“Target acquired. Enemy fleet advancing in a wedge formation.”
Qi Bing’s voice began to echo through all the fighters.
“First squad, pierce through the formation and harass the six Short Sword-class interstellar destroyers. The remaining four squads will each take on one outer-ring Hunter Wolf-class interstellar frigates.
The frigates’ anti-air cannons pose a significant threat, we must eliminate them first at all costs. Permission to use Grey Wolf missiles.”
Tang Yuan’s heart sank as she heard Qi Bing’s order.
She knew very well that sending these 14 Bumble Bee fighters to harass those six Short Sword-class interstellar destroyers was tantamount to using their lives to buy time.
But Tang Yuan also knew that this was the most effective tactical plan at the moment.
“Understood!” The captains of the remaining four squads responded in unison.
The formation of fighters gradually split into five tiers.
Simultaneously, they began to push their fighters to their maximum speed.
“Huh, these Bumble Bee fighters, why are they faster than before?” Qi Bing noticed something amiss.
Having piloted the Bumble Bee fighter over a hundred times before, she had always maintained a steady speed to avoid falling behind the Grey Wolf fighters.
As she accelerated now, she immediately noticed the difference.
The Bumble Bee fighters’ acceleration efficiency had increased by 60%, while their energy consumption had actually decreased.
Their maximum speed had also seen a further improvement.
“Could this be…” Qi Bing recalled the voice of the man who had appeared earlier.
“Beep, beep, beep.”
Just then, the fighters’ warning radars detected a response, indicating that the Iwok Kingdom’s interstellar warships had discovered these unwelcome guests and were about to respond.
“Forget about it for now, the most important thing is the battle right in front of us.” Qi Bing quickly adapted to the speed of the Bumble Bee fighters.
…
Iwok Kingdom fleet flagship.
A Short Sword-class interstellar destroyer, the flagship of this fleet, carried the supreme commander of this force.
A group of blue-skinned, bipedal aliens with two pointed ears on each side of their heads were busy controlling the warships.
These were the Iwoks.
“Report, detected interstellar fighters from the Galactic Union! Estimated number over one hundred!” The radar operator reported.
The captain stood tall and asked nonchalantly: “What kind of fighters?”
“Less than one hundred T1 Grey Wolf fighters and a dozen T2 Bumble Bee fighters.” The radar operator said.
“Just those? No other starships detected nearby?”
“None. We’ve deployed our radar network, no starships besides those fighters detected.”
The Iwok captain sneered, “These Galactic Union folks are so arrogant, thinking they can defend against our ten starships with a mere hundred fighters, almost all T1. They’re delusional, I don’t even think they can break through the defenses of our frigates.”
“Re…report. The leading Bumble Bee fighters have broken through the Hunter Wolf-class interstellar frigates and are preparing to attack our Short Sword-class interstellar destroyers.
Their speed is extremely…no, wait, those Bumble Bee fighters’ speed far exceeds the maximum speed of that model!” The nearby officer said hurriedly.
“What does it matter? We have six Short Sword-class interstellar destroyers here! Send my order, all ships deploy unmanned drone squads.
Use your anti-air fire to destroy the enemy aircraft!” The Iwok captain waved his hand grandly, appearing confident.
Soon, the battle commenced.
The first to launch an attack were naturally the interstellar fighter group led by Qing Yuan. They relied on their extreme speed to get close to these frigates and fire their Grey Wolf missiles.
The Grey Wolf fighters primarily used three means of combat: fixed cannons, laser cannons, and two units of Grey Wolf missiles.
Grey Wolf missiles were small missiles, they could inflict some damage on the Hunter Wolf-class interstellar frigates’ armor, but a direct hit was difficult to achieve.
Boom, boom, boom.
Explosions followed, and the war had begun.
“Look at this beautiful symphony, this is the punishment we Iwoks give to these ignorant blue-skinned people!” The Iwok captain raised his hands, his confidence radiating.
He even saw a few sparks from exploding fighters, quite a sight indeed.
“Um…uh…captain, so far, the ones shot down have all been our drones, the enemy hasn’t lost a single fighter, while over 30% of our drones have been lost!
And…one of our Hunter Wolf-class interstellar frigates has been heavily damaged, we need reinforcements!” The deputy captain whispered quietly.
The Iwok captain’s expression froze, instantly turning dark: “What’s going on? Why are the casualties so high, our T1 drones may not be as powerful as those interstellar fighters, but the disparity shouldn’t be this huge!”
“This…we suspect the enemy’s fighters have undergone large-scale modifications and upgrades. Like that Grey Wolf fighter, its maneuverability and combat capabilities are comparable to a near-T2 fighter.
As for those Bumble Bee fighters, their speed…our drones can’t even catch them, and our laser cannons have difficulty targeting them!
Also, the message from the heavily damaged Hunter Wolf-class interstellar frigate is that they encountered an attack from a dozen Grey Wolf fighters that looked the same but possessed far superior combat power to Bumble Bee fighters.
It’s even possible those fake Grey Wolf fighters have reached near-T3 level!”
“T3 fighters? How is that possible!” The Iwok captain’s face turned pale.
T3 fighters were the pinnacle of current fighter technology, even ten T3 fighters could destroy one of their Short Sword-class interstellar destroyers.
“Captain, what should we do now…”
The Iwok captain gritted his teeth, “No matter what, they’re only a hundred T1 and a few T2 fighters, it’s impossible for them to have T3 capabilities, it must be a hallucination!
Attack, attack! No matter the cost, destroy them all!”
The Iwok starships launched a full-scale counterattack.
However, their counterattack against these fighters with ‘abnormal’ performance was largely ineffective.
“What’s going on…how can this Grey Wolf fighter be so powerful!” Tang Yuan, currently piloting a ‘fake’ Grey Wolf fighter, was also stunned by her own ride.
She remembered what Sun He had said.
Could it be…that he did this?
But he was just a fresh graduate from a polytechnic, a Master’s student, how could he have this kind of ability?
“No good, Xiao Hui, get out of the way!”
Just then, a comrade’s scream came through the communication channel.
Tang Yuan immediately looked over and saw that a Grey Wolf fighter next to her had gotten too close to the target interstellar frigate and was locked onto by the frigate’s anti-air cannons.
A barrage of dense fire was raining down on the fighter, making it nearly impossible to dodge.
At this rate, the female soldier named Xiao Hui and her fighter would surely be destroyed.
‘Dragon Network has predicted a threat to our formation’s fighters from enemy firepower and will automatically select supporting fighters within the area for automated fire cover. Fighter pilots can manually disable this operation.’