Chapter 542 Speed of Life and Death
The battle space was extremely chaotic at this time, especially after the Infinity forced its way into the formation of the garrison fleet and launched a round of Invincible.
The wreckage of a large number of sunken warships, including the Balkan, covered the entire space while flying in disorder.
So when the shipboard controller of the Infinity, Gesserina, reported that the two-seat reconnaissance boats released by the other party were trying to escape and leave this space.
Randall's first reaction was that they must not be allowed to leave alive, because there was only one reason for these two-seat combat boats to be released at this time.
That is to use their maneuverability and concealment to try to leave the battlefield, and then use the additional communication pods to contact the federal fleet after leaving the wide-area electronic warfare attack range of the Infinity.
At the same time, Randall was also glad that the Infinity had strengthened its various detection units during the escort mission some time ago with the "upgrade components" sent by the transport fleet.
Otherwise, he was really a little worried that he might have missed these small things mixed in the wreckage.
Just after Randall gave the order, the HCP and heavy armored combat boats near the Infinity also received the target information shared by the super flagship through the tactical network.
More than 20 small targets that were maneuvering at high speed in different directions immediately appeared on the full-circle screen in front of everyone.
Without any hesitation, those HCPs that had no obstacles between them and the nearest target immediately set up charged particle cannons to irradiate them after the combat auxiliary AI completed the target trajectory solution.
This near-light-speed weapon, which is more powerful than the laser turret, is extremely effective in attacking such small high-speed units. Generally speaking, as long as the distance is not particularly far or there is a problem with the target solution, it is "hit as soon as it is fired."
So when the HCP launched the attack, the two-seat reconnaissance boats detected by the Infinity turned into a rolling fireball in the next ten seconds.
However, among these reconnaissance boat pilots, there are also "good players" who use the surrounding garrison fleet warships as cover to speed up their escape.
And the two-seat reconnaissance boats they control have indeed caused a lot of trouble for the pursuit of everyone and consumed more time.
When Randall and Selina noticed the last two-seat reconnaissance boat on the field, they found that this last "only seedling" was about to leave the main battle area.
What's worse is that this reconnaissance boat had previously used the cover of several garrison fleet warships to get rid of the Atlas units that were chasing it, so now there are no HCPs and heavy armored combat boats nearby that can threaten it.
But Randall knew that if this reconnaissance boat was let go, it would definitely be a big problem, so he still nervously ordered the nearby units to try their best to intercept this reconnaissance boat.
However, distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Although other units that had entered the space earlier also wanted to intercept, they were helpless because the distance was too far. In addition, there were also the remaining units of the garrison fleet, so it was difficult to bring the target into the attack range for a while.
Just when Randall and other staff officers were getting anxious, they found that on the three-dimensional battlefield situation map, a green dot suddenly began to move quickly towards the direction of the reconnaissance boat at a speed far exceeding that of others.
And in the regional communication channel, a text message in "emergency report mode" also appeared.
The Red Baron, the First Heavy Armored Combat Boat Squadron of the Renaissance Alliance Task Force:
"Red Baron begins to pursue the target, requesting fire support from friendly forces!"
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"No, buddy, it's fine if you're showing off alone, but you put me down in advance! Damn. Slow down! Slow down! We're going to collide!!!"
On the speeding red heavy armored combat boat, in another red 'Sacred Shield' that was 'actively' connected in 'cooperative propulsion' mode, Johnny Riding just made a grumble when he was shocked by Manfred's aggressive driving.
With the assistance of the 'Sacred Shield's plasma propulsion array, Manfred's heavy armored combat boat gained higher thrust, and the high-energy lasers on both sides of the main monitor on the head of the 'Sacred Shield', as well as the remaining missile compartment in the weapon box, could also provide some fire support.
So after leaving behind his teammates who could not keep up with his speed, he boldly rushed towards the route with the highest defense density of the garrison fleet and the shortest distance to the reconnaissance boat.
At the moment when Johnny Riding thought that the two of them were about to collide with the destroyer in front, the red battleship, under Manfred's control, adjusted its course exquisitely and rushed over almost close to the destroyer's deflection field.
It was precisely because they were too close to the destroyer that the surrounding enemy units did not dare to open fire at this moment, fearing that they would not kill the enemy with one shot, but instead blow up their own destroyer.
At the same time, the Third Task Force also discovered this battleship that broke into the enemy formation alone. There was no need for Randall to give any more orders. The units nearby that could provide fire support immediately switched their fire.
A large number of warships fired directed energy weapons, heading straight for the enemies in front of Manfred and his men, and caught them off guard.
It can only be said that the Atlas fleet's "fire switch" was so efficient that even Manfred and his men did not react, let alone the enemies blocking in front.
After the Red Baron broke in with his external thrusters, these warships were obviously not easy to deal with just by looking at the opponent's agile track.
So in order to maximize the advantage of interception firepower, most of the warships in this space chose to cross the ship on the predicted path of the Red Baron, and then rely on the conventional weapons arranged on the side and upper and lower decks for defense.
After all, it is really a bit of a "killing a chicken with a butcher knife" to use heavy particle cannons to attack such small targets, and after trying diffuse shooting, they also found that this kind of combat boat with greatly enhanced defense can withstand the attack of heavy metal particle jets.
This also directly led to the fact that after the support firepower of the Atlas fleet came over, these warships completely exposed their vulnerable sides, which was basically equivalent to the state of "wide open".
Under the gaze of the "True Red Lightning" and the "Red Baron", the ships of the garrison fleet on their breakthrough route were almost instantly hit by a devastating blow.
The fatal "cross ship" action also made these warships pay a full price.
Since these ship-borne control personalities in the Atlas combat fleet were upgraded from "ten-year veterans" to "thirty-year veterans" after Lilith completed the upgrade iteration and became stronger.
And they are also very familiar with the structure or weaknesses of common ships in the human world, just like Selina on the "Infinity".
So this time, facing the enemy warships that actively exposed their sides, they did not show any courtesy at all, and directly used several rounds of precise weakness attacks to open up a breakthrough route for the "Red Baron".
However, such firepower support also has advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that it helped Manfred and his team kill many enemy ships and reduced the pressure of breakthrough.
But the disadvantage is that the wreckage and fragments formed after these warships were sunk and detonated began to strictly test Manfred's driving skills.
After all, at the current relative speed, these scattered ship wreckage and fragments have high enough kinetic energy, and there is no other result except "flight" when they collide.
However, at this stage, Manfred, who had already led Johnny Riding into the wreckage area, could not withdraw, so he could only bite the bullet and start dancing on the edge of the knife.
"Brother. You are my real brother, take it easy, I am only 20 years old!!!"
"Stop making noise! You are interfering with my driving!"
"No. In this environment, you can only rely on instinct to drive, what difference does it make whether I interfere or not. Fuck!"
Watching Manfred control the heavy armored combat boat again, dragging a long wake in the continuous acceleration, and passing through the middle of the broken hull of a light cruiser, Johnny Riding didn't know what to say except "fuck".
However, what he said just now was not wrong, because in this extremely complex area where there is no movement pattern of obstacles, Manfred in high-speed flight state really relies on instinct to drive.
If Amber saw this scene, she would not be surprised.
Or even if he was surprised, it was because he was surprised that the two UR characters, ‘True Red Lightning’ and ‘Red Baron’, appeared in his team at the same time in the previous actual combat training - although it was only temporary.
As a super popular character that can be recruited by players in the previous life of "Starry Sky OL", Manfred's high rarity characteristics such as ‘Air Combat Hero’ and ‘Stunt Master’ gave him the ability that is almost equivalent to ‘Infinite Grab’ in air combat.
So even if he relied on instinct to drive, Amber knew that this legendary pilot was destined not to fall here.
Not to mention that he was carrying ‘True Red Lightning’ on his back at this time - Johnny Riding.
This one is even more heavyweight.
Although this ‘genius pilot’ could not be recruited until Amber crossed over, his popularity remained high for a long time.
Even if you don’t look at the other talents and skills of this legendary pilot, just look at the characteristic of ‘Lucky EX’, you can fully understand how valuable this man who has long dominated the top of the ‘Players Most Want to Recruit Characters’ ranking is.
Not to mention that this ‘genius pilot’, with this characteristic, was able to escape unscathed from a large number of battles where both sides suffered heavy casualties, and even remained ‘uninjured’ many times.
That is to say, the ‘Red Baron’, who already had superb driving skills, was not carrying ‘True Red Lightning’ on the back of the heavy armored battleship he was driving at the moment.
It was a ‘golden medal of immunity from death’.
In the eyes of both sides of the battle, as if they were looking at a ‘god’, this red heavy armored battleship, at a speed that ordinary people could not imagine or understand, rushed through the wreckage area dangerously and greatly shortened the distance between itself and the two-seat reconnaissance boat.
It even took the time to use the longitudinally parallel twin-mounted heavy particle cannons, as well as other airborne weapons including ‘True Red Lightning’, to kill several enemy units that tried to intercept on the path - including a frigate that was about to hit it directly.
It’s just that the good luck from ‘True Red Lightning’ had just run out at this time.
When Manfred pulled out a trajectory similar to a "barrel roll" and passed the wreckage of the frigate in front of him, the combat boat's combat assistance AI issued a high-level warning.
"Warning, a large number of enemy HCP units are approaching at high speed, number 18"
At the moment when the combat auxiliary AI named 'Albatross' issued an alarm, Manfred also subconsciously made an emergency defensive maneuver, causing the battleship to 'fall' downwards suddenly, avoiding the irradiation of several charged particle beams.
But in the few seconds of emergency defensive maneuvers, the 18 HCPs quickly closed the distance. While the fastest one was firing the charged particle cannon and high-energy laser cannon, the electromagnetic machine gun in its hand also fired a series of bright ballistics towards Manfred and his team.
However, the latter's flexible positioning made all these attacks miss, and even the opponent didn't touch the edge.
But even so, these speeding HCPs still seriously interfered with Manfred's actions. After all, if he needed to constantly avoid attacks, he would not be able to continue to maintain a high speed to chase the fleeing two-seater reconnaissance boat.
Just when the 'Red Baron' was entangled in the current situation, he suddenly heard a sound of unlocking the bracket on the back of the heavy armored battleship for 'cooperative propulsion' through the hull.
The fully equipped 'Holy Shield', which had just been lying on the back of the heavy armored battleship, had now actively disconnected from the battleship.
After flying for a distance with the battleship at the initial speed, Johnny Riding directly left the formation.
"Go after them! I'll stop them!"
The young pilot, who had already felt the cruelty of the battlefield and knew that HCP was just a consumable in fleet warfare, did not hesitate at this moment and rushed directly towards the 18 HCPs that were getting closer and closer.
Manfred, who was in the cockpit of the battleship, finally relaxed his tense mood at this moment. In the rear-view monitoring screen, the direction Johnny Riding rushed out was covered by the opponent's HCP volley.
But he did not dare to look back at the direction where his friend left. He could only leave a sentence: "Don't be stubborn, come back alive!" Then he pushed the throttle of the battleship to the top and rushed out quickly with the opportunity created by his partner.
And this time he did not disappoint. With the higher acceleration of the heavy armored battleship, he quickly caught up with the fleeing reconnaissance boat and quickly locked it.
When the lock frame on the screen lit up, Manfred chose to open fire without hesitation. The near-light-speed weapons equipped on the combat boat also brought their attack speed advantage to the extreme in this attack.
Even when the combat auxiliary AI calculated that the speed difference between the two sides was extremely large, the high-energy laser and charged particle beam still spanned a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometers, accurately hitting the plasma thruster of the reconnaissance boat, and in the next second it turned into one of the countless high-temperature plasma fireballs on the battlefield.
After completing this attack, Manfred did not relax at all after confirming that the opponent was killed, and there was no joy on his face.
Instead, he immediately pulled out a dangerous huge loop at high speed, and then rushed towards Johnny Riding again.
"Hold on! I'm coming!"