Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"Generally, assault ships are used. The height of an assault ship is 12-13 meters. Soldiers are concentrated on the deck and can quickly jump to the lower deck of the enemy. However, this process will be suppressed by the firepower of its secondary guns and sorcerers, resulting in heavy casualties."

"It sounds like an ancient siege ladder tactic..." Xia Lin complained, but the deck of the land-based ship in the distance, which was as big as an aircraft carrier, was not filled with aircraft, but with all sorts of buildings. It looked almost like an ancient fortress, so it was indeed a siege tactic.

Unlike the mobile city, the sides of the four decks are enclosed, with only various turrets and equipment of unknown function present, as well as firing bunkers and watchtower-like structures clearly prepared for infantry—it looks like a three-dimensional ancient fortress—the difference being that it can move.

"And what about those assault ships?"

"They are much easier to deal with. They have too many breaches on top for quick troop movement, but their armor is thick, and they have retractable canopies for defense against flank fire from land-based ships..."

"As for weaponry, it consists of mortars and Originium magic weapons, operated by a squad of sorcerers."

Is it powerful?

"They are very large and can easily burn through ordinary heavy armor and shields. Often during battles, armored ships will be riddled with holes on their sides." Xia Lin felt that this tactic sounded a lot like destroyers bombarding battleships.

Needless to say, they had already seen those gunboats at the entrance to Jigu Pass. They had cluster ballistae, a group of crossbowmen and sorcerers, and some models even had a number of mortars providing cover fire.

And frankly, based on Ivan's description, Xia Lin felt that the army in this place was more like a navy operating ships on land than an army.

However, upon closer inspection, their cities are essentially large-scale land fleets, so it's normal for their armies to be organized like the navy.

"There are no accompanying small armored units. To be honest, you have armored cars, tractors, and these large ground vehicles, so why don't you have small armored assault forces?"

"Because Originium engines and fuel are expensive. Propelling heavy armored units is not something that our trucks can do. Small Originium engines and their fuel are expensive, and if you make them smaller, the utilization rate of Originium is very low."

"That makes sense," Xia Lin nodded. "Alright, I roughly understand the threat these things pose now."

He looked around the excavation site. The land-based armored ship was docked in an open area, and several other assault ships were patrolling with gunboats. Inside the excavation site, there were also many Marines or ground troops searching for the remaining enemy and destroying the infected people's huts.

"What's your plan? We're at a significant disadvantage in both numbers and equipment. You wouldn't want to know the power of the main guns on the 'General Akur.'"

“I really don’t want to know.” Xia Lin smiled, then took the weapon from behind her back. “However, compared to the power of the real shipborne weapons I’ve seen… this thing is nothing.”

One major advantage of smuggled equipment is that the verification device has been removed, and as a single-soldier anti-crowd weapon, the "directional oscillator" is not complicated to operate.

"Is this thing really useful?" Ivan looked at the small individual weapon in front of him. "I think we should consider a different approach..."

"Buzz!" A faint buzzing sound emanated from the critical gravitons oscillating spacetime within the restraints, followed by a distorted beam of light descending near the side of the General Akur. "Damn, it missed!"

A ripple, like water, is left in the air. It is a density difference formed by the air being gathered and released by gravity, and it looks like a transparent water column. Therefore, the weapon is nicknamed "water gun".

The Ursus people on the Akur suddenly felt as if the earth had lost its pull on them, and they were involuntarily drifting toward the port side, getting faster and faster. Before they could scream or make any other sound, their bodies, pulled and accelerated to a certain speed, crashed into the bulkhead.

When subjected to the same gravitational field, there is clearly a speed difference between the land-based ship, which has to overcome ground friction, and the humans inside.

In particular, this gravitational field is not a single gravitational source, but a vortex-like shape formed by multiple sources pouring out.

Individual weapons are not very powerful, and the gravitational influence they experience is at most no more than 8 times the force of gravity.

However, those fragile parts and internal pipes and cables did indeed begin to shift, and most importantly, the fuel and Originium particles in the Originium-powered engine were also shifting.

The armor has no effect on gravity; it acts equally on every particle within its maximum coverage area according to distance and relative mass, even stirring up the sand on the ground to form a turbid sphere resembling a spiral.

"Indeed, it was very shocking, but I think the Akul probably didn't suffer too much damage."

"Because I missed..." Xia Lin complained, then loaded a second shot. The chaotic Ursus army had obviously discovered the direction from which the attack was coming, after all, that "water column" was too conspicuous in the sunlight.

The "water gun" recharged very quickly, and the second shot soon landed in the center of the Akur. This time, it didn't miss like before. Tidal forces caused every unsecured object inside the ship to fly at high speed, including but not limited to ammunition, weapons, and human bodies.

Around the central graviton aggregation point, the metal was twisted and torn apart, forming a huge and wide cavity filled with a muddy mess of flesh and blood. The physical destructive power of this anti-cluster weapon can only be described as average, but its wide-area destructive power is indeed not low.

Whether it's a person or a car, if it gets pulled dozens of meters into the air and then falls, it will either be seriously injured or completely stunned.

Moreover, in modern warfare, once the nuclear-powered restraint plasma of an enemy armored formation is deflected by gravity and hits the restraint device, safety measures will be triggered instantly to stop the thrust.

The anti-swarm kill capability is stronger than EMP. One shot can shut down nuclear-powered vehicles within a radius of about 1 kilometer, causing them to lose reactor power.

In terms of Covenant ground combat, this essentially means all weapons cease fire, mobility is lost, active jamming and communication systems are brought to a standstill due to broken antennas and destroyed fragile circuits.

Although these damages can be quickly repaired within hours, your enemies won't just stand by and watch you slowly repair these things and restart the engine.

The third water cannon shot landed on the assault ship and its gunboat group that were speeding towards them. The nimble gunboat was pulled towards the assault ship that had been hit head-on and crushed to pieces by the tracks of its own mothership. The assault ship, which had fired several purple orbs and Originium shells at Xia Lin and the others, stopped firing instantly, like a dead ship.

This weapon is meant to penetrate armor to kill personnel, destroy power systems, and disable electronic equipment.

Instead of creating a small black hole to tear the enemy apart, that's what shipborne graviton oscillation missiles do.

"Alright, their defenses have a breach. Let's charge in. Once we get into that wreckage, they won't be able to do anything to us."

"Are you sure? Okay." Ivan felt that now the only options were either to retreat and be chased by an armored division in land-based ships, or to charge in and take a gamble, and it did seem that they had indeed inflicted considerable damage on the enemy.

The Originium trucks started up again and rushed towards the excavation site. Another assault ship fleet seemed stunned by the tragic scene of two-thirds of its combat strength being instantly evaporated. Instead of intercepting the seemingly vulnerable trucks, it ran towards the Akur, seemingly preparing to rescue the personnel on board.

"How many people are alive?" Ivan asked with difficulty through the swirling sandstorm. "I said, how many people are alive on the ship that was hit by bullets..."

"See how far they are from the nearest wall!" Xia Lin shouted back, acknowledging how loud the Originium truck was at full speed. "Also, check if there are any sharp objects near their heads!"

If it happens, it's like someone grabbing your head and slamming it against a sharp metal pipe or something similar—you're guaranteed to die.

"Even if he's not dead, he's probably unconscious!" Gravity penetrates not only armor, but also the protection of a human skull and muscles.

This means that even when the body is blocked by an obstacle, the brain and internal organs will still move towards the gravitational source, and it is not the normal one-way overload experienced by astronauts or pilots.

Instead, it is the tidal forces tearing in multiple directions. Creatures that get too close to the edge of the vortex will have their brains shaken apart in an instant, just like stuffing their brains into a washing machine.

Human connective tissue and cerebrospinal fluid can protect them from certain unidirectional overload forces. With the aid of external tools and proper posture, they can even withstand instantaneous overload forces exceeding 45G.

However, when attacked by a graviton weapon, it is obviously impossible to make the correct protective posture in time. Those who are far away will either suffer from severe blackouts, dizziness, and then fall into a coma, or they will be in the wrong posture and instantly break their neck bones, just like a pilot who is ejected in the wrong posture.

Needless to say, those who were close by had their brains and internal organs torn apart or shaken into a slurry mass by the gravitational tides of torques from different directions, like a vortex, and were doomed.

Even with proper safety measures in place, someone without a seatbelt could still crash headfirst into a nearby bulkhead or sharp object, while someone with a seatbelt could not avoid being hit by flying tools or chairs.

Unless they have all learned from this experience and, like the Covenant, secured all the equipment inside the cabin as securely as possible.

In the event of a potential attack by a graviton weapon, filling and covering the chamber with gel would be the only way to ensure the survival of those who were far enough away not to be caught in the "vortex".

"So, they're unlikely to fire on us anytime soon?"

"Unless what they have in their heads isn't a brain, but a chipset or a gravity shield!"

The truck sped into the camp, and Xia Lin kept firing her assault rifle in all directions. The biggest drawback of using graviton weapons within the atmosphere is this damned environmental impact.

The sand and dust that had been pulled up were released and spread into a small, man-made sandstorm. The good news was that it provided some cover for the Shield Guard squad as they rushed toward the wreckage. The bad news was that Xia Lin also lost his sight and could only fire in any suspicious direction.

The crossbowmen in the wagon bed were doing the same thing. When they set off, Xia Lin had loaded several large barrels of crossbow bolts into the wagon, enough for them to use until the handles were worn out.

With a screech of brakes, the truck came to a stop beneath the scaffolding. "Climb up, quick!"

Xia Lin jumped onto the escalator and climbed towards the unloading hatch in the middle of the cargo ship, where their scaffolding was just positioned.

“Is it just my imagination that you seem very familiar with this place?” Ivan followed up. “Yes, because I’ve been up here for months. How could I not be familiar with it?”

"Isn't this a relic of our ancestors?"

"Relics my ass! Do you consider a ship less than twenty years old to be a relic?" Xia Lin had already climbed to the vicinity of the cargo entrance.

"So, this is actually a land-based vessel? The Ursus people made a mistake?"

"It's not a land-based ship, it's a...flying ship, well, part of it."

Ivan remained skeptical and did not ask any further questions, as doing so would inevitably lead to sensitive topics such as the other party's organization, power, technological level, and military capabilities, which would be detrimental to the initial trust and cooperation established between the two sides.

In this world, there are only two kinds of people who will get to the bottom of everything.

One type is a paranoid, hypocritical transmigrator (who is secretive about his own origins and makes up all sorts of excuses, but insists on knowing everything about his companions' origins, fearing they have ulterior motives).

One type is the investigative journalist, the kind who truly exposes the truth.

As partners, as long as it is certain that the cooperation is beneficial to both parties and the other party has no intention of betraying the cooperation, then the remaining issues are unnecessary. Speaking frankly is a matter of goodwill, while remaining silent is a matter of duty. Confusing goodwill with duty is a major taboo in social interactions and cooperation.

The consequences of mistaking personal relationships for obligations and openly disclosing one's organizational structure, personnel composition, and other information to partners have already been demonstrated in modern history. One cannot, at least should not, fall into the same trap twice, right?

"There's still power. I don't know if that's good news or bad news..." As soon as Xia Lin approached the hatch, PNIS popped up a verification interface. The hatch had power, and after failing to connect to the terminal to verify its identity, it entered the manual verification process.

“Look, I brought the key card, that’s the best news…” Xia Lin said to the bewildered Ivan, then took out the electronic ticket from his pocket and stuck it to the hatch. The system quickly read the quantum-encrypted information inside, and after verifying its validity, it entered the response state.

"Open Sesame!"

"Click... hiss!" The hatch slid open quickly, revealing a dark, sloping floor inside. "I'm going in, you guys guard the entrance." Xia Lin activated the electromagnetic adsorption function, stepped onto the floor to check its sturdiness, and then walked into the sloping cabin.

"Alright, Shield Guard squad, hold this position. The enemy will only be allowed to step over our corpses!"

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Husky's Journey

Chapter 38

The cabin door closed behind him, and in the dark cabin, there was only a faint emergency light. Xia Lin walked along the narrow passageway, with layers of metal structures on both sides, like silent giants watching this ant that dared to invade their territory.

Xia Lin turned on the hanging flashlight, and the beam swept across these metal giants. The metal electronic tags on their surfaces reflected a mesmerizing luster, and PNIS automatically identified the meaning of these tags.

"Giant Mountain Industries, engineering reinforcement frame, specification: Class II mining use." Xia Lin looked at the nearest label and cargo box. Inside was undoubtedly that kind of industrial support frame, commonly known as "interstellar scaffolding," which had no practical value and was the same to everyone.

Containers with hexagonal magnetic frames were stacked to the ceiling. Xia Lin, walking among these rows of containers and light fixtures, felt like an ant walking in a steel forest.

The way containers are stacked on a spacecraft is different from that of ground transport vehicles. There is no gravity to provide reliable static friction to prevent them from flying around as the ship moves. There must be a way to keep these 2.5 x 2.5 x 10 meter containers stable in their positions.

Thus, this hexagonal magnetic adsorption frame came into being. The cargo stacking point of the spacecraft has a large number of triangular serrated structures that can be used to snap this magnetic adsorption frame into place. Then, normal containers can be stuffed into this frame. The triangular crossbars on both sides also facilitate automated assembly and transportation operations by the robotic claws.

This adsorption structure effectively ensures that, except for the boxes near the damaged area, the cargo boxes inside the intact compartment remain in place.

Instead of being affected by gravity, they slid down the 70-degree tilted hull to the bottom and piled up, blocking the cabin passageways.

"It's warehouse number 7. There seems to be a problem with the power supply. The transportation and lighting systems have been cut off." Xia Lin checked the status of the warehouses that still had power and the basic map structure through PNIS.

This is a standard Covenant industrial transport ship cargo hold, a general-purpose type, not suitable for transporting dangerous goods and large industrial equipment. This means that Xia Lin will not bump into security robots or be sprayed in the face with any dangerous poisons, radiation, or corrosive substances on the ship.

The warehouse is divided into two large sections, with a small assembly and processing workshop in the middle, where the control center, cranes, and independent power systems are located.

During the airdrop, the cargo container is sent to the middle section for airdrop capsule assembly, and then launched by a large orbital acceleration system.

To deal with workplace accidents, there is usually a small medical station. One of Xia Lin's goals is to find the ship's medical cabin, life support and emergency equipment, and medicine and equipment warehouse that may still be intact there.

But before that, he needs to go to the top of the tilted cargo hold. At both ends of the cargo hold are airtight doors leading to the adjacent cargo hold and the ship's internal corridor. Now they are not very useful, but there are usually 4-6 engineering stations near the airtight doors.

Xia Lin's goal is the industrial exoskeleton or engineering vehicle inside. Otherwise, is he planning to rely on manpower to dismantle the containers, pick up a few small bags from the mountain of goods, and run away?

In the upper part of the cargo ship, the huge tear resembles a cliff, with sunlight shining in from the outside. The cargo containers on the other side are twisted and broken. Scanning the electronic tags on the outside of the cargo containers reveals that most of them are metal frames used in demolition sites.

Xia Lin carefully followed the tilted, twisted, and narrow metal beams to the other side of the crack. Fortunately, the safety isolation hatch was not stuck.

However, more than half of the industrial exoskeletons were thrown off their mounting frames, smashing the repair station across the street to pieces.

Xia Lin swept the surroundings with her flashlight and found an industrial exoskeleton still intact in a corner. "The Hercules DX type, nicknamed Beetle. Looks like we're in luck." It's an industrial vehicle used for internal sealing and maintenance.

Standing 4.5 meters tall, its rounded shape resembles a beetle. Six mechanical rails with magnetic suction cups allow it to quickly attach to dedicated tracks on the warehouse floor and ceiling for rapid gliding or to move freely on any solid surface.