From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 732 I’ll pay for the rescue!
As the Imperial Finance Minister who had a bright future, Jacques Kohl already felt something was not good when he saw the Legion of Martyrs appear.

When the Archbishop denounced Princess Agnes and then the Regent Norton II publicly reaffirmed his allegiance to the old Emperor Frederico, he was almost petrified.

It was like he finally made up his mind and boarded a cruise ship that looked like it could cross the ocean, but halfway through the cruise he found out that the name of the ship was "Titanic".
Jacques Cole also soon felt the gazes from behind him from the Imperial Chancellor, the Interior Minister and others, which seemed to wish they could eat him alive.

Under his lobbying, these high-ranking officials of the empire finally decided to support Princess Agnes. To be on the safe side, they waited until the day of the coronation ceremony before publicly standing with Agnes.

Who would have thought that the situation would suddenly change in an instant, and they were all at risk of being labeled as "princess traitors"
"Amber! You are taking advantage of the situation, aren't you?"

So the Minister of Finance, who was originally just listening to the negotiations between Amber and Princess Agnes, couldn't bear it anymore when he heard Amber start to show an embarrassed mood.

"Mr. Jacques, I don't mean to take advantage of someone's misfortune."

Jacques Cole was furious when he heard Amber's voice: "If this isn't taking advantage of someone's misfortune, what is this? Haven't you reached a cooperation agreement with Her Highness?! Besides, what did you tell me at that time - Ah, you have to fully support Her Highness Agnes to ascend the throne smoothly~"

"Things are different now. The situation has changed a lot. I didn't expect that the regent would play with the old emperor. I thought that the royal family was united to fight against the regent."

Amber's words were half true and half false. He had indeed not expected that the Regent would get together with the old Emperor Frederico, but he also knew at the time that the old emperor did not seem to trust his daughter, so he had always planned on the premise that Agnes and her group would "fight alone."

Amber: "Uncle, if we, the Atlas Group, are asked to fight against the Regent and the old Emperor at the same time, it might be a bit difficult."

"Don't say so much nonsense. I know you just want to raise the price! Fine! Our Ministry of Finance will pay for the rescue!"

Agnes: “Huh?”

Jacques Cole looked at His Highness who had not yet successfully ascended the throne, and then said: "Your Highness, the Ministry of Finance currently has some surplus funds. We are in a critical moment right now. If we want to stand to the end, we must rely on the power of the Atlas Group."

"I know, but just use the money from the Ministry of Finance."

Agnes was still a little hesitant at this moment, but Jacques Cole, who had already tied himself completely to the 'Princess Chariot', also uttered the classic saying that condensed his decades of experience in the imperial officialdom, making Amber, the Imperial Chancellor and others sigh inwardly, 'I've learned something.'

"Your Highness, this great empire will be yours, so won't the money in the Treasury also be yours?"

After hearing this, Amber reacted immediately and did not give Agnes time to think. She said directly: "Okay! Since Mr. Jacques has said so, today's communication will be kept as a record and added to the white paper on strategic cooperation between Atlas Group and your country in the form of an 'appendix'."

"Then shouldn't you start working now?" Jacques Cole said this almost gritting his teeth.

"Of course, of course. I always do things for money and I never cheat anyone."

As Amber spoke, she synchronized the communication to the communication channels of the Dawn and the Golden Dragon Battle Group, and then said in a resounding voice:
"I declare that Operation Golden Dragon has officially begun! All units begin operations according to the planned combat plan!"

"Yes, Boss!" ×N——
"Report, the Atlas Group's ships are moving. Judging from the predicted track, they should be preparing to support the Duke of Hastings' fleet and attack us!"

In the core command room of the Fortress of Sorrow, Duke was not surprised after hearing the report from the tactical information coordinator. After all, in his combat plan, he always regarded the Atlas Group as the "ally" of the princess.

So at this moment he can continue to remain calm and issue orders according to the battle plan.

"Attention, all fleets. The current orbital course remains unchanged. Adjust the axis to face the enemy fleet and cover the orbital attack ship squadron in its deployment operation!"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!"

The tactical information coordinator quickly released the relevant information, and the operations staff in the core command room, who was also Duke's adjutant, also spoke up at this time: "Sir, are you focusing on the ground in this operation?"

"That's right!"

Duke nodded and continued, "All the important people are on the surface of Saint-Saunière, so as long as we can assist the ground forces in completing the combat mission, control the entire Grand Palace and capture Agnes and her allies, the battle will be over." While he was speaking, the huge fleet and the huge artificial celestial fortress, with the assistance of the vector control unit, completed the extremely fast combat axis adjustment.

The Fortress of Sorrow followed conventional combat procedures and deployed a huge deflection field to protect the surrounding fleets, while the Fortress of Gospel, which was heading this way, made the same move, protecting all friendly ships including the 'Dawn' like a 'mother ship'.

"Humph. I never thought that the strategic fortress of the empire would meet in battle on the track of the imperial capital."

The Duke's expression was a bit complicated at the moment. He was indeed unaware of the fact that the Regent was related to the old Emperor Frederico, but this did not affect him from continuing to fight for the Regent or for the 'winner'.

No matter who the Regent is loyal to or who he cooperates with, as long as this lord can be the final winner, then his "sword" that has fought for him from beginning to end will also bathe in the same glorious sunshine with him.

Thinking of this, Duke collected his thoughts and put all his energy into the battle. He looked at the orbital defense platform below and asked his adjutant:
"What is the situation of the garrison fleet and orbital defense platform? What did their commanders say to us before?"

"They didn't say it explicitly, Your Excellency." The adjutant paused for a moment, organized his words, and then continued, "But judging from the negotiation process, they are actually more optimistic about our side. If our advantage is big enough, then these 'fence-sitters' will definitely join the battle against the princess's side."

"These guys. Let me get through to their commander. I'll negotiate with them in person."

Before Duke Duke finished speaking, the tactical information coordinator on the other side suddenly said anxiously: "Report! We have detected that the warships of the Atlas Group are attacking the orbital defense platform?! Oh my God, it seems that they are going to send out assault cabins to force their way in?"

At the same time, the images captured by the optical sensor were displayed on the main screen of the command room.

In the picture, the giant ship of the Atlas Group made a tactical maneuver to lower its orbital altitude, and in the process, it smashed one assault capsule after another towards the orbital defense platform like giving birth.

The large number of secondary weapons equipped on this giant ship also began to pour firepower towards the orbital defense platform, providing cover for the units deployed.

The orbital defense platform, which had been on guard against both sides, responded immediately. The anti-aircraft firepower was instantly activated and began to intercept the attacking assault capsules. At this distance, the interception efficiency of the orbital defense platform was astonishing. A large number of assault capsules were attacked during the evasion process and turned into fireballs.

But the assault units on the Dawn were endless, and they were always marching. In the magnified optical picture, Duke and his companions even saw that the giant ship directly launched heavy power armor and infantry units that looked like marines.
"Have the people from the Atlas Group gone crazy? They don't even need assault capsules and just drop people down directly?!" Duke Duke said in shock.

What shocked him even more was yet to come.

These units seemed like "free gifts" to him. Since there were enough of them deployed, many of them broke through the interception of the orbital defense platform and then smashed directly into the outer layer of the platform like meteorites.

Then, these Marines, who should have been crushed to death according to common sense, quickly began to move one by one.

They were divided into two teams. One team attacked the surrounding anti-aircraft firepower directly from the outside of the defense platform and launched an attack on other adjacent platforms. The other team, with the assistance of various equipment, forcibly opened a passage to the inside of the defense platform.

Then, like cancer cells, it spreads rapidly from within the platform.
"What on earth is this? How could a human forcibly climb onto the platform in this way? Even the elves of the Thousand Star Empire can't have such physical fitness!"

Amid Duke's shock, the Regret Fortress Battle Group soon received a request for support from the orbital defense platform.

According to the horrified description of the enemy commander, these Atlas combat units that broke into the interior attacked at an extremely fast speed, and many areas were invaded before they even had time to react. The enemy was also using several completely controlled platforms as nodes and investing more and more landing forces.

Just when Duke was struggling over whether he should allocate part of his Marines to support the orbital defense platform, the tactical information coordinator issued a new warning.

"Reporting, signs of abnormal mass growth and unauthorized spatial fluctuations detected"

Duke's face suddenly darkened. He looked at the coordinates marked on the situation star map and said, "It should be the fleet of the Atlas Group that has arrived."

Before he could finish, the tactical information coordinator continued to report loudly, and this time there was a hint of excitement in his tone.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we have detected signs of authorized spatial fluctuations. The signature code has been matched. It is the battle group of Duke Sauron!"

(End of this chapter)