From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 371 The Fork in the Road of Destiny

Somewhere in the deep space, a huge and lonely asteroid is wandering silently in the universe just like it did billions of years ago. The mottled marks on its surface tell of its struggle against time and every bit of this wandering that has lasted for billions of years.

But in the next moment, this huge asteroid, whose long axis was more than 200 kilometers, seemed to have collided with something invisible in the dark and silent space.

It was an invisible mysterious object, which seemed to be about the same size as this huge asteroid, and had been quietly hidden in this area of ​​the universe for millions of years.

At the moment of impact, there was no roar, no sparks, only the collision of the most primitive forces from deep in the universe.

The huge body of the asteroid was torn into countless fragments by the mysterious object during the impact. These fragments flew freely in the zero-gravity environment, creating a splendid and tragic picture.

However, this rare sight did not cause any fluctuations in the mysterious object hidden in this area of ​​the universe. As the fragments of the asteroid drifted farther and farther away, this area of ​​the universe returned to silence.

In an area similar to a hall inside this mysterious object, a large number of instruments surrounding the hall are flashing lights in a certain rhythm.

After an unknown amount of time, a cylinder made of unknown material in the center of the hall suddenly lit up, and at the same time, a strange language sounded in the middle of the hall.

If Amber and Salih were here, they would immediately realize that this is the language of the Jerram people - the Forerunner civilization.

"772 Space Observation Station, observation records updated"

"The current historical trend of the universe is in line with the third predicted path. It is currently at branch point No. 954882, which has two branch routes."

"If it enters the second branch, the coincidence between the historical trend of the 772 universe and the third predicted path will exceed 99.1%, and the early warning mechanism will be triggered."

"Based on the above background, the observatory will end its high-level hibernation mode, reactivate key systems and prepare to issue a recall signal."

The cold and pale voice log broadcast ended, but there was no response in the empty hall. However, in the silence, various facilities inside the observatory began to activate under the stimulation of a certain signal.

The secret doors in various passages were opened, and a large number of autonomous machines poured out and headed for the locations of various subsystems. While the subsystems were activated, they carried out maintenance for an unknown period of time.

At the same time, in a giant shipyard in Atlas, Saleh, wearing a mask to cover her face, was communicating with several shipbuilding engineers.

After this period of adaptation, Saleh has learned the common language of mankind, and after covering her face and soft tentacles, she assisted the various departments of Atlas in their work as a "mysterious omnipotent consultant."

When she was instructing several engineers to optimize the manufacturing process and procedures of the battleship, she suddenly shuddered as if she had been electrocuted.

Several engineers around were stunned for a moment, and then asked Saleh if she was feeling unwell.

"Sorry, I have to go back and rest for a while. We can discuss the remaining issues next time."

"It's okay, Ms. Saleh, you can go back first. You haven't had much rest these days because you have been following us to monitor the progress. We are old men and can still handle it, but you still need to rest."

An engineer closed the terminal in his hand and said with concern.

Although Saleh did not agree with the second half of his sentence, and that these Homo sapiens in front of her could not compare with her in terms of physical strength and spirit, she still nodded in thanks and quickly turned and left.

After returning to her own cabin, Saleh put away the mask on her head, and the soft foot-like tentacles that had been curled up behind her head also stretched out again.

She sat on a cushion that Amber had bought from the Thousand Star Empire and gave her, which was said to be beneficial for psychic meditation. She closed her eyes and quietly examined her condition.

Soon, she opened her eyes again, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes.

"The battle on Pyra IV turned out to be a critical node. Even the observatory was activated."

Saleh looked up in a certain direction. Although there was only an ordinary bulkhead over there, her gaze seemed to penetrate everything and cross a long distance, staring at the planet Pyla IV where the battle was going on. "Amber, should I hope you win a great victory or die on the battlefield?"
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"Boxer and Fertile Earth are badly damaged! The ships have lost control of their posture and have been captured by the gravity of Pyra IV and are falling into the atmosphere!"

"What is the escorting cruiser formation doing? There was only one plane, why did they let the enemy break through?!"

"HCP squadron reports, the enemy is too fast to be intercepted!"

"Attention, anti-aircraft weapons team! The target is approaching from the port side!"

As the tactical information coordinator nervously spoke out the last message, an alarm sounded simultaneously on the bridge of the USS Midway orbital attack ship.

Then, a red shadow flashed past the 'panoramic porthole' simulated on the bridge screen.

At this moment, the captain of the Midway felt as if time had slowed down. The huge figure of the single-person HCP outside and the peculiarly shaped main monitor with a red flash were full of oppression, like a red devil.

"Helmsman! Emergency evasion!"

When the illusion of time slowing down ended, the captain reacted and shouted immediately, but unfortunately he was still a step too late.

Just as he finished his words, a huge tungsten alloy heavy anti-ship piercing rod tore open the already fragile side armor of the Midway from the side, and then directly penetrated the bridge hidden inside the hull.

Then another charged particle beam swept across the plasma propulsion array at the stern of the ship. The charged particle beam collided with the plasma ejected by the propulsion array, causing it to become disordered, and eventually broke through the constraint upper limit of the propulsion array.

As several huge plasma fireballs lit up and expanded at the stern of the ship, the Midway also triggered a series of explosions from the back to the front, and eventually followed the fate of the Boxer and Fertile Land, falling irretrievably towards the atmosphere.

Amber took the time to glance at the current ammunition reserve of 'ATLAS'. The 70% remaining ammunition was enough for him to complete the battle.

"Lilith, next target!"

"The directions have been given, Master!" Lilith's voice rang in her ears, very focused and serious, without her usual casual feeling.

"Please pay attention to the HCP intercepting on the path. In addition, the enemy cruiser is lowering to the maximum orbital altitude, and the axis of the ship is also adjusting towards our position. It is judged that the main gun scattering mode may be used!"

"Understood. Just mark the general direction of attack and I will evade it."
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"General, the losses of the Second Orbital Attack Fleet are approaching 30%. Should we send in support?"

On the bridge of the flagship of the Federation's 13th Main Fleet, looking at the increasing losses of the orbital attack ship detachment, the fleet's operations staff asked the fleet commander Guterres with a serious face.

But the latter did not answer the question immediately. Instead, he stared at the light spot on the main screen of the bridge that was wreaking havoc in the orbital attack ship, and held the armrest of the captain's seat with his whole hand.

Guterres never thought that he would be forced to make a decision by an HCP.

He originally thought that the three cruisers, one heavy and two light, responsible for the escort would easily kill this "fly", but who would have thought that the two light cruisers were damaged not long after the battle, and the heavy cruiser was forced to switch to air defense mode, open fire at full power, and dispatch all the HCPs on board.

Even so, three of the 10 ships in the entire orbital attack fleet were sunk at the speed of light, and the HCP that went forward to intercept had no units that could keep up with the enemy's speed.

Even if they were lucky enough to be intercepted on the route of advance, they would only be smashed into pieces by the enemy's fierce firepower.
"What on earth is this thing? Is there really a human driving it?"

The situation he was facing was something Guterres had never experienced in all the years he had joined the Federal Navy.

He even wondered if he was trapped in some bizarre nightmare, but he knew that now was not the time to be indecisive and he had to make a decision as soon as possible.

"Give up support. Thirteenth Fleet, advance at combat speed! Attack the Atlas Fleet with all your might!" Guterres clenched his right fist and slammed it heavily on the armrest.
"As long as we destroy their fleet, this battle will be 'checkmate'!"

(End of this chapter)