Chapter 363: Million Astate

Lieutenant roughly counted, there were at least a thousand carrier aircraft, bombers, and transport planes flying toward their Whiskey Outpost.

However, the appearance of all aircraft types was completely different from the Federation, and their paint scheme was not the Federation's usual colors but blue-gray and light yellow.

"Reinforcements! Reinforcements have finally arrived!"

"Ah!! We are saved!"

"Damn it! Don't conserve ammo anymore, fuck! Kill these disgusting bugs!"

"Ha!"

But how could the low-morale hard bones consider things as thoroughly as the lieutenant?

You know, the arriving aviation formation! Do the bugs have any? Yes, they do, but those are bloated, viscous biological warships and fighters; obviously, the arriving formation is human!

So the hard bones' morale surged to the peak; originally they were stingy with ammo, but now they fired as if bullets were free, wildly pulling the trigger for sweeping fire, since logistics would replenish them later, they could splurge without restraint!!

At this moment, the hard bones finally displayed the appearance of an elite company.

Just then, the aviation formation timely cooperated; only see carrier aircraft escorting bombers split into more than ten groups.

Then upon reaching the designated position, the bombers immediately opened their belly bomb bays; next, dense bombs orderly streamed out of the bays, emitting a "Mmm—" free-fall howl, evenly falling over the insect sea, and before touching the ground they activated a buffer procedure, causing tens of thousands of them to actually "hover" in midair, and……

"Bang—bang—"

With the crisp launch, tens of thousands of bombs actually ejected tens of millions of "sub" bullets, completely covering the insect sea surrounding the outpost.

"Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!"

Tens of millions of "sub" bullets underwent successive low-intensity explosions; although they didn't reach a deafening effect, for the hard bones inside the outpost, the visual impact was absolutely overwhelming.

"Wahoo!!!"

Moreover, the hard bones raised their weapons high and shouted loudly to vent their long-suppressed emotions.

Looking at the insect sea side, after tens of millions of "sub" bullets completed detonation, they sprayed out a mist of dark green "water vapor"; under starlight, dispersion and refraction could even form an alternative rainbow.

However, the bugs had no mood or aesthetic capacity to appreciate the rainbow, for at this moment they were being corroded by the strong acid released from the cluster bombs; their hard exoskeletons were like paper, with a "hiss—hiss!" corrosion sound spreading across the land, even giving off a sour stench and mist.

In the blink of an eye, the insect sea truly became a sea of insects, with blood water, acid liquid, and bodily tissue covering the ground.

"Cough cough!" This made the hard bones unable to stop covering their mouths and coughing; the taste was indescribable.

Some hard bones couldn't help but compare it to traditional bombing; well, the old bombing was more "fragrant" in the literal sense, mainly because after bombing the bugs were all roasted.

"Lieutenant... uh...!" At this moment, the long-faced soldier came up beside the lieutenant, looking puzzled, and said: "Is this our new weapon? The effect is too good, right?!"

"..." The lieutenant didn't answer; he also wasn't sure if it was a new weapon, but he knew that the aviation formation that helped the hard bones deal with the bug plague, if not the Federation's secret forces, was another human force or a force similar to humanity.

This wasn't good news, so he ended his contemplation and reminded everyone over the personal communicator: "Stay alert, don't let me relax."

"Yes, sir!" The hard bones replied loudly.

However, they obviously misunderstood the object of vigilance.

At this moment, the bombers that completed their bombing mission immediately ascended and returned, while the carrier aircraft launched strafing runs against the remaining ground bugs.

"TingTing!!"

"Boom! Boom!"

The Gauss machine gun and ground-attack missiles were wildly "licking the ground", continuously delivering crushing blows to the bugs.

In just over ten seconds, all airborne ammunition was exhausted by the pilots; after all, it was "licking the ground", not a dogfight, so the pilots held nothing back, firing everything they had right away.

Although they would surely be scolded by ground crew when returning to the ship, … pulling the trigger for mindless strafing is really awesome!

Carrier aircraft and bombers withdrew in turn, leaving only a few escort aircraft types to deal with airborne bugs that could fly but posed extremely low threat; together with transport aircraft they quickly lowered altitude and then approached the ground where the strong acid corrosion had already stopped.

Maintain hover.

At the moment the hatch opened;

"Hahaha! Die, you scum!"

"Die die die!!"

"For humanity!!"

Hundreds of Wild Wolves equipped with Thor's Hammer Mark VI, holding their own grenade launchers, chain swords, power swords, or power axes, and using their metallic-toned voices, shouted as they charged out of the cabin to deal with the remaining ground bugs.

"Clang! Clang!"

"Buzz—buzz! Sizzle—sizzla!"

The scene instantly became extremely bloody.

The Wild Wolves that made hard landings, with movement speed and attack amplitude indistinguishable to the naked eye, "toyed" with at least tens of thousands, even up to hundreds of thousands of remaining bugs.

Moreover, listening to their battle cries, they said they came here to fight, but it's more like a competition to see who can wipe out the bugs first.

In fact, this group of Wild Wolves are respectively the 1st Combat Company of the 3rd, 9th, and 13th Battalions; each member is a veteran of their respective battalion headquarters, all at least 70 years old, truly elite, and moreover elite among the Astate.

Twenty-year-old reservists placed before them would only get a beating.

As for Thor's Hammer Mark VI, it is one of the top-tier armors with elaborate craftsmanship and high cost; the entire legion altogether only has eighty- to ninety-thousand sets, so only the most elite 1st Combat Company in each battalion headquarters qualifies to equip it.

And Genluoxigede, as well as other battalion commanders equipped with Thor's Hammer Mark VII, overall feels like a "lightweight" type Terminator, and is the most refined armor following all Terminator models; thus only old wolves like Genluoxigede qualify to use it, with a total of just over ten thousand sets.

Furthermore, speaking of eighty- to ninety-thousand sets of Mark VI, it sounds like a lot, but after discarding the six-thousand-plus elite guard, the Astate numbers of the ten legions have already exceeded one million, totaling about 1.2 million; among them, the Extreme Legion, under Robert's management, has a terrifying figure of 230,000, accounting for one-sixth of the entire legion.

Million Astate…

It sounds unrealistic, but the Astate project was launched at the end of the 20th century; now it's mid-22nd century, after 150 years of development, having a million total is not surprising.

Moreover, to this day there are still over 700,000 reservists…

That is to say, humanity under Sui Bian's protection and rule possesses two million Astate; if they launch a general mobilization and mount an expedition committing all their strength, then…… the "targeted" force will experience what absolute terror is.

However, the main universe has the influence of extra-dimensional space, so Sui Bian chose to proceed steadily, gradually expanding territory to minimize the possibility of civil war as much as possible.

Meanwhile, in the universe of Starship Troopers, although it's also the Milky Way, there is no extra-dimensional obstruction in the short term; Sui Bian believes that an expeditionary force led by the Space Wild Wolves can capture it in the shortest time.

You know, besides natural resources, this universe has another crucial resource: people!

At least several trillion, at most over ten trillion.

Such a massive population base is exactly what Sui Bian and humanity of the main universe need; if they can seize this universe's galaxy, it will be an excellent source of troops, so in the future when facing other hostile species or discovering other parallel universes, Sui Bian won't have to worry about manpower.

This is also why Sui Bian wants to seize the opportunity to announce to society the existence of parallel universes.

Then…

"Ahahaha, dead bugs are good bugs!! Go die! Go die!" a spirited female voice rang out across the entire battlefield, also reaching the ears of the Yinggutou.

Only seen wearing the latest HES combat uniform, with a paint scheme matching the Wolves, Shala Kairuigan swung her right hand, brandishing the Starlight Sword, releasing visible Spiritual Shock waves that shimmered with silver light, wildly cutting and smashing the bugs around her.

"..." the Yinggutou fell silent collectively.

It's not because Shala is so crazy; after all, female soldiers outperforming male soldiers is normal in the Federal Army.

But the reason these soldiers fell silent is because Shala can swing her sword and release Spiritual Shock!

What the hell is this?!

Besides Shala, what are those Tieguantou that are each 2.7 or 2.8 meters tall and let out metallic battle cries?

The Yinggutou have seen powered armor before; on the contrary, they are quite familiar with it—the elite units of fleet commanders and officers are all equipped with powered armor capable of operating in vacuum.

But how could those elite units move as swiftly as the Tieguantou? They even leave afterimages!! And furthermore, the weapons—or rather, the artillery—used by the Tieguantou can even explode after hitting and penetrating a target's body?

Especially melee weapons whose blades and axe heads are wrapped in high-energy fields, and some Tieguantou who dislike wearing helmets, who tear apart, kick, and punch the bugs to slaughter them—and everything else is constantly renewing what the Yinggutou have seen and known.

This, this is fucking humanity?

"Sir, what's..."

Rui Ge, hearing the commotion outside, ran out of the communications room, climbed the wall, about to ask what was happening, but upon seeing Shala and the Wolves clearing the bugs around the outpost, he froze on the spot.

He took a moment to compose himself.

Rui Ge then regained his composure and reported to the lieutenant: "Sir, Fleurs has already made contact with the fleet; the latest order is that, before the fleet arrives, we are required to hold out for two hours."

"Hh." Upon hearing the report, the lieutenant's face showed displeasure and contempt: "Two hours? Given the previous situation, our ammo will be exhausted in less than twenty minutes; after we run out, are we supposed to fight the bugs with sticks and our bare hands and feet? The fleet is truly fucking delusional."

"Sir, isn't this abnormal?" the long-faced soldier beside him chimed in: "The fleet just needs to fly; we mobile infantry just need to die."

"Sigh..."

"I truly regret enlisting."

The long-faced soldier's words earned the agreement of many.

The Yinggutou are considered elite among the many recruit battalions, after all many eighteen- or nineteen-year-old kids are sent to the battlefield as soon as they enlist, and the outcome is often death or permanent disability, making them absolute cannon fodder.

Having experienced dozens of big and small battles and campaigns, the Yinggutou are long past the period of youthful fervor; now they just want to have a good drink, a good meal, and a good sleep.

"Sir." Rui Ge ignored the long-faced soldier, instead pointing at Shala and the hundreds of Wolves who had completed the clearing and sweeping, and asked the lieutenant: "These reinforcements are…?"

"Unclear." The lieutenant shook his head, then scanned the crowd and shouted loudly: "Yinggutou! Load your weapons, watch out for that bunch out there."

"Yes!"

All responded loudly, obeying the lieutenant's order to change magazines, aim their barrels, gather, and gradually approach Shala and the Wolves at the outpost.

About three hundred meters in front of the outpost.

One Wolves member, with his helmet unfolded, had a silver "stud" nailed into his left forehead, wore a black wolf pelt over his right shoulder, and had a string of wolf teeth and bones hanging from his waist; he witnessed the whole scene and also heard the entire conversation between the lieutenant and Rui Ge and others.

He is the company commander of the 1st Company, 13th Battalion; as for the silver "stud" on his forehead, its technical term is the "Service Stud," representing how many years an Astate has served Sui Bian, for humanity, and it is a symbol of honor.

Within Umbrella, the Service Stud is divided into three grades: the copper stud represents fifty years, the silver stud represents one hundred years, and the highest grade, the gold stud, represents five hundred years.

Currently, no Astate has been able to wear the gold stud, but there are over twenty thousand veterans qualified to wear the silver stud, and this company commander is one of them.

Seeing them point their guns at them, completely clueless about how high the heavens and how deep the earth, even slightly "insulting" their fellow humans, the company commander couldn't help but frown tightly, shook off the blood on the blade of his sword that hadn't been fully cleaned, then sheathed his Starlight Sword, and Shala said:

"Little sis, teach those guys what it means to speak with strength, and also take away their toy guns."

"Leave it to me~!" Shala replied happily.

Afterwards, Shala and her group of brothers continued approaching the outpost while raising their right hands toward the Yinggutou standing on the wall, first making a finger-snapping motion.

Whooo—!!

An invisible surge of Spiritual Energy swiftly swept over.

"Huh?!"

"Eh?!"

In the midst of a chorus of exclamations and astonished cries, the Yinggutou couldn't control themselves, flung their weapons away, and in the blink of an eye were disarmed.

Immediately afterward, Shala made a motion of spreading her five fingers, holding them flat, and then swiped downward.

Boom—!!

This time, an invisible wave of Psychic Pressure swept over, and in less than the blink of an eye, accompanied by the shouts "Sir!", "No!", "What the hell is going on?!", the entire Yinggutou instantly hit the ground, unable to move.

!!!

With his face pressed to the ground, the lieutenant struggled desperately, feeling profound shock and despair.

Just two moves…

Just two moves, and this company of theirs lost all ability to fight back; moreover, that guy who looks like a madwoman (Shala) actually possesses such formidable telekinetic power?!

(End of chapter)