Chapter 434: and translation of chapter title

Boom!!!

The electromagnetic main gun's salvo successfully shattered the emerald-green energy shield, allowing the shells to pierce the armor, rush into the mother ship's interior, and wreak havoc.

After layers of area obstruction and cancellation, the 20-ton and 30-ton tungsten-iron shells each fulfilled their mission, eventually either landing in a corner or smashing some unlucky Reapers, after which they fell completely silent, awaiting recovery by follow-up forces.

However…

Boom——Boom——~Boom!!!

Using a 4,000-meter acceleration to 55% of light speed, the 60-ton tungsten-iron shell from the Furious Prayer had no intention of stopping; it not only pierced armor but also pierced straight through the mother ship, which had a diameter of a full 4,800 kilometers.

The instant the shell shot out of the mother ship, it vanished into the dark void; even the mighty Astate, as strong as a spirit, could not capture where the shell went.

But one thing understood by all Blood Ravens, including the Astate, and the UNSC is that, before being affected by any massive gaseous planet, star, or black hole, this shell will destroy every asteroid and dwarf planet along its path, unless it encounters an Earth-like planet and collides in a mutual annihilation, which would end its wandering through the universe.

While the Blood Ravens and the UNSC side completed the main gun salvo, and then the mother ship, suffering heavy damage from the 'little' shell, was forced to lose power and perform an emergency brake, the entire process lasted only a few seconds.

Immediately afterward, the forced-to-shutdown Reaper mother ship began emergency repairs, while also releasing hundreds of millions, even billions of elliptical, disc-shaped shipborne craft, resembling a vast swarm that formed a giant net, rushing toward the Furious Prayer and the three UNSC battleships.

Moreover, the Reaper mother ship also launched over a hundred Cityburner destroyers, each twenty kilometers in diameter and similarly large disc-shaped, coordinating with the shipborne craft that had previously detached from the mother ship, preparing to annihilate the Blood Ravens in one fell swoop.

At this moment, on the bridge.

"Captain, the enemy has dispatched…"

"No need to report, it's a waste of time; I can see it."

A crew member was about to report the current situation to Miranda Mata when the latter, who kept staring at the holographic screen on her right, stopped him with an extremely brief reply.

Afterward, Miranda raised her head and, through the bridge viewport, observed with the naked eye the Reaper shipborne craft and destroyers that blotted out the sky.

Although she should have faced the situation with an extremely grim and solemn expression, Miranda instead showed a look of ecstatic delight and eagerness to try…

It was mainly because it was 'professionally matched'.

After all, she and her crew had earned their place in the Tutemos Legion by overcoming superior numbers, successfully transferring from the UNSC; initially facing a three-to-one odds against the Holy Covenant Empire, they might have embraced a resolve to die rather than surrender.

Now?

Now it's not like that.

"Finally here! Hahaha!! I've been waiting ages!" she exclaimed, unable to wait, and issued commands at breakneck speed:

"Notify the three captains to coordinate with this ship in the simplest triangular formation, engage the enemy head‑on, ignore their firepower, and focus on creating a safe jump‑in opportunity for our forces so they can seize the enemy mother ship! Perfect, our battalion can also go play at building a homeworld! Hahaha!"

"Yes! Captain!"

With Miranda's words, the bridge atmosphere instantly became lively; they operated the Furious Prayer to accelerate forward, activated the Gauss and pulse close‑in defense systems, then let the large‑caliber plasma secondary guns and the matrix beams capable of chained attacks unleash a fierce barrage at the Reapers.

At this point, Gabriel, who had been merely tagging along all along, seeing Miranda and the entire crew highly excited, likewise smiled, turned and left the central console, walking toward the bridge exit while saying to Miranda, who was seated in the captain's chair:

"Then the sea battle is yours to handle."

"That's certain, otherwise our crew would be just eating rice for free—just don't screw up." Miranda waved her hand, making a teasing remark.

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing that, Gabriel also laughed heartily: "We'll screw up? My hands are itching—I can't help wanting to jump in myself; actually, the support troops alone could handle them. All right, let's create a green corridor for us, and then we can chat properly after the battle!"

Having said that, Gabriel completely left the bridge.

"You all heard the battalion commander's words! Blast them to death! Don't hold back on live ammo and energy!"

"Yes!!"

At this moment.

Outside the ship.

Looking down from above the void, one can clearly see the Blood Ravens side, with the Furious Prayer at the center and a simple formation of one and two battleships on either side, facing the Reaper side, which outnumbers them by tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

Whoosh~! Whoosh~!

Boom!! Boom!!

Both sides' energy bolts sliced through the void.

Hum~! Hum!

Both sides also possessed energy shields radiating golden‑yellow and emerald‑green light.

But the Blood Ravens side had Gauss magnetic‑nail rounds with a straight trajectory, as well as a close‑in defense barrage made up of extremely imposing Shellless Pulse Ammo, which simply crushed the Reapers' shipborne craft.

Looking at the twenty‑kilometer Cityburners, they simply could not withstand the main universe plasma cannon teams that had absorbed the Forerunner civilization, with vastly increased power and output……

Moreover, these gun teams are generally secondary guns exceeding 2000 mm in caliber.

Ri~whoosh~——!

After the electromagnetic main gun finished charging and fired another salvo, the formation of Cityburner destroyers was blown to pieces by the various ton‑class tungsten‑iron shells.

One Cityburner had it particularly bad: its front collided head‑on with the Furious Prayer's 60‑ton tungsten‑iron shell, being split cleanly in half at the midsection, and the frail, viscous‑skinned Reapers that looked like little gray men were flung into the cold vacuum of space, instantly turning into "ice pops."

Of course, during the firefight, it wasn't only the Reapers who took a pounding; the Blood Ravens side endured an even denser, more violent barrage—a veritable "raging torrent" and "whirlwind storm" concentrated on them.

Yet the Reapers' emerald‑green plasma cannons could do nothing against the golden‑yellow radiance of the energy barrier.

In fact, the primary reason the Reapers' plasma cannon teams cannot pierce the Blood Ravens' barrier is that nearly half of human vessels have completed an "upgrade", installing barrier generators that incorporate Forerunner technology.

Furthermore, as the Tutemos are most adept at wielding Spiritual Energy, the Blood Ravens outfitted the Furious Prayer with numerous little gadgets that facilitate the release and amplification of Spiritual Energy.

In other words, for the Reapers to sink the Blood Ravens side, they must first neutralize the Spiritual Energy position released by the Blood Ravens, then shatter the golden‑yellow barrier, and only then contend with the alpha‑grade titanium‑alloy armor.

Too bad the Reapers, while possessing decent telepathy capable of interfering with, even controlling humanity of the 04 Universe, are truly incapable of opposing Spiritual Energy—not even at the level of an infant.

To be frank, in the eyes of Miranda, Gabriel, and others, the oppression and threat level of the Reaper civilization seem far inferior to that of the Holy Covenant Empire.

All that remains notable about the Reapers is the size of their warships and mother ships.

Next, the Furious Prayer and the three battleships advanced as if into uninhabited territory, and within moments arrived at the front end of the still‑shutdown mother ship.

Thereafter, the three battleships immediately hit the emergency brakes and fired matrix beams, swiftly wiping out the surrounding "flies" (shipborne craft), while also performing an emergency brake, orienting their ventral hulls toward the gap blown open by the 60‑ton shell, and the Furious Prayer carried out a forced‑in drop "service".

Soon, the Blood Ravens' 1st Company that had not taken part in the 04 Earth landing operation, along with the Support Army's 2nd and 3rd Assault Brigades, which had been "stranded" on the flagship, boarded their respective multi‑person and single‑person drop pods, smoothly passed through the breach, and surged into the mother ship's interior to prepare for a major assault.

Meanwhile, the Furious Prayer, having completed its drop, neither rushed to withdraw nor bothered with hit‑and‑run tactics; instead, it closed in to engage the Cityburner destroyers and their shipborne craft head‑on.

The close‑in defense's missiles came up empty?

Then use the matrix beam!

The energy supplied by the ship-mounted engines and reactors is nearly infinite, so there's no need to worry about running out, and then being grabbed by the neck and scolded by logistics personnel.

Just as Miranda said, they don't rely on tactics; with equipment alone they can dominate naval warfare.

————————

…

At the same time.

The space is extremely vast and spacious, with a perfected independent ecological environment, and the mother ship's interior has an atmospheric composition similar to Earth's…

Whoosh~! Whoosh~!

Countless drop pods skimmed over the ground from the upper sky.

And the 'ground' is a deck featuring architecture, jungles, and lakes that are exotic to human aesthetic sensibilities.

Upon entering the mother ship's interior, the drop pods use front, rear, and surrounding nozzles to adjust speed and angle, expanding their area as much as possible, and scattering onto the mother ship's deck that corresponds to the 'ground'.

However, three individual soldier drop pods increased the thrust from their front nozzles, flinging far behind the main force.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh~~!!

At this moment, numerous anti-aircraft turrets fired dense volleys of emerald-green artillery shells, hoping to shoot down those three drop pods in one go.

Hum~! Hum~!

However, the faintly visible energy shield canceled out the artillery barrage.

After all, the Umbrella forces of the main universe even equip their drop pods with energy shields; nevertheless, these three individual soldier drop pods still chose to lower altitude, increase spacing, and crash onto a spot on the ground deck that appears to be a settlement of the Reapers.

Boom... Boom! Boom!

One of the individual soldier drop pods smashed through a high-rise building; after slowing down, it smashed into the middle section of another building, finally coming to a stop.

Hiss… sizzle…

Originally dim, the interior of the hive-like building became even more "gloomy" as the lights flickered on and off.

"Clank~!" the drop pod's hatch was manually flung open.

"Thud, thud." Next came the sound of magnetic boots striking the floor, echoing through this area…

Especially upon seeing the one who emerged from the drop pod, equipped with a HellDiver II, wearing a blood‑raven paint scheme, and choosing a HellParatrooper‑style helmet per personal preference, for some reason the pervasive "gloomy" feeling in this area instantly dissipated.

On the left chest plate of this auxiliary trooper was engraved his employee ID, name, and his unique nickname or alias, "Rookie".

He first held his large‑caliber laser rifle at the ready, glanced around to confirm no immediate threat, then slightly lowered the muzzle and moved toward the right side, which he considered lucky, preparing to actively seek out and eliminate the Reapers here.

In fact, this auxiliary trooper nicknamed "Rookie" was a HellParatrooper of the Blood Raven regiment before undergoing the Minos Island augmentation surgery.

Because of his love for the paratrooper identity, even after switching to the more advanced HellDiver II, Rookie still uses a HellParatrooper‑style helmet.

Although the HellParatrooper organization has been retained, it will eventually be abolished or reassigned to the UNSC as time passes.

Moreover, the UNSC's airborne division matches the HellParatroopers in combat style and "madness" level, making it the ideal successor to the name.

At this moment.

Rookie proceeded down the spiral‑shaped passage, activating the magnetic boots' "silent" mode, and continued to dash downward with minimal noise.

Suddenly!

Rookie's helmet display seemed to detect something, or the pulse scan returned some feedback, causing him to instinctively turn his gaze toward the right‑hand wall.

In an instant, Rookie completed the calculations and deployment in his mind, then turned his feet and, relying on brute force, slammed into the right‑hand wall.

Boom!!

The seemingly thick and sturdy wall was forcibly punched through by Rookie's sheer strength.

He, carried by the momentum, reached the half‑open interior of the building, then was pulled downward by the ship's built‑in gravity, falling like a free‑fall toward the lowest level dozens of meters below.

Yet, while airborne, Rookie had already re‑gripped his laser rifle, pointing the muzzle downward at the Reaper combat unit gathering and preparing to ambush at the exit of the spiral passage.

Aim.

Fire.

Rat‑tat‑tat‑tat!!

In an instant, a high‑energy beam as thick as a child's wrist, radiating red light, burst from the barrel like a "hail of laser bolts," spraying onto the Reapers assembled at the exit.

Pfft! Slice!

The milky‑white, almost living biological exoskeleton, upon contact with the high‑energy beam, was easily melted and pierced, inflicting excruciating and lethal damage to the soft tissue inside.

Sizzle~!

While killing the Reapers, the high‑energy beam also produced a burnt, smoky odor.

The distance of dozens of meters passed in an instant.

Rookie then chose one of the Reapers as a stepping stone and stepped straight onto it……

Bang!! —directly crushing it.

At this point, the Reapers finally realized that their concealed ambushers had already "detoured" to their center.

Roar!! They initially let out angry howls, seemingly seeking vengeance for their fallen kin.

Roar…roar…

But then they emitted fearful, instinct‑driven survival howls, pleading for Rookie to spare their lives.

Seen was the 2.4‑meter‑tall Rookie, single‑handedly firing his rifle with his right hand while swinging his left fist, clamping, and hand‑chopping the alien debris beside him.

(End of chapter)