When Lin Xiaohe and the others rushed to the military airport at the top of the Grand Canyon, the airport had already been reduced to a sea of flames.
Fighter jets sent from the air base to provide support encountered strong electromagnetic interference and were completely unable to lock onto the enemy. They could only circle aimlessly over the canyon like headless flies.
On the ground, scorching hot energy projectiles, like fire dragons, flashed with dazzling white light, interweaving into a dense network.
The base’s defending forces, caught off guard by the surprise attack, were scattered by the Iron Meteor main camp before they could organize any effective resistance.
The Iron Meteor main camp’s offensive was extremely fast. Amidst the swirling dust, they were like fleeting afterimages, appearing and disappearing.
Just as Federation soldiers in the defensive line initiated automated targeting, the enemy vanished from their sights.
In the span of a few breaths, the few scattered Federation resistance points were already within reach of the Iron Meteor main camp.
A Federation soldier was grabbed by a mech. The sharp mech bayonet easily pierced his abdomen, and blood and entrails gushed out with a gurgle.
“This is torture!” the squad leader gritted his teeth, his voice coming out in sharp, clipped tones, like sharpening a knife.
After having its fun, that main camp mech warrior tossed the Federation soldier’s body to the ground and callously unloaded its firepower onto the corpse.
The protective shield on the mech glowed blue. Attacks from other Federation soldiers in the trench landed on it but caused no damage whatsoever.
Leisurely, it aimed its gun at the other Federation soldiers, as if playing a game of shooting balloons at a park.
This scene was utterly despairing.
“Calling for support! Calling for support!” The Federation soldiers gathered together, calling headquarters while preparing for a final charge.
They had to stop the enemy!
The Grand Canyon was a vital hub for the Federation forces; it absolutely could not fall into the hands of the rebel army!
“Hmph, overestimating yourselves.” The Iron Meteor main camp’s retaliation was both arrogant and powerful.
They aimed at the Federation trench and fired twenty consecutive energy cannons.
In an instant, half a meter of the trench was leveled.
The defending Federation soldiers were instantly transformed into a mist of blood.
Such tragic scenes were playing out everywhere in the Grand Canyon. Federation mechs were destroyed by the enemy before they could even activate.
Without the protection of their mechs, Federation soldiers were as fragile as paper. Aside from consuming the enemy’s ammunition, they couldn’t slow the enemy’s advance in the slightest.
Lin Xiaohe’s communication channel was filled with voices of allied soldiers calling for support. On the display screen, densely packed red dots covered almost all the high ground of the Grand Canyon.
The squad leader was numb. With the war having reached this point, he had no idea where to go to provide support, or how to even provide it.
…
“Reporting, sir. The space carrier group over Sarah City has been ambushed and cannot reach the Grand Canyon in time.”
“Reporting, sir. The 7th Division headquarters in the southeast direction is facing full resistance from the rebel forces. Both sides are engaged in fierce fighting.”
“Reporting, sir. The 11th Division and the 23rd Division in the southwest direction have lost contact.”
“Reporting, sir. All military airports in the Grand Canyon have been destroyed. Our soldiers are still putting up tenacious resistance.”
“Reporting, sir. The enemy is advancing on the Grand Canyon on a large scale!”
Inside the Federation command post on Gonggong Star, one piece of bad news after another was presented to the commander.
The enemy’s every move proved one thing: this was a premeditated ambush.
The rebel army wasn’t really retreating in defeat; on the contrary, they were playing a much larger game, aiming to swallow up the Federation forces on Gonggong Star in one fell swoop!
“Have the reinforcements near the Grand Canyon arrived yet?” The commander could only pin his hopes on the scattered units nearby.
If they could just hold on for one more hour, no, just forty-five more minutes, three divisions of Federation troops could reach the Grand Canyon and buy time for the follow-up support forces.
“Reporting, sir. All have arrived at the Grand Canyon and have been committed to the battle. Currently, the casualty rate exceeds 60%!”
The commander closed his eyes. Such casualties were unavoidable.
After all, the scattered units nearby were either scouts or logistics transport troops.
Confronting the heavily armed Iron Meteor main camp, they were no match – like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Every second on the battlefield was bought with their lives.
“Hold on! We must hold on!”
The atmosphere in the command post was tense and oppressive.
At this moment, many were hoping for a War God, like in the movies, to descend from the heavens and turn the tide of battle.
…
At the Fourth Star Ring, Minister Melina, having received her son’s final message, was both furious and frantic. She immediately booked a private spacecraft to head to the Fifth Star Ring.
“Melina, don’t be impulsive. Didn’t we agree to take Harald to the welcome banquet for the students from the Third Star Ring tonight?” Melina’s husband tried to stop her.
“Harald? A phony who’s taken over someone else’s nest? And you actually expect me to help pave the way for him?! Get lost!”
If she wasn’t so desperate to find her son, Melina would have loved to slap him silly.
“How can you believe Wesley’s lies? He’s always been jealous of his brother, Harald. Maybe he’s just tricking you to sabotage Harald’s exams. In reality, nothing’s happened to him.”
Melina couldn’t take it anymore. She raised her foot and kicked the annoying man blocking her way a dozen meters away.
Her gaze was as cold as if she were looking at a dead man: “I don’t know what you said to him to make him change his mind, give up his exams on the Fourth Star Ring, and run off to the Fifth. I’ll only tell you this: if anything happens to Wesley, you and all your bastards will be buried with him!”
Without sparing him another glance, she turned and boarded the spaceship.
She constantly pulled strings, trying to find out the current situation on Gonggong Star.
The information she got, at great cost in favors, was far from optimistic.
The battle situation on Gonggong Star had taken a shocking turn for the worse. The rebel army, which they had thought would be easy to suppress, had secretly colluded with the Empire and spent months setting up this ambush.
“Damn it! I should have stopped Wesley.” Melina’s eyes were red.
Although Wesley was stupid, clumsy, and arrogant, he was a good boy who loved his mother, and he was Melina’s only biological child.
Melina scrolled through the information from the Fifth Star Ring. The videos containing the final messages from special forces soldiers and examinees had topped the video site charts.
Countless netizens left comments below, mourning for them.
Parents of the examinees cried helplessly in corners.
Many were cursing the sole survivor, Lin Xiaohe, even spinning conspiracy theories that everything was her plot.
Grateful that Lin Xiaohe had sent her Wesley’s final message, Melina clarified things under those comments.
[They have already been rescued by Lin Xiaohe and are waiting for Federation extraction. I remind you, the internet is not a lawless place; spreading rumors can land you in jail. We must not let heroes bleed and also weep.]
Her verified major account, with her identity as Director of the Fourth Star Ring Education Bureau, pinned this comment to the top.
Melina received many replies, including parents of other examinees asking for more details.
She ignored them all.
What was there to respond to?
Was she supposed to tell these parents that their children were near the Grand Canyon and might be involved in a suicide support mission?
Melina covered her face. Tears streamed through her fingers, and grief threatened to overwhelm her.
When she finally reached Gonggong Star, would there even be any bone fragments of Wesley left to recover?
God, please, please let Wesley live. She could give up her status, her position, anything, just so her child could live.
