Chapter 320: Void Messenger

Space, Peregrine-class battleship Bell.

The Bell, currently executing its routine patrol plan, suddenly detected mechanical shadows intruding into its search radius.

"Why would something come to this sector?" the bearded captain asked, looking incredulous. "There are no civilian shipping lanes around here."

"Detected 12 mechanical shadows in the forward sector, presumed to be AGX-01 BUGS," the radar operator continued to report. "It's Void Walkers!!!"

Void Walkers?

Natarle Badgiruel, in the First Officer's seat, revealed an expression of surprise. Through her intensive study over the past two days, she naturally knew the intelligence regarding these unidentified extraterrestrial organisms, the "Void Messengers."

She hadn't expected to encounter these aliens' reconnaissance craft just as they were about to finish their patrol.

"All hands, battle stations! Pilots, enter the Ranson immediately for standby. CIC, prepare; missile tubes one through four, ready; beam cannons, activate; autocannons, prepare to intercept..."

Accustomed to being a captain, Natarle Badgiruel sat in the First Officer's seat and began issuing orders, until she noticed the strange atmosphere on the bridge and the bearded captain's look of bewilderment.

"Apologies, excuse me." Knowing she was in the wrong, Natarle Badgiruel quickly apologized.

Fortunately, the bearded captain was not a man who held grudges. "It's fine, your command was correct. What are you all still standing there for? All hands, battle stations!!!"

Amidst the shrill alarm, Li Boyong donned his flight suit and, with the help of the maintenance crew, entered the cockpit of the Ranson.

"All units, sortie in order," Li Boyong said while starting up his machine. "After sortie, form a loose echelon formation. Once combat begins, break off into pairs to engage."

"Ranson, Li Boyong, sortieing."

Even for a small fighter, Li Boyong was very big on ceremony.

It was just unexpected that his first battle in the OG world would be flying a plane to fight bugs.

The enemy-to-ally ratio was two to one; the most secure tactical plan was to intercept within the battleship's anti-air fire range.

After the formation was established, the six-unit squad followed Li Boyong in an arc. They launched their attack from the flank just as the BUGS swarm entered the Bell's anti-air fire range and suffered their first long-range strikes.

These Void Walker reconnaissance craft were, after all, AI-controlled, and were not excellent in tactical adaptability.

The first round of long-range fire from the Bell shot down two BUGS, and the attack from Li Boyong's squad downed another three, after which both sides entered a chaotic melee.

In the pitch-black space, chaotic exhaust trails drew lines, with the beam cannon shots of the Ranson and the light-ring rays of the BUGS flashing by from time to time.

After entering the melee, due to the disparity in numbers, casualties began to appear on Li Boyong's side; his wingman was destroyed by another BUGS while covering him.

"Tch, the attack range of these light-ring rays is quite hard to judge." Seeing the fire of his wingman's explosion in his field of view, Li Boyong began to feel dissatisfied with himself.

This unfamiliar machine really limited his performance, reminding him of the miserable days when he first flew the Mobius.

Of course, the Ranson's performance was stronger than the Mobius, and the enemies weren't as monstrous as the four Gundams of the Kruse Team, so this battle wasn't as desperate as back then.

Soon, he wondered if his title of "Friendly Fire Reaper" was starting to take effect.

Li Boyong seized an opportunity to destroy two BUGS in succession. "Beam cannons are indeed easier to use than railguns."

But soon he discovered that three BUGS had begun to break away from the melee and dash toward the Bell.

"Don't even think about it, my woman is on that ship!" Li Boyong piloted the Ranson in pursuit, the beam cannons on both sides of his machine firing repeatedly, coordinating with the Bell's firepower to finish off the three BUGS.

However, while Li Boyong had left the melee to support the Bell, the remaining Ransons, without Li Boyong to shoulder the pressure, fought the BUGS four-on-four and suffered a three-to-one loss ratio.

The pilot of the only remaining Ranson must have been terrified; the machine was also damaged and began to retreat, with three BUGS in pursuit.

Li Boyong began providing fire support. "Leave this to me, you hurry back."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The battlefield turned into a one-on-three. With Li Boyong's one Ranson against three BUGS, the young female communications officer on the Bell's bridge was incredibly nervous; if Lieutenant Li Boyong were also shot down, the enemy could directly attack the Bell. But Natarle Badgiruel was incredibly calm.

Li Boyong wasn't the type to die in a fight like this...

Sure enough, empowered by the "God of Death" aura from his four fallen comrades.

Even though Li Boyong wasn't familiar with the machine, he could still hold his own in the Ranson against three opponents.

In fact, after a dazzling display of maneuvers, he shot down two BUGS. The last remaining BUGS saw this and hurriedly fled.

But how could Li Boyong let the opponent go? He chased after it and fired three beam cannon shots, turning this BUGS into space dust.

Seeing Li Boyong's heroic performance, everyone on the bridge breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Although the Federation military's intelligence contained data on the Void Messengers, and some units had experience engaging BUGS.

This was the Bell's first encounter with the Void Messengers, and people always inevitably feel insecure when facing unfamiliar enemies.

"Great work. Maintenance crew, prepare to welcome our hero back." The captain stroked his beard happily.

"Anti-air alert, don't let your guard down. Once the Ranson returns, expedite resupply; be wary of a second wave of attacks." Natarle Badgiruel dutifully began the captain's assistant work, which also served to hone her own abilities.

This bearded captain seemed to have grown accustomed to Natarle Badgiruel's assertiveness, and seeing someone take up the burden, he was happy to let it happen.

After Li Boyong returned, the small skirmish with the Void Walkers came to an end.

The Bell also hurriedly canceled its subsequent patrol and returned directly to Alimpis.

Having encountered the Void Messengers and lost more than half of their escort force, there was no need to continue taking risks; returning to report the military situation was the wise choice.

——————

Meanwhile, Alimpis.

At the Loyal Guard pilot training grounds, female pilots with beautiful faces were entering simulation pods one by one according to the scheduled battle roster to conduct mock battles.

The Xia Sisters drew each other for an internal match. The sisters piloted their Ransons and engaged in a firefight in the reef sector, with the sister who was more skilled at shooting ultimately winning.

But to be honest, both of their combat performances were quite average. After all, neither of them had experience piloting space fighters.

Shihe's battle, however, was much more exciting. Her opponent was a blonde, cold beauty named Leona Garstein.

The battle between the two could be described as evenly matched. With the skills of Shooter and Beam Weapon Researcher, as well as the ability of the title "Balsamine," Shihe, who wasn't familiar with the machine, still displayed great technique.

But Leona Garstein was clearly very familiar with the Ranson's performance, and at the beginning, she even kept tailing Shihe to suppress her.

But as the dogfight continued, Shihe, becoming increasingly familiar with the machine, began to fight with ease, until she eventually turned the tables and shot down Leona Garstein's Ranson.

"What? Leona lost..."

"For real!"

"Hehe, let's see how she keeps up that cold beauty act later."

"Hey, keep it down."

Regarding the defeat of Leona Gashutan, the group of female pilots watching the match whispered among themselves.

This cold beauty, who hailed from a branch of the prestigious Blanstein family, had always been the most skilled member of the team, second only to the captain, Yulia Heinkel.

Who would have thought that she would actually be defeated today...