Him and their stars

"These are indeed the alien species I encountered in Xinyumen." Yu Lian finally did not say the scientific name of "Insect Swarm": "...Of course, judging from the current effects, their combat effectiveness is stronger than before. Much more. Admiral Selerius was killed by this thing?"

Speaking of this, he felt a little emotional. In another world line, this diligent and down-to-earth veteran compiled a military book "Fortress Defense" after his retirement, which can be regarded as the most comprehensive and up-to-date positioning tips for space fortresses. Only then did everyone realize that this veteran, who had never been famous, actually had such a solid theoretical foundation.

And in this life, none of this will happen!

"It's more troublesome than this." Ostana sighed, and then explained what happened before these alien species appeared.

That happened 4 hours ago in Common Calendar Standard Time. The steady Admiral Selerius once again repelled a tentative attack by the predators. At the same time, he also concentrated fire and sank a giant predator ship that tried to land on the Far Home planet. It is estimated that tens of thousands of predators were looted in one go. The US Marines turned into space junk.

Although the truth behind the "haunting" within the fortress remains a secret, as more and more victories are accumulated, the morale of the officers and soldiers is also recovering.

At this time, Admiral Selerius also received good news from Vice Admiral Omoti. The garrison fleet had arrived in the nearby star field and could reach the battlefield in half a day at most.

If nothing unexpected happens, with the cooperation of the fleet, our side will be able to form a flanking situation for the enemy. The siege of the fortress can be easily resolved, and it will definitely cause an extremely painful blow to the enemy.

Therefore, the officers of the fortress persuaded Admiral Celerius to take a rest. You know, in the past three days, his total sleep time has not exceeded five hours. Of course, it was precisely because of the fighting spirit shown by the commander that the fortress did not fall despite internal and external difficulties.

But after all, Admiral Selerius was an old man in his seventies, and he was not a psychic. Even though he was strong-willed and high-spirited, his physical strength was far inferior to that of young people. Even if some sleep chambers allow people to enter deep sleep as soon as they close their eyes, if they stay like this for a few more days, even if everyone has defeated the predators, the next step is probably to think about holding a funeral for the Commander.

In the end, Admiral Celerius, who was so dedicated that all the officers and soldiers in the fortress were so impressed, decided to accept everyone's kindness and take a break.

The old general had his first formal dinner in three days other than military fast food, which included his favorite fried fish steak and chicken and mushroom soup, and he also opened a bottle of wine for the first time.

He reminded everyone that if Vice Admiral Omodi's fleet arrives, he must be awakened. Everyone did listen.

The abnormal situation happened three hours later. Admiral Selerius only slept for two hours before he woke up and went straight to the headquarters. At this time, he was full of energy and radiant, as if all fatigue and worries had disappeared.

The senior officers were stunned, and even the veteran himself was particularly surprised.

"Looks like I've come back to my senses!" Admiral Celerius made a joke that made everyone unable to laugh at all.

But no matter what, the commander's physical strength and spirit have been restored, which can be regarded as excellent news after all, and naturally there is nothing to say.

The good news is not just that, Lieutenant General Omodi's fleet has returned at least two hours earlier than the scheduled return time.

First of all, the first batch of jumps to appear in the galaxy were ten strategic cruisers and forty-five heavy cruisers as the vanguard fleet. All of them are ships with extremely fast speed and firepower.

They quickly repelled the predator fleet that tried to intercept, opening up a stable jump space for the subsequent main fleet.

Admiral Selerius was overjoyed, but still very calmly ordered everyone to prepare to activate the fortress cannon.

There are a total of twelve fortress cannons on the Lion's Den Fortress, which are named after the divine soldiers of the God of War in the classical mythology of the empire. They have both energy and live ammunition. This is a powerful weapon that requires a stable energy supply, sufficient placement space, and a stable weapon platform, also known as the X slot.

Before the emergence of the Colossi's star-killing, world-destroying weapons, they were the most powerful weapons known in the universe. Even if the targets are rocky star areas and heavy metal planets that are several orders of magnitude harder than Earth-like planets, a few rounds of salvos can completely disintegrate them into a large mineral belt that is suitable for collection.

However, as mentioned before, this kind of weapon has very high requirements in terms of space, energy and platform, and currently it can only be deployed on Titan ships and fortresses.

In the previous fortress offensive and defensive battles, it was precisely because of these huge cannons with extremely amazing range and power that the Lion's Den Fortress was able to deal a blow to the predators that far exceeded its own casualties, and at the same time, it was able to protect the Far Home planet.

When the cannons of the fortress began to charge, the long-missed Titan ship Tirero Valor finally arrived on the battlefield, leading the main force of the garrison fleet.

The Titan ship Yongjin also opened the giant gun door at the front of the hull and immediately entered charging mode.

The Imperial soldiers were already filled with cruel evil thoughts, and they were looking forward to the gorgeous scene of the series of fires created by the bombardment from both sides in the Predator fleet, completely tearing them apart.

What is surprising is that even in the face of such a situation, the Predator fleet not only did not escape, but did not even disperse. It still arranged into a relatively compact standard decisive battle formation, approaching the direction of the Imperial fleet step by step.

At this moment, General Celerius suddenly said: "Adjust the aiming parameters. Fire a salvo in the direction of A15, B478, and F776!"

The old general's prestige in the fortress cannot be overemphasized, and everyone has become accustomed to obeying his orders. The gunnery officers present continued to subconsciously enter the coordinates he reported. But when the cannon's aiming direction started to move, they realized something was wrong.

That location is clearly the direction of the Yongjin.

"Your Excellency!" The first person to notice something was wrong was Brigadier General Kesore, the security owner of the fortress, but his first reaction was just to remind him loudly.

At this time, everyone noticed that the face of the veteran, who had just been crowned with glory and vigor, had lost all color, and his defeated cheeks were twitching with a heart-stopping frequency, as if there was a crazy streak hidden under the densely wrinkled skin. insect.

The general gritted his teeth, his eyes wide open and covered with bloodshot eyes. One eye was completely blurred, but the suppressed pain and struggle could still be seen in the other eye.

"...Hugh, don't think about it, you monster!" Admiral Celerius struggled: "Hugh, don't think about it, you dominate my will!"

Brigadier General Kesore and several psykers rushed over. They are still unable to determine what is going on, but they can only conclude that the Commander must have been controlled by some supernatural means.

According to the imperial military law, if the Commander is controlled or assassinated by occult means, the best outcome for the security personnel responsible for extraordinary vigilance is to be driven to the Helot sector to dig coal.

But now is not the time to care about these situations. If Admiral Selerius can be rescued in time, everything will be fine.

"Stop shooting! Readjust your position!" The fortress chief of staff responded quickly and ordered loudly.

The gunnery officers hurriedly took action, but found that their terminals had been locked, and it came from the highest authority of the commander. Looking at the command podium, Admiral Selerius struggled with his face and quickly operated the terminal with his hands, inputting all the subsequent commands for the twelve cannons by himself.

"Kill me, Cesore!" Admiral Celerius shouted. This was also the last sentence in his life, and it was also a sentence with incomparable clarity.

Brigadier General Kesore felt the determination in the commander's words. He didn't struggle or hesitate, gritted his teeth and burst into tears, but he immediately raised his gun and shot, shattering the admiral's head.

If you were an ordinary person, you might think that Brigadier General Kesore has a grudge against the Commander. But in fact, people who know a little bit about mysticism know that if they are controlled by psychic energy, the best physical way to get rid of them is to shoot their heads.

The brain is the seat of the soul and will, as well as the source of mystical power and the concrete medium through which it functions. Without the brain, there is no mind control.

Thus, the life of Admiral Urgut Selerius, a veteran who participated in the Seventh Galactic War, finally ended at the age of seventy-seven, at the hands of his most trusted comrades.

However, the mutation was still not over. Admiral Selerius' headless body was not affected at all and was still moving, directly transmitting the bombardment order.

It happened so suddenly. The other senior officers in the fortress had no time to remove Admiral Selerius' terminal authority at this time.

The six fortress main guns of the Lion's Den Fortress roared at the same time at the own fleet. The Titan ship Yongjin was caught off guard and had no time to even make any evasive action. It was hit three times in a row immediately.

I have to admit that it makes sense for the Titan ship to be called the ultimate war creation that cannot be silenced. Even though it suffered such heavy damage, it was not sunk, and even the main power engine and shields continued to operate. .

However, a gamma ray shot neutralized her shields, and an orbital cannon round sliced ​​off her bow, directly destroying one of her light spear main guns. Although the remaining shell that hit the middle of the hull did not penetrate the hull, it was deeply embedded in the armor and caused a violent explosion.

The high temperature and vibration caused by the explosion spread to the castle-like superstructure in the center of the ship. The fleet commander, Lieutenant General Omoti, was knocked directly from his command position and fell unconscious on the spot.

It must also be admitted that the command level at the Lion's Den Fortress responded very quickly. The technical officers quickly removed the commander's terminal authority and changed the main gun's firing code. Therefore, from beginning to end, Admiral Selerius' body only completed one shot.

But by this time, it was already too late.

First of all, the predator fleets that had been prepared rushed directly towards the imperial fleet. Even the elite Imperial fleet was at a loss when its flagship was backstabbed by its own fortress, even the bridge was affected by artillery fire, and its commander, Lieutenant General Omoti, fell into a coma.

As a result, the fleet battle fell into complete passivity from the beginning. If the Imperial Navy itself had not had a very sound command rotation mechanism and tactical maneuvers, if it had been replaced by the fleets of other second- and third-rate countries that could not handle it, it would have even been completely wiped out.

Let's talk about the fortress side. After the headless remains of Admiral Selerius discovered that his terminal authority was restricted, he rushed towards the densest crowd like a headless undead in a mythical story.

His body began to glow red, and the blazing light and heat stole out of the old general's corpse and turned into a devastating storm, sucking the entire superstructure of the fortress headquarters into it.

"The final explosion caused the Lion's Den Fortress to lose its command level. In addition to Admiral Selerius, the ones who were sure to be involved were the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gerdes, the Minister of Logistics, Major General Byrocardos, etc... Now, On the Lion's Den Fortress, the most senior officer is the security director, Brigadier General Kesore." Ostana on the Dawn Angel continued to tell everyone the bad news. Under this situation, even she, who was smiling, had stopped smiling, and the atmosphere seemed extremely solemn.

"The situation just now was what he passed on to us. In fact, he was at the scene of the explosion, and his injuries were not light. But after all, he is a fourth-ring psyker. He finally saved his life, and he can still survive now. Stay conscious."

"You can maintain consciousness, but still let the predators board the fortress?" Admiral Farrell said coldly, holding his hands.

Ostana had nothing to say, but Lieutenant General Lorien managed to say a good word: "...He is a senior astral knight and first warrior, but he is not an experienced defense commander."

We are all psykers, so we probably have some empathy.

All in all, the current situation is very clear. The Imperial fleet was stunned by the sneak attack and had no choice but to retreat temporarily to regroup. Although this choice was equivalent to abandoning the soldiers and civilians of the fortress and the distant planet, at that juncture, it was already a very decisive choice.

As for the fortress, Brigadier General Kesore led the defenders to continue to resist and engage in street fighting with the enemy. Of course, this would result in him being flanked by the Predators and the Swarm.

Then there is the Far Country Planet, which has nearly two million civilians and five thousand local troops maintaining law and order... Brynhilt doesn't even want to imagine what might happen there.

"It's not time to investigate the responsibility now," Brunhildt said. "Since Brigadier General Kesore has faced the explosion directly at the scene, he should have a deep understanding of the nature of the energy at that time, right?"

"Yes, this is the strange thing. Brigadier General Kesore said that he did not feel the existence of psychic energy." Ostana said.

It’s weird to be able to feel psychic energy! It was a special kind of explosive puppet insect, which was an enhanced version of the puppet insect that originally controlled the gravel dragon. Xia Li can give birth, and so can the Lord Insects under Xia Li. Its function is not only to control the body of the parasite, read its knowledge and memory, but also to turn the parasite into a biological bomb at the last moment. It's quite a bit like corpse explosion.

However, this is indeed not a psychic power, but closer to a terminal virus.

Of course, this all-pervasive and terrifying puppet insect is not invincible. Not to mention psychics, even technological means can detect it. However, everyone is not ready for this yet.

Yu Lian decided to tell everyone this information. However, in order not to be suspected, it is better to sort out the language first.

Just as he was about to speak, Brunhild frowned and said to himself: "If it's not psychic, then it's some kind of parasite? Yes, there should be parasitic individuals among this kind of monster? "

"This is also the direction of my suspicion now." Ostana said: "Your Highness, you still remember that hundreds of years ago, mysterious creatures like parasitic protozoa were popular in the world..."

Classmate Shi AA and his friends won't be lying at gunpoint at this time, right? Yu Lian thought of his slug friends who were working hard to reproduce and continue their race, and he suddenly felt sympathy.