From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 717: The Mysterious Machine's Rescue

The Martyr Corps is an armed force affiliated with the Star Dragon Empire's state religion and is also the church's crusader army. All of its members are fanatical believers of the state religion and have undergone rigorous combat training. Not only are their technical and tactical levels comparable to those of the Imperial Royal Army's standing army, they also have higher morale and organization than the army.

Needless to say, the Imperial Guards are the most frequently seen armed forces in the Empire. They are the elite combat units used to guard the Imperial Capital and are the pinnacle of combat power among all the standing troops in the Empire.
These two combat forces are also stationed in the imperial capital of Saint-Saunière all year round. In a sense, they have always maintained coordinated defense and even have a special joint command center.

Therefore, Amber never expected that after completing the 'emergency jump', the first scene she saw was the 'Apostle' of the Martyr Corps beating up the enhanced 'Fanatical' of the Imperial Guard.

Judging from the oil still dripping from the plasma double-edged battle axe pulled out by the 'Apostle', it was obvious that both sides were fighting to the death rather than conducting an actual combat exercise.
Amber looked down at the dial in confusion, wanting to see what timeline her 'emergency jump' had taken her to.

"It's March 592th, 3 in the new calendar? Wait, isn't this the day of Agnes' coronation ceremony in two months?!"

Seeing this time, Amber suddenly became alert, because if there was no problem with the timeline, it would mean that there would be big problems with the coronation ceremony in the capital of the Star Dragon Empire in two months.

At this time, Amber also noticed the fallen enhanced 'Fanatical'. Although it was painted in the standard style of the Imperial Guard, the sword and rose logo on the shoulder armor indicated its specific unit - the Princess' Guard.

"So, Agnes's forces are fighting against the Imperial Church?"

However, the current situation did not allow Amber to think too much, because the golden-painted "Apostle" had already discovered him through the sensor. The main head monitor of this HCP dedicated to the Martyrs Corps was designed like a red-eyed bald fanatic. When it stared at Amber at this time, it seemed even more oppressive.

Without any warning, the 'Apostle', whose outer armor was covered with bullet holes and engine oil, suddenly picked up the double-edged battle axe and rushed towards Amber, while the close-range defense lasers on both sides of the main monitor on the head also shone over.

"Fuck, I'm just passing by!"

Seeing the Iron Demon rushing towards her, Amber started to flee again. Fortunately, there were many shelters inside the Grand Palace which had become a war zone to hide her body, so the "Apostle" fired several times in a row, but was blocked by Amber with the help of the composite armored wall.

Continuous avoidance is not a solution. Although Amber's current timeline is only two months away from the original timeline, he is still a "time traveler" in this timeline, so unfortunately he cannot use psychic powers either.

The enemy has upgraded from an old armored antique from the 82nd year of the new calendar to a real HCP from the 592nd year of the new calendar.
The pilot of the 'Apostle' was a little surprised when he saw that the close defense laser failed to hit the target several times in a row, because before this he had never seen a single soldier who could dodge the laser, or rather, he did not dodge, but predicted his own irradiation path and avoided it in advance.

"Sacrifice No. 3, an unidentified elite unit has been spotted and is in pursuit!"

After informing on the combat communication channel, the pilot of the "Apostle" no longer played the duck game with the close-range defense laser. The plasma propulsion array behind the body suddenly burst out a ball of blue light, and the golden steel giant immediately brandished a double-edged battle axe and quickly closed the distance with Amber.

This time, Amber, as the pursued party, also lost his mobility advantage in front of the HCP. He had just moved behind a new composite armored shelter when the Apostle's plasma double-edged battle axe chopped him down and split the shelter like a hot knife through butter.

The scorching blue plasma blade almost slashed into the ground right next to Amber. Fortunately, Amber braked at the last moment and avoided a head-on collision. However, this also meant that he entered the melee attack range of the "Apostle", and the latter slightly pulled out the double-edged battle axe and turned the axe horizontally, sweeping towards Amber on the side.

At this critical moment, Amber realized something as if she had received a blessing from heaven, and at the same time, a roar came from a loudspeaker behind her.

"Get out of the way!"

Amber's legs suddenly exerted force, causing him to throw himself to the side and fall to the ground. He didn't know why he did this, but his body subconsciously performed this series of actions.

The next second, another scarlet HCP passed by where Amber had just stood. The huge plasma heavy sword drew a blue crescent in the air, and then slashed heavily on the deflection field that was automatically activated in the 'adaptive mode'.

A silver-white electric arc instantly exploded between the two machines, causing the dancing electric snakes to burn the surrounding grass. If Amber had not moved quickly enough and rolled to the side several times after falling down, she would probably have been burned to a charcoal along with the lawn by the electromagnetic eddy current.

The blue light of the plasma propulsion array behind the scarlet HCP burst out with a brighter light at this moment. The powerful thrust forced the plasma heavy sword to be stirred into the deflection field of the 'Apostle', and then the heavy sword and the deflection field generator were short-circuited at the same time.

The plasma blade on the heavy sword went out, and the deflection force field that wrapped around the "Apostle" also disappeared. The heavy sword, like a door panel, hit the "Apostle" hard after losing its blocking effect. However, without the cutting effect of the high-temperature plasma blade, it was obviously not effective against the "Apostle" in golden heavy armor. But this red HCP obviously had more than just cold weapons. While the heavy sword was slashing, its pilot also deployed and lowered the heavy particle cannon on the weapon rack behind him, and then aimed at the torso of the "Apostle".

"boom!"

A blue-white beam of light appeared in an instant, stirred up a storm, and then quickly disappeared. When the smoke and dust dissipated, the upper body of the "Apostle" had been completely melted by the close-range attack of the heavy particle cannon, leaving only the still standing feet and the remains of the mechanical arm that fell to the ground.

At this moment, Amber also saw the Atlas logo painted on the red HCP shoulder armor, and recognized that this HCP was actually the "Woodworth" that the company had just started to equip ACE pilots.
Looking at the iconic red paint job of this machine, as well as the smooth "Shield Deception and Cannon Technique" operation just performed, Amber had actually guessed who the pilot of this HCP was.

"I'll cover your evacuation, follow me."

A cold voice came from the loudspeaker of the aircraft, and then the 'Woodworth' turned around and began to move towards the west wing guardrail, leaving behind a handsome back view.

But Amber felt so embarrassed that she wanted to dig out a three-bedroom, two-living-room house with her toes.
"No, why are you trying to be cool at a time like this?"
-
With this scarlet 'mysterious machine' leading the way, Amber's subsequent actions were much safer. All the enemies along the way were dealt with by this scarlet HCP, and Amber also noticed that there were actually several HCPs around to provide support.

Just now, when this scarlet HCP was facing the siege of four "Apostles" and a large number of armored infantry, it was these HCPs that were providing cover around it that provided accurate long-range fire support, instantly disintegrating the opponent's assault formation and creating an opportunity for this scarlet HCP to break into the enemy formation and become invincible.

However, the red HCP of the Atlas combat unit seemed to have broken away from the main force and was the first to break into the Grand Palace, so there were not many friendly forces to share the attack with it. Moreover, even after it fired a round of Wushuang to destroy the enemy in front of it, rumbling footsteps could still be heard from the depths of the Grand Palace - more Martyr Corps were surrounding it in this direction.

At this moment, the red HCP stopped, raised its mechanical arm and pointed to a building on the west side that had become dilapidated in the war.

"After passing through this building, walk a little further to the west wing wall. There has been a gap there, and you can leave the Grand Palace through the gap."

The voice in the loudspeaker was still so cold, and Amber's eyes twitched, but he couldn't help but ask:
"Then what are you going to do? Judging from the commotion, a lot of the guards inside the Grand Palace should be heading here, right?"

"It's okay, just go ahead."

"grass"

Amber stopped talking nonsense and ran towards the building on the west side that could no longer be seen in its original appearance without looking back. He was afraid that if he said a few more words, he might be embarrassed to death here.

The moment she rushed into the building, she heard a series of explosions behind her. Amber looked back and saw that the flames of the explosions also covered the area where the Martyr Corps was assembled. The precise trajectory that fell almost straight down was most likely from the E-2 heavy vehicle-mounted self-propelled electromagnetic gun.

It seems that the Atlas Group's ground combat forces also launched an attack on the Grand Palace from the outside.

"I don't know what price Agnes finally offered."

After this inappropriate thought flashed through her mind, Amber strode into the building in front of her. The magnificent dome inside was riddled with holes, and the sunlight struggled to shine through the broken gaps, onto the ruins ravaged by war.

The once gorgeous marble floor is now covered with craters and cracks, like a hideous spider web. The walls inside the building were blown to pieces by artillery fire. Among the ruins, the exquisite murals of the past have become blurred, as if silently telling the story of past glory and present misery.

Amber lamented the dilemma that Agnes would have to face in rebuilding the garden after ascending the throne. At the same time, he wondered if Atlas would have a chance to profit from it. He quickly passed through the not-so-large building and saw the west wing retaining wall not far away from the gap at the other end.

The towering and magnificent white wall had been blasted with a huge gap, just like in the 82nd year of the new calendar.

(End of this chapter)