"Report! The next wave of the calamity hive-race will make contact with our outer defense line first, in one hour!"
The interstellar stealth reconnaissance ship scouting deep in the airspace sent back the news!
The Fierce Dragon interstellar warships on the defense line stood ready in full array.
Interstellar missile ships and interstellar heavy-artillery ships were lined up in a row.
And behind them, the interstellar supply ships and interstellar transports that would resupply them had long since made ready.
As soon as their interstellar missiles were spent, those interstellar supply ships would complete the resupply of these interstellar missile ships in the shortest possible time.
Because this battle was to be chiefly defensive, and losses to their own interstellar warships were to be avoided as far as possible,
where firepower was concerned, Marshal Chu Xuan allotted the very most!
As much as was wanted, so much was given!
What was sought was saturation fire.
Trading the intensity and density of fire for the fewest possible losses to their own fleet.
Besides this, the interstellar frigates stood at the very front; they would be the first line of defense, holding off the calamity hive-race's attack.
The other interstellar warships were not idle either; each was making its own combat preparations.
There were even some modified interstellar transports, on whose decks and hulls row upon row of combat mecha could be seen.
They too served to supplement the firepower.
The firepower of one such interstellar transport was not the least inferior to that of a T3 or even a T4 interstellar warship.
Perhaps the only drawback was that it could not sail, and its overall combat strength was rather weak.
But for defensive fighting on a defense line, these defects were avoided entirely.
"Half an hour left." Marshal Chu Xuan glanced at the time, her expression very grave.
At this moment, not only the Seventh System and the Ninth System of the Fierce Dragon civilization,
but even the other Fierce Dragon systems were watching this battle.
In a certain plaza, a huge projection screen was relaying the battlefield footage.
A dark mass of people stood in the plaza; none of them spoke, all of them watching what was on the screen.
In this moment everyone's heart was in their throat.
Those without faith silently cheered on the Fierce Dragon civilization's fleet.
Those with faith prayed to the gods they worshiped: they must see them through this ordeal!
Among the kingdoms of the Ninth System, the mood in the upper ranks was very bad as well.
A king sat on his throne, staring fixedly at the screen across from him.
The royal hall, fairly lively in times past, had now grown somewhat quieter.
Not only did no one speak; even the figures in it had grown far fewer.
For some had already evacuated from this system.
"Royal Father. The evacuation fleet we prepared stands in full readiness. If anything at all goes wrong on the front-line battlefield, our evacuation fleet can take you away with us!" a prince said earnestly as he came in.
"I've said it: I'm not leaving. You can go by yourselves. Leave our nation an ember to carry on. I'm old; I haven't many years left to live. Nor do I wish to wander abroad, scraping out a life. If this really is a disaster, then I hope I may die here." The old king stroked his throne, his gaze deep, as if he were gazing upon the nation he had guarded for the greater part of his life.
The prince below the throne was helpless at heart.
He could only stand to one side and wait.
But in his heart he had already quietly resolved that if his Royal Father insisted on staying,
then the moment he saw things turning bad, he would take him out even if he had to use force.
As for his Royal Father's punishment afterward, he could no longer care about that.
"The last ten minutes." An aged minister beside them, who had likewise stayed, watched the battlefield footage against its pitch-black backdrop.
Apart from those Fierce Dragon interstellar fleets, everything else remained unchanged.
Those Fierce Dragon-line interstellar warships stood there like statues of guardian deities.
And in the silent airspace far off, who could have imagined that in ten minutes the place would be turned upside down?
The last ten minutes.
Countless pairs of eyes were fixed on that battlefield relay.
The first thing to change was not some swarm appearing in the distance.
It was that every sentry post on the defense line lit up red, signaling that the enemy would enter firing range within thirty seconds.
All combat units were to make ready for battle.
Then, in the darkness far off, something like a rolling black tide seemed to appear, impossible to make out clearly.
But it gave one a most unpleasant feeling.
The black tide came nearer and nearer.
A video feed zoomed in on the picture.
Then they saw a swarm that blotted out the sky.
Its numbers were beyond counting, and within the swarm were Hive Motherships one after another, their bloody maws gaping.
The people watching this covered their mouths and noses in terror.
Even through a video feed, they felt a fear like the chill of an ice cellar.
And by now, on the planets of the Ninth System, some people had begun to panic.
"So many bugs… how can a fleet possibly hold them off. We're finished. We're utterly finished."
"No! I'm going! I'm going right now; I'm not staying in this place to wait for death."
"It's over, it's over, it's over, we're dead for sure! My mortgage, my car, everything I have is finished."
The Fierce Dragon civilization had long foreseen the disorder at the scene on each planet.
So it had issued orders in advance to the peace forces on every planet, having them make ready early.
They were to move in early and take control of the places where riots might break out.
Some people had just tried to rush the shops beside them when peace officers charged out and restrained them.
All the streets and roads came under control measures.
At the same time, the broadcasts also told everyone to calm down.
"The Fierce Dragon fleet is fighting back! Look, the Fierce Dragon fleet is fighting back!" someone shouted in astonishment, pointing at the battlefield footage.
The Fierce Dragon fleet had long been prepared.
The interstellar missile ships opened fire first.
Interstellar missiles trailing tail flames flew toward the swarm opposite like a meteor shower.
One after another, a sight dazzling past all words.
And when these interstellar missiles fell among the swarms, it was like embers setting a grassland alight.
One fireball after another appeared.
And the Hive Motherships, under this attack, were destroyed one after another.
It looked like nothing other than a massacre.
Many who saw this could not help clenching their fists in excitement.
But the discerning had seen it too.
That though many of the swarm had been destroyed under this round of interstellar missile attack,
compared with that vast number, it was really nothing at all.
The most plainly visible thing was that the swarm fleet's front line was still pushing forward.
The wreckage of the hive-race units destroyed at the start was devoured in an instant by the hive-race behind.
They did not care in the least what had just happened ahead, or why the hive-race units at the front had died.
They knew only to eat this ready-made food and then go on forward.
Behind that steel defense line ahead, there was more delicious food!
And by this time, the interstellar missile ships' interstellar missiles had all been fired.
Once the launches ended, the hive-race's counterattack became all the more evident; the black tide began again to surge forward with unstoppable force.
And now it was the turn of the interstellar heavy-artillery ships!
Fierce Dragon-line interstellar heavy-artillery ships, one after another, their barrels locked forward, their muzzles glowing with the light of charging, ready to fire at any moment!