Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1708 (Chapter 1704) Rules of Space Combat

Space boarding is the bloodiest form of combat, but also the most efficient operational strategy against high-value targets.

The basic operational regulations followed by all the Emperor's troops involved in boarding operations were a systematic summary compiled by the National Defense Staff, organized by Regent Victor von Doom, using the Asgardians' honed boarding combat experience, the urban warfare textbooks and cases of several major military powers on Earth, and the experience gained from the capture of the Blue Zone fortress of Attilan on the moon. This summary was made after extremely complex exercises and lengthy discussions.

Urban warfare on Earth is known for its high casualty rates, and boarding operations in space are even more so.

If we exclude vacuum and weightlessness environments, as well as the virtually impossible heavy and light armored support, conventional space boarding operations are essentially no different from urban warfare on Earth (referring to the absence of genetically modified soldiers; in military manuals, genetically modified soldiers are classified as lightly armored units). The only difference is that the air or artillery support found in ordinary urban warfare, including indirect fire such as squad-level mortar support commonly seen on Earth, is entirely replaced by space warships and space fighters.

The Retribution maintained a steady speed, gliding through the dark, silent void like a giant whale, maneuvering around the Kree space station like a beacon, its side guns always pointed towards the enemy. This sky carrier, originally intended for Project Insight, had undergone several modifications, even its keel was replaced with a more robust material, rendering it unable to adapt to atmospheric conditions and limiting its cruising range to suborbital.

No one would be foolish enough to ignore the Punisher's powerful firepower and troop deployment capabilities.

While she doesn't bear the primary responsibility for firepower delivery in this operation, this doesn't mean she can't provide indirect fire support to boarding forces. However, this powerful and effective fire support has become extremely dangerous. Before achieving operational objectives, the space boarding force cannot control the bridge. Rushing to order spaceships to destroy space stations and enemy ships could lead to sudden depressurization or weightlessness within a boarding force, causing secondary injuries to wounded personnel whose armor seals have been compromised. This necessitates an extremely high level of information technology integration for fire support operations during boarding operations; otherwise, interplanetary missiles or plasma composite armor-piercing warheads could very well end up hitting the attacking force head-on.

The sorority and the Space Marines can request fire support from the warships.

The tactical command center on the bridge of the USS Retribution precisely mapped a model of the Kree space station, along with the internal structure scanned by boarding forces in advance. The combat command center had already calculated firing parameters. All the complex coordination and scheduling work was handled by the staff and computers; troops at the heart of the battlefield only needed to pull out their data boards and issue commands—no more difficult than selecting items online. This system, proven during the Balkan unification wars, significantly reduced the probability of friendly fire incidents. Even so, the Sisters of the Sea and the Space Marines still faced immense risks; every combat team, upon opening a compartment, could potentially face a gun pointed at their head.

The molten metal bomb exploded in a fraction of a second, tiny flames and molten metal fragments flying like splashes of water throughout the compartment and passageway. Aura turned and pressed herself against the side of the passage, firing her gun into the passage beside her to suppress the Kree defenses and cover the assault team as they entered the blown-open compartment. Tita, shield in hand, charged in first, cutting through the smoke-shrouded Kree defenses' line of fire, her helmet's electronic eye, activated to detect heat, quickly scanning the compartment.

Aiming at the icon, penetrating the smoke, the advanced IFF system and sophisticated algorithms, combined with data from a series of complex battlefield identification systems such as the sensing radar that automatically lowers the detection spectrum, the pulse sound waves inside the audio receiving array, the miniature phased array inside the electronic eye, and the photoelectric detection system that collects all visible light, depict the terrain data while eliminating the red-hot metal debris scattered all over the ground like stars, and mark three human silhouettes enveloped by heat, visible light spectrum, and sound waves.

Tita swung her sword at the nearest silhouette. She heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh, the disintegrating force field scorching blood and flesh, emitting a foul, acrid stench. The spurting blood was like soft silk splattered onto her power armor and helmet. Sometimes she could even feel the heat of that blood, even though she knew it was impossible, but holding onto that image kept her in a good mood after surviving three laser weapon attacks. The Commander's Honor Guard, bursting through the blasted hatch, was less than half a second later than Tita. Before entering the compartment, the combat systems on their power armor helmets had shared the enemy silhouettes Tita had seen with them.

They fired at the outlines of two Kree figures a little further away; their still-warm blood and entrails, mapped by thermal imaging cameras, filled half the room like a giant, blooming bouquet. The cycle of breaching, entering, and clearing had been repeated forty-six times. Aura maintained her firing rhythm, muttering about the ammunition management regulations Tita had recently established, applicable only to her. The short bursts of the fire support squad effectively suppressed the Kree defenses on the other side of the passage. Only when a thermobaric round flew into the compartment where the Kree defenses were hiding did the suppressive fire slowly cease, handing the battlefield over to precise marksmen wielding semi-automatic sniper rifles.

Aura notified the logistics unit to resupply via the communications channel.

This was the third resupply, and each resupply meant a delay to the original operational plan. They hadn't yet managed to capture the energy core as planned, failing to completely cripple the space station's energy supply. This could lead the enemy, in desperation, to order the space station to crash into the asteroid belt. This was an absolutely unacceptable outcome. Almost every android was roaring deep inside, wanting to charge directly into the Kree defense forces, letting the stench of alien blood and filthy entrails cover the entire space station, just like the initial boarding operation, where almost every android's chainsword had drunk its fill of Kree blood.

But this is very difficult.

The Kree defense forces changed their tactics, no longer relying on reckless firepower suppression and surprise attacks to achieve their objectives. They discovered that their laser weapons were ineffective at burning through human armor, and their superior physical strength and reaction speed were no match for the girls clad in magnificent black armor. After their initial panic, they quickly organized their defenses, even intentionally withdrawing defensive positions from some compartments. They forced the human forces to clear all compartments through harassment and guerrilla warfare—similar to urban warfare on Earth, where the attackers must eliminate all buildings that might be hiding defenders. Since indirect fire cannot be used extensively in space boarding operations, this clearing process would be even more tedious. The staff in the Retribution's tactical command center speculated that the Kree commanders had realized that the human boarding forces' objective was not to sink but to capture the space station, and had deduced from experience that the boarding forces could not carry much ammunition.

It turned out that the commanders leading the Kree defense forces were extremely tactical.

In boarding operations, human armies can mostly rely on direct-fire weapons and demolition tools. The cycle of breaching, entering, and clearing out consumes a large amount of ammunition and results in significant casualties. Even after capturing the hangar and server rooms, they cannot use electronic warfare to disable aircraft that haven't yet taken off or steal bridge information; they can only consume more ammunition and explosives to achieve their tactical objectives. Furthermore, the relatively narrow compartments and passageways mean that boarding operations immediately become high-intensity combat, with almost no more than five minutes without engaging in firefights, further consuming ammunition.

The Kree commanders appear to intend to weaken the human army's offensive capabilities by leveraging strategic depth, terrain information asymmetry, and guerrilla warfare, until the human boarding forces stretch their lines, lack logistical support and ammunition resupply, and are unable to maintain more compartments before launching a counter-offensive. To support this tactic, Kree headhunters, clad in sealed spacesuits and armed with two short swords and laser pistols, will ambush the boarding forces, posing a significant threat to these mortal-based units.

Information obtained from rapid on-site autopsies suggests that these Kree headhunters appear to be creatures enhanced by some form of targeted genetic modification, possessing muscle mass and bone strength far exceeding that of ordinary Kree. In combat, they frequently exploit terrain disadvantages and extremely fast reaction speeds to launch attacks. Live samples of these genetically modified Kree were found within the Immortal City beneath Rome, discovered by space station defense forces in stasis chambers inside abandoned Kree spacecraft captured in Earth orbit. Maya Hansen, research director at the genetic laboratory, believes that the Kree headhunters may have been a security team for the Kree Empire's militarized genetic modification project against humanity (i.e., the Inhumans).

The Kree Headhunters, designed to combat the Inhumans, possessed formidable individual combat capabilities, inflicting significant losses on the space boarding forces. Clearly, this was a valuable military asset; otherwise, the Kree Headhunters' stasis-free ships wouldn't be stationary in Earth orbit. However, the Kree commanders misjudged the space fleet's troop deployment capabilities, logistical support, and the combat effectiveness of the human army. A mortal space marine corps was not without a chance against the Kree Headhunters; through close coordination, strict battlefield discipline, and a continuous stream of reserve support, victory was entirely possible.

As the Sisters of the Seas captured Operational Objective 5, additional boarding forces continued to arrive, entering the Kree space station through the captured passageways. The operations control room on the Retribution considered such casualties perfectly acceptable given the capture of the hangar, power center, gas recirculation chamber, and orbital defense control center.

The Sisterhood is currently only a few hundred meters away from its sixth operational objective (the energy center), and one of its most important objectives has not yet been truly achieved. On Earth, this is a short distance, but in space boarding operations, it means that there are countless compartments and firing points within a few hundred meters, and the urban warfare cycle will be prolonged. The Sisterhood still has a considerable gap to bridge to achieve its sixth operational objective.

Dita ran her fingers, encased in a steel-ceramic alloy, across her breastplate, revealing the golden lily decorations beneath the viscous, dark blue blood. She impatiently shook her fingers, trying to shake off the Kree blood. After repeatedly confirming that centripetal force was ineffective against the gelatinous Kree blood, she wiped her fingers with her suit of armor and simultaneously contacted the Retribution via the communications channel. "Order the other squads to accelerate their attack. Which Space Marine squad is closest to us?"

"Delta Squad and Gamma Squad. Delta Squad suffered 2 combat casualties; its objective was to capture the servers of the orbital defense platform. Gamma Squad suffered 1 combat casualty; its objective was to capture the hangar of the orbital defense platform. Both squads have completed their primary combat missions and are proceeding to execute their secondary tactical objectives."

"Punishment, bomb target D-6-30." Tita took the data panel from the escort and tapped a dot on the space station model on the screen. The target location was in the passageway behind the airtight door in front of the Sisterhood, where many Kree defense forces were likely hidden—Tita guessed that the Kree wanted to continue their previous tactics, forcing the Sisterhood to deplete their ammunition and explosives through guerrilla warfare—although in the pre-battle meeting, the Martian technicians repeatedly emphasized that the bombing would result in tedious repairs and massive costs, Tita didn't care. She knew the Emperor would have to pay a lot of money for this, but what did it matter? Wasn't the most important thing to offer the Emperor the alien head as a sacrifice?

"I have no patience to play these little games with these Kree aliens. I'd rather cut off a Kree's head than know what's inside it. Notify Delta Squad and Gamma Squad to be aware of depressurization and weightlessness. After completing the second tactical objective, proceed to the fourth level to support the Sisterhood."

The Punisher deftly adjusted its attitude, its onboard computer calculating the ship's relative position to the bombing target. Like a planet orbiting the space station at a constant speed, it awaited the moment when the artillery and the target would align. This calculation was not difficult; it was as simple as calculating a total solar eclipse on Earth. The tactical holographic projector provided the answer almost instantly upon Tita's command.

Aboard the USS Retribution, First Officer Stark watched the eerily silent war through her porthole. Neither the missiles exploding on the space station's defense platforms nor the carrier-based aircraft soaring through the void made a sound. She could only hear the faint hum of the ship's computers and the low, tense conversations between officers of various ranks. This was all beyond her imagination. Although she was nominally one of the first humans to reach the edge of the solar system, she had never witnessed a space war firsthand.

"Your bombing request will be responded to in 12 minutes and 06 seconds."

"Fuck...where are the carrier-based aircraft?"

At this moment, Aura pointed to the side of her helmet, indicating that she could also hear Tita speaking.

The sorority's code of conduct required every member to maintain proper decorum, or they would be forced to copy it. This requirement was ignored during combat, and Tita was certain that Aura was doing this in retaliation for the makeshift ammunition control regulations she had created. She decided to ignore this childish revenge; she always felt that Aura was just as mischievous as the already fallen Catherine.

"The battle report says we've destroyed the servers for the hangar and orbital defense platform! Don't tell me the information in the battle report is wrong!"

"The battle report is correct; we have indeed disabled the orbital defense platform's firepower. However, the orbital defense platform's guns can still lock onto our carrier-based aircraft. The staff believes the bridge may have a backup system. We are deploying electronic jamming satellites and anti-radiation missiles to address this issue. The relevant information has been compiled by the Mars technicians, who are studying how to counter this alien technology."

Tita doesn't expect those Mars technicians to be able to provide effective electronic warfare capabilities right now.

Alien technology has always been a sensitive topic, and even Martian technocrats cannot research it at will. She knew that if she demanded answers from the Martian technocrats, they would then demand that the Emperor unseal certain forbidden psionic technologies—many of which originated from spoils seized by the Sage Order during the Emperor's conquest of the Immortal City, including the insidious technology of implanting psionic creatures into artificial machines, powered by souls and flesh. The entire Witch Order's victims were housed in sarcophagi to power the Sage Order's buildings, their souls' suffering being relentlessly extracted for power over five hundred years—as the commander of this campaign, she did not want to give the Martian technocrats an excuse to defy the Emperor's will and access those forbidden technologies.

"Additional bombing order. Bomb target D-6-32. I need a destructive depth that leads directly to the energy hub."

"You should know that this could lead to a catastrophic explosion of the energy center." The staff officer's tone clearly showed his disapproval. "This requires a large amount of data on the damage to the space station's materials caused by plasma warheads, and we don't have enough data samples right now."

"I want laser bombardment, the precise kind. Execute my orders; I'm tired of this game." Tita forced out a frustrated tone from her throat. "Whatever that alien commander is up to, I have no interest in knowing. Bomb it; I can't wait to chop that alien's head off."