From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 743: Ineffective Attack
"Report! The fusion reactor group is running stably, and all data indicators are normal!"

"Report! The superconducting battery stack discharge test has passed and has reached the critical value!"

"Report! The acceleration track has completed self-inspection and the projectile has been placed!"

"Attention, control tower! The heavy particle cannon array is ready to fire! Ready to fire at any time!"

Reports echoed in the raised command towers of the eighteen airdrop fortresses. As these fortresses completed their launch preparations one after another, the icons representing the main gun groups of the eighteen airdrop fortresses turned green one by one on the virtual panel in front of Hogg and Van Fleet.

When the icon of the main gun group of the last airdrop fortress changed from the yellow "preparing" icon to the green "ready" icon, Hogg immediately activated the communication channel.

"Boss, the main gun strike group of the airdrop fortress is all green, ready to fire at any time!"

"Received! Wait for my order"

Amber replied in a low voice, his whole body completely sunk into the driver's seat. At this moment, his red 'Woodworth' was fleeing at the highest speed in the direction away from the airdrop fortress group.

The ATT Squadron and the vanguard of the First Army have separated from him, because Amber knows that this star dragon has set its sights on her for unknown reasons, so there is no need to let others fight with her.

Moreover, in a battle of this magnitude, the death pension would probably make the group's CFO, who is almost 60 years old, faint - Amber did not want to see this scene, he still hoped that the other party could work for the group for a few more decades.

With Lilith's constant reminders and the real-time refreshing of information on the full-circle screen, Amber finally confirmed that the star dragon's attention had been completely attracted by him, and at the same time he no longer hesitated.

"Attention all main gun crews of the airdrop fortress! All gun ports fire double shots, open fire!"

Amber's order instantly resounded through the communication channels in the command towers of all the fortresses. At this moment, the eighteen airdrop fortresses seemed like giant beasts awakening, and the hideous ten-mounted battleship-class heavy particle cannons in the central area of ​​their backs also began to show high-energy reactions.

Inside the fortress, the fusion reactor emitted a low hum like the heartbeat of a giant beast. The technicians stared nervously at the monitoring screen in the control room. The environmental control system running at full capacity couldn't even prevent sweat from soaking through their uniforms.

All gun ports are illuminated, and it's double-shot.

This is definitely not an easy task for these airdrop fortresses that have just been put into actual combat.

Due to time constraints, although the main gun groups of most airdrop fortresses have undergone irradiation tests, they have not tried to irradiate all gun ports at the same time. Moreover, after the first round of shooting, the acceleration track must be cooled immediately before the second round of shooting. This is also a big test for the fusion reactor group transplanted from the battleship to the airdrop fortress.

At the end of the acceleration track, the special alloy that has been improved and adopted a new formula instantly vaporizes, expands, and explodes under the energy impact of the fusion furnace, turning into a dazzling ball of plasma.

This ball of violent energy was firmly confined in the directional magnetic field, and it raced along the acceleration track until it eventually turned into blue-white beams of light that tore through the sky, pouring down at the huge figure that blocked out the sun in the sky at one percent of the speed of light.

As the main weapon on the airdrop fortress, whose power is second only to tactical nuclear bombs, these battleship-class heavy particle cannons, which were lost in the artillery fire of both sides in large-scale fleet battles, now showed their power in the atmosphere that changed the color of the sky and the earth.

Even Amber, who was sitting in the cockpit of the 'Woodwater', could feel everything around her trembling slightly. It was the resonance caused by the friction between energy and the atmosphere.

"In theory, nothing can withstand a direct hit from a battleship-class heavy particle cannon in the atmosphere without the help of shield technology."

Amber muttered to himself in the cockpit. He knew very well that even Atlas' own airdrop fortress could not withstand this level of attack without activating the deflection field.

As a deacon of the Forerunner Civilization Think Tank, although Saleh still feels that the current technological level of human civilization is very backward, she has some recognition for weapons such as the "heavy particle cannon".

In her words, although the efficiency of energy conversion is still a bit low, and is still in the early stages of "the greater the power, the greater the power", it is at least remarkable in terms of power. At least when the warships of the Forerunner civilization do not activate their shields, they can indeed cause fatal damage.

If the output power is large enough, the acceleration track will be more efficient and it is not impossible to penetrate the battleship's shield.

You are so strong that you can throw bricks everywhere. You are really not kidding me.

"I hope Saleh's judgment this time is correct"

This thought flashed through Amber's mind at this moment. According to the information about the star dragons that Saleh dug out from her memory, although this race was called "perfect cosmic creatures", it did not mean that this race was invincible. They still followed the limitations of the physical laws of this universe, and attacks with sufficient power could also cause damage to them.

Otherwise, the Mi-annihilation Fleet of the Forerunner Civilization would not have been able to completely annihilate the Star Dragon race.
Oh, yes. There is still this one remaining one who is chasing after Amber.

One hundred and eighty thick blue-white light beams, like spears of divine punishment piercing through the sky, accurately hit Sartarios in the air.

At that moment, time seemed to freeze.

Amber saw clearly through the rear view window of the aircraft that the giant star dragon, which had been so invincible, suddenly paused in the air, and was briefly "stiffened" by the 180 torrents of heavy metal particles.

Immediately afterwards, several balls of blood mist burst out from Sartario's body covered with hard dragon scales and wings, and even several huge, shocking penetrating wounds were torn apart, which were traces left by a torrent of heavy metal particles penetrating the flesh and bones.

"boom--!"

Sartario, who had lost his balance, let out a painful roar. At this moment, he seemed to be stopped by a "dragon carriage" and fell to the ground like a meteorite. The moment he hit the ground, the whole earth was shaking violently, as if a magnitude 12 earthquake had occurred. The mountains in the distance even experienced small-scale landslides under the influence of this vibration.

The eighteen airdrop fortresses were closer, so they could not avoid this 'AOE' attack. All the airdrop fortresses showed warnings of 'structural damage', and even the land under several airdrop fortresses was loosened by the earthquake, causing the fortresses to collapse.

But this did not affect the deafening cheers that broke out in the command towers.

"Hit!"

"We hit it!"

Hogg, Van Fleet, and all the technicians in the fortress's command tower hugged each other excitedly. The fortress's observation unit clearly captured the wounds on Sartarius' wings, which was enough to prove that their attack was successful.

Then, the heavy particle artillery group, which had cooled at a faster rate in the atmosphere, fired a second round of salvos at the hill-like target in the smoke and dust.

The violent torrent of heavy metal particles blew away the smoke and dust, and with the arrogance and seriousness of the high-powered scholar, it mercilessly left a large number of wounds on Sartharion's body again.
The blood gushing out of the giant star dragon's wound spread around like a flood. To Amber, it looked very much like the "explosion" after killing the apostle in EVA.

However, there was no trace of joy on his face at this moment.

As a powerful psychic, Amber clearly sensed that although Sartharion's life force had weakened somewhat during the bombardment, it was still strong.
Even at the moment when the bombardment ended, the already extremely strong vitality suddenly erupted, becoming even more violent and more dangerous!
"Fuck! Don't open the champagne for me at halftime! It's not dead yet!"

Amber's voice was deep and solemn, and it was particularly harsh amid the cheers. As if to confirm his words, a deafening roar came from the huge pit filled with smoke and dust.

"Roar--!"

Sarthario stood up again.

But at this moment, it seems that it has lost the noble and inviolable aura it had before.

The huge body was covered with wounds of varying sizes, and the originally smooth scales had become tattered.

But what made Amber uneasy was that those wounds, even the penetrating wounds that could be seen on the other side, were healing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This is the power presented by the complete fusion of the 'Eternal Cell' and the Star Dragon. Although it will consume a large amount of biomass obtained by Sartharion in the 'Final Dogma Zone', it is also equivalent to making this round of attack by the airdrop fortress group almost invalid.

"Damn it! Is this an 'eternal cell' or a 'T cell'?" Amber couldn't help but curse when she saw this scene.

He knew that although this round of attack by the airdrop fortress group caused considerable damage to Sartharion, it did not really threaten its life. With the abnormal repair ability of the "Eternal Cells", the dragon would soon "regain its strength".

What's worse is that Amber believed that this round of attack definitely angered the star dragon, which was already full of "morning grumpy".

"Salih!"

"I'm in Amber"

"look by youself!"

"Amber, I can only say that the power of the 'Eternal Cell' exceeded my expectations, causing me to make a mistake in my judgment," Saleh said after a pause, "but we did not gain nothing from this round of attacks."

Amber: "You mean we can do effective damage to this big guy?"

"That's right! The reason why this round of attack is not fatal is that we have not exceeded the threshold of the Eternal Cell's repair ability. In layman's terms, the damage is not enough. If we can have a stronger attack and guarantee the hit rate, we can kill this dragon before the Eternal Cell has time to repair itself!"

"A stronger attack," Amber muttered.

For some reason, at this obviously very tense moment, Amber's jumping thoughts made him think of the final battle in the old movie "Jurassic World" Part I.

When facing the Indominus Rex, which the three Velociraptors could not defeat, the protagonist's answer was "more teeth are needed".
"More teeth and more heavy particle cannons."

Amber suddenly looked up at the sky. The sounds of the two huge battle groups in orbit fighting could be clearly seen on the surface of the planet.
-
In the smoke and dust, Sartario slowly raised his head, flames of anger burning in his cold vertical pupils.

It never thought that it would be hurt by these tiny ants. What made it feel even more humiliated was that its reaction speed had degenerated to such an extent after a long period of suspended animation that it could not even dodge an attack at 1 percent of the speed of light!
"Ants, you have succeeded in irritating me!"

Sarthario's voice echoed between heaven and earth, and every word contained endless anger and murderous intent.
"I will make you pay the price, I will let you know what true fear is!!!"

Then, the shadows of the wings rose again in the smoke and dust, and the wing membranes that were originally riddled with holes were almost completely repaired in such a short time.

Amber's heart sank when he felt Sartario's anger. He knew that the real crisis had just begun.

"Fortress No. 2, launch the high-speed flight kit!" Amber gave the order decisively, with a hint of determination in her voice.

After receiving the order, Fortress No. 2, which was closest to Amber, responded quickly. A huge cylindrical object, also painted red, was shot out from the electromagnetic acceleration track on the side of the fortress, carrying an arc of electricity and flying precisely in the direction of Amber.

That was the high-speed flight kit for Amber's special aircraft, and it was also a significant upgrade from Woodworth's general flight kit.

It is essentially a product of 'great power', and its performance is completely beyond the limits of what ordinary human pilots can control. Only a pilot like Amber, who has undergone body modification and is also a psychic, can withstand its abnormal overload.

When it was about to approach Amber, the cylindrical shell with a conformal effect exploded, separating the modular components inside.

Taking advantage of the brief period when the giant star dragon behind her was repairing its body, Amber quickly completed the kit replacement like in a traditional mecha war movie.

After being equipped with the high-speed flight kit, the shape of "Woodworth" becomes more compact and flat. At the same time, the large number of streamlined shells also greatly optimize the aerodynamic level of the fuselage. It is better to say that it has become a high-speed aircraft rather than a HCP.

At the back of the aircraft, the weapons container was also abandoned. In addition to the original plasma propulsion array, there were two new propulsion arrays, plus four disposable chemical rockets for acceleration.

"Attention, Hogg, Van Fleet, all fortresses and ground forces, stop attacking and enter silence. After I lead this big guy away, you will immediately attack the Grand Palace and find Princess Agnes!"

Amber yelled in the communication channel: "If he's alive, I want to see him. If he's dead, I want to see his body!"

"Boss, are you going to lure this dragon away?"

Hogg and Van Fleet in the fortress command tower were stunned after hearing this. They couldn't imagine how Amber had the courage, and they couldn't imagine how their boss could do this.
But Amber couldn't care less about this now. He knew he had to leave here as soon as possible and divert Sartario's attention.

Otherwise, with the attack power of this giant star dragon, the airdrop fortress group and everyone here will face a catastrophic disaster.

The next second, 'Woodwater' activated the high-speed flight kit, and the three plasma propulsion arrays behind the body suddenly ejected dazzling blue flames, but at this moment, what brought greater acceleration were the four chemical rockets that were madly consuming fuel.

With the joint efforts of these thrusters, 'Woodwater' began to rush forward at an astonishing speed.

The high-speed friction between the aircraft body and the air produced vibrations and noise that whistled in Amber's ears. The scenery outside the cockpit was rapidly receding. He just drove the "Woodwater" like a red lightning, rushing towards the distance.

Sartario's eyes were fixed on the receding blue light.

It could sense that the human was the same one who had demonstrated the ability to travel through time and space in the 'Final Dogma Zone' more than five hundred years ago.

"There's no point in struggling. You can't escape!"

Sarthario let out a low roar, and flapped his huge wings violently, stirring up a violent airflow, and chased after Amber.

(End of this chapter)