From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 730: Defeat them one by one?

Amber in the princess' villa witnessed the entire confrontation between Agnes and Norton II. He felt that the scene before him was extremely absurd.

The two most powerful people in the entire empire were actually verbally attacking each other from a distance of hundreds of meters in the main entrance square of the Grand Palace, and there were a large number of nobles watching around.
Seeing that both sides were so aggressive but no one dared to fire the first shot, resulting in a stalemate, Amber couldn't help but complain: "This doesn't look like a conflict that breaks out within an empire in this interstellar era. Will both sides send out their generals to duel?"

"Master, according to my analysis, this may be an imperial tradition." Lilith suddenly said.

"What do you mean?"

"Master, the cultural traditions of the Star Dragon Empire are completely different from those of the Federation. I believe you can see that this is a feudal monarchy that is quite retro in every aspect. In such a country, the personal charm of the monarch, or the leader, is the key to maintaining the rule. A qualified ruler must not only have skills, but also have 'acting skills'."

"So you think they're acting?"

Lilith: "That's right, Master~ I think they are using this method to let the nobles and commoners of the empire know their tough attitude. After all, the empire has always been a country that pursues strongman politics. If Agnes can't make herself look tougher than the regent, she may not be able to consolidate her position after ascending the throne."

"What a stupid and weird tradition. If you really want to show your toughness, just start fighting. Why do you have to do so much nonsense?"

Hearing Lilith's words, Amber couldn't help but shook her head. She could only say that she didn't know enough about these "feudal diehards" in the empire.

But even so, Amber was able to be sure of one thing, that was that there was definitely something wrong with Regent Norton II's performance today!
What is Norton II's 'official establishment'?
A "hero" who is able to plan and calculate everything, and who is decisive and never drags his feet, and is determined to launch an aristocratic revolution to overthrow the rule of the Leon family. This is why so many players like this character who only appears in the background of the plot.

But ever since Norton II's temperament changed drastically, and Amber met him in the imperial city, and then to his argument with Agnes in front of the main gate of the Grand Palace just now, his every word and action were very different from the image Amber had in mind. It was as if he had been replaced by a hot-headed madman obsessed with power.

If this plot had appeared in the previous game, Amber believed that many players would have denounced the Regent's performance as 'OOC'.

Just as Amber was wondering what had happened to Norton II, a Roma Marine suddenly rushed into the hall where he was with a serious expression on his face.

"Boss, the Imperial Guards moving towards us have already deployed their offensive formation. It seems that they intend to use their superior numbers to forcefully break through the defenses of Villa. The drone we sent out was also shot down by the enemy's accompanying air defenses. We are unable to continue monitoring them from the air for the time being."

"It's okay. What's coming will come."

Amber, who had chosen the latter between a dress and power armor early in the morning, walked up to the Marine and patted him on the shoulder, then walked out of the hall first.

Although according to the booking process provided by Agnes, she should have changed into a dress early in the morning and went to the Grand Palace to watch the ceremony, in fact, Amber never felt that today's coronation ceremony would go smoothly.

Especially after discovering the movements of the Regent's fleet and receiving the news that the Regent had personally come to the ground, Amber directly chose to put on the power armor.

Soon, Amber arrived at the main gate defense line of the Princess Villa, and the Roma Marines who came to the ground with him also burst into extremely high morale. In their view, with the boss personally in charge of the battle, any invading enemy would be completely annihilated.

On the other side, the commander of the Imperial Guards who was tasked with "controlling Amber and the Atlas delegation" and was in charge of commanding the attack obviously had not yet realized what would happen next. However, he did discover something unusual about the Princess Villa through the real-time images sent back by the optoelectronic mast of the reconnaissance vehicle in front.

As the imperial guards guarding the imperial capital, they have access to the layout of all hidden defense points in the imperial capital. Even the princess' villa is no exception. After all, the empire does not believe that there will be a rebellion by the imperial guards.

However, the current defense situation of the princess' villa is greatly different from the registration information in the imperial guards' database.

Because in addition to the hidden bunkers, fixed defense weapons, and the more than one hundred Atlas Group armed personnel mentioned in the intelligence, the reconnaissance vehicle discovered that there were actually a lot of brand-new automated turrets - there were even three fixed heavy particle cannons mixed in with the charged particle cannons and electromagnetic machine guns.

"There's something wrong with the intelligence."

In a command vehicle that was in stealth mode somewhere, the commander of this team of imperial guards looked at the defensive firepower marked by the reconnaissance vehicle and began to wonder in his heart.

The Imperial Guards had actually heard of the reputation of the Atlas Group and Amber, but since they had decided to follow the Regent, these passionate young officers would naturally not back down.

And according to intelligence, the Atlas Group only sent more than 100 people. Although Mr. Amber is a psychic, he has no support from armored units anyway. What's more, the Imperial Guards have received a lot of training in fighting against psychics - they even practiced against the Royal Silencers.

Therefore, the commander of the Imperial Guards who won the task of 'controlling Amber and Atlas units' by lottery did not have any other ideas at first. He just wanted to complete the task in one go and not disappoint the expectations of the Regent.

but now.
"Lieutenant Colonel, there may be more than just these fixed defensive weapons."

The combat staff officer in the command vehicle spoke up, and then moved another screen in front of the commander of the Imperial Guards. On this screen were reports from reconnaissance teams in other directions of the Princess' Villa.

These reconnaissance units discovered that except for the main gate, a large number of spider-shaped armed robots were deployed in other directions of the Princess Villa. These fully armed robots, which were quite numerous, were now guarding the outside of the Princess Villa.

Moreover, inside the villa, one can occasionally see a number of mechanical units transporting supplies, as if they were ready for battle and were just waiting for the Imperial Guards to launch an attack.

Seeing this scene, the commander of the imperial guards immediately thought of the heavy trucks that had frequently entered and exited the princess's villa in recent days.
At that time, because these trucks were painted with the logos of various food and material suppliers in the imperial capital, the commander thought they were delivering supplies to the princess' villa as usual.

Moreover, their reconnaissance equipment did not find any signs of life in these trucks except the drivers.
It now appears that those trucks were simply quietly transporting a large number of armed robots in under the guise of delivering supplies.

"We were still careless." The commander of the Imperial Guards frowned. If the other party was well prepared, then their attack might not be as smooth as they imagined.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you don't have to blame yourself. If it was arranged by the princess, it would not be difficult to conceal it." The combat staff paused for a moment, then continued, "The question now is whether we should continue to launch the attack according to the predetermined plan."
-
At the same time, Amber, who was staying behind a bunker at the main entrance of the Princess Villa, suddenly received an emergency communication from the Dawn in orbit.

When he answered the call, Isabel's face immediately appeared on the communication screen of the tactical visor HUD.

"Amber, we just detected an abnormal mass growth and space fluctuation. The shipboard control personality judged it to be a large-scale fleet jump. After communicating with the Duke of Hastings and his men, the other party also stated that the characteristics of this space fluctuation are 'unauthorized'." "The Regent's fleet?"

Isabel nodded. "Very likely."

"It seems that the other party started the jump immediately after their movements were discovered by the reconnaissance ship yesterday. It seems that they wanted to put pressure on Agnes at the moment of confrontation between the two sides." Amber analyzed.

"What should we do now?"

"The Dawn and its affiliated ships enter combat mode and send a signal to the Golden Dragon Battle Group on standby in deep space to have them prepare for a jump."

While Amber was communicating with Isabel and others on the Dawn, Princess Agnes, who was at the "confrontation site" at the Grand Palace, also learned from the Duke of Hastings who was on standby in orbit that the target suspected to be the Regent Fleet was leaving the jump state.

She immediately ordered the Duke of Hastings to lead the fleet to prepare for battle and to prevent the Regent from completely controlling the outer space of Saint-Saunière if the situation got out of control.

"This is putting pressure on us in all aspects, Your Highness." Finance Minister Jacques Cole, who has chosen to "side with" Agnes, said with a gloomy face.

Although he felt a little regretful at the moment that he should not have jumped out to "take sides" so early, but since he could no longer regret it, he could only find a way to push Agnes to the throne.

At the same time, he hopes that his "cheap nephew" Amber, who leads the Atlas Group to support Agnes, can be reliable enough.
"Don't worry, Sir Jacques."

As if she had seen through the Finance Minister's concerns, Princess Agnes continued to stare at the 'rebels' who had retreated to the temporary shelter below, and spoke:
"Duke Hastings and Duke Artesia are in orbit around the planet. With their fleets and celestial fortresses, it won't be easy for Norton II to seize control of the sky. Moreover, if we are unable to cope with it, we will have the reinforcements from Mr. Amber."

"Ah~ Amber just hopes that he can be reliable this time." Jacques Cole pursed his lips, "What about Duke Soren? Your Highness, have you tried to contact him? If the Regent's actions can be judged as 'armed rebellion', Duke Soren and his men should not just stand by and watch."

Hearing Jacques Cole's question, Agnes' face became solemn. "I have sent someone to contact them, but I have not received a reply from them yet."

Just as Agnes was about to say something to the Finance Minister, Jacques Kohl, and the Imperial Chancellor, Natalia's face suddenly changed, and she said to Agnes in a slightly anxious tone:

"Your Highness, the Martyrs' Corps stationed near the Anglican Cathedral has started to move, and they are currently marching quickly towards here under the personal leadership of the Archbishop."

Agnes, Jacques Cole and others suddenly looked tense when they heard this, because they realized that this "National Religion Guard Army" chose to go out at this time, definitely not to come here to "watch", but to have their own plans.

This also means that the chaos in Saint-Saunière caused by the struggle for the throne has escalated again with the involvement of third-party forces.

In the square in front of the main entrance of the Grand Palace, the atmosphere was extremely solemn at this moment, and the air around seemed to be frozen.

Those imperial nobles who were not afraid of death and were still watching the scene held their breath and watched the situation in front of them nervously, afraid of missing any details.

Because they knew that what was coming would be a critical moment that would determine the fate of the empire.

And they will become witnesses of this historic event.

"What exactly does the Archbishop want to do by leading the Martyrs' Legion at this time? And the Emperor has not shown up yet."

Agnes, standing high on the city wall, had a complex emotion in her eyes. At the same time, she also felt a little confused. As the armed force of the Imperial State Religion, the Martyr Corps has always been loyal to every emperor and the State Religion Church.

Logically, they should strictly remain neutral and not participate in any political struggles, but now they are moving towards the direction of the Grand Palace at this sensitive moment.
"Could it be that they have also reached some kind of agreement with the Regent?"

Just as Agnes was thinking carefully about the secret behind this, Natalia suddenly continued to report to her: "Your Highness, according to the latest reconnaissance intelligence, the Martyr Corps has split up, and one of them did not move towards this place."

"Did they go to the Princess Villa?" Agnes, who had guessed something, immediately asked back.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Agnes' eyes flashed with a sharp light: "It seems that the other party has realized the importance of Mr. Amber and the Atlas Group to us, and wants to take the initiative to kill our allies. Have you notified Mr. Amber?"

"The intelligence has been synchronized." Natalia hesitated for a moment, then continued to ask, "Your Highness, do you really not need to send troops to support Mr. Amber?"

"Didn't I plan to dispatch troops there before, but Mr. Amber refused? Look at the situation outside. Our contact with Mr. Amber has been cut off. It is obvious that Norton II wants to defeat us one by one."

Agnes sighed helplessly and looked towards the direction of the Princess Villa. It was at this moment that the 'rebellious imperial guards' who had been in a standoff for a long time finally began to move.

Natalia looked at the situation below and advised: "Your Highness, they are about to attack, why don't you stay away for the time being."

"No, fighting against one's own family is a taboo. I want to give these imperial guards one last chance."

Agnes slowly walked to the edge of the city wall, and suddenly she exuded an aura of pressure that frightened the people around her. Her pupils turned golden, and a pair of dragon wings slowly appeared on her shadow under the sunlight.

Immediately afterwards, all the imperial guards below suddenly found a majestic female voice coming from all directions, as if countless people were talking to them at the same time.

"I am the Imperial Princess Agnes Barbara Leon, the one who brought shame to the Imperial Guards. I am giving you one last chance."

(End of this chapter)