Chapter 77 Returnees
Amber and the others who were marching at night in Robert IV's night hemisphere did not know.
In the day hemisphere, near the dusk line, a short but fierce fleet battle broke out between the Federation Task Force and the Empire's Eighth Expeditionary Strike Group.
At this time, the main force of the Federation Task Force had already separated from the Imperial Fleet, and only some "lottery"-style ultra-long-range shooting remained between the two sides.
Whether it was Commodore Duwell or Marquis Ascania and his tactical staff, the focus of attention was no longer on the main force of the two sides.
Instead, they all paid attention to the battle between the two high-speed destroyers and more than a dozen Imperial warships.
One side tried its best to break through the interception, while the other side was also trying every means to intercept under the command of the fleet commander.
On the two Jackdaw-class high-speed destroyers, only the minimum number of crew members was maintained at this moment to maintain the operation of the warships.
After knowing that this battle was likely to be a one-way trip, the crews of the two warships drove away all the young soldiers on board.
Although the HCP squadrons on board still retain the squadron names of ‘Death Scythe’ and ‘Meteor’, the personnel have actually been replaced.
The HCP pilots in these two squadrons are now the oldest group of people in the entire fleet.
According to the current squadron leader of the ‘Death Scythe’ squadron, Captain Wallace, who is now 46 years old:
“Such exciting work is not for those young boys to do!”
The ‘older’ HCP pilots who participated in this operation deeply agreed with his words.
Blake, who was sitting in the cockpit of the ‘Shorty Bear’ Block 20, was also a member of this operation.
And his identity may be more special than others.
Because he is a ‘native’ born on Robert IV.
His family was the first group of ‘pioneer farmers’ who immigrated to this planet and took care of crops for the Federal Department of Agriculture.
Although the federal military had basically not recruited soldiers on Robert IV, Blake's driving talent when operating agricultural machinery attracted the interest of a HCP pilot in the local garrison.
On this remote planet, boredom is the biggest enemy of these garrisons.
So, after discovering such a talented seedling, the HCP pilot began to call Blake to the camp every now and then to do some basic training.
Later, he even recommended him to the HCP pilot training camp of the Robert Galaxy Mobile Fleet.
For a training camp that has always been unable to recruit enough people, it is the best to send people. As for background, no one cares about it in this remote place.
In the end, Blake passed the full subject assessment and became the first "local" HCP pilot in this mobile fleet.
In fact, Blake did not want to leave Robert IV at the beginning, because he was only 20 years old at the time and had already married and had children.
But the federal army really gave too much.
Although the salary of the federal army HCP driver is not actually high, it has not reached the average salary level of residents in the core galaxy.
But no matter what, it is not comparable to doing farm work on the planet.
So in order to let his wife and newborn daughter live a better life, Blake reluctantly parted with his family and followed the mobile fleet to cruise in the galaxy.
This cruise lasted for ten years.
In these ten years, Blake only went home to visit his family nine times.
And today is his tenth time to go home.
"Attention everyone! The destroyer sent a message! The enemy ship emitted heat sources, the number is 84, and the infrared characteristics are compared to the Empire's "Fanatical" series HCP, the specific model and configuration are unknown!"
The sudden voice of the squadron leader in the headset pulled Blake back from a moment of absent-mindedness.
He shook his head to concentrate.
In the environment he is in now, distraction can be fatal.
"20 to 84! The advantage is on me!"
The squadron leader's ridicule in a high-pressure environment triggered a burst of laughter from everyone in the channel.
"Ding ding ding."
"A large number of enemy units detected, start marking!"
A warning and auxiliary AI voice suddenly came from the cockpit. At the same time, a large number of hostile targets marked with red frames appeared on the full-circle screen in front of Blake.
"Okay, happy hour is over!"
The squadron leader in the communication channel also stopped everyone's laughter at this time.
"The 'Death Scythe' squadron will be responsible for protecting the warships to break through the interception. Our mission is to interfere with the enemy warships and HCP as much as possible and reduce the pressure on friendly forces, so."
"Attention, all members of the Meteor Squadron, anti-ship and anti-HCP operations begin, and the No. 4 formation is deployed!"
At the command of the squadron leader, the ten HCPs of the Meteor Squadron opened up the distance, they put their shields in front of them, and then deployed the small heavy particle cannons and charged particle cannons on the rear weapon racks.
Although the launch power of these weapons is far less than that of warships under the energy output of the subcritical reactor.
But the lethality of heavy metal particle jets and charged particle beams should not be underestimated.
As the HCPs of both the Empire and the Federation increased the power of their propulsion arrays, they charged at each other like ancient knights, and the battle began.
Heavy metal particle jets and charged particle beams were their lances, and layered armor shields and deflection fields were their shields.
And this universe was the battlefield where they galloped.
Blake didn't know how much time had passed in this battle, because he had no time to pay attention.
At this moment, while the HCP was advancing intermittently, he was playing a "two-person show" with an Imperial HCP in space, with high Gs that would make ordinary people faint.
Both sides were shooting and defending each other, and they were also trying their best to break into the opponent's back hemisphere and attack the unprotected plasma propulsion array.
Several thick red and blue lines were simulated on the full-circle cockpit, one of which was sweeping towards his position.
Those were the main gun beams of the enemy and our warships.
Blake immediately adjusted the propulsion direction of the propulsion array behind him to 75 degrees, and then stepped on the propulsion pedal.
The huge thrust suddenly erupted from the plasma propulsion array, causing the dark blue painted "Dwarf Bear" to sink "down" suddenly, avoiding the beam.
But his opponent was a beat slower to react, and before he could make an evasive move, he was swept by a white light.
This was a heavy particle cannon shot from a certain Imperial heavy cruiser.
When the light in the cockpit returned to normal, Blake saw that the Imperial HCP that had just fought with him had only two mechanical legs floating alone.
In the battleship shooting, both sides positioned the other's warship as the first target and had the highest firing priority.
Such a battlefield is very dangerous for HCP, because their seemingly rock-hard bodies will be torn apart by the heavy metal particle jets even if they are touched by the rays of enemy ships or even friendly ships.
As for the enemy ship that helped him kill the opponent, Blake naturally planned to thank it.
Another "Dwarf Bear" near him had the same idea. The two immediately formed a two-plane formation and rushed towards the nearest Imperial heavy cruiser marked in the tactical target.
Although the HCP's small heavy particle cannon could not directly sink the heavy cruiser at close range.
But it was no problem to "clean" the opponent's hull and dismantle some high-energy laser turrets, electromagnetic reconnection guns and various radar sensors.
Just as Black controlled the HCP and his teammates to cover each other, broke through the enemy's air defense network and approached the heavy cruiser.
In the communication channel, the squadron leader's somewhat anxious voice came:
"The 'Death Scythe' squadron has been broken through! The enemy HCP is approaching the destroyer! Is there anyone who can rush over to support!"
Happy New Year's Day everyone, the plot will be a little more compact later
I, the author, have to speed up~