The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

This exercise not only tested the performance of the Rinfeng, but also the coordination between him and the entire crew.

"Captain, the preliminary exercise summary report has been generated." Zhang Hai handed over the data panel with a smile on his face.

Liu Peiqiang took the data panel and looked at the detailed evaluation data and analysis on it, feeling much more at ease.

"It is the result of everyone's joint efforts."

This exercise also exposed many problems. For example, our evasion was too passive in the face of the overwhelming power of the Panshih-class main gun, and our contingency plans for dealing with special interference need to be supplemented immediately.

Notify all department heads that a post-battle debriefing meeting will be held in one hour.

"Yes!"

Just then, the bridge communications officer suddenly reported: "Captain! We have received a highest priority order from Fleet Command!"

Liu Peiqiang felt a chill and immediately walked to the communications station.

An encrypted command from the 463rd Fleet Command popped up on the holographic screen.

Not only them, but almost all the fleets in formation received this concise yet weighty message.

[Order: The entire ship enters Level 1 combat readiness status and proceeds to the dock to complete combat preparations and resupply.]

At 12 standard hours, it will join the third battleship strike group of the team and carry out a time jump.

Target star system: Parallel Universe 1, Gina Galaxy.

Mission: Support the Federation forces and participate in the decisive battle against the Ironblood Clan fleet.

—463rd World Fleet Command

The order was like a thunderclap, spreading to every fleet.

Upon receiving this news, the captains were filled with a mix of emotions: excitement, trepidation, nervousness, and even anticipation.

This can be said to be their first time representing the multi-faceted alliance to venture into the interstellar battlefield.

If a ship is destroyed and thousands of people perish with it, a single mishap could lead to its destruction.

It's impossible to say that no one is afraid.

But as soldiers, no one is willing to stay only on the training ground; the starry sky is the battlefield where they can truly shine.

The time is twelve standard time.

The designated assembly airspace was already filled with warships, transforming into a sea of ​​steel.

The imposing Rock-class battleships stood like pillars stabilizing the seas, their thick armor reflecting the cold light of the stars.

Several Seraphim-class cruisers, like sharp spears, circled around the capital ship.

The Flowfire-class destroyers, like a swarm of agile bees, cruised at high speed around the perimeter of the formation, weaving an invisible warning net.

The Night Watcher-class corvettes stood close to the core vessel, like the most solid personal shield.

The support ships hovered silently behind, like silent protectors.

In addition, at the edge of the steel forest, several angular ship silhouettes, full of the beauty of mechanical life forms, floated silently.

That was a Transformer warship from Cybertron, modified using Combine technology.

With the keen and coordinated gazes of countless captains on the bridge, the entire strike group, under the command ship, began to adjust the direction of its engine nozzles, poised for action.

In deep space, four nanosphere devices simultaneously spew out streams of nanomaterials that intertwine and condense into a magnificent interdimensional portal.

The captains of each ship immediately gave the order, and the entire fleet formed a neat array, engines blazing with light, and one ship after another steadily entered the warp gate, heading towards the distant interstellar battlefield.

Chapter 166 Counterattack

In the deep space of the Gina system, the collapse of the left wing of the Federation fleet slightly tilted the situation in favor of the Ironblood Alliance.

The main guns of the Grayrock Clan's heavy cruisers continued to roar, and the thick plasma beams, like giant hammers, slammed into the gap on the left flank that the Federation's temporary counterattack had filled, intending to tear the rift even wider.

The iron-blooded crimson assault boats, like sharks smelling blood, frantically swam and cut along the edge of the breach, preventing the Federation fleet from reorganizing.

On the flagship of Krosorn, Krex's compound eyes were fixed on the star map.

The massive void on the left wing and the ever-increasing loss data clung to his core processor like cold vines.

The savage offensive of the Iron-Blooded Civilization shows no sign of stopping.

Compared to their steady and methodical approach, these war fanatics, the galactic troublemakers, prefer to take the idea that "offense is the best defense" to the extreme.

Given the enemy's reckless and aggressive tactics of trading lives for space, the defenses built by the Federation were simply unable to withstand such immense pressure.

"Sigh, it's still too complicated." Krex sighed helplessly.

It perfectly illustrates the fragility of the alliance.

It is impossible for him to become familiar with the personalities and characteristics of an army that does not have a unified will in a short period of time.

If the casualties are too high, other civilizations' fleets will more likely choose to prioritize their own interests.

He could command and control these warriors from different star systems, with different cultures, and even different life forms...

This in itself demonstrates the courage and determination of other commanders in the face of the shared vision and current threats of the Federation of Planets.

Or rather, it's a miracle.

But now they're being asked to be like Predators, to sacrifice themselves without reservation for a battlefield that isn't their home planet...

Krex asked himself honestly, and he didn't seem to have that kind of courage.

From a macro perspective, the civilizations behind each other might spare no effort.

But those on the main battlefield think differently.

Kreix scanned the communication channels, listening to the responses from the various civilizations' fleet commanders—some silent, some anxious, and some with clearly reserved feedback.

Even if this war is won, it will be a Pyrrhic victory caused by each civilization calculating its gains and losses.

The rhythm of long-range strikes was disrupted by boarding tactics that were spreading across the battlefield.

The entire Federation fleet is now forced to struggle under the iron-blooded rhythm, and its formation is being stretched thinner and thinner.

At the edge of the battlefield, numerous scattered neutral fleets remained at a distance, observing the situation.

They were like a group of silent spectators, or like lurking hunters, assessing the Federation's resilience and measuring the Ironblood's edge, waiting for the best opportunity to seize their gains.

This boiling crucible is ablaze with desires and flames from all corners of the galaxy.

The main axis of the battlefield was brutally cut off by a chaotic asteroid belt.

Dense piles of rubble, frozen meteorites, and metal ore cores lie across the battlefield to the south of the Federation Fleet and the Ironblood Fleet.

The chaotic gravitational disturbances here distort the energy beams of the ship's cannons, interfering with the detection of sensors on both sides.

The core fleet of the Ironblood Claw Clan is deployed based on the asteroid belt.

At the meteorite pass on the north side, the main force of the Bloodclaw tribe has been committed to a frontal assault.

Defense?

Keep it?

nonexistent!

Having finally encountered such a large-scale slaughter, why would they choose to miss it?!

The chaos of the asteroid belt makes it easier for their assault ships to board enemy ships and penetrate their hulls.

Inside the bridge of the Bloodclaw Clan's core flagship, "Crimson Claw".

Elder Bloodclaw Vorkg scanned the intense flashes of light in the direction of the main battlefield.

"Hehehe, the wild battle cry and the dying wails of the enemy, what a beautiful symphony~" Walker revealed a morbidly bloodthirsty glint.

Iron-blooded tactics?

nonexistent!

Only through offense can they demonstrate the bravery of their civilization!

To engage in a direct confrontation with enemy gunboats is the act of a coward.

Let the cowards tremble in fear!

"Let their bridges become our warriors' hunting grounds!"

Walker's voice echoed through the bridge, filled with bloodthirsty fervor.

His main force, like wolves that have smelled blood, threw itself into a frontal assault on the Federation's defenses at the pass.

However, just as he was feeling triumphant and preparing to order a new and more ferocious boarding assault,

Just as his assault boat pilots were screaming and pushing the engines to overload, risking their lives to ram the enemy warship—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The airspace to the left rear of the fleet, which it thought was safe, was suddenly engulfed by devastating artillery fire.

A high-energy particle beam, as thick as the keel of a starship, lashed out like a divine whip, tearing through the cold void and striking the side of a Bloodclaw light cruiser on guard duty!

The unfortunate cruiser didn't even have time to deploy its energy shields. Its hard metal armor melted, vaporized, and exploded instantly, just like thin paper pierced by a branding iron!

In a blinding flash, most of the ship's hull, along with the crew inside who had no time to react, was instantly vaporized, and the wreckage turned into a rolling, gushing, hellfire-burning steel furnace.

What followed was an even more intense and ruthless barrage of attacks.

Thousands of long, sharp plasma torpedoes, trailing deadly blue contrails, resembled venomous snakes hunting for prey.

Under the weak pull of the complex gravitational field, it penetrated from different angles into the engine nozzles, bridge windows, weapon positions, and other fatal points of several Bloodclaw frigates and transport ships.

The explosions were a series of bursts of light, like evil fireworks suddenly lit up on dark velvet.

The shattered hull structure, the scattered pipes and parts, the burning supplies inside the ship...

Even the limb fragments, instantly dried out and twisted by the vacuum, were violently ejected by the shockwave of the explosion, crashing heavily onto the nearby floating giant meteorite, leaving burning marks.

Further away, behind several large ice meteorites that Bloodclaw had used as natural cover and temporary supply points, they were also not spared.

Several silent but even more deadly railgun shells streaked through the air at speeds beyond visual perception, slamming heavily onto the frozen rocks.

The hard ice layer was instantly shattered, and the metal ore core inside turned red, deformed, and even melted in some places under the impact of the huge kinetic energy.

The few Bloodclaw small support boats that had been hiding behind them, along with the assault boats that had just completed their boarding and recovery, along with their precious fuel and exhausted soldiers, were blown to pieces, turning into a metal blizzard that swept across a small area of ​​airspace.