Chapter 368: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (85)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 368: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (85)
It was the fourth day since we sortied to intercept the Arsenos forces.
In the center of the bridge, the trajectories of each fleet crisscrossed over a holographic battle simulation. Lisa was the first to touch the frozen display.
“Eleven ships sunk so far. But…”
She furrowed her brow and swiped the screen.
“With these kinds of losses, they should have retreated long ago.”
I nodded in agreement.
“It’s strange for them to hold out while taking this much damage.”
Carla crossed her arms, tilting her head.
“And with no reinforcements coming… there’s no reason to endure.”
“In that case… this could be a diversion.”
Lisa narrowed her eyes, staring at the screen.
“If it’s a strategy to tie us down in this sector…”
“Yeah.”
I nodded, my gaze shifting to the display.
“They must have some other objective.”
Just then, Carla muttered quietly.
“But… what could they be aiming for?”
Lisa slowly turned her gaze from the screen to me.
“…The way I see it, they’re trying to tie you down.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes held not just simple suspicion, but something closer to certainty.
I paused, lost in thought. In this situation, why would the enemy go to such lengths to pin me down on the battlefield?
“They’re after Adele.”
At my words, Lisa quietly lowered her gaze. She soon looked up and said calmly.
“…I think so too. In fact, eliminating Adele was a well-known order from the Arsenos high command.”
She took a careful breath and continued.
“I… was targeting Adele under orders, too, before I was eventually captured.”
Hearing that, I nodded.
“Then we need to wrap this up quickly and get back to Adele.”
Lisa stared at me and asked.
“You’re not heading back right away?”
“The colony Adele is on won’t fall to a threat of this level. Its defensive forces are more than enough, and she’s not the type to let her guard down.”
I kept my eyes on the battle map as I spoke.
“So, we’ll finish things here, then go back.”
Lisa shrugged.
“Well, if that’s what you’ve decided, I’ll follow your lead.”
“We’ll clean this all up by tomorrow. Get some deep sleep before then.”
Hearing this, Lisa pressed her lips together for a moment. Then, as if hesitating, she averted her gaze and spoke carefully.
“…Before I go to sleep… do that for me.”
I met Lisa’s eyes. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her fingertips fidgeted with the hem of her clothes.
“Alright.”
As soon as I gave my short reply, Carla cut in.
“Honey, don’t forget I’m here too.”
“Hmm, then both of you, come to my room.”
At that, Lisa glanced away for a second before nodding. Carla walked ahead, swaying her hips.
And so, we quietly left the bridge. The rest of the crew had already turned in for their rest period.
As I opened the door to my room, the artificial lights slowly brightened.
Lisa quietly closed the door and slowly approached.
“Can I shower first?”
“Go ahead.”
After Lisa slipped into the bathroom, Carla began to undress.
The sound of a tank top and bottoms hitting the floor. Her full breasts, slender waist, and a sleek, red bra captured my attention.
“It’s been a while. Fuck me until I can relax. The fighting these past few days has had me on edge.”
Instead of answering, I took off my shirt and sat on the bed. A moment later, Carla climbed onto my lap.
“Hehe… you’re not hard yet?”
Her hand slipped inside my pants, her fingertips slowly tracing my testicles before gripping my cock.
“Make me hard.”
I murmured lowly and gently bit Carla’s lip. Our tongues met, and her body trembled slightly.
Just then, the bathroom door opened.
Lisa, having roughly dried her hair with a towel, walked out wearing nothing but a thin slip.
“You already started?”
Carla smiled and beckoned to Lisa.
“If you’re late, there’ll be no dick left for you. You come too.”
With that, Lisa took a spot next to me.
With one hand, I gripped Carla’s ass, and with the other, I stroked Lisa’s thigh.
“Now, who wants to go first?”
“Me, of course.”
Carla lifted herself onto my waist, while Lisa leaned against my shoulder, catching her breath.
“Then… I’ll help from down below with my mouth.”
The warmth of both women pressed against me at once.
*
My judgment that they were targeting Adele was correct.
An urgent message arrived. It stated that the Arsenos forces had suddenly changed their direction of advance.
After checking the message, I muttered briefly.
“Targeting Adele… does that mean they’ve officially designated her an enemy?”
Lisa kept her eyes fixed on the screen.
“Probably. But honestly, I don’t get it. Why would they target Adele, unnecessarily expanding the front line like this?”
I stared at the blinking front line on the display.
“Well… with the Federation already on its last legs, Arsenos probably wants to take this chance to expand its sphere of influence.”
Lisa crossed her arms.
“They’re getting greedy. They should be struggling just to maintain their current front.”
Carla shrugged.
“They must have decided it’s now or never. That’s why they’re pushing forward, even though they know it’s a stretch.”
At Carla’s words, I let out a short breath and nodded.
“Alright. No matter what they do, let’s focus on our own task first.”
The two women nodded silently at my words, immediately changed into their pilot suits, and headed for the hangar bay to board their respective mobile weapons.
Lisa and Carla each took command of several pilots to form their squadrons. Lisa would handle the frontal assault, while Carla would execute a pincer movement from the left flank.
I was the freerole—a position not tied to a squadron, tasked with picking apart the core of the enemy’s forces.
After connecting the high-output launcher to the side of my hull, the bridge of the enemy’s lead ship appeared in my targeting lens.
As the crosshairs aligned on the HUD, I calmly began to aim.
High-output electronic sniper module connection complete.
Energy stabilization at 82%... Targeting precision increasing.
“Let’s end this quickly.”
Energy stabilization at 98%... Target lock complete.
The enemy ship’s bridge was perfectly centered on the HUD. The moment the lens’s crosshairs slowly tightened and the reactive rangefinder trembled minutely.
I pulled the trigger.
—KRAKOOOOM!!!
A brilliant white flash. The beam fired from the high-output launcher shot through the vacuum of space and pierced straight through the enemy battleship’s hull.
The explosion followed a beat later. The bridge was blown away as the central structure split in two, and a chain reaction caused the connected ammunition depot and engine section to erupt in flames.
Flames billowed across the hull. The epicenter of the blast scattered into fragments, and two nearby transport ships were caught in the shockwave, leaving them half-destroyed.
At that moment, a red warning marker flashed at the top of my HUD.
Photon-Tracking Grid Missile detected. Evasive maneuvers recommended.
“So they’re not just going to sit back and take it, huh?”
My reaction was a beat faster. I immediately detached the high-output launcher and fired the magnetic boosters at full power, pushing off the side of the ship’s hull.
—BOOM!!
The high-speed electronic grid missile swept through the space I had just occupied.
Immediately after, another attack came from the upper left. I spun, flipping my unit over. At the same time, I manually deployed the mounted auxiliary beam cannon.
The beam I fired collided head-on with the enemy’s suppressive fire. Light flared, and both shots vanished.
In that split second, I caught the pursuing enemy unit in my sights.
The beam shot out in a straight line, piercing the cockpit precisely.
The enemy unit exploded on the spot, its shattered fragments scattering into the void.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I pushed my unit straight into the heart of the Arsenos formation.
If I can just destroy their chain of command, this battle will be over in an instant.
“Lisa. Carla. Status reports.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the comms channel opened.
[Their forces are concentrated in the center, so we cleaned up our side pretty quickly.]
[Honey, the left flank is mostly taken care of too.]
“Good. Lisa, you finish up on the right. Carla, wrap up and block their rear.”
[Got it.]
[Confirmed!]
Cutting the comms, I surveyed the battlefield before me.
The central formation. Their main units and remaining ships were still clustered there.
Troops were hastily being repositioned around the command ship.
“Too late.”
I pushed the forward boosters to their maximum output.
—WHOOOOSH!!
My unit instantly plunged into the center of their formation. The backdraft kicked up surrounding debris, and the wreckage blasted away by the pressure wave scattered as if following in my wake.
An enemy unit approached me. Before it could even aim its cannon, I fired a single-shot beam from the shoulder-mounted pod.
—Fzzt!
The unit’s upper torso simply evaporated. A second unit in the same trajectory tried to evade, but it was too late.
I banked my unit 45 degrees and thrust my blade forward.
—CRUNCH!
The blade sliced through the side of the enemy unit.
Unit impact approaching 9.1 Gs.
Ignoring the system warning, I didn’t slow my acceleration.
“Faster.”
Weight shifted inside the unit, and I felt my entire body being crushed by the g-force.
Reaching the front of the enemy’s central command ship, I identified three escort units positioned directly in front of the bridge.
I drew the auto-loaded, large-caliber solid-round cannons from the pylons on both sides of my lower hull, one in each hand.
—BANG! BANG! BOOM!!
The first shot tore through the abdomen of the left escort. The second blew the head off a unit trying to escape. The third shattered the shoulder joint of a unit charging head-on, knocking it off course.
And then, I charged. I could feel the unit that appeared behind it trembling in fear.
—CRASH!!
I stomped its head with my left leg. The unit collapsed, its head crushed, and metal wreckage scattered across the ship’s deck.
The enemy’s attacks were no longer coordinated. From the center of the chaos, I stared at the command ship.
A high-ranking commander was probably sitting inside.
I re-armed my unit’s weapons and took aim at the large turret embedded in the command ship’s upper section. I sent my unit vertical and aimed precisely at the energy loop connection beneath the turret.
“Farewell.”
—KRA-KABOOOOOM!!!
The moment I fired, the top of the command ship erupted in a crimson flash. The energy core overheated and fractured, and the heat spread rapidly through the interior.
The entire command ship swelled from within before exploding.
—BOOOOOM…!!
Wreckage burst out with the flames, and the shockwave sent the surrounding ships careening out of control, crashing into one another.
Weaving through the debris, I sent a message to Carla.
“Carla, the enemy is falling back. Block their retreat.”
[Got it!]
Watching the Arsenos ships try to flee the moment their command ship was destroyed, I aimed my weapon.