Chapter 161: Collision

“Open fire immediately. Destroy all those planet fragments outside the perimeter.” Bob watched as the Planetary Belt had already been destroyed by the enemy. He gave the fire order to the officer beside him.

Warships on Lei Yaotian’s side, quietly hovering on the other end of the Planetary Belt, began firing. Countless thick beams of Energy shot out from their cannons.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Planet fragments were mostly destroyed within the outer fire zone of the battle line. Even the few escaping fragments couldn’t cause much harm to Lei Yaotian’s Fleet.

Some Warships in the rear had to move to dodge the incoming fragments.

“Three of our Warships lost outer hull plating due to Planet fragment impacts. All other Warships are undamaged.” Officers checked data screens. They listened to reports from each fleet Commander before summarizing them for Bob.

“Activate Protective Shields. Prepare for combat!” Bob knew that after the Planetary Belt’s destruction, the enemy would quickly reach their position. Fighting could break out any moment.

Lei Yaotian felt rather pleased. Earlier, he had clearly witnessed Tad’s Vanguard Fleet’s chaos through a real-time Three-Dimensional Hologram in the Command Room.

“Their Vanguard Fleet is mostly crippled. But it seems they replenished it with more Warships.” Lei Yaotian walked over. He watched the blue dots representing enemy Warships on the Three-Dimensional Hologram as he spoke to Bob.

Bob touched the frame of the 3D display. He pulled it to enlarge the image.

“Yes. Our first attack, combined with the Planetary Belt’s magnetic field disruption, crippled the enemy’s Vanguard Fleet. However, our enemy committed one-third of their elite rear forces to reinforce it. Otherwise, the Planetary Belt wouldn’t have been destroyed this fast.” Bob stared intently at the enlarged 3D image, his expression tight and serious.

The blue dots representing Tad’s side had almost vanished under their firepower. But after the reinforcement, the dots became dense again. Bob instantly knew the Vanguard Fleet numbers had been restored.

Meanwhile, Tad’s rear fleet formations showed a one-third drop in numbers. Obviously, they had moved ships from the back to the Vanguard Fleet.

This movement was clearly visible on Bob’s Three-Dimensional Hologram as Tad’s rear ships shifted.

“Them moving rear ships to the Vanguard Fleet is better for us. It reduces their reserve warships. It suits us well. Ideally, they’d move all rear warships forward. Then I could finish them all at once, saving much trouble.”

Bob kept touching the Three-Dimensional Hologram. He enlarged, shrank, and split off a smaller section to the side.

Lei Yaotian found such Great Cosmic Era technology fascinating. He stood quietly, watching Bob work the display.

“Commander! Enemy fleet entering our weapon range!”

Bob kept his focus on the 3D display, hands moving. “All ships, open fire! Max Energy output! Activate Protective Shields; hold nothing back! Destroy as much enemy active force as possible. Prepare Mecha Units for sortie.”

Bob issued a string of orders, yet none addressed the left and right flank fleets. This puzzled Lei Yaotian.

So Lei Yaotian asked, “Mr. Bob, we have two fleets on our flanks. Are they excluded from the coming battle? Relying only on our front fleet against a third of the enemy’s elite force seems overconfident, no?”

Bob’s front fleet only had six to seven million Warships. Most ships were on the flanks. The enemy Vanguard Fleet numbered five to six million, with tens of millions in reserve warships behind them.

Though Bob’s Warships had superior tech, unexpected war developments were unwelcome for Lei Yaotian.

Lei Yaotian believed they possessed the advantage now. They should push forward and crush the enemy.

Bob glanced deeply at Lei Yaotian and explained, “I also wish to issue such orders. Yet the battlefield is unpredictable. I cannot take unnecessary risks. Unless our advantage is overwhelming, I won’t commit the entire fleet.”

Bob’s caution was sensible. Lei Yaotian remained an outsider to Great Cosmic Era warfare, unable to match Bob’s expertise. Arguing further might upset Bob – an outcome Lei Yaotian wished to avoid.

“So when do you plan to deploy the flank fleets?”

Bob observed the Three-Dimensional Hologram. “When enemy ships start collapsing, I’ll deploy the left flank. The right flank stays as the reserve fleet. It’s for emergencies.”

Bob’s strategy was sound. Keeping a fleet reserve prevented any sudden fleet shortages.

Indeed, the right flank later proved vital in suppressing Tad’s advance. But neither Lei Yaotian nor Bob knew yet: At Tad’s far rear, near the void’s edge, an unidentified fleet was appearing. Their target was Lei Yaotian himself.

…

“Equipment ready!””Energy recharge complete!””Hatches opening complete!”

Metal Gates on each Warship’s hull slid open. Countless three-meter tall, red-metal Mecha Warriors stood in orderly ranks near the outer edge hatches.

“Target: Enemy Warship cannons! Sortie!” Commanders of each Mecha Unit gave the command.

Mecha Warriors leapt out of the Warships. They swarmed towards enemy ships.

Around a third of the Mecha Warriors didn’t join the assault. Instead, they moved to junctions on the hulls or hovered near the Warships’ top cannons. They held Particle Rifles, scanning vigilantly.

Simultaneously, dense forces of blue-metal Mecha Units surged from Eli’s Vanguard Fleet. The two Mecha forces collided between the battle lines, locked in deadly combat.

In Great Cosmic Era warfare, Mecha Units held nowhere near the power Lei Yaotian remembered from his World. Situations where a lone Mecha won a war or crushed a civilization couldn’t occur here.

A Mecha stood, at most, three meters tall. Even magnified tenfold, thirty meters was tiny.

A Light Warship stretched kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide. Mecha armor also fell far below Warship plating in defensive strength.

A top Mecha Warrior destroying over a dozen foes in one battle was noteworthy. After all, they were humans, not gods.

Like now, in this Mecha clash: Upon contact, tens of thousands of Mecha turned to dust in the Starry Sky.

One person’s strength was incredibly tiny in a battle involving millions of Mecha. Victory relied on shared willpower and teamwork. Sole reliance on lone heroes was unwise.

As the forces tangled, rear Mecha Units climbed higher, trying to break through enemy lines to damage Warships.

Though limited in overall Cosmic Warfare impact, Mecha excelled at destroying Warship outer cannons. Warships were sluggish, relying on slow-tracking heavy guns. Agile Mecha exploited this.

Mecha Units typically sortied before major Warship gunnery exchanges, aiming to disable enemy cannons. Occasionally, lucky strikes hit critical Warship sections.

True, Warship configurations varied across Dimensional Planes. Power systems weren’t always locatable or hittable.

But when Mecha Units closed in, Warship main guns became useless. They could only endure strikes from nimble Mecha. Thus, both sides prioritized eliminating the other’s Mecha Units before Warships began slugging matches.

Warriors from both Mecha Units now pushed through, breaking towards enemy Warships.

These standard Great Cosmic Era tactics were eye-opening for Lei Yaotian.

“So this is how Cosmic Warfare is fought! Truly eye-opening today!” Lei Yaotian marvelled inwardly. He hurried to the Command Room’s large window, hoping to see close-up Mecha combat.

But the Flagship sat protected deep in the fleet center. Lei Yaotian couldn’t see the distant frontline fight. This frustrated him.

“Bob, can you send me a live feed? I want to see the Mecha Warriors fight,” Lei Yaotian returned and asked Bob.

“Certainly, Boss. Easily done.” Bob gave a nearby officer a look. “Pull up a live holo-feed from the battlefront for our Boss.”

“Boss, you can watch seated. I’ll have an officer bring hot drinks and light snacks. It’ll help ease tension.” Bob smiled as he made the suggestion.

Lei Yaotian shrugged. He headed towards a nearby sofa with Andrew and Wangcai.

“I have no objections,” he said while walking.

Once seated, a clear live feed materialized before them.