forming a terrifying sword.
The governor’s vision was still filled with afterimages, like a bloodstain imprinted in front of his eyes that wouldn’t go away. They shattered the moon reflected in the water, but when the water calmed, the moon was still the same.
“What are you standing around for? Attack them! Attack them!” the governor suddenly shouted.
The chief of staff was startled. “Please calm down, Your Excellency! It’s not appropriate to use the satellite cannon now!”
The governor slapped him. “The enemy is about to break into the atmosphere! Are we supposed to wait until they reach our doorstep before we fight back?”
The flight squadron flew past the military satellite as if mocking it, heading straight for Sword Bow. The satellite, tracking the target’s movements, retracted its cannon aimed at space back into its armored shell, mechanically and flexibly redirected it, and emerged from the other side, pointing its black muzzle at the squadron flying toward the planet. The cannon began accumulating ultra-high energy, and the muzzle emitted a faint white light.
At this point, even the governor realized something was wrong. “Wait, you stupid satellite!” he continued to shout, “Do you want to blast a hole right through the planet? Stop! Make it stop! Don’t attack, damn it! Do not attack!”
The chief of staff, enduring the stinging pain on his cheek, pressed the intercom clipped to his collar. “Order the military satellite to cease fire! Ground-to-space forces, assemble! As soon as the target enters firing range, shoot it down immediately!”
The energy was fully charged, waiting only for a command to unleash a positron cannon blast powerful enough to destroy a city. But that command never reached the satellite’s main computer. It was intercepted. Because if it missed its target, even by a few millimeters, it wouldn’t hit the enemy; it would strike Sword Bow’s surface, possibly even a city full of people. No one dared attack there, and no one wanted to. Not only did Darius Bayes and the governor of Sword Bow understand this, but Alois Lagrange was even more acutely aware.
The military satellite didn’t continue its attack, but the energy it had accumulated wasn’t released either, like the Sword of Damocles hanging overhead, ready to fall at any moment. Except, it wouldn’t be him that it fell on.
“Now!”
The flight squadron dispersed again, with the three smaller teams flying in different directions, while the remaining six fighters of the first squadron advanced rapidly, breaking through the atmosphere and heading toward the surface as quickly as possible.
The Bard faced the main cannon of the satellite alone, like a lone warrior fighting against many. But it wasn’t truly alone. It held two divine weapons—two tactical anti-matter missiles, each capable of releasing energy equivalent to over twenty megatons of TNT upon detonation. Of all the existing models, only the Bard could still fly at normal speed while carrying them, the heavy warheads propelled by the powerful engines as if they were just two stones resting in its hands.
Alois brought up the crosshairs and aimed at the satellite cannon’s muzzle. This was much easier than chasing enemy fighters around in space. The diameter of the cannon’s muzzle and the high-energy red warning markers on the energy distribution map made aiming straightforward.
“Fire, baby.” Alois whistled, his voice broadcast over the public channel, and as he pressed the launch button, he heard several of his female subordinates shouting, “Pervert!” “Lewd!” “Senior, you’re awful!”
The missile hit its target!
For a moment, pure white light filled Alois’s vision. He immediately closed his eyes, pressed a button from memory, and shut off the optical screen. The brightness from the matter-antimatter annihilation could cause temporary blindness for several minutes, which he couldn’t afford.
For some reason, Alois recalled how his chemistry teacher had described the scene when matter and antimatter neutralized each other back in school. The teacher had vividly said, “What happens when a positive particle meets an antiparticle, class? They both turn into photons and fly away!”
The governor stared at the screen, now covered in white static, dumbfounded.
“What… What was that…” He could only keep repeating the same question.
“I think it was an anti-matter missile,” the chief of staff guessed.
“How dare they…” The governor pressed his thumb and index finger to his forehead. “How can they use such a weapon in war…”
“Your Excellency, you should order the ground-to-space forces to counterattack immediately. They’re preparing for a landing operation!”
The governor weakly waved his hand. “Do as you see fit…” Then he looked up blankly. “Where are the reinforcements? Why hasn’t the cruiser fleet arrived?”
“They’re almost here, Your Excellency!” the chief of staff replied. “If we can hold out for just three more hours, the cruiser fleet will arrive!”
While the battle known as the Battle of Sword Bow was raging, another war was breaking out in the Mist Harbor star system. The two sides were the Grisofin Fleet and the Chast Fleet, along with the Imperial Royal Army led by Princess Alveira. In terms of strength, the two sides were evenly matched, but with the arrival of reinforcements from various cruiser fleets, the rebels clearly held the advantage. However, when it came to support, Princess Alveira, with the backing of most of the Empire’s territories and people, had the upper hand. Both sides wanted to end the battle quickly. Winnet couldn’t withstand a prolonged war, and Alveira had many more enemies to deal with and didn’t want to waste too much time on the old fox.
Alveira needed a stepping stone, and with it, she could directly jump to the enemy’s rear, bypassing the two wolves, Grisofin and Chast, and strike at the rebels’ stronghold, the Damoni system. This steppingstone was Sword Bow and Redstone, which were supplying the rebels. She dispatched Darius to take these two systems, not only to open a path to the battlefield but also to cut off the rebels’ supply lines, forcing the old fox to come out and fight her in a final showdown.
“Your Highness, I’ve previously investigated the troop distribution in Sword Bow and Redstone. The number of planetary forces combined with the cruiser fleet is nearly 1.5 times that of Darius’s fleet. Can we really win?”
On the bridge of the Lady of the Night, Leo asked Alveira.
“Numbers aren’t the issue. If war were only about the number of soldiers and ships, then we could just compare the numbers at the start and determine the outcome. What would be the point of fighting?”
Leo imagined the scenario the Princess described. Two commanders initiated a video call. “I have ten thousand elite soldiers!” “What? I only have eight thousand!” “Haha, surrender!” “Damn it, we’ll settle this next time. See you later!”—Something seemed off about this.
“War is like a game, involving strength, wisdom, and luck. Strength is visible, while wisdom and luck are intangible. Wisdom is the mind of the commander. Darius is very smart. He knows how to achieve victory in the most efficient way. He also has luck, which forces his enemies to bow down to him.”
“I can understand wisdom, but what is luck?” Leo asked. Being a product of science, he was resistant to such metaphysical concepts. “Does something so vague really exist?”
“Luck means that even if I don’t know how to fight, as long as my flagship appears on the battlefield, everyone will be willing to follow me forward.”
With that, Alveira suddenly stood up, raising her right hand high like a warrior brandishing a sword, then brought it down heavily, as if this gesture opened a door to victory. “All units, attention! Break time is over. Immediately enter combat mode!”
Her voice was loud, and her momentum was unstoppable.
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