"Then that means we have hope!" Lily Liu asked happily.
Serena Frost, however, said in a deep voice, "But there's a problem with this plan."
"What?" Lily asked, blinking her eyes.
"Insufficient firepower! The T2 Black Rhino's firepower is severely insufficient. While its ramming tactic is very effective against T2 starships, how long would it take to damage the hull armor of that T3 Black Iron-class Medium Star Destroyer? During that time, the T2 Black Rhinos might be annihilated one by one by the T3 Black Iron!" Serena clenched her fists.
"Then… what should we do?" Lily panicked again.
Serena stared at the video screen, waiting for Commander Zachary Chase's arrangements. Since Commander Zachary dared to do this, he must have a backup plan!
T2 Bee Queen-class Heavy Carrier Starship · Bridge
"Report, five T2 Black Rhinos have reached the effective range for 'short-distance assault'! Although the hulls of the five T2 Black Rhinos have varying degrees of damage, it does not affect their overall combat effectiveness!" Secretary Lilith reported.
"Execute the second phase of the combat plan!" Commander Zachary said sternly.
"Understood, Commander's order! Execute the second phase of the combat plan!" Lilith relayed the order.
On the battlefield, the five T2 Black Rhinos began to accelerate almost simultaneously. Although their respective hull armor was already riddled with scars, and even had cracks nearly tens of meters long, it did not affect their speed in the slightest. The five T2 Black Rhinos formed a semi-encircling formation and began to assault the T3 Black Iron.
The fifty T2-class 300mm heavy close-in defense cannons equipped on each T2 Black Rhino began to unleash a barrage of firepower. If it were an ordinary T2 starship, it might have been riddled with holes by now. But unfortunately, this was a T3 starship. The Star Shield deployed, resisting the attack from one direction. Attacks from other directions landed on the T3 Black Iron's hull armor, where bullet marks appeared like raindrops. Although numerous, their lethality was truly minimal.
"Prepare to ram!" The captain of T2 Black Rhino Ship One took the lead in issuing the order. Their speed increased once again, and the large black horn slammed heavily into the T3 Black Iron's hull armor. However, the penetrating wound seen on T2 starships did not appear; it was merely a small cut! This demonstrated the difference in hull armor between T3 starships and T2 starships; they were completely not on the same level.
The other T2 Black Rhinos also began ramming one after another! At the same time, the T3 Black Iron's secondary cannons began to retaliate, and its re-charged pulse laser main cannon also aimed at these close-range enemy ships. The front armor of one T2 Black Rhino was directly blasted with a large hole. Fortunately, the T2 Black Rhino's hull armor was sturdy enough; otherwise, it wouldn't have been as simple as just a large hole. But in this situation, it couldn't withstand many more shots!
"The problem of insufficient firepower has been exposed." Serena bit her lip lightly, her worried heart hanging in suspense again.
Facing this situation, Commander Zachary remained unperturbed.
"Initiate the third phase of the combat plan!" Commander Zachary said.
"Understood, initiating the third phase of the combat plan!" Lilith began to relay the order.
The order was relayed. An astonishing scene appeared: several compartments in the bellies of the five T2 Black Rhinos, which were ramming, opened one after another, and small objects were deployed.
"They're Interstellar Drones!" Serena recognized these deployed small objects at first glance. They were precisely the T2 Bee Queen's Interstellar Drones! There were a total of more than fifty T2 Killer Bee-class Medium Interstellar Drones and fifteen T2 Bumblebee-class Heavy Interstellar Drones!
The five T2 Black Rhinos, which had been ramming, stopped ramming and instead used their close-in defense cannons to suppress the close-in defense firepower of the T3 Black Iron-class Medium Star Destroyer! Under the fire cover of the T2 Black Rhinos, the T2 Bumblebee-class Heavy Interstellar Drones aimed at one of the largest hull damage locations opened by the T2 Black Rhinos and dropped their bombs one after another.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
If there were Human Race crew members inside this T3 Black Iron, they would surely hear the rumbling sound within their hull, like an explosion. After a round of bombing by the T2 Bumblebee-class Heavy Interstellar Drones, the previously not-very-large damaged area was suddenly expanded dozens of times!
Then an even more astonishing scene appeared. The T2 Killer Bee-class Medium Interstellar Drones began to dive down one by one, crashing into the torn hull armor damage location at an astonishing speed. Flashes of exploding flames vanished in an instant.
"These Interstellar Drones are carrying explosives!" Seeing the explosion's flash, Serena immediately determined that these Interstellar Drones were carrying explosives! Explosives combined with the explosion of the drone itself increased the power even further!
Ten… twenty… thirty… forty…
Someone would notice that the weapon system on one side of the T3 Black Iron's hull had stopped attacking, indicating a malfunction in its weapon system module. And at this moment, the Interstellar Drone's suicide attack had not stopped. After the T2 Killer Bee-class Medium Interstellar Drones finished their suicide attacks, the T2 Bumblebee-class Heavy Interstellar Drones also dived down, becoming one of those clusters of exploding fiery light!
Lily covered her mouth in surprise: "This…"
"This is Commander Zachary's plan! Since the T2 Black Rhino's firepower is insufficient, let the Interstellar Drones hide in the compartments of the T2 Black Rhino-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigates beforehand. The T2 Black Rhinos would then carry them close to the T3 Black Iron, then launch a bombing and subsequent suicide attacks!" Serena's eyes sparkled with excitement.
The exploding fireballs and smoke dissipated. The hull armor on one side of the T3 Black Iron directly exposed the cross-section of its internal compartments. From a distance, that hull damage looked as if a piece of flesh had been cut from a large black fish, revealing its internal fish bones!
At this moment, the fate of the T3 Black Iron was already clear. Facing the subsequent encirclement by the T2 Black Rhinos, it would ultimately 'die with regret'. It probably never expected that it, a dignified T3 starship, would be beaten to death by a group of T2 starships.
After that, the reassembled T2 Black Rhinos, in coordination with Smoking Uncle's fleet, carried out the final cleanup of the remaining Mechanical Clan interstellar warships.
This battle, lasting nearly an hour, finally ended!
Commander Zachary sat in the captain's chair, letting out a long breath.
"Lilith, tally the battle damage. Then arrange for the T2 Black Rhinos to patrol the vicinity. Our current situation means we can only wait here for reinforcements to arrive," Commander Zachary instructed.
"Yes!"
[Mission Content: Escort Interstellar Transport Ship Fleet
Mission Difficulty: B-rank
Mission Reward: 20 mission points and 5000 system points
Additional Mission: Preserve as many T1 Interstellar Transport Ships as possible (279/300)
Mission completed, rewards can be claimed]
Commander Zachary's system prompted that the mission was completed. Since there was nothing else to do now, he claimed the mission reward to calm his nerves.
[Mission reward claimed: 20 mission points and 5000 system points]
[Additional Mission: 279 Interstellar Transport Ships preserved. Mission completion rate: 93%]
[Additional mission reward claimed: Obtained technical blueprints for the T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ship]
Commander Zachary suddenly stood up in shock!
Interstellar Missile Ship?
A ship type known as the interstellar armory ship!