Twenty-four hours into the hive-race invasion.
All three moon bases had lost contact.
By observation through the space telescopes, all that could be seen on the surfaces of these three moon bases were the marks left behind by battle.
Every combat satellite in low orbit had fallen.
And in the past twenty-four hours,
of the three hundred-odd Hive Motherships, ninety percent had been destroyed.
That meant fewer than thirty Hive Motherships remained.
And of these thirty Hive Motherships, over half had already fallen to Dragon Star's surface; only, the Hive Motherships' own functions were still there:
they could hatch and breed hive-race life.
So by the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's way of assessing, Hive Motherships of this kind still counted as combat-capable.
And only the last ten were still able to fly in the air!
"Your Majesty, this is our combat report for the past twenty-four hours. On our Fierce Dragon side, combat personnel killed outright number over three thousand. The deaths reported by other countries have already passed a hundred thousand," Secretary Officer Barbara reported to Zhao Chen.
In a mere twenty-four hours,
over a hundred thousand had died.
This was the terror of the hive-race.
"The most important thing right now is to use the weapons we have to destroy the remaining thirty Hive Motherships as soon as possible, above all the Hive Motherships still flying in the air. They pose an enormous threat to us! We must destroy them at any cost," Marshal Chu Xuan said gravely beside him.
"Once that step is done, what's left is clearing out the hive-race combat units on Dragon Star."
Zhao Chen looked gravely at the map of Dragon Star before him.
"We don't have many cutting-edge weapons left now. But we still have to find a way to destroy these Hive Motherships as soon as possible," Zhao Chen said, looking at Marshal Chu Xuan.[1]
Marshal Chu Xuan pointed at the various departments of the command around her.
"We've now assigned thirty battle groups, one to each of these thirty Hive Motherships, with unified control of the military strength around where these Hive Motherships are. We aim, within the next seventy-two hours, to clear out these thirty Hive Motherships completely," Marshal Chu Xuan said.
Zhao Chen nodded.
He stared at the thirty positions glowing bright red on the map of Dragon Star at this moment, standing for those thirty T1 Hive Motherships.
There were five on the Eastern Continent, three on the Western Continent, five on the Southern Continent, four on the Northern Continent, and four in the Middle-Sea Archipelago.
The remaining nine were at different places on the seas.
Around the Fierce Dragon Kingdom it was instead very safe, for in the first twenty-four hours the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's home combat forces had already destroyed every Hive Mothership that appeared around it.
Marks of fighting could be seen on many city streets, mountains and stretches of sea, and in some places the wreckage of Hive Motherships broken into several pieces could be seen too.
"There's one more thing besides. At present there's no threat of Hive Motherships within our Fierce Dragon Kingdom. Only, there may still be some hive-race combat units. So we need the factories within the Fierce Dragon Kingdom to resume production as soon as possible, to make up our shortfall in cutting-edge weapons," Marshal Chu Xuan said.
Secretary Officer Barbara said, "We've already begun arranging that. Our Fierce Dragon Army will first clear the hive-race units out of the important arms factories, making sure these arms factories can resume production. That's expected to take six hours. Then we restore safety to the first-tier cities and core areas, so residents can return to the surface to live and work. That step is expected to take another twelve hours. After that comes restoring life and work in the core areas of every city, which can be achieved within about the next two days. Within the next week, we can reach our goal of not one hive-race life within the bounds of any city! We'll make sure the people's daily life within the cities is safe and stable!" Secretary Officer Barbara said firmly.
"Then that's what we'll do. On the one hand we must end this hive-race crisis as soon as possible. On the other, we must restore stability at home as soon as possible, and get back to our former production, life and technological research!" Zhao Chen said earnestly.
——————
The Fierce Dragon Kingdom's capital.
"Quick! Check every district, every house, and the underground water pipes too. Make sure the five blocks of the city center don't have a single bug!"
Army soldiers in Fierce Dragon uniform dashed through the streets, checking every area.
Vehicles concerned were driving through the streets too.
On the vehicles were radars made specially for hive-race life; though they could not fix exact coordinates, they could roughly scan whether hive-race life still remained in an area.
"Attention! In this area, in the building ahead, there's a large reading of bug life. Exact number unknown!" a soldier in the radar truck said.
"6th Special Ops Battalion, with me." An army special-ops battalion commander charged at the front, rifle in hand, his men close behind.
"2nd Squad, seal off the street on the left; 3rd Squad, seal off the street on the right. 4th Squad, seal off the street at the back. If any bugs come out, don't let a single one go; wipe them all out! 1st Squad, with me; get ready for a frontal breach!" the battalion commander ordered over his comms.
"Yes!"
"Throw anti-hive stun grenades." The battalion commander pointed at the factory door before him.
Several soldiers rushed up and opened the door,
and threw several anti-hive stun grenades inside.
"Guns up! Anything comes out, fire!" said the battalion commander.
The stun grenades went off.
They were weapons developed specially against the hive-race.
A kind of shriek could be heard from inside the factory.
Then!
Several huge roach-bugs charged out of the factory door, each one the size of a small car.
Almost without waiting for the battalion commander's order,
the soldiers of the 1st Squad opened fire.
Bang, bang, bang, bang.
Hot shell casings fell to the ground like rain.
The roach-bug charging in front got a few meters out before it was hit by a dense hail of bullets and fell to the ground.
The other roach-bugs did not get far either.
Green juice sprayed all over the ground.
From the other sides of the factory came the sound of gunfire too.
A few minutes later,
the gunfire gradually stopped.
"Other squads, hold your positions. 1st Squad, advance." The battalion commander raised his gun and walked into the factory.
Lights shone into the factory.
Bug-eggs could be seen piled up inside, one upon another.
And there was a huge brood mother, like a queen ant, shrieking at the soldiers rushing in.
"Brood mother sighted. Fire!" The battalion commander pulled the trigger at once.
This brood mother was far faster than the bugs before, and could even crawl on the walls.
It charged at them at great speed.
"Flamethrower!" the battalion commander called.
A soldier shouldering a flamethrower stepped forward, locked onto the brood mother, and fired!
Roaring flames shot out.
Very soon this brood mother was covered in flame, and with the guns firing on and on besides,
the brood mother at last fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and moved no more.
Where this brood mother fell was less than three meters from the battalion commander; he could even smell the scent of roast meat.
"Seems we underestimated these fellows. If I'd let it come a little closer, that would have been the end of me. In the fighting from here on, we have to be careful. If anyone gets hurt, it'll be a disgrace." The battalion commander let out a quiet breath of relief inside.
"Change magazines. Check the factory carefully for any other bugs. Flamethrower trooper, go burn all those bug-eggs; not one can be left. These bugs breed fast and grow fast. Leave even one or two, and they'll become a big problem for our city!"
"Yes!"
Dozens of minutes of close search followed; not even the sewer pipes were spared.
Only once they were sure there was not one bug-egg here, and no living bugs,
could they set their minds at rest.
"The corpse-clearing team is already waiting outside," a squad member said.
"All right, our task is done. Out we go. Rest a bit, and get ready to go to the next combat site!" The battalion commander walked out.
He happened to see several trucks parked there, and the corpse-clearing personnel getting out, fully armed.
They were armed with guns too, only not as completely and advancedly as the army.
"We've cleared everything here. Basically there's no problem. But those bug corpses, you need to watch them. There may be a few that aren't all the way dead," the battalion commander reminded them.
"Don't worry. When it comes to handling these bug corpses, we're professionals." A worker pointed at his work clothes.
Long before the hive-race came, they had received simulated training.
And after the hive-race came, they had received hive-race samples of every kind right away and filled out their work requirements.
"Everyone get moving. Hurry and get this place cleaned up!" the worker shouted to the people under him.
These people approached the hive-race corpses with guns,
in teams of three.
When they were about three meters from a hive-race corpse,
two covered it with their guns while one locked onto a certain part of the hive-race corpse and emptied a whole burst into it,
making completely sure this bug was as dead as dead could be.
Finally the three carried these bugs onto the trucks.
"I really don't know what use these bugs are." A soldier smoking a cigarette and watching the bugs from the side muttered.
"I hear the Academy of Sciences needs them. They say these bugs may hold some special energy," another soldier beside him muttered.
As for just what use they were, they naturally could not know.
Very soon this block was entirely cleared.
At this point police in police uniform appeared.
"Hello. We've confirmed it's safe here. We'll hand it over to you now," the army special-ops battalion commander said, saluting the police chief.
"Thank you; you've worked hard." The police chief saluted.
The army special-ops battalion commander rode off in an armored vehicle with his men to the other blocks.
The police chief looked at the officers under him.
"As planned, do a final check of every block. Once we're sure there's no problem, open this block's shelters; let the front-line workers come up first, and everyone else wait below for further arrangements!"
"Yes!"
Under layer upon layer of safety rules,
the streets within the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's capital were reopened in the shortest time.
After thirty-odd hours,
a closed shelter opened again.
People walked out once more.
They looked outside somewhat nervously.
The city still bore the marks of fighting, with bullet holes in the walls.
But there were none of the bugs they had imagined.
"Is it safe?" someone still muttered, somewhat afraid.
"Rest assured, everyone. There are no bugs left in this block. You're absolutely safe. Now, under the wartime regulations, you need to return to your posts and get production going again as soon as possible! Please cooperate!" an officer called through a megaphone.
Technical workers and researchers became the first to return to work and production.
After that, one after another, the people in the other shelters were allowed back to their homes too.
But because some people's homes might have been destroyed in the earlier fighting, these victims would be properly looked after by their local communities.
While these people thought all was peaceful and quiet,
in fact war was still going on in other regions.
And some units of the Fierce Dragon Kingdom, having finished the fighting at home, also began reinforcing abroad.
The Northern Continent: Battlefields No. 13 and No. 14.
These were two battlefields where Hive Motherships had fallen very close together, so the number of hive-race here was enormous.
"Damn it! There are too many of these bugs. Never mind charging through and destroying the Hive Mothership; we can barely hold the cordon. We need support! We need more fire support!" the front-line commander roared into the telephone.
Just at this moment,
ten heavy transports appeared in the sky in the distance
and landed at a temporary airfield not far away.
Then combat mecha after combat mecha, fully armed, could be seen walking out of these heavy transports.
"We are the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's 3rd Mecha Squad, under orders to support your fight!"
The combat mecha bearing the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's insignia headed for the front line.
The autocannons in their hands, once in range, opened fire on the bugs at once.
Behind the combat mecha were dedicated infantry logistics teams, changing the combat mecha's magazines.
These combat mecha's fighting power was truly terrifying.
They very soon pinned down the sea of bugs opposite.
"Little Thunder-Beast sighted ahead!" someone cried in alarm.
A Little Thunder-Beast as tall as a small hill charged at great speed toward their line.
"Micro-missiles ready!"
Launch units appeared on the shoulders of several combat mecha, and micro-missile after micro-missile was fired.
When these micro-missiles hit the Little Thunder-Beast they did not explode at once; instead their tips pierced into the Little Thunder-Beast's body,
and exploded at the same moment!
Boom!
After a great explosion, this Little Thunder-Beast's body crashed down.
"Clear. Keep pushing forward!" The mecha squad became the vanguard that opened the way.
The ground forces began advancing little by little.
Very soon they drew closer and closer to that Hive Mothership.
They even tore open a passage straight to the Hive Mothership's very nose.
"Quick! The bomb trucks!"
Several trucks full of bombs drove in and stopped beneath the Hive Mothership.
The drivers got out fast.
Everyone else withdrew to a safe area too.
For what was in these trucks was all the most powerful explosive.
Boom!
With an explosion that shook the earth, a Hive Mothership had half its body blown apart, laying bare its inner structure.