From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 583 Plasma Torpedo Decapitation
After Franklin and others left the negotiation venue and went to the lounge, Alex and others were still sitting in their seats in a daze.

After Amber said a few polite words and called on everyone present to give up their illusions and face reality, she temporarily cut off communications to allow these "federal remnants" to discuss among themselves.

Alex, the former chief executive of the autonomous government, had a gut feeling that Amber, Franklin and the others definitely had other cards in hand, which was why they were showing such a strong attitude.
To put it bluntly, there is no intention to give Alex and others the opportunity to choose.

"They are really going too far. Even rabbits will bite when they are angry. Aren't these guys worried that we will fight them to the death?"

The secretary general of the autonomous government said indignantly, and the thoughts and emotions of the other people around him were similar to his. The other party's behavior showed that they completely ignored the fortified city defense of Bresk and the tens of millions of citizens in the city.

"Yes! I don't agree to be driven out like this. This is my home and my property is all here!"

"That's right. My Lawrence family has been established for three generations. Why should we just give it to others like this?"

"Count me in. I'd rather die than be driven away!"

The local tycoons and big capitalists in the Rubion galaxy who had not yet fled were also roaring with indignation. They knew very well what the consequences would be if they were driven away, so they completely disagreed with the demands made by the Renaissance Alliance.

Then, a low voice attracted the attention of others.

"Then maybe Mr. Franklin, or rather Mr. Amber behind him, really didn't take the 'trump card' in our hands seriously?"

The one who spoke was the new administrative lieutenant, who replaced Sam, who had a close relationship with Atlas. In order to "show his loyalty", the new administrative lieutenant immediately cleared out a large number of people in the team who had close ties with Atlas.

The intensity of the cleanup efforts is far greater than the anti-corruption work carried out within the autonomous government.

After hearing what the administrative adjutant said, Alex seemed to be enlightened. He suddenly stood up and walked straight towards the city defense commander who was attending the meeting.

"Warren, can we still monitor the situation in orbit around the planet?"

Alex's question clearly made the city defense commander Warren look embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke:

"Sir, we have basically lost surveillance of Rubion V's outer orbit. Most military satellites and communication satellites have been captured or destroyed by the enemy. So we can only monitor it through ground-based equipment, and the range is limited to the area that can be observed from Bresk."

Alex: "If the enemy wants to launch an orbital strike against us, can we give you an advance warning?"

"You mean?" City Defense Commander Warren also realized something. He quickly glanced around the meeting room, then couldn't help but look up at the ceiling, as if his sight could penetrate the roof and see the track of interest.

"It's just a guess, so I came to you to confirm it."

Alex signaled to Warren to stay calm and not to react too much to cause panic to others. The latter immediately regained control of his expression and quickly contacted the city defense headquarters.

The Atlas Group's unique operation of using conventional warships in low orbit to provide close-ground fire support has previously been included in the feature library, and it has been confirmed that the movements of the attacking warships can be observed from the ground.

So Warren quickly contacted his subordinates to see if they had found any such signs. Although according to the city defense procedures, the people in the air defense combat command would report any abnormalities to Warren as soon as they were discovered, but under the high pressure at the moment, the city defense commander felt that it would be more reassuring if he asked about it himself.

Soon, news came from the air defense command that Atlas' warships did not enter the "prohibited line" set up by the autonomous government, and no trace of any warships was found in low orbit.

Such a result naturally made Warren and Alex feel relieved.

But the latter still felt a little anxious when he thought of what Franklin and Amber said. The threatening meaning in it made him feel a little uneasy.

"Perhaps the enemy intends to launch a ground attack? Although there are no signs of an orbital strike, the 'fortress areas' surrounding the city have successively sent back warnings of enemy troop movements."

Warren guessed and showed Alex the screen on his portable command terminal.

Although the chief executive was not good at command, he could still understand the battlefield situation map. It was obvious that the troops of the Renaissance Alliance had completely surrounded Bresk, and the vanguard heavy troops had also entered the attack preparation position.

However, he still couldn't understand one thing. Since the Renaissance Alliance was already prepared for a violent attack, why did they let Franklin come in person and take the risk?
If the other side were to "disregard martial ethics" and directly detain Franklin and other negotiators, Alex believed that the Renaissance Alliance would not easily decide to launch a violent attack.
Unless they don't want this leader anymore.

While the two men hesitated, the half hour that Franklin left for them passed quickly. However, all parties in the autonomous government wanted to protect their own interests, so they could not reach a consensus at all.

When Franklin brought the members of the Renaissance League to the meeting place again, he saw the former members of the autonomous government and those tycoons and capitalists who were still in dispute, and his face turned dark.

“There’s no hope for these people.”

After whispering this, he turned around and left with the delegation members without saying anything more. This time they did not go to the lounge prepared for them, but walked directly out of the autonomous government's administrative building.

"etc."

When Alex saw Franklin and others leaving, he wanted to keep them to continue the negotiations, but he was still a step too late.

Watching the Renaissance Alliance disappear at the door, City Defense Commander Warren quickly approached Alex and asked:
"Should we send someone to take these guys down first? They don't have many guards with them. The combat units we have deployed near the administrative building can easily take care of them."

"Although I really don't want to do this, let the troops resolve the battle quickly and don't create any additional incidents."
-
"Red Baron calling the Mother Nest. We have 10 minutes to enter the attack orbit. We have not received the final strike order yet. Do you need to slow down and wait? Over!"

"'Mother Nest' calls 'Red Baron', suggesting to reduce the ground speed by one fifth!"

"Red Baron, read that, start slowing down, over!"

After the temporary communication ended, Manfred pulled the fighter boat's propulsion mode lever back to "Back One". After feeling a thrust in the opposite direction from the boat and confirming that his ground speed had dropped by nearly one-fifth, he pushed the lever to the middle "Neutral".

In Manfred's opinion, in most cases, the driving experience of a heavy armored combat boat is more like driving a boat.

Only when entering combat and entering a 'dogfight', using mainly the throttle and joystick for control, does it become more like some kind of 'space fighter'.

However, this mission does not have so many thrilling parts. Manfred only needs to drive his fighter boat into the predetermined orbit within the predetermined time, and launch the modified plasma torpedo at the predetermined bombing point.

Rather than an orbital strike mission, it is more like a special delivery mission.
If there was a garrison fleet defending Rubion V's orbit, it would be difficult for the heavy armored combat boat driven by Manfred to sneak into such an important area as the sky above Bresk even if it turned on the stealth mode.

Because after entering low orbit, whether it is the friction between the hull and the outer atmosphere, or the environment at the junction of the edge of the atmosphere and the cosmic background, which is not conducive to "stealth", the heavy armored combat boat will be captured by the infrared sensors of the warships in orbit.

This is also the reason why aerospace bombers and near-space attack boats eventually withdrew from the stage of history. When there is a warship in a higher orbit with powerful detection capabilities and the ability to "name and target" with near-light-speed weapons such as charged particle cannons, the survivability of these aircraft that once dominated the low orbits will be infinitely close to 0.

But the situation that the Revival Alliance faces happens to be back in the comfort zone of aerospace bombers.

After all, it is easy to capture signs of a warship descending to a low orbit to launch an attack, but it is not so easy to capture aircraft such as aerospace bombers that have built-in stealth and concealment capabilities from the ground.

However, Franklin simply couldn't afford an aerospace bomber for the time being. If there were exhibits in the major aerospace museums on Rubion V, he would try to drag out these "antiques" and renovate them.

Unfortunately, these museums don't even have collections of near-space vehicles.

At this time, the arms procurement department responsible for connecting with the Atlas Group stated that the heavy armored combat boats purchased from Atlas Military Industry seemed to have low-orbit flight capabilities.

In addition, the MA-01B block5 manual also includes an appendix on how to add orbital strike capability to plasma torpedoes. The whole process is very simple and easy to understand.
Using high-heat-resistant materials to rebuild the torpedo's outer shell is not difficult for the Renaissance Alliance, which already has a certain industrial system and all the data on plasma torpedoes.

The torpedo is then equipped with a set of atmospheric control components, and the attack seeker is replaced with a four-in-one integrated guidance mode of astral, satellite, image and inertial.

In this way, a plasma torpedo with basic orbital strike capability has been modified.

Although in terms of attack accuracy, this makeshift emergency product certainly cannot be compared with a dedicated orbital strike missile.

But if the target is as big as a building, it shouldn't be a big problem.

What's more, the plasma warhead of the plasma torpedo used for anti-ship purposes is already very powerful, and the high-temperature plasma fireball produced by the explosion has a greater effect in the atmosphere than in space.

So unless you want to use this thing to kill someone by kinetic energy, you don't really need to worry too much about hitting the target.
When Franklin heard the news, he was ecstatic and asked the Armament Procurement Department:
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? You mean, we have always had an aerospace bomber in our combat sequence, and it is even equipped with a dedicated orbital strike weapon?" The Minister of Armaments Procurement: "Then you didn't ask before."

You see, this world is just a huge "grassroots team".

After this "episode", this secret strike mission finally fell on the shoulders of the heavy armored combat boat strike team.

"Call the most skilled and courageous pilot in your squad. We have an important combat mission!"

Then, the choice of the driver, unsurprisingly, fell on the already famous "Red Baron".

The waiting time was long. Manfred felt that the last period before entering the attack orbit was as long as a whole day.

Since there could be no other enemies in orbit at this time, Manfred became bored and dazed after turning on the automatic warning device of the combat boat.

Until the call from the 'mother nest' sounded again.

"'Mother Nest' calling 'Red Baron', the strike order has been received and is being transmitted via the tactical network, prepare to strike!"

After hearing this long-awaited voice, Manfred was startled. After seeing that the combat system of the combat boat received an attack order transmitted through the tactical network, he immediately replied excitedly in the encrypted communication:

"'Red Baron' calling 'Mother Nest', attack order received, start ground attack operation, repeat! Start ground attack operation!"

After saying that, the young fighter boat driver directly pushed the propulsion mode lever to "Forward 01". The MA-5B block, which was originally slowly approaching the attack track by inertia, suddenly burst into a burst of blue light from the propulsion array at the tail, and the entire fighter boat rushed out directly. The ground speed on the holographic instrument skyrocketed in an instant.

Manfred in the cockpit, with the help of the combat assistance AI, controlled the fighter boat to quickly enter the long-planned attack trajectory.

Like all objects dropped from orbit, ground-attack plasma torpedoes do not drop straight down, but instead travel through a specific attack trajectory.

As the front half of this track, the heavy armored combat boat is not only responsible for carrying the torpedo, but also for giving the torpedo enough initial velocity when it is dropped.

Manfred, who had practiced the entire process many times in the simulator and actually dropped a full-size fish model on the other side of the planet, skillfully controlled the combat boat into orbit, and then tried to lower the altitude as much as possible while making the fish go faster.

But this acceleration was obviously not infinite, and Manfred soon felt a kind of "lift" coming from under the fighter boat, and the combat assistance AI also issued an instruction to drop bombs.

As the Red Baron slammed hard on a ball of volumetric light, the heavy armored combat boat carrying out the bombing mission was "bounced" back up by the atmosphere, and a peculiarly shaped plasma torpedo also detached from the semi-buried rack.

"Bombing completed! Repeat! Bombing completed! Notify ground units near the attack coordinates, be careful to avoid!"

As Manfred reported, the plasma torpedo once again broke into the Earth's atmosphere at an astonishing speed of over Mach 30. The reshaped front end caused a strong plasma effect due to the violent friction with the high-altitude atmosphere.

In an instant, a plasma sheath with a temperature of thousands of degrees Celsius formed around the plasma torpedo. This layer of high-temperature plasma not only gave the plasma torpedo a natural stealth barrier, making it almost impossible for ground radar to accurately lock its exact position, but also posed a severe test for the precision instruments inside it.

However, Atlas' military industry department had already taken this into consideration when designing this modification. In the plasma torpedo, where the "charge" was slightly reduced to free up a certain amount of space, multiple layers of insulation materials and advanced thermal management systems work together to ensure that the core components can still operate stably under extreme conditions.

This plasma torpedo was not able to remain invisible for long. Although the plasma sheath interfered with radar detection, the outer shell, whose surface temperature became extremely high due to friction with the atmosphere, was quickly discovered by infrared detection units on the ground.

"Warning! Unknown high-speed target detected. Probably an orbital attack missile! Temporary designation Echo 1!"

"Warning! Echo 1 has entered the defense circle, start the interception procedure immediately!"

In Bresk's air defense command room, alarms rang out and red warning lights flashed continuously. The moment the automatic control system detected the torpedo, it automatically activated the air defense program.

"No. Where did this come from? There are no orbital attack ships in orbit?!"

The air defense commander stared at the suddenly appearing Echo 1 in horror, and was immediately thrown into panic, because the automatic control system had just calculated the landing point of this "orbital attack missile" - the administrative building of the Rubion Galaxy Autonomous Government.

Currently, more than 90% of the senior officials of the autonomous government, as well as the top chaebols and capitalists, are all there to participate in the negotiations with the Renaissance Alliance.

"Fuck, it's all over now"

The air defense commander, feeling his legs go weak, almost stumbled to the communication terminal, and then tremblingly connected the communication with the city defense commander Warren.

The latter also happened to hear the air defense alarm at this time. Seeing that the communication was connected, he immediately asked:

"What's going on? Didn't I tell you to keep your eyes on outer space? Where did those orbital attack missiles come from?!"

"No, I don't know, sir! You guys should take shelter now! This thing is coming right towards your location!"

"what?!"

While the air defense commander was talking to Warren, dozens of interceptor missiles deployed in Bresk's ground and underground launch silos were launched one after another. Their engines roared against the gravity from the planet, trying to accelerate the missiles to speeds of more than Mach 10 to intercept the high-speed moving threat target.

Immediately afterwards, several dazzling laser beams and charged particle beams shot out from the laser weapon platform on the ground, leaving behind a series of blazing trails.

However, the design of the plasma torpedo is far more complex and sophisticated than imagined. After sensing an external threat, the plasma torpedo immediately initiates a maneuvering trajectory change program, performing large-angle side slips and dives at an astonishing speed.

These actions not only make tracking extremely difficult, but also successfully avoid most of the possibilities of direct hits. Even if it is irradiated by high-energy lasers and charged particle beams, the plasma sheath on the outside of the torpedo and the outer shell with replaced materials are enough to withstand these attacks.

There are not many such interception windows.

Just when the interceptor missile and laser beam were about to touch the plasma torpedo, the final acceleration of the plasma torpedo thruster began, and the speed of the entire projectile suddenly increased again.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the air defense command room was extremely tense. Everyone held their breath and watched closely at every dynamic update on the screen. Beads of sweat oozed from the forehead of the air defense commander. He was speechless and could only pray while waiting for the final result.

On the other side, the evacuation alarm was also sounded in the Bresk administrative building. Members of the autonomous government, including Alex, almost crawled out of the negotiation venue.

But for a plasma torpedo that breaks through the atmosphere at Mach 30 to launch an attack, it is too late to run away now.

As the last interception window was broken, the plasma torpedo finally entered the irreversible attack phase, rushing towards the target at a nearly vertical angle.

Just a few seconds later, the plasma torpedo crashed through the outer glass curtain wall of the administrative building and the first layer of steel structure, and the plasma warhead was triggered and detonated.

In an instant, a huge high-temperature plasma fireball expanded in the blink of an eye and completely engulfed the entire building.

The blue-white high-temperature plasma fireball formed by ionization at extremely high temperatures has a core temperature of tens of millions of degrees Celsius in an instant. Due to the high-temperature characteristics of the plasma, the space around it is heated, and the air produces a strong shock wave due to rapid expansion.

The first to be affected were the non-metallic materials on the exterior of the building. The glass curtain layer instantly burst due to the high temperature, and combustible materials such as plastic and wood quickly burned.

Although the steel structure, which serves as the main body of the building, has good heat resistance, it begins to gradually soften and deform under such extreme conditions.

The entire building seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand and then squeezed hard. Under the influence of high temperature, the steel structure quickly lost its strength and began to twist and break.

Starting from the top, floor after floor collapsed like dominoes. A huge roar echoed in the city, and dust and debris flew everywhere where the administrative building used to be, forming a doomsday scene.

The plasma warhead's attack did not last long. When the dust settled, the autonomous government's administrative building, which once symbolized the power, had turned into a pile of melted ruins.

Franklin and his group managed to escape to a safe distance within the limited time. After the roar of the explosion ended and the plasma fireball went out, they crawled up from the ground covered in dust.

"Fuck! Whoever wants to do this next time can do it."

(End of this chapter)