From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 341 Airdrop in Progress

"Attention, both sides in the war. This is the Atlas Humanitarian Aid Fleet. We are now preparing to deliver humanitarian supplies. Please abide by the relevant provisions of the Telares Convention and suspend the exchange of fire to avoid accidental injuries."

When the huge red cross and Atlas logo appeared in the sky, voice notifications from Atlas also appeared on public channels such as the public communication channel and the international rescue channel.

"Wow, they're even bringing up the Trales Convention? Do you think anyone will really abide by it?"

In the headquarters of a ground force of the federal army, the commander asked his staff officer with amusement.

The "Talales Convention" he mentioned was a document signed by the Federation and the Empire during the last war. It involved a convention on the protection of basic human rights in war zones, with the aim of preventing the war from affecting civilians too much.

Hearing his superior's question, the staff officer smiled and said:

"Aren't we abiding by it now? I just don't know if the Imperials will comply. After all, they are now 'trapped beasts' fighting hard, and I won't be surprised if they make any crazy moves."

"That's true, but I heard that this company called Atlas also has cooperation with the Empire. I guess since they have the courage to go to the war zone to carry out such a mission, they should have received the endorsement of the Empire, right?"

"That should be the case. The top brass of the Empire probably issued the same order as ours, but whether the frontline troops obey it or not is another matter~"

"Well, then I wish Atlas better luck."

After the commander finished speaking, he turned and looked at the communications squad on the other side of the headquarters.

"Communicator, pass on my order! Have the frontline troops strengthen their surveillance of the Atlas unit! If there are any abnormal situations, give a warning first, and open fire if the warning is ineffective!"
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The troops of both sides on the ground had indeed received relevant news before.

The defenders on the Empire's side were almost equivalent to "abandoned pawns". Although they were not very interested in the orders from the highest command, they were trapped in a passive defensive position and were unwilling to take the initiative to interfere with Atlas' airdrop operation at this moment.

After all, when choosing the airdrop points, the airdrop commanders deliberately avoided the areas with the most intense fighting and chose open areas far away from the city.

If they drag out the air defense forces, the opposing federal forces probably wouldn't mind launching a round of covering attacks on the units that come into range.
As for the federal ground forces, they were relatively receptive to the orders of the Supreme Command, especially when the number of refugees began to increase as the war progressed.

At this time, the civil order on Pella IV had basically collapsed, and many refugees lacked basic living supplies. Faced with the survival crisis, some brave refugees even came to the vicinity of the Federal Army's positions to seek help.

But the federal troops are also in a state of "seeing enemies everywhere" at this moment, because no one knows whether these people who suddenly appear are refugees or not. What if the imperial special forces infiltrate among the refugees?
Moreover, as "invaders", they are well aware that most of the intelligent creatures on this planet do not welcome their arrival. Who knows, there may be extremists among these refugees who are carrying bombs and intend to die together?

So these ground forces are actually different from the federal navy in space.

They still hope that Atlas' "humanitarian aid team" will not do anything weird, but will really take root as they said and attract all these refugees away.
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After 30 minutes of preparation time, Atlas' airdrop operation officially began.

Although those large orbital landing ships converted from transport ships are not yet equipped with corresponding weapons and therefore cannot carry out orbital attacks, they have no problem completing the mission of orbital airdrops.

Moreover, due to the lack of armed units, the freed-up internal volume even allowed them to carry more supplies and personnel. Not long after these large orbital landing ships entered the "airdrop operation orbit", those on the ground who were staring at the huge red cross in the sky saw groups of "meteors" with long tails of flames rushing out from the red cross and Atlas logo.

These 'shooting stars' that kicked off the airdrop were elite pilots from various HCP squadrons who volunteered to participate in the mission.

When the HCP airdrop pod was lowered to the predetermined height and exploded according to the program, these "Holy Shields" that had just been equipped to the elite squadron activated the "downward viewing mode" of their respective detection units.

"No abnormalities were found in the landing zone, and the units of the two warring parties have not yet crossed the cordon!"

"Stay alert, this is a real battlefield!"

As the altitude dropped further, the plasma propulsion arrays behind the "Holy Shields" falling from the sky and the attitude control nozzles on various parts of the body also began to work.

This is also the most dangerous time for HCP to conduct orbital airdrop.

The high temperatures generated by the intense friction between the external armor and the air, coupled with the operating temperature of the plasma propulsion array, make them as conspicuous as fireflies in the night sky to infrared sensors.

Not to mention the complex shape of the aircraft, which also makes it easy for air reconnaissance radars to lock onto their positions.

Under such double lock, if the ground anti-aircraft units open fire, the hit rate will basically not be lower than 95%, and these HCPs can only rely on external armor and deflection force fields to resist.

Fortunately, the warring parties were unusually restrained, perhaps because it was their first time facing an airdrop from a third party, Atlas, and there was no "accidental firing" by any of the troops.

Soon, all the first batch of airborne HCP members landed safely.

Although everyone was very nervous during the airborne process, after landing, the pilots did not hesitate at all. They immediately moved closer to their teammates nearby and quickly formed a small defensive formation.

"The landing zone has been secured! You can start dropping the 'hive'!"

"Understood. This is the airdrop commander. We are now conducting the second phase of the airdrop operation. All ships are beginning to slide out the 'beehive'. The relevant atmospheric data has been updated again via the data link. Please pay attention to adjusting the relevant settings."

As the airdrop commander issued new instructions, several huge hexahedral black objects were pushed out from the slide rails in the largest deployment bays of each orbital landing ship.

When the green light representing 'Start Operation' comes on, the locking devices on the slide rails are unlocked one after another.

Under the gravitational pull of the planet, these black hexahedrons broke away from the slide rails, detached from under the orbital landing ship like laying eggs, and quickly fell into the atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)