Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Raiding the Hive Nest
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An air raid at this exact moment.
The timing couldn't be worse.
"Captain. This is bad, right?"
"It's bad."
"What do we do?"
"We wait for now."
The allied fleet was reacting.
Half a regular fleet had been deployed from the start to resolve the situation without casualties.
That meant they had reserves.
'The colonel's making his move.'
He led the fleet he commanded upward toward the rift.
Fortunately, it had opened right above them, so they didn't have to move far.
The reason for that location was probably the signal from the Hive Nest.
'Do I really have to just sit here and watch?'
It had only been four days since the last air raid.
And this was a consecutive one.
Even on the front lines, this was rare.
I was worried the raids were coming more frequently.
'If we don't wrap this up properly, it'll get really tough.'
Just then, Roze and Merdi returned.
Roze's face looked fresh and moisturized, like she'd washed up and redone her makeup.
The moment they plopped down in their seats, I explained the situation.
"What?"
"That's how it is. We need to discuss our response going forward."
The current flow of battle was clearly not in our favor.
We had enough forces for the original situation, but blocking a new raid on top of that would leave us short.
And then there was the hidden Beholder.
Red flags everywhere.
"What's your take?"
Merdi asked.
"Two options. We keep watching and stick to the straightforward approach."
"And the other?"
"We step in, take out one of their main forces, and ease the burden. The Hive Nest is the target right now."
I looked them straight in the eyes.
The second option came with major risks.
Superhumans stepping in before the enemy was worn down.
'We've been too passive so far.'
My unit's strategy had always minimized risks.
Not losing a single person.
Under that premise, we'd hit as many hatcheries as possible.
This worked because we had captain-level powerhouses like Roze and Merdi, and my senses let us enter and exit hatcheries easily.
But now the situation was different.
The wildcard was the superhumans.
If this raid failed, the burden on the Styx front would skyrocket.
A properly functioning hatchery colony produced an insane number of aliens.
If even one remaining Hive Nest took root, we might lose Uranus entirely.
'Can't let that happen.'
We couldn't expand production bases yet.
"What do you think?"
"Why ask us? Do whatever you want."
Merdi replied nonchalantly.
I looked at Roze, who hesitated, then passed the buck. "Me... too. You're the captain, Lemon."
"You don't have to worry about that."
"Anyway! Just decide what we're doing."
"Fine, I'll be blunt. I'm leaning toward the second option. I want to intervene now and slam that thing into the ground as fast as possible."
I pointed at the Hive Nest on the hologram.
Smog Tail made the image blurry in spots.
And the thick barrier showed no signs of weakening easily.
Infiltration would be trouble from the start.
"I'm in."
Roze answered immediately, like she didn't care about any of that.
"Perfect. I was feeling cooped up anyway. Who’s on the op?"
"Just us three."
"What?"
Merdi looked surprised at my answer.
"Since when are you so bold?"
"Starting today. And with you two, what could go wrong?"
"...Fair point."
Merdi brushed her hair back with her left hand and nodded.
"What about me? What about me?"
"Roze, you're always reliable."
"Right?"
As Roze grinned happily, Giz and Lunshin approached from behind.
They looked displeased. "You planning to hog all the cool stuff? We're coming too."
"No. You two have other jobs."
"You're not just gonna give us grunt work, are you!" To Lunshin, grunt work probably meant hitting hatcheries.
But I wasn't assigning that either.
'Teams 3 and 4 can handle it.' Two teams were already deployed.
Neutralizing the biggest threat would lighten the allies' load.
Teams 1 and 2, led by Lunshin and Giz, had to watch the Beholder as promised.
"Remember our original goal."
"The Beholder?"
"Yeah. You two stay on the ship. When we stir things up, it'll show for sure."
"Hmm......"
"Then you judge and start the op, Lunshin. We'll adapt on our end."
"Under my judgment? Sounds good. Time to show off this body's command skills!"
I stood, leaving Lunshin beaming.
Even standing, Giz was a bit taller, his voice heavy. "Captain can't get hurt. If it's dangerous, I'll rush in."
"Won't be an issue."
I flashed a grin.
It wasn't arrogance.
'Time to test it.'
Roze and Merdi hadn't hit their limits since joining my unit.
In the original story, the Miracle Generation made their name in big fights.
Turning hopeless battles, achieving the impossible.
Undefeated in a hundred battles.
And these two were stronger than in the original now, so today might reveal their true potential.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Anytime."
The assault ship's underbelly opened, revealing the planet Uranus.
The ship had descended into the atmosphere for our drop.
A few flyers noticed our approach.
"Let's go!"
I jumped first.
They followed right away, dropping side by side with me.
One minute in, the air thickened, creating drag.
I ignored it and fired my jetpack to accelerate.
"Flyers ahead!"
"Ignore 'em! Punch through with speed!"
I didn't think we'd be detected in this chaos, but I wanted to stay hidden.
I pulled Roze and Merdi close, ramped up speed, and veered direction.
The flyers flinched, turned, and pursued.
"They're annoying......"
I stopped Merdi as she moved to use her ability.
We were already accelerating; they couldn't keep up.
"Plenty of prey ahead."
We broke through the smog pushed down from over 50km in the stratosphere.
With the visual obstruction gone, the ground laid bare.
A battlefield roaring with explosions, screams, and gunpowder.
Flyers and Whale Ships packed around the Hive Nest.
No avoiding them to reach the target. "Remember. We don't split up until we achieve the goal."
"I'll start."
"Of course. But conserve energy."
Distance closed fast.
Now multiple aliens recognized us.
A different breed from the first blockers formed up ahead.
"Move!"
Lightning burst from Merdi's hand.
It spread in a ring, sweeping the flyers aside in one go.
"Told you to conserve."
"How much more here?"
......"Fine, whatever."
15km to the Hive Nest.
I opened comms. "Colonel Rebel. Now."
-Understood. Good luck.
Comms cut.
Immediately, the main guns fired into the Hive Nest.
Right at our approach point.
The backlash whipped up a storm, destabilizing the convection.
Merdi got caught, wobbling.
"Hold tight!"
"Put Merdi in the middle."
Roze suddenly swapped positions.
Merdi ended up sandwiched but said nothing.
She focused on clearing incoming obstacles.
"Whale Ship ahead!"
"I'll punch through. Brace my back!"
I pushed Roze's back as requested. She surged a step ahead, fist clenched.
At collision, she maxed her barrier and thrust her hand.
The barrier, weakened by Merdi's attack, shattered.
We pierced the Whale Ship vertically without stopping.
Glancing back, a massive hole gaped in its hull; it tilted, losing altitude.
'At least 100m thick.'
I supported her, but still impressive.
No more obstacles after breaching the Whale Ship.
Roze's full-speed slam rocked the Hive Nest barrier again.
'This'll take time. Need to save stamina.'
I grabbed Roze's shoulder. "Roze. Hold up a sec."
"Hah... ?!"
Roze froze mid-kiai.
I placed my right arm on the barrier and activated Exploitation.
"What're you doing?"
"Something to try."
The most effective way to breach a barrier was repeated physical impacts on one spot for localized rupture.
Big attacks like main guns had power but dispersed impact, thinning without breaking.
"Not pointless doodling after all?"
"Doodling......"
"Didn't like it much either."
Roze narrowed her eyes, agreeing with Merdi.
Apparently grilling me when we first spotted it wasn't enough.
I groaned, using Exploitation to dismantle the barrier structure.
Sucking energy from weak cohesion points made it visibly unstable.
"Above!"
Roze warned.
Dozens of flyers fired spines at us.
I calmly released the absorbed energy, deploying a barrier.
It formed wide just as impacts exploded like popcorn.
"Told you no wasted effort."
"This was free."
Energy I'd discard anyway.
Perfect for barrier deployment; felt wrong not to use it.
The Hive Nest barrier broke through.
I widened the hole and urged Roze in first.
Merdi and I followed.
"Aren't there too many welcoming guests?"
A 10km-diameter massive structure.
Irregular shape made footing tricky, packed with diverse aliens eyeing us.
Like they were saying, "Come on in, dinner's served."
Merdi stepped forward, ramping up her ability.
"Guess we greet 'em warmly."
"Aren't you too excited?"
"Don't stop me this time. I'll go all out."
Dark lightning coiled around her.
It boiled up, crackling threateningly with thunderous rumbles.
A stray bolt escaped control, zapping dozens of aliens.
'Fearsome.'
Her self-illuminating form from full-body ability emission drew awe.
Finally, Merdi extended her hand.
Heaven's wrath shot out, striking the aliens.
Output so immense it carried physical force.
One peak snapped, aliens on it plummeting.
Crackle! Zap!
Each gesture vaporized thousands, tens of thousands; spore vines exploded.
'Can't just watch.'
I activated my horns.
I'd prepped en route, so sensing the Hive Nest's range was instant.
I pinpointed nuclei locations across it, marked them on the map, and handed to Roze.
"Start close!"
Roze smashed ahead.
No pathfinding for her.
She carved the shortest route with her body.
Just three people. This chaos from just three.
Hundreds of thousands of aliens couldn't stop them.
High-threat specimens I quickly eliminated.
'Area's too vast; progress feels slow.'
Endless aliens swarming.
No need to fear.
Our goal wasn't clearing aliens.
Destroy 70% of the nuclei powering the Hive Nest to drop it.