Chapter 489: Seemingly Holding the Upper Hand

"This…"

Just now, while firing on the Warrior Beetle's biological shield and watching the Iron‑blooded Company Commander kill the Warrior Beetle in full, Tan Ya couldn't help but exclaim:

"So strong!"

And deep inside, she compared the Iron‑blooded Company Commander with Astate, trying to guess how formidable Astate might be.

Even after watching countless battle videos, the on‑site experience is always more shocking and deterrent than any so‑called video tutorial or archive.

"Gah…" At this moment the Iron‑blooded Company Commander had returned to the front line and ordered, "Take over the cover and retreat to the 2nd Armored Company position."

"Yes, sir!"

Regaining their composure, Tan Ya and the others answered in unison, then withdrew southwest to assume the cover.

Coordinating with the escort ship's sustained fire, the insect‑sea tide fell about two kilometers behind them, temporarily sparing them from being devoured or submerged.

At this moment, nearly a hundred "meteors" streaked across the sky, but the hurried Tan Ya, Celesstin and the others had no mind to watch the scene above.

Soon, the endurance and speed boost from the powered armor, plus a scout carrying a pilot on his back, allowed the group to finally reach the outskirts of Olive Town and the defensive line set up by the 2nd Armored Company.

Here, the 2nd Company pulled out all its resources: five siege tanks deployed in plasma cannon mode, fourteen armored personnel carriers equipped with pulse and gauss cannons plus missile launchers, and numerous off‑road vehicles derived from the Warthog series.

Since the 2nd Company had few combat personnel, the 500‑strong 3rd Infantry Company allocated four‑fifths of its troops to the southwest front.

The security force, numbering ten thousand in total, also placed its elite special squads and veteran officers on this front to cooperate with the UNSC against the incoming insect tide.

When the 1st Recon Company and the trainee sisters escorted intelligence personnel toward the rainforest, Zax Redfield had already suggested that the mayor of Olive Town open the gates, temporarily severing the town's underground system from the outside.

Nevertheless, over a hundred soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Company, together with some special squads, penetrated the underground system and placed a large number of plasma bombs at the main junctions.

If the insects breached the gates, they would detonate the plasma bombs to buy as much time as possible.

However, scans from the escort ship stationed in low‑Earth orbit and the low‑intelligence AI indicated that the insect swarm about to ravage Olive Town was largely concentrated over the rainforest surface southeast of the town.

Tai Luo Ke Er harbored multiple insect nests, and this unknown species focused its targets on the urban area, making the whole planet seem like a wasp nest being pierced, enduring countless insect assaults.

As for Tan Ya, Celesstin and the others who had reached the front line and were resupplying ammunition behind an armored personnel carrier, they didn't know whether higher command would request aid from the nearest legion camp, but they knew they must reorganize their gear and weapons as best they could and keep fighting.

"Boom! Boom!"

The siege tanks had begun bombarding the distant surface long before they arrived at the position.

"Bang~! Bang~!"

At that moment, the hundred meteors they had previously ignored activated a temporary hovering stance for cushioning, performing a non‑aggressive soft landing.

?

Hearing the noise, Tan Ya grabbed two pulse pistols, attached them to her lower back, loaded the appropriate ammo, and leaned forward to look toward the front of the armored vehicle.

It turned out the soft‑landing "meteors" were single‑soldier drop pods that had left the escort ship and pierced the atmosphere.

"Clack~!"

Donning HellParatrooper‑style powered armor and wielding laser micro‑thrusters, the paratroopers leapt out of the drop pod the instant its door opened, rushing to the designated spot as ordered.

HellParatrooper designations were abolished due to a comprehensive reform of the auxiliary forces, and the old weapons and gear were taken over by the various UNSC airborne divisions.

Only a few hundred airborne troops reached the front first, but that was enough to boost everyone's morale.

After all, the HellParatrooper spirit and slogan were inherited by the airborne divisions, making each paratrooper embody the pinnacle of "mortal" existence.

Ready to continue.

Tan Ya, Celesstin and the others left the armored vehicle, moved to a semi‑open bunker on the right, and together with the Iron‑blooded Company Commander and the remaining scouts, turned their gaze eastward.

"Rumble… rumble…" the ground trembled.

"Huff… ha…" their breathing was audible.

In their line of sight, beyond the dense forest outside the front, occasional ship‑cannon trajectories sliced the night sky, and the incoming drop pods, like meteors, followed.

However, the holographic and helmet displays locked onto the forward thicket, projecting dense red boxes to aid the team in targeting.

"Everyone!"

At that moment, an elite captain also stationed at this front spoke over the comms, delivering a pre‑battle briefing:

"A disgusting, filthy swarm of insects, who knows when they descended upon our planet, now dare to invade our home! So tell me, what is your answer?!"

"Kill every scrap! Sir!" Tan Ya and the others shouted hoarsely at the top of their lungs.

"Hahaha! Right! That's the spirit—wipe out those scum daring to touch our planet, whose tactics are even more cowardly than other insect races!!!"

"Yes!!"

As soon as the words fell, gunfire and cannons roared together.

The human side, equipped with fire‑control and support, launched the first wave of attack even though no enemy was visible.

Projectiles sliced through and felled every tree in their path; as the smoke‑filled trunks fell, the line of sight cleared instantly.

Moreover, a vast wave of "bone‑white" and "dark‑purple" hues faintly appeared in the view.

At the forefront were the cannon‑fodder insects, extremely fast and agile, whose role was to exploit the insect sea's advantage to eliminate all foes, each being shredded by dense fire, turned into a sieve, or blown apart.

Various types of Shellless Pulse Ammo and pulse shells are effective against clustered enemies, delivering horizontal damage.

In contrast, the smaller‑caliber spiked rounds and magnetic‑tipped shells, thanks to their extreme speed and penetration, easily pierce swarms of insects, only halting when they encounter a Warrior Beetle's biological shield, delivering vertical damage.

The siege tank's plasma cannon, combined with the paratroopers' laser micro‑thrusters, can inflict both horizontal and vertical damage and effectively strike biological shields.

The moment the two sides clashed.

The human side immediately gained absolute superiority, especially since the escort ship had been bombarding continuously after the insects broke the surface…

Having control of orbital assets is indeed an unbeatable advantage in any war, particularly because the insect sea lies in a no‑man's zone.

Moreover, four disposable massive drop pods began staged thrust buffering; when they were only a hundred meters above ground they plunged straight into the insect sea, inflicting substantial damage while achieving a hard landing.

"Clack~!"

The four pod doors flung outward, crushing and flattening several approaching soldier insects, but this also left the drop pod's "passengers" directly exposed at the forefront of the insect tide.

However…

Upon closer inspection, these "passengers" stood seven meters tall, with a rugged yet proportionate design, belonging to a One‑Eyed Giant‑derived mech equipped with a stance generator, a beam matrix, and two pairs of mechanical arms—the "Hundred‑Armed Giant".

Boom~!!

Four hundred-armed giants, at the moment the airdropped warehouse bomb opened, released a stance impact similar to Spiritual Shock, tearing apart and shattering all the smaller infantry bugs.

Only the warrior bugs that gathered around the four sides survived.

Immediately after, among all the mechanical arms of these four hundred-armed giants, one pair used to hold the equipped ammo chain and ammunition backpack 100mm Gauss machine gun, while another pair, appearing rhombic-prism-shaped, extended upward and then flickered with a cyan-blue light…

"Ri~!" The light grew increasingly blinding.

"Zi~!" The four sets, four pairs, total eight rhombic-prism-shaped mechanical arms performed beam chaining.

"Xu~!" Finally, the hundred-armed giant standing at the front released a horizontal beam.

Crackle!!

The chained beam effortlessly cut through a warrior bug's barrier and body, and its force continued forward without any reduction.

If viewed from above, the matrix beam formed a reverse V-shape, like an extremely sharp razor, actually performing a "harvest" amidst the sea of bugs.

However, the matrix beam could not be sustained, and it finally burst apart upon clashing with the biological barriers of numerous warrior bugs.

However…

"Woo~!!!"

Even so, the "harvest" scene created by the four hundred-armed giants still made everyone, including Tan Ya, unable to help shouting aloud.

The Navy has money; this is a fact recognized by all military branches except the Umbrella Legion.

As a derivative of the one-eyed giant, the hundred-armed giant not only inherited all its advantages but also installed a beam-linking device developed by the Administrator Civilization's technology.

Naturally, the hundred-armed giant's order price is exorbitant; one unit equals twelve siege tanks.

In peacetime, almost all branches resent, or rather envy, the Navy's surplus and wealth; even the Marine Corps that follows the Navy fleet is no exception.

But once wartime arrives, such as now when multiple branches cooperate against the unknown bug invasion, soldiers only wish for the Navy to produce more good stuff.

Human morale soared.

On the contrary, the bug side continues to do as it pleases, utterly fearless, and even made targeted changes based on humanity's current defensive deployments.

They are no longer the initial bug swarm; they have transformed into squads of twenty to forty infantry bugs paired with one warrior bug, and they try to keep distance from other squads to avoid concentrated fire from escort ships and armored battalions.

Beside the slow-moving, obese, bloated plasma bugs that can fire bio-shells, each is accompanied by at least a hundred infantry bugs, and four warrior bugs actively deploy biological barriers to protect the plasma bugs as they launch long-range attacks on the human defense line.

Furthermore, the bugs have ended their reckless charges, beginning to split into tens of thousands of squads attempting to flank and encircle Aoliweilan Zhen from left and right.

At that very moment, a carrier-based aircraft squadron first escorted transport aircraft and craft, disembarking over eight hundred marines onto the front line, then began to carpet-bomb the bug swarm.

The speed and agility of carrier-based aircraft are nothing like the easy targets of the 3rd Battalion's Aviation Company; the bio-shells and bone spines fired by plasma bugs and infantry bugs cannot truly intercept them.

Soon, they expended all their airborne munitions in a single volley; and don't forget, this squadron belongs to the Navy's establishment, so naturally it is 'filthy rich', carrying a total of sixteen antimatter missiles.

With the 2-gram matter-antimatter annihilation reaction set to maximum yield, these sixteen air-to-ground missiles stood out, falling one after another into the core of the bug swarm…

Ri~Xu!!!

The annihilation reaction instantly lit up the entire area, like daytime.

Boom!!!!

The deafening explosion and violent shockwave followed immediately, wiping out over ninety percent of the bugs in one go, reducing their numbers from hundreds of millions to mere millions.

Having completed its escort and bombing mission, the carrier-based aircraft squadron quickly changed angle, ascended rapidly, and swiftly returned to the escort ships in low Earth orbit.

Whoo~~!!

The shockwave swept across the ground.

This caused Tan Ya, who hadn't fastened her helmet, to have her golden wavy hair flutter in the wind, while the smoke and dust also made her involuntarily narrow her eyes.

After the aftershocks subsided.

Tan Ya waved her left hand in front of her face, opened her eyes, and saw that the rainforest, which should have been lush and damp, had been completely destroyed and flattened.

Moreover, the bug swarm attempting to invade Aoliweilan Zhen also nearly collapsed under the Navy's offensive, appearing unable to stir any waves.

"Cough cough!" came the communication, the Elite Captain's teasing: "No wonder the Navy, really hiding plenty of good stuff; if our Army also had antimatter missiles, would we even get a turn?"

Forget it! Now is not the time for infighting; since the Navy helped us with a bug barbecue, we also need to stir-fry some bugs!

Follow me, charge!!

Before the words even finished.

Tan Ya saw the Elite Captain take the lead, drawing out the sword hilt that their clan bestows upon adulthood; with a flick of both hands, the two hilts generated slender, blade-like shapes emitting a pale blue light, forming dual-bladed energy stances.

"Roar!!" The elite army followed closely, each one also swinging out dual-bladed energy swords.

"Ga... How can I let them steal the spotlight!" The Iron Blood company commander also rushed out of the bunker.

Hahaha!!

Tan Ya, who had fully adapted to the battlefield environment, laughed the loudest, affixing a flamethrower to her back, drawing two pulse pistols, and as she kept pace with the Iron Blood company commander, she let out a battle cry:

"Let's rock! Battle sisters, arrive!!"

The entire battle seemed to give humanity an absolute advantage.

(End of chapter)