owlsbooks Chapter 57: Enter 【↑↑↓↓←→←→】 to call in an orbital strike
Chapter 57: Enter 【↑↑↓↓←→←→】 to call in an orbital strike
Another Covenant area in Mariner Valley that has been infiltrated by players is the Kandor Supply Ring.
This location is near the eastern section of the Mariner Valley industrial belt's transport line. On the outside are three consecutive elevated freight tracks and ore transfer rails, while on the inside are the Covenant Army's supply depots, garages, drone maintenance stations, and temporary barracks.
The Little Pony Express guild had long established itself here, making this their guild headquarters. As a professional guild, Little Pony Express's reaction speed was far faster than that of casual players.
While other players were still calling for reinforcements in the channel, the guild leader, La Kuku, had already assembled a combined team of 220 people.
At the same time, the branches of Little Pony Express that had previously set up in other areas of Sailor Valley also started to move. Several strongholds quickly organized manpower and soon assembled a player army that was close to the size of a synthetic battalion.
Xiaoma Express is not only financially powerful, but its organizational capabilities are also unmatched by ordinary individuals.
They have a fixed command chain, logistics teams, dedicated reconnaissance players, and a group of elite players who have long been at level 20.
After the Mars All-Server War began, they hardly talked and just rolled up their sleeves and got to work!
Long before the start of the Martian War, Little Pony Express had already roughly figured out the intelligence of this military region. After the battle began, Vice President Shou Koukou led a fully-equipped elite platoon of level 20 to break in first and used the intelligence to take down several key nodes.
They advanced nearly 40% of the war zone's liberation almost instantly.
[Little Pony Express Guild has triggered the regional legion objective: Kandor Supply Ring]
[Current number of participating players: 822]
[Current Organization: Temporary Combined Arms Battalion]
[Main Attacking Unit: Little Pony Express First Combined Arms Company]
[War Zone: Mariner Valley Area - Kandor Supply Loop]
[Current War Zone Liberation Level: 35%]
The Little Pony Express's advance went very smoothly. The Covenant Army's garrison was caught off guard by the guild players, and several outer outposts were breached by the Little Pony Express's shield guard platoon and fire support squad before they could even get into full combat readiness.
But the Covenant Army is not a dungeon mob after all.
Just as Xiao Ma Express was preparing to continue its advance, the sound of tracks vibrating came from the west side of the Black Canal Supply Ring, indicating that a rapid counterattack unit of the armored brigade under the Mariner Valley Area of the Covenant Army was pressing forward.
Two heavy infantry fighting vehicles drove out from under the freight overpass, and the chain guns on the roofs began to rotate. Behind them, self-propelled mortars and unmanned fire platforms followed, while artillery reconnaissance drones took off close to the canyon wall and began to mark the coordinates of the counterattack fire.
When the first round of artillery fire hit, a section of Xiaoma Express's forward position collapsed.
Two makeshift transport vehicles were pierced by chain gun fire, and the shield guard players retreated while holding their shields up. The resurrection beacon that the repair team had just set up was blown away by a mortar shot.
To make matters worse, the armored brigade also brought three artillery support-type first-generation SAs.
Although those three first-generation machines were just old-fashioned land combat frames, and their mobility and conventional stats were far inferior to those of general-purpose main combat models, they were equipped with heavy beam rifles, shoulder rocket pods, and wrist chain cannons. After standing on the other side of the cargo bridge, they used their height to suppress the player's position and bombarded the Pony Express crew.
The guild players' front had already pushed to Warehouse No. 3 inside the supply ring, but they were forced back to Cargo Bridge No. 2 by the counter-fire, and the liberation rate of the war zone dropped from 35%.
[Warning: Enemy armored brigade counterattack unit enters the battlefield]
[Enemy Units: 2 Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 1 Self-Propelled Mortar Carrier, 4 Unmanned Firepower Platforms, 6 Artillery Reconnaissance Drones, 3 First-Generation Ground Combat SAs]
[Kandor Supply Ring Liberation Level: 35% → 25%]
His handcuffs were pinned behind a broken shipping container by a barrage of chain gunfire; his shield was almost depleted, and his shoulder armor was streaked with sparks from the shrapnel. He gritted his teeth, peeked out, and immediately marked all the enemy heavy firepower positions on the tactical map.
"Attention, company! Don't engage the armored brigade in a direct confrontation! Front ranks, retreat to cargo bridge number two! Firepower squads, use smoke grenades to cut off visibility!"
"Reconnaissance team, mark those two heavy infantry fighting vehicles and the mortar vehicle in red. Communications team, immediately request strategic support from the chairman!"
As he spoke, he braved the gunfire to nail the last beacon into the back of the container, his tone both urgent and steady.
"Tell the guild leader, short-range orbital strike! Enemy heavy firepower and SA have advanced into the critical zone. I have uploaded the coordinates. Requesting strategic support!!!"
"If we had been half a minute later, our forward positions would have been flattened!"
In the rear command area, La Kuku looked at the continuously flashing red markers on the tactical map, and his face darkened.
He immediately opened the Mars terminal and switched to the strategic support interface of the Skydrive Global Warfare System.
[Currently available support includes: communications jamming, light orbital reconnaissance, orbital strike, and SA airborne suppression]
Pull-up glanced at the enemy coordinates uploaded by his QQ account. The heavy infantry fighting vehicle, mortar vehicle, and three first-generation SA fighters were all marked in red. He immediately made a decision.
"Requesting Red Support, Orbital Strike."
A set of tactical input prompts popped up on the system interface. La Kuku stared at the prompt guide, his fingers flying across the terminal.
【↑↑↓↓←→←→】
[Strategic support request submitted!]
[Support Type: Orbital Strike]
[Target coordinates: Armored counterattack unit on the west side of the cargo bridge in the Kandor supply ring!]
[Coordinates being verified...]
[SkyDrive Orbital Strike Imminent!]
……
……
At the same time, in the Sentinel orbit, on the bridge of the Corona.
Zhang Qiming was already standing in front of the main command platform of this Guards aircraft carrier. The old Covenant insignia around the bridge had not yet been removed, and the temporary authority markers of the Sky Destroyer had already been covered on the tactical light screen.
The entire Martian battlefield was projected into a dynamic situation map by the Gaia system, with player legions, the Skyward underground organization, the defected Holy Covenant Army, the remnants of the Holy Cardinal's forces, and the liberation progress of each major war zone all jumping on the screen.
Not long after the Legion War began, the Gaia System within Zhang Qiming's body also opened a special data module interface. Battlefield requests from the Fourth Calamity can be imported into the real-world war support module through this interface. Therefore, the Guardian Fleet can now also see the players' strategic support requests.
At this moment, player requests were constantly popping up on the main screen of the bridge.
[Sailor Valley - Candor Supply Ring: Orbital Strike Request!]
[Tharsis Seventh Traffic Jet: Communication Interference Request!]
[Polar Ice Sheet/Fuel Ice Facility Surrounding Area: SA Airborne Suppression Request!]
[Sailor Valley 3rd Garrison Armory: Light Rail Reconnaissance Request!]
【…】
Zhang Qiming glanced at the requests, then looked at Zhang Nanhai.
"Import everyone into the war support module I provided and process ground requests according to priority."
"At the same time, the four carrier-based strike groups of the Corona were put into position, with the main combat wing, assault squadron, rapid interception squadron, and electronic reconnaissance squadron all entering combat readiness."
"The situation has now stabilized. Let our drivers fill the gaps and reinforce ground troops as needed."
Standing beside the bridge control station, Zhang Nanhai looked at the constant stream of support requests coming from the unfamiliar system and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
He knew that Zhang Qiming had an elusive legion of anomalous beings, and he had witnessed their insane fighting style in the Bloodstained Items dungeon. But he hadn't expected this legion to have so many members, and that they were all willing to fight for the Skyward...
This is really strange...
Although he had many questions in his mind, Zhang Nanhai didn't say much and simply carried out the order quickly.
"The Crimson Crown Strike Sequence has been integrated into the Skydrive War Support Module. The Electronic Reconnaissance Squadron has taken over ground coordinate verification."
"Patrol gunboat formation, maintain the blockade of the spaceport. Crossbow-class destroyer No. 3, responding to the Kandor supply ring's short-range orbital strike request, enter the designated strike orbit."
Soon, a [Rage Star-class Close-in Defense Destroyer] that had been taken over by Sky Destroyer left its original guard position and slowly turned its bow toward the sky above Mariner Valley.
Its orbital attitude thrusters emitted short bursts of white light, the hull cut into the strike window along the near-Mars orbit, the medium electromagnetic gun turret under the hull began to press down, and the fire control system locked onto the cargo bridge on the west side of the Kandor supply ring.
[Fury Star-class Close-in Defense Destroyer No. 3: Entering Strike Window!]
[Target coordinates confirmed!]
[Friendly forces' distribution area confirmed!]
[Artillery Mode: Short-Range Precision Orbital Strike!]
[Countdown: 5, 4, 3...]
The Kandor supply belt, with its hand strap still pressed against the back of the broken container.
The enemy's three first-generation SA tanks were still advancing, and the infantry fighting vehicle's chain guns were firing a series of sparks at the No. 2 cargo bridge. The shield guards of Little Pony Express retreated with their damaged shields, and several gunners were pushed back into cover by artillery fire as soon as they peeked out.
Just then, the QQ terminal lit up.
[SkyDrive orbital strike arrives!]
[Friendly forces, please stay away from the marked area!]
He roared suddenly:
"Everyone, lie down! Stay away from the red circle!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deep, resounding boom echoed through the sky.
A beam of white light pierced down from the top of the Mariner Valley dome and struck precisely behind the west cargo bridge.
The heavy infantry fighting vehicle's shield lit up for only half a second before the roof-mounted chain gun, along with the turret, was torn apart by the electromagnetic projectile, and the self-propelled mortar was overturned by the shockwave.
The mobility of the first-generation artillery support SA was so poor that it could not evade rail attacks at all. Two SAs were hit on the spot and exploded simultaneously.
boom--!!!
Fire erupted along the freight bridge, breaking the formation of the armored brigade's counterattack unit with a single shot.
The Little Pony Express guild channel was silent for half a second, then erupted in cheers.
"SkyDrive is awesome!!!!"
"I love this feeling! President, let me type out a support request sometime!"
"President, next time try SA airborne suppression, I want to see robots fight!!!"
Hand-clasp peeked out from behind the container, looking at the battlefield plowed up by the railgun attack, and roared into the channel:
"Orbital strike in effect!"
"Front row, push forward; firepower squad, finish them off; repair team, rebuild the resurrection beacon; everyone, give it your all and capture the Kandor supply ring."
"In the first global war, our Little Pony Express will achieve the first victory in liberating a war zone!!!"