Chapter 192: Battle of Pluto’s Orbit
Pluto’s orbit in the solar system.
This place, where two dwarf planets once existed, was filled with a giant structure-like nest, a plague legion surrounding it, and red clouds in the background.
The nest had grown bigger and more vicious thanks to eroding Pluto and Charon, and the number of plague legion had increased.
But it was not enough to satisfy the plague queen.
―We need more minerals. We have to move our base.
There was no shortage of asteroid belts nearby, but they were far from enough to feed the legion.
There was a need to move to the outer solar system to properly grow the legion.
The plague queen decided to prepare for moving the nest, but soon stopped.
She felt something from far away in space.
―Interesting. They can hide their appearance from our sight.
They must have prepared a lot by defying time.
Even their visible power surpassed ours.
But don’t they know that’s not all?
―We are not one. We are connected.
The small humans who resisted until the end defied time and quickly prepared for resistance, but that was not enough.
Because the plague queen was not a single entity.
―You may win the small battle right now, but you will lose the final battle.
Even if they were lucky enough to go to the prophet’s land, it was uncertain whether they would survive.
It was impossible to fight against their kin scattered everywhere with human’s short lifespan for decades.
A triumphant smile appeared on the plague queen’s lips.
―Come. You who call yourselves the prophet’s children.
As if they were waiting for her words, the legion strike fleet that had sailed 5.5 billion kilometers entered Pluto’s orbit.
“Gravity brake, maximum deceleration.”
As they slowed down quickly, a huge shock hit the entire fleet.
Most of the shock was attenuated by the ether reverse field, but it was impossible to completely eliminate it.
Fortunately, all of the fleet’s forces were prepared for the shock, so the damage was not severe.
A few mechanics who were repairing assault armors until the last minute fell out and fainted. That was all of the damage.
The screens of each battleship’s main bridge showed the red cloud and the nest.
“Wow…”
“They completely destroyed Pluto and Charon.”
“Thanks to that, the size of the plague legion has doubled.”
The operators immediately began to assess the battlefield.
“There are about 6,520 plagues around the nest. Leviathan-class 32, Behemoth-class 150…”
“The location of the queen is not confirmed, but she is expected to be in the deepest part of the nest.”
Countless light spots appeared on the gravity radar.
The distance was too far to start an attack.
The nest was fixed at the gravity balance point of Pluto and Charon, so we had to move.
The artificial intelligence moved the entire fleet forward.
“Fleet advance at half speed. First-class combat stance.”
Usually, the battle between the human alliance fleet and the plague legion starts with a long-range bombardment.
But both sides knew that there was no meaning other than energy consumption.
It was too easy to repair with black metal.
They quickly recovered from damage, so minor hits were meaningless and eventually delivering reaction bombs through assault armors became decisive blows.
When a reaction bomb exceeding 1 gigaton explodes, even a Leviathan-class would be shattered in one hit, making recovery meaningless.
Their main tactic was to cause chain explosions and destroy the entire fleet.
The plague was not stupid either, so they did their best to prevent that by using methods that made it difficult for assault armors to maneuver.
Just like now.
“Ether reverse field detected, fifth-class transform phenomenon occurs.”
Following the report of artificial intelligence, operators screamed as if they were torn apart.
“Multiple Leviathan-class in front are forming large-caliber railgun turrets! There are more than 500 turrets!”
“If we get hit, not only plasma shields but also hulls are in danger!”
Indeed, as they were pioneers of black metal technology, they pushed with fiery quantity.
The human alliance fleet had defensive measures against energy weapons, but there was a limit line for physical impact.
If they fired large-caliber railguns at us, there was no way other than avoiding them.
Artificial intelligence suggested a solution.
“Disperse fleet, form defense wall.”
The formation of the fleet widened and each ship formed a defense wall.
Their shapes changed and quickly made shields.
Soon after, the plague fleet began firing at once and bullets covered space.
“Ether reverse field maximum, gravity crane operation.”
The bullets were too fast to completely block them with gravity cranes.
They just did their best to reduce damage.
“Impact in 10, 9. 8… Brace for impact.”
Countless bullets hit the fleet.
The fleet that pierced through space like a sea was swept away by a sudden wave.
The black metal defense wall that was raised as a shield was quickly shattered and all kinds of means such as ether reverse field and plasma shield were mobilized, but they could not stop all attacks.
In an instant, several battleships were hit and quickly repaired.
“Baikal, Chungju, Victoria hit. Seal hit areas, start damage control.”
“Send combat officers to area 3A-5! Block the outer wall with black metal for now!”
The plague fleet fired several times while the fleet advanced further.
At this time, the distance between the two sides was about 150,000 kilometers, enough to operate assault armors.
Artificial intelligence gave orders.
“Prepare to launch assault armors. Pilots, board immediately.”
Yujin boarded the assault armor with his squad.
When the synchronization was over, the number 99.99 was displayed on the console.
It was a little delayed compared to the heyday, but it was not a big problem.
“Alpha Four, ready to launch.”
As he reported, the main bridge of Los Angeles shook.
“Synchronization rate is 99.99%? Is that a possible number?”
“Even the president in his prime wasn’t that much.”
“That must feel like the assault armor is almost his own body.”
“We have no choice but to hope that he will open a breakthrough. Launch as soon as ready. Each ship, cover the assault armors.”
The mission of the assault armor squad was to penetrate quickly and deliver reaction bombs while the fleet was distracting and blocking the enemy.
The situation was not so bad, but there were many pilots who were new to combat and they didn’t know what variables would occur near the nest.
They were all first-timers to encounter Leviathan-class, let alone plague queen.
They had received plenty of training, but it was uncertain whether it would be connected to real combat.
“Still, we have no one to trust but the delivery guys. Launch when ready. Protect the assault armors.”
As the order to launch the assault armors was given, the entire fleet began to attack.
Countless ether lasers and ion cannons pierced through space.
The moment the Goliath-class ships in the front line formed heavy armor to block the attack, Alpha squad was launched.
“Ugh!”
Sonya felt like she was thrown into a dark sea.
She was dizzy for a moment and couldn’t locate herself.
Golden beams of light were drawn chaotically around her.
They would vaporize the assault armor with a touch, but they didn’t feel threatening.
Was it because of the psy-field that led her and the assault armor?
Lieutenant Rogers’ voice rang in her ears.
“Alpha One to all. Don’t resist the psy-field. We follow his lead.”
He meant Lieutenant Yujin, of course.
Despite being a squad member, his skills and abilities far surpassed ordinary pilots.
To be honest, he was doubtful whether he was human, but it seemed that the headquarters also had high expectations for him.
Sonya was jealous of him at first, but now she felt like letting it go.
The wall was too high to just give up.
His voice came in.
“Alpha Four to all. We don’t fight with the legion’s front line. We enter the nest directly.”
She blurted out that he was crazy, but no one objected.
Lieutenant Rogers swallowed dryly and Lieutenant Nasser prayed to God.
And Lieutenant Sonya asked him.
“Is that even possible?”
“We have to make it possible. I suggest synchronizing the ether receivers. It will be quite painful.”
If they clustered four receivers, they could handle the squad as if it were one assault armor.
The pilots would suffer from the excessive ether, but they could endure it.
Lieutenant Rogers agreed as if he didn’t care.
“We’ve come this far, we have to see the queen’s ass. Start synchronization.”
“Ether receiver clustering start.”
For a moment, she felt as if four ether circuits overlapped.
Sonya and the other pilots were astonished by the enormous capacity of Yujin’s ether circuit.
‘Amazing…’
The feeling of falling into the sea passed and a terrible pain struck.
The three pilots clenched their teeth and endured the pain, and Yujin calmly controlled the thrust of the assault armor.
“Let’s go.”
Four assault armors almost simultaneously spewed plasma.
They stretched out long golden tails and plunged into the plague legion’s front line.
“Concentrate fire! Break through the front line!”
As soon as Alpha squad launched, the fleet commander ordered all battleships to concentrate fire.
***
From the moment Alpha squad launched, the entire legion strike fleet realized that this mission depended on them.
Four assault armors judged and moved as if they were one.
It was probably Lieutenant Yujin who made it possible from behind.
In a way, they looked like one creature.
A creature struggling to survive from the plague’s attack.
“Concentrate fire!”
Ether lasers and ion cannons poured around the assault armors, but none of them hit.
They even avoided the attacks from the plague legion with ease.
As if they had agreed in advance.
Those who witnessed their maneuvering on the fleet’s bridge lost their words.
They were clearly surpassing human limits right now.
Dozens of attacks flew in every 0.1 seconds and prediction data followed them.
It was not humanly possible to analyze them accurately and control the booster and wing pack’s thrust and move the body accordingly.
The assault armor was made of black metal, but it was not enough to withstand saturation fire.
If even one hit, it would be torn apart like a paper doll and evaporate in an instant.
But four assault armors controlled by Lieutenant Yujin flew dangerously like butterflies dodging pouring raindrops.
“Beautiful.”
“Yes… But if one gets hit, the butterfly’s wings will be torn.”
“We have to hope that won’t happen. They are humanity’s hope.”
As he finished speaking, reflector bits were launched and reflected ether lasers in all directions.
Dozens of plagues approaching Alpha squad were neatly cut off.
The reflector bits returned to their original positions as if they were one.
And reaction bombs exploded as Alpha squad entered deep into the nest.
The consciousness of three pilots met in a space created by Yujin.
‘Is this a spaceship? It looks like Hulk (wreck) no matter how I look at it.’
‘Lieutenant, please stop chatting.’
‘I agree. Did the plague queen use a wreck as her nest?’
‘It’s a spaceship with a diameter of over a thousand kilometers. It’s amazing. Maybe she needed something like that to fit her ass.’
‘Please. I’m worried about Lieutenant Yujin, so I’ll just fly.’
‘What’s wrong? He’s doing fine on his own.’
Meanwhile, Yujin encountered direct attacks rather than psy-waves from the plague queen as he entered the nest.
―You’ve lost your skills.
‘So? Maybe you think that because you haven’t seen the hot stuff yet. Just wait a little.’
―The power of the weapons you made was great. But that won’t bring you victory.
‘Is it because they’re weak? Don’t worry. The one I’m going to give you this time is five bundled together.’
He planned to detonate a reaction bomb of 20 gigatons in the deepest part of the nest.
It would shatter the plague queen and everything else in one blow.
But she didn’t seem to care much.
―Do as you please.
‘Why, are you relieved because you sent a fleet to Earth?’
―You knew.
That’s what he wanted.
Yujin knew well that some psychers had contacted the plague queen.
Even what they ultimately wanted.
But he remained indifferent because such a process was necessary.
He didn’t manage to raise the citizens’ awareness, but he didn’t completely fail either.
‘I don’t care about anything else. I just have to kick your ass.’
―Do you think that’s the end? No, it’s not. You don’t have the qualifications in the first place.
‘What qualifications do you need? If we didn’t have them, the prophet wouldn’t have sent us a gift.’
―Huh… You really don’t know anything.
‘Yeah. I don’t know anything. And you’re in a position where you’ll be shattered by a primitive race.’
―I assure you that won’t be the end.
‘You seem to have some faith. I’ll finish you off, including that.’
―You have admirable courage. I admit it. You are the most outstanding warrior among the races we have met.
‘Among the races?’
Did that mean she had fought with other races besides humans?
Yujin closed his eyes and saw the deepest part of the nest as if it were drawn in his head.
The gravity data and ether told him the situation inside the nest.
And she was there.
The plague queen’s guard plagues that were lying around her rushed in.
‘Maximum output of the fusion reactor.’
‘Maximum output of the fusion reactor. Be careful, master.’
Along with Lucia’s concern, an enormous amount of ether that he had never felt before rushed into Yujin through the receiver.
He tried to send out an ether laser in pain that felt like his body was burning.
But what came out of the assault armor was not a laser, but a huge sword.
‘What is this?’
‘Oh, oh, it’s going to hit!’
As Lieutenant Rogers panicked, the sword vaporized all kinds of debris floating around and smashed the guard plagues that were rushing toward them.
Several krakens with heavy armor were exposed to ether and died without a trace.
And the sword didn’t stop there. It compressed space and reached out to the queen.
For a moment, her thoughts were transmitted to Yujin.
―Could you be…?
But the sword didn’t give her a chance.
The giant golden sword mercilessly sliced the plague queen.
Her body made of black metal scattered into pieces in ether.
Alpha squad didn’t miss the gap and detached the reaction bombs and left as they were.
A huge explosion occurred in the deepest part of the nest shortly after.
***
The battle between humans and plagues was not only fought on Pluto.
Near Earth, an ether storm blew in and hundreds of plague Goliaths appeared in no time.
They seemed to have a special order and changed their shape to conical and approached Earth.
There was an Earth orbital mobile fleet nearby, but it was too late to respond.
‘Warning, plagues are trying to enter the atmosphere.’
“It’s too late to send out assault armors! Fire reaction bombs!”
At the commander’s order, about ten reaction bombs were fired from each battleship.
But the movement of the reaction bombs controlled by artificial intelligence was too slow and straightforward to intercept the plagues.
Dozens of Goliaths blocked their backs and made a huge shield to induce detonation of the reaction bombs.
They were swept away by the explosion and died, but most of the Goliaths survived.
Rather, the explosion of the reaction bombs made their entry into the atmosphere easier.
The shock wave pushed them away.
‘349 plague Goliaths have entered the atmosphere.’
Their target was Pacific, a mega city located in the North Pacific Ocean.
The defense system was activated immediately, but the current mega city was quite unstable.
There was a problem with artificial intelligence or power supply was not working properly, and sometimes the entrance opened on its own.
As citizens were anxious, Goliaths who broke through the defense system began to attack structures.
Bang, bang!
The upper structure couldn’t withstand the tremendous kinetic energy and turned into a horrible mess.
It was automatically restored, but Goliaths falling faster than that pierced through the upper structure and succeeded in entering inside.
Their speed decreased considerably, but their unique destructive power remained intact and completely turned Pacific’s central area into ruins.
“There they come again!”
“Fuck, run!”
As citizens screamed and ran away, some parts of mega city were blocked off as if they were hit by something.
Unidentified transport squadrons flew in from above.
They were Crusaders who had been waiting for trouble to happen nearby.
Armed with personal weapons and grenades, they jumped out of transporters and entered inside.
Many citizens witnessed them.
“What are they? What are they doing?”
“Are they trying to attack us?”
As citizens tried to run away, Crusaders who landed shouted.
“We are liberators! We don’t attack citizens!”
“Look at this horrible sight! Where is the mega city that the president boasted so much?”
“The president is clearly neglecting his duties! The attack will get worse, and we won’t be able to stop it!”
“So we have to capture the president and negotiate with plague queen! Citizens, help us! Help us find freedom!”
If it had been a normal time, there wouldn’t have been many citizens who agreed with them.
But as the president lost trust and mega city was shattered, citizens’ resentment gathered at once.
If this was the result of delegating all management, how could they not be disappointed?
Citizens ignored Crusaders or even helped them.
They guided them to shortcuts leading to central area and urged them to capture president.
Drones and androids that should have stopped them had errors and were nowhere to be seen.
Crusaders quickly entered central area and ran to their destination.
Meanwhile, Arma and Congressman Bae Sung-min were looking down at them from the Golden Palace.
“It’s annoying that we have to give them some power for a while.”
“We can’t help it. We have to erase master’s shadow completely.”
“What about plague queen?”
“She’s dead.”
At the simple answer, Congressman Bae was flustered.
“Is, is she really dead?”
“Her body and the entire nest were destroyed. There was some damage to our fleet, but it was a victory in the end.”
But not all plagues were annihilated.
Despite the queen’s death, the surviving plague legion headed straight for Nox.
Yujin was currently pretending to be missing and chasing them with Settler.
Bae didn’t know that much, but he knew that something was happening somewhere tens of billions of kilometers away.
Arma bowed her head to him.
“Then, congressman, I leave humanity to you.”
He bowed his head in confusion.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience