203: Angel's Offensive

On the other side of the universe, in the Apocalypse Galaxy at the edge of the Perseus Arm.

This was once the final line of defense for the Angel Empire against the Iofer Federation's invasion, but now it had transformed into the site of an unprecedented grand military parade.

Only, the style of this parade appeared somewhat bizarre, with a hint of absurd humor.

Inside the starport's assembly area, the originally wide navigation channels were packed tight. Tens of thousands of warships were crowded together densely, like a boiling pot of stew.

Most prominent was the direct fleet personally led by Amira Radiance at the center of the formation.

Although this fleet was small in number, with only a little over a thousand ships, every single one had been meticulously repaired and upgraded with Faleim technology. They possessed pure white streamlined armor, their hulls shimmering with a faint psionic radiance, and their engine nozzles spewing stable and pure particle streams, showcasing the elite atmosphere of a resurgent empire.

Especially that battlecruiser, the redemption, which seemed as towering as a myth to other Angel people; it floated quietly at the core of the fleet, receiving the reverent gazes of those around it like the moon surrounded by stars.

On the periphery of the central fleet was an ocean of warships composed of various paint jobs and models.

Those were the "Loyalist Armies" from over a hundred star sectors of the empire—the private soldiers of various warlords and sector governors.

Some warships were old-fashioned cruisers phased out hundreds of years ago; some were armed merchant ships illegally modified from giant cargo ships, with crude turrets and psionic light spear launchers welded onto them; and others were bizarre ships offered as tribute by vassal civilizations, their styles completely at odds with the aesthetics of the Angel Empire.

In short, this was a massive, bloated, and unevenly matched combined fleet.

"Truly a motley crew."

On the bridge of the redemption, Major General Trier watched the messy allied signals on the screen, making no attempt to hide the disdain in his tone.

"If it weren't for our presence, these guys would probably still be living in a dream world in their own territories, or even flirting with the Iof People."

Amira Radiance, dressed in the formal robes of a Regent, sat on the command seat. Hearing Trier's words, a flash of helplessness and shame crossed her eyes.

"General Trier, although they look fragile, they are still a force," Amira said calmly. "More importantly, their arrival represents an attitude—and that is fear."

Yes, fear.

The reason this so-called combined fleet could assemble so quickly was not because of how loyal they were to the Emperor, nor because they had suddenly awakened their patriotic passion.

It was because of fear.

Over these decades, the Faleim Civilization's infiltration of the Angel Empire had been comprehensive. Every knowledgeable sector governor and every leader of a vassal civilization knew all too well how terrifying the silver giant hidden behind Amira's government was.

When Amira issued the "Sacred Decree of Vengeance" in the name of the Regent and intentionally or unintentionally revealed the news that "the Faleim Enforcement Fleet is coming to supervise the operation," those warlords who were still waiting and seeing, or even planning to maintain their own power, immediately panicked.

They weren't afraid of the imperial family, for the imperial family had weakened, but they were afraid of the Faleim People.

They knew that those terrifying long-ears wanted to wipe out local tyrants like them as easily as crushing a bedbug.

Thus, to save their own heads and territories, they had to empty their coffers and scrape together this seemingly grand fleet to show their loyalty to that invisible "Retired Emperor."

"Regardless of the motive, at least they are here." Amira took a deep breath, a sharp glint flashing in her golden eyes. "Since they're here, they must bleed."

"Order the whole army! Target: Tianen Star System! Set out!"

With Amira's command, this massive combined fleet—composed of the central army, warlord private soldiers, and vassal auxiliary forces—began to slowly crawl its way into the massive halo of the Warp Relay... the Tianen Star System.

This former trade hub of the Angel Empire had now fallen into being a forward base for the Iofer Federation.

Since occupying this place decades ago, the Iof People had not brought prosperity here; on the contrary, they had turned it into a giant barracks and prison.

Two habitable planets had been converted into weapon factories, and the orbits were filled with hideous defense platforms and space mines. Stationed here was the Iofer Federation's 12th Garrison Fleet; although not a front-line main force, it still possessed two thousand regular warships and a complete defense system.

However, at this moment, the defense commander of the Tianen Star System, a Red Demon Clan Lieutenant General named Zack, was facing the greatest crisis of his military career.

"Alarm! Large-scale space-time interference fluctuations detected! Position: direction of the Apocalypse Galaxy!"

"Quantity... the quantity cannot be calculated! The detector screen is almost filled up!"

Lieutenant General Zack suddenly stood up from his command chair, the terminal in his hand shattering into pieces.

"The Angel? How dare they?"

Before he could figure it out, the vanguard of the combined fleet had already burst out of the warp bubble.

Although the formation was scattered and the communication channels were filled with curses and arguments in various local dialects, the number of ships in this fleet was simply too many.

Nearly twenty thousand warships of all types!

"Fire! All batteries, free fire! Activate the orbital defense network!" Lieutenant General Zack roared his orders.

Countless fireworks of death instantly bloomed in the void of the Tianen Star System.

The iofer defense system was indeed powerful; Gravity Wave Oscillation Cannons and Blaster Beams were like the scythes of the Grim Reaper, crazily harvesting the vanguard array of the combined fleet.

Those warlord fleets and auxiliary forces rushing at the very front were instantly dealt a devastating blow. Their old shields were like paper in the face of iofer firepower; ship after ship disintegrated in explosions, and countless fragments and corpses were scattered into space.

"Dammit! That's my 3rd Sub-fleet! It's all gone!"

"That's the fortune I've saved up for fifty years!"

In the public communication channels, the screams of warlords and governors rose and fell. Some tried to turn around and flee, while others spun in place; the entire vanguard line was in chaos.

If it were before, this motley crew would probably have routed under the first round of strikes.

But today was different.

In the rear of the combined fleet, that black redemption was watching all of this.

"Disciplinary Corps, take orders." Major General Trier stood beside Amira, issuing the coldest command in her stead.

"Lock onto all allied ships attempting to retreat."

"Anyone who retreats is to be destroyed directly without warning."

The secondary battery arrays on both sides of the redemption lit up with a ghostly blue light, and several cruisers that had just turned their bows to flee the battlefield were instantly blown to pieces by precise shots.

This act of "killing the chicken to warn the monkeys" instantly cowed all the deserters.

Before them was iofer's fire, and behind them was the Disciplinary Corps' muzzles.

These warlords and governors understood they had no way out.

"Go for it! Fight these red-skinned demons to the end!"

Driven by despair, these ragtag forces actually burst out with some combat capability. They didn't care for tactical coordination, instead launching suicidal charges like mad dogs.

Using quantity to fill the gap in quality, and using wreckage to clog the iofer firing lines.

"Madmen! These bird-men have gone mad!"

Lieutenant General Zack felt his scalp tingle as he watched the enemy ships surging like a tide on the screen.

Although his fleet was elite, its numbers were limited after all. After destroying three thousand enemy ships, his defensive line finally began to waver.

Just then, the central direct fleet led by Amira entered the fray.

This elite force, equipped with Faleim technological support, was like a sharp knife, precisely piercing the weak points of the iofer defense line.

"Adjust psionic shield frequency! Phase Light Spear volley!"

Amira's voice was calm and decisive.

The fire control systems upgraded by the Faleim People allowed the Angel warships' hit rate to reach unprecedented heights. One after another, golden beams precisely stripped away the armor of the iofer warships, detonating their reactors.

Especially the redemption, a giant ship with Avatar-class combat power, was simply an invincible existence on the battlefield. It withstood the concentrated fire of several iofer battleships, and every flicker of its main gun, the Focused Arc Generator, was certain to take down an enemy capital ship.

"Dammit! What kind of monster is that?!" Lieutenant General Zack watched in despair as his flagship's shields were instantly overloaded under the redemption's attack.

The battle lasted for three full days and nights.

Countless pieces of wreckage floated in the orbit of the Tianen Star System, some in the golden Angel style and others in the dark red iofer style; they mixed together to form a metal graveyard of death.

Finally, at the heavy cost of nearly five thousand ragtag warships, the combined fleet finally overwhelmed the iofer garrison.

Before his flagship exploded, Lieutenant General Zack sent out one last transmission: "Tianen... has fallen... the organization..."

As the last iofer warship turned into a fireball, control of the Tianen Star System changed hands.

"We... won?"

A surviving sector governor muttered to himself as he looked at the devastated battlefield.

Although the losses were heavy, they had indeed won, reclaiming the empire's territory.

Cheers began to ring out in various communication channels—a vent of wild joy.

For the iofer garrison on the surface of Tianen Star and Sanctuary Star, the nightmare had only just begun.

Having lost the cover of the space fleet, they were like beasts trapped on an isolated island.

"Blockade the orbit," Amira ordered coldly. "Accept no surrenders."

"This is for our fallen compatriots, and also for... a cleanup."

Over the following week, the combined fleet carried out devastating orbital bombardments of iofer military facilities on the ground.

Those iofer occupation forces who had once lorded over this land launched a final resistance in despair, hiding in city ruins and underground bunkers, attempting to use the remaining hostages as human shields.

But Amira showed no mercy; she dispatched the most elite Royal Psionic Marines, who, along with the blood-crazed warlord private soldiers, conducted a carpet-style purge of the ground.

Every bunker was breached, and every stronghold was uprooted.

This was a war of revenge with no honor, only hatred.

When the last Iofer Federation flag was torn down from the roof of the Governor's Mansion on Tianen Star and replaced with the Golden Twin-Wing Flag of the Angel Empire, the entire star system had been drained of its blood.

Amira stood on the ruins of an administrative building, looking at the few dozen emaciated Angel survivors who had been liberated.

There was no pleasure of revenge in her heart, only a sense of emptiness.

"Your Highness," Major General Trier walked up behind her, "congratulations on reclaiming the lost territory."

"This is only the beginning." Amira turned around. "This is a bridgehead and a springboard."

"Next, we will coordinate with the main Faleim fleet to advance into the interior of Orion."

However, Major General Trier said, "We don't need you to coordinate. Your main task now is to exhaust all the opposition factions that do not fully obey you."

Major General Trier's words left Amira silent for a long time.