The soldier operating the "laser gopher" answered, "Going by the depth we've measured so far and how fast it's going, the job will take about five minutes."
Five minutes: to an ordinary person, being able to break through the hull armor of a quasi-T7-grade interstellar warship in that time was incredible enough already.
But to Song Keke at that moment, it was still too long.
"What if you only open a space big enough for soldiers to get in?" Song Keke asked again.
"Then half a minute is enough," the soldier answered at once.
Song Keke at once looked at the group's chief petty officer in charge of the interstellar marine soldiers. "Time matters a great deal to us now. We have to wreck this enemy flagship in the shortest possible time. In a moment, as soon as there's a space for you to get in, you interstellar marine soldiers go in first. I know that sending you in without mecha support may well mean heavy casualties and great danger for you. But it's our best chance to win time right now. Once you're in, take control of the compartments below as fast as you can. Then try using explosives to punch through the enemy's hull armor from the inside. Blow open a passage from inside, so we interstellar combat mecha can get in faster, and save a great deal of time."
Song Keke knew that this arrangement would cost the interstellar marine soldiers heavy casualties.
But it could not be avoided.
When heavy interstellar marines fought, very often there were occasions like this where a chance to fight had to be bought with sacrifice.
That was also why these interstellar marine soldiers were the branch promoted fastest of all.
They had earned it.
"Understood." The group's chief petty officer nodded; she had no objection to such an order, and no resentment.
For she knew this was their duty.
Song Keke gave the same order to the other combat groups of her squad.
Very soon the laser gopher had opened a small hole big enough for a soldier to get through.
"Interstellar marine soldiers, prepare to break in."
"Throw in grenades, smoke, jammers. Break in after five seconds."
As over a hundred grenades of different kinds were thrown in, the interstellar marine soldiers jumped in close behind them.
They moved very quickly and nimbly, without the least hesitation for the danger below.
Song Keke looked at the small hole with some worry.
They had laid the groundwork before the attack, but the enemy in the compartment section might well have been ready long before too.
Breaking into an unknown setting like this was extremely dangerous for the interstellar marine soldiers.
One slip, and the whole lot might be wiped out.
Song Keke did not know what was happening inside the holes just then, but she could see the flashes of the explosions.
Sure enough, there were enemies inside still holding out stubbornly.
Now all she could do was pray in silence.
After about a minute of fierce exchange of fire, a familiar voice came over the comms channel.
"Reporting, Captain, we've… cough, cough… taken the target compartment section. We ran into a group of enemies who got in our way, but we've wiped them out. Next we'll lay high explosives in this area. Please have the units above pull back to a safe area for now. Cough, cough…"
Hearing that rather weak voice,
Song Keke knew the other was wounded, but this was no time to show concern.
"All right, understood."
Song Keke at once began telling those around her to scatter for the moment.
After waiting about thirty seconds,
the sound of the detonation came over the comms.
Inside her mecha, Song Keke could still feel the shaking.
Then the ground could be seen splitting open, and in places it even caved straight in, showing the compartment sections below.
"Quick, clear this area!" Song Keke went into action at once.
Very soon the debris in the way had been cleared.
An opening big enough for a Phoenix-Guard mecha to get through appeared before them.
And the whole thing had taken under two minutes, saving more than half the time against the five minutes planned.
Song Keke looked over the compartment sections below.
In them she could still see traces of the fighting, and even blood.
Song Keke's pupils twitched slightly, for she had seen scraps of their own interstellar marine soldiers' uniforms.
"What are the casualties among our people?" Song Keke asked at once.
"So far, our three combat groups have lost thirty-four killed in all. Twenty-nine of them died in the action just now. The enemy hid very well; there were blast-proof shelter modules in these compartment sections, and they hid in them. But under our attack they were wiped out all the same," said the officer in charge of the interstellar marine soldiers.
Casualties of over 30%,
and they had gone into the fight not ten minutes ago.
So it could be said that the interstellar marines were the unit with the highest casualty rate in the Owl Dragon interstellar legion fleets, bar none.
"Then carry out the next task. Send all the interstellar marine soldiers out now to scout the inside of the enemy ship, above all for passages our Phoenix-Guard mecha can pass through. Remember, every passage you go down is to be recorded and shared with every unit." Song Keke gave them not the slightest chance to rest.
She gave the newest combat task straight away.
"Yes." And these interstellar marine soldiers were soon on the move.
Because the interstellar marine soldiers had to find the way for the Phoenix-Guard mecha first, the Phoenix-Guard mecha had no choice but to stay where they were.
The Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer · the bridge
At this moment the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's face looked very bad.
He naturally knew everything that was happening to his own interstellar warship.
He could even see the enemy's interstellar marines boarding his starship and fighting there, then breaking into the compartments of his hull.
To see the enemy's interstellar marines and those interstellar combat mecha getting inside his own starship's hull was more unpleasant than words could say.
It was as if he had fleas all over him.
"How could it come to this! Letting the enemy's interstellar marines run wild on our starship!" the Drought-Fiend Sovereign roared and howled in fury.
The deputy captain beside him said at once, "Rest assured, Lord Sovereign; we've already given the orders. Our interstellar marine soldiers are on their way to these positions to clear out this enemy scum!"
"Hmph. I hope you lot won't let me down again." The Drought-Fiend Sovereign snorted coldly, raised his head and looked at the video window, at the two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts pressed almost right up against his Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer.
These two Golden-Scarab-class Heavy Interstellar Dreadnoughts lay there now like two golden blades, ready at any moment to cut the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer to pieces!
……
Meanwhile, Song Keke and the others, the "fleas" in the Drought-Fiend Sovereign's eyes, got in touch with the deputy leaders of the other parts of the Hammerstone Squad.
Fortunately everyone's progress had gone very smoothly, though naturally the interstellar marine soldiers of every part had paid with no small casualties.
Song Keke opened the area map of this Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer.
The inside of the interstellar warship, all dark before, was lighting up bit by bit now.
And it was happening in several areas of this Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer at once, which showed the other parts were going smoothly too.
And as the interstellar marine soldiers searched, they soon began to find the main passageways inside this interstellar warship.
An interstellar warship this big, which carried interstellar combat mecha and interstellar fighters of its own besides,
naturally had large passages inside to move through.
That was also why they had sent Phoenix-Guard mecha on this operation.
And along the way, the interstellar marine soldiers kept laying high explosives, but did not set them off at once.
Instead they set them on timers.
That way, when they withdrew,
these high explosives would go off one after another, and their explosive force and effect would be greatest.
And the Drought-Fiend Sovereign and the others aboard the Drought-Fiend Ghost-King-class Heavy Strategic Interstellar Multirole Destroyer could naturally not just watch their own interstellar warship invaded and wrecked by these Owl Dragon soldiers.
As the Owl Dragon heavy interstellar marines pushed forward step by step, the pressure they met grew greater and greater.
And because this was the inside of the enemy's interstellar warship, the enemy naturally knew its layout and surroundings better.
At times, when they could not threaten the Owl Dragon heavy interstellar marines head-on, these Devourer Civilization interstellar marines would set traps and ambushes too.
That was something the Owl Dragon heavy interstellar marines could not avoid.
At that moment, Song Keke's force ran into an ambush.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Because they were inside the hull now, with airtight fittings between each compartment section and the next, there was some air here.
So naturally she could hear the explosions.
Violent explosions went off around the compartment section Song Keke's force was in just then, and the compartment sections around it caved in.
Plainly, the enemy had planted bombs beforehand in the compartment sections next to this one.
But the explosions were not very powerful.
Probably explosives with high energy readings would have been picked up by the enemy interstellar marine soldiers' detectors.
The enemy had foreseen that much, at least.
The Owl Dragon heavy interstellar marine soldiers really were very careful, and did have such equipment.
But it could only detect the readings of high-strength explosives, which was why they had not found this ambush of the enemy's.
Very soon, before the smoke of the explosions had even cleared, gunfire broke out in the compartment section next door, and dense fire came at the place where Song Keke and the others were.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack! Find cover at once. Quick, get behind the mecha!" Song Keke raised her mecha's star shield.
As for her crimson great shield, it had been wrecked long before.
Luckily the star-shield energy she had saved could still be used, and the star shield she raised protected the heavy interstellar marine soldiers to some extent as well.
"Enemy at eight o'clock and three o'clock. Organize a counterattack! Organize a counterattack!" Song Keke gave her orders as she switched to her "machine-gunner mode", and the autocannons started up at once.
A denser barrage went flying at the other side.
But Song Keke heard a sound that was not quite right; it was not the sound of autocannon beams striking enemy bodies, or a structure.
"The enemy has star shields! The enemy seems to have heavy equipment too. Stay on your guard!" Song Keke ordered at once.
In such cramped surroundings, neither side could see the other, and both fired recklessly into the other's rough area.
Whether they hit the enemy or not, they just kept firing.
Suddenly!
There was movement in the compartment section behind Song Keke and the others: the sound of something heavy moving.
"Report: five enemy combat mecha have appeared behind us! They look like T6-grade interstellar combat mecha, all of them," came an anxious voice over the comms channel.
Five T6 combat mecha?
Song Keke's heart sank.
It seemed the enemy's plan was a pincer attack from front and rear,
to wipe them out with superior forces.
They had only four Phoenix-Guard mecha here now, and the enemy's fire in front was very strong; they seemed to have some heavy-weapons equipment.
If the Phoenix-Guard mecha were pulled away, then without the Phoenix-Guard mecha's star-shield defense and suppressing fire, the Owl Dragon soldiers of the interstellar marines here would be wiped out to the last.
But the best means of dealing with enemy interstellar combat mecha was, naturally, interstellar combat mecha too.
Four of them.
If she moved two away, the front would be at risk.
Song Keke hardened her heart and said straight out, "Unit One, command of the front is yours. Keep up suppressing fire on the enemy, and if you find their fire weakening, push forward step by step. If you can see again and spot the enemy's heavy-weapons units, destroy them first. I'll take care of the five enemy combat mecha that have shown up behind."
Hearing Captain Song Keke's words,
the other members of the squad grew worried at once.
"Captain, the enemy has five interstellar combat mecha. One against five, it's very dangerous."
"Our Phoenix-Guard mecha are stronger than the enemy's, true. But you're not at full strength now; your star-shield energy is down to under 40%, this…"
"Why not let me go with you?"
Hearing her comrades' worries, Song Keke said sternly, "Enough talk. That's an order. Unit One, take over my position now."
"Yes…"
When she had handed over her fighting position, Song Keke at once drove her Phoenix-Guard mecha toward the rear.
Without hesitating, she shut down her "machine-gunner mode".
"Switch to spearman mode!" Song Keke said.
'Spearman mode active.' The mecha's artificial intelligence spoke.
Now a crimson spear appeared in the hand of Song Keke's Phoenix-Guard mecha.
This was one of the Phoenix-Guard mecha's close-combat weapons, the Nine-Heavens Phoenix-Dance Spear.
Made of a special alloy, it was not only extremely hard; its spearhead ran extremely hot, and was very effective against metal armor,
and could do great damage to star shields as well.
Not long after Song Keke's Phoenix-Guard mecha charged out, she found five interstellar combat mecha moving in the compartment section behind.
Black all over, about the size of Song Keke's Phoenix-Guard mecha; by the look of them they were T6-grade interstellar combat mecha.
It must be said that the enemy's interstellar combat mecha were varied too.
The five interstellar combat mecha carried entirely different weapons.
The one walking at the very front held a square shield in its hand.
Close behind it were two interstellar combat mecha armed with autocannons.
And further back, the last two held weapons like shoulder-fired rocket launchers in their hands, likely heavy weapons.
It must be said that these five interstellar combat mecha were very well rounded in their loadout.
"Enemy spotted!" The enemy mecha pilots naturally spotted the crimson mecha charging at them at once too.
Before they could open fire,
the crimson mecha opposite threw out a great many smoke grenades, filling the whole compartment section with thick smoke, and these were no ordinary smoke grenades, either.
Mixed in were particles that jammed radar; even with radar on, it was hard to find any trace of the other.
"Never mind, open fire! Don't let it get close!"
The five enemy interstellar combat mecha, no longer caring about anything, opened fire straight into the fan-shaped area before them.
For a time, the sound of guns and cannon rose on every side, and the floor kept shaking.
After several dozen seconds of fire,
a crimson spear appeared from overhead and drove straight at the rear of this enemy squad of interstellar combat mecha.
None of the five combat mecha had expected this at all.
Had anyone looked closely, they would have seen that a pair of wings had spread out behind the crimson mecha, with several thrust ports in them.
That's right!
The Phoenix-Guard mecha could fly at low altitude!
Now the spear in Song Keke's hand was aimed straight at the star shield of one of the enemy mecha.
The head of the Nine-Heavens Phoenix-Dance Spear blazed with tremendous heat, burning through the enemy mecha's star shield at great speed.
And an astonishing thing happened: before the star-shield energy was used up, a hole actually opened right where the spearhead touched,
and the Nine-Heavens Phoenix-Dance Spear drove straight in and struck hard into the mecha's frame.
But Song Keke did not linger in the fight. She knew that if she kept on for five more seconds, the spear would pierce this enemy mecha's outer shell,
but the other four enemy combat mecha had locked onto her now.
If she did not move, the enemy's attacks would be on her the next second.
Her Phoenix-Guard mecha would come out of it badly hurt, if not worse.
That was not what she was after.
What she wanted was to destroy these five combat mecha in front of her, here!
That's right!
One killing five!
From then on, the Phoenix-Guard mecha Song Keke was piloting fought all around the five enemy interstellar combat mecha at astonishing speed.
It was so fast that it outpaced the reactions of the five interstellar combat mecha opposite several times over.
And its turning and short-range maneuvering were astonishing too.
And with the Nine-Heavens Phoenix-Dance Spear in her hand, she threatened the enemy's interstellar combat mecha gravely several times over.
Song Keke never lingered in the fight. Several times she had the chance to cripple one of the enemy's interstellar combat mecha, but she would never risk her own Phoenix-Guard mecha for it.
For she knew very well that the enemy might have many chances to make mistakes, and could take more damage,
but the Phoenix-Guard mecha she was piloting had only one chance to make a mistake; one mistake, and she would be beaten.
What was more, even taking a single hit might destroy the mecha and kill its pilot.
"Damn it! Why is this red thing so fast? My close-combat weapon can't touch it at all."
"Can we open up the distance a bit? At this range my autocannons could easily hit you lot by mistake."
"But once we open up the distance, our mecha could be picked off by the enemy just like that."
"Then what do we do? My mecha's star shield is wearing down bit by bit. If this drags on, then without the star shield's protection, this thing will easily find an opening."
"Don't ask me; how would I know? How the hell can a T6-grade interstellar combat mecha be this fast? It's unbelievable."
"Wait, look over there; there seems to be something on the floor."
Someone, who knew who, called it out on the squad comms.
Someone snatched a moment to look that way. It was the direction the crimson mecha opposite had charged from before, and the dust raised by the earlier fire had settled now.
On the floor far off, some scattered equipment could be seen:
two heavy guns, six Gatling-type autocannons, and some modules that looked like ammunition magazines.
"This… surely the mecha opposite hasn't stripped off all its other equipment, keeping only its close-combat weapon!"
someone cried out.
Everyone was astonished at heart, but they had to admit they all admired the pilot of the crimson mecha opposite.
This was nothing less than putting oneself on deadly ground to find life,
all to be in the best fighting state for close combat.
That's right.
This too was one of the Phoenix-Guard mecha's fighting states.
When need be, it could strip off every weapon it did not need, lightening its frame in pursuit of greater mobility and speed.
For from the moment she knew who her enemy was, Song Keke had already planned in her heart how this fight would go.
The enemy's interstellar combat mecha far outnumbered her own; her Phoenix-Guard mecha outperformed any of the enemy's interstellar combat mecha,
but in firepower that edge was not enough to make up the difference.
To destroy the enemy one against five in such a case, the only way was to keep the enemy from bringing that advantage to bear.
And that meant dragging the fight into close-quarters combat.
In such a setting, the enemy's long-range firepower would naturally be badly hampered.
And once she had settled on this plan, Song Keke went all the way with it: she stripped off the two heavy guns and six autocannons on her mecha outright, along with their magazines, the magazine holding her interstellar missiles, and the missile launchers.
Her interstellar missiles had all been used up long before; the only use in keeping these things was to save the cost of refilling them after returning to base.
But at a moment of crisis like this, who cared about that bit of cost?
So Song Keke threw these things away without hesitating.
And once these modules were cast off, the whole Phoenix-Guard mecha could plainly be seen to be more "slender" than before, its whole body looking more streamlined.
If the Phoenix-Guard mecha before had been square and upright, the Phoenix-Guard mecha now was more like a bewitching beauty;
and now, a beauty with a spear in hand and killing intent pouring off her.