The leader of the interstellar scout squadron at the front now saw jumbled code on the radar system beside her.
With her own eyes, too, she could see space twisting in the star region far off.
Then a light burst forth.
An interstellar fortress, wreathed as if in holy light, appeared out of thin air.
Whether or not it was an effect of the space jump, there were even rings upon rings of white halo above this interstellar fortress.
It gave a feeling of holiness past all compare.
"So this is… the Angel City Fortress." The squadron leader swallowed, hardly able to believe it.
She had long known the content of this Angel Line plan, and known too that there was such a T6 interstellar fortress, which was to appear here directly by space jump.
That was why this interstellar scout squadron of theirs had been scouting the conditions in this star region so early, to make sure the interstellar fortress could arrive without trouble.
Yet on truly seeing the Angel City Fortress in its true form, she was still left stunned.
What uncanny, godlike technology could have built so magnificent an interstellar fortress?
After a brief moment of shock,
the squadron leader did not forget her duty, and at once began to make contact.
"This is Owl Dragon interstellar scout squadron C61. Angel City Fortress Number One has successfully completed its space jump and arrived in the target airspace."
The squadron leader sent this news to both the Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought and the Owl Dragon Star System.
The newly descended Angel City Fortress was not idle either.
For it was not yet in its complete form, and it began slowly to unfold.
Its bulk kept growing, and even some concealed weapons were slowly deploying; row upon row of heavy guns could be seen ranked there, giving a feeling of the utmost grim severity.
A section of fortress wall that had been sealed tight slowly opened into a gap like a runway.
Through this gap could be seen a vast hangar within, where interstellar fighters were berthed one after another, packed as thick as a 'parking lot'.
On the underside of the fortress, too, black holes appeared one after another, like abysses.
Looking closely inside, one could see a sight to raise gooseflesh.
Interstellar drones hung upside down, one after another, their bodies drawn in, like chrysalises hanging on a tree.
Packed so thick that a single sweeping glance was enough to set off a horror of clusters.
There was no counting how many interstellar drones there were in there.
And these were only part of the Angel City Fortress.
Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought.
"The Angel City Fortress is fitted not only with heavy guns, main guns, rail guns and close-in defense guns, interstellar fighters and interstellar drones; it even carries a reserve of 1,000,000,000 quasi-T6-grade conventional interstellar missiles! Not only that, I have specially posted 30,000 T5 Star-Vault-Sentry-class Interstellar Unmanned Guard Ships[1] aboard as a garrison, which I added on my own account. For it has docks and berths for starships. It would be a waste not to use them. And using these T5 Star-Vault-Sentry-class Interstellar Unmanned Guard Ships is, beyond doubt, the most cost-effective way." As Zhao Chen spoke, an electronic panel came up before him as well.
It held some basic data on the T6 Angel City Fortress, and also the detailed data of Angel City Fortress Number One, which was carrying out this mission.
【T6 Angel City Fortress
Type: interstellar fortress
Technology grade: T6
Fortress armor strength: 5,000,000,000 units
Star-shield energy: 300,000,000,000 units (in wartime, 1,000,000,000 units of star-shield energy restored per hour)
Greatest fortress diameter: about 6,300 kilometers
Mass: 63,800,000,000 tons
Posts manned: 2,000,000,000 people
Fortress weapons:
10 super Angel fortress mega-cannons
1,100 fortress orbital heavy guns
20,000 fortress energy rapid-fire guns
200,000 fortress secondary guns
1,000,000 quad-laser high-speed close-in defense guns
1,000,000,000 Angel-Hunter-class Interstellar Fighters
30,000,000,000 Butterfly-Angel-class Interstellar Drones
5,000,000 interstellar missile launch units (1,000,000,000 conventional interstellar missiles in reserve)
Also fitted: 30,000 T5 Star-Vault-Sentry-class Interstellar Unmanned Guard Ships
3,000 docks……
Special function: ultra-long-range space jump】
【Angel City Fortress Number One: fortress commander Haina (mermaid) (rank: one-star major general)……】
An interstellar fortress whose personnel alone numbered 2,000,000,000.
One can imagine how terrifying a figure that was; it could be counted outright as an interstellar city.
Only, it was an 'interstellar city' built for war.
"Our first step is now ready: to establish a second front behind the enemy. With this T6 Angel City Fortress Number One as the bridgehead position, we block, check and wear down the Order hive-race's second-wave offensive to come." Charlotte looked at the interstellar holo-table, where the position of T6 Angel City Fortress Number One was marked.
The position was very finely chosen.
For the space between the two Hive Nests and the region the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire controlled was shaped like a funnel.
The nearer the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's side, the wider the funnel grew.
That was why Grand Marshal Charlotte had been unwilling before to give up the northern hive line.
And now this T6 Angel City Fortress Number One had been driven in at a spot nearer still to the funnel's center.
Perhaps it looked like no more than a single interstellar fortress?
Could it hold back 50,000,000 Hive Motherships coming on in full fury?
In truth, Charlotte's reason for placing this Angel City Fortress was not to block these 50,000,000 Hive Motherships to come entirely.
Never mind whether it could hold them or not.
The region the Angel City Fortress could control did not wholly cut off this space of passage; two-thirds of it would still be open for the Order hive fleets to go on to the northern hive line and join the battle.
The Angel City Fortress's role was more like raising a great pillar, before a surging tide came in, at the spot where the tide ran fiercest.
It could not only withstand the tide's assault, but also indirectly slow the tide's speed and lessen the pressure it put on the defense line behind.
That way, even if small bands of the Order hive-race went on to the northern hive line, it would be wholly within what the Owl Dragon Empire's fleets could bear.
Besides, on this front there was more than just the one Angel City Fortress.
"The T6 starship Southern Heaven Gate has been activated. It will establish two Star Gate passages for traffic both ways. By then, as need arises, we can send our legion fleets in support in an unbroken stream," Charlotte said confidently.
This was the whole content of the Angel Line plan.
It relied on two trump cards, the T6 Angel City Fortress and the T6 starship Southern Heaven Gate, to settle the threat of this second wave of Order hive fleets.
"Do not let your guard down. At present we cannot yet be sure whether those T5 Dimension Ghost-Bugs, or whatever they are, will interfere with the T6 Southern Heaven Gate's Star Gate delivery," Zhao Chen reminded them.