Raj led the charge. Like an arrow, he crushed the frontal ships with an energy charge, tearing through the enemy line. Avenger Squads A, B, and C, following in their trident formation, began to take down the remaining Minotaur fighter squadrons—what little was left after two rounds of bombardment from their own ships.

Like hunters on a hunt, they began to slowly yet quickly obliterate the Minotaur fleet, which numbered no fewer than two thousand ships.

The Minotaurs tried to get a hold of the situation, but the disruption and fear that Raj repeatedly caused prevented them from mounting any effective defense or offense.

And at that exact time, Damien made his move on the left flank, on the other side of the battle.

Raj couldn’t help but sigh. “That was what I was waiting for,” he commented, knowing the true intent behind Damien’s move. “Mechs are really slow, aren’t they? What can we do about it?” he added playfully, despite knowing their mechs were faster.

Seeing the terrifying momentum building up on Damien’s part of the battlefield, Raj couldn’t help but say, “Finally, he is making his move.”

“But he is so slow,” Raj commented, looking at the battlefield map, which was focused on Damien and the forty-plus mechs behind him. “But then again, they are mechs; they’re different from our fighter jets.”

“That is about right. Expecting mechs to be faster than our Void Fleet’s fighter jets is a big dream,” Tiamat couldn’t help but add.

“Indeed,” Raj said, nodding his head, “but in any case, he’s making his move, and the momentum is just as exaggerated as I hoped.” As he said this, colors flickered in Raj’s eyes as his perception—not his vision—changed.

His gaze focused toward Damien’s side, passing through vast distances and multiple ships, finally landing on Marcus. A vast, majestic aura was rising from the Eclipse Wraith, beginning to cover the area surrounding it until all the ships within the Minotaur line were caught in this aura field.

Even part of the First Battle Group’s forward formation was covered by this aura field. However, any potential effects on them were countered by another aura field coming from the Eclipse Wraith, which was there for other reasons, ensuring no friendly crew members were affected.

Turning his gaze to the Minotaurs in front, he saw that in each and every ship, they wore a look of confusion. Theireyes were hollowed as if their soul, or rather their consciousness, was being pulled into the ‘Realm of Delusion’—the force field created by Marcus.

Pressing further, Raj saw that in this Realm of Delusion, the Minotaurs believed they were winning the battle due to the ecstatic arrival of reinforcements.

Seeing that, Raj pulled himself out of this state and returned to normal perception. “Damien really has his ways with his illusion, huh? Good for him, and even better for me.”

“Tiamat, open up the comms to Captain Jack. Tell him it’s time for him and the 2nd Shadow Division to make their move. The moment is upon them—this is the best opportunity to gain the advantage.”

“As you command, Head Sweeper,” said the cheeky Tiamat, already working on the job. Raj’s mouth twitched upon hearing this, but he could only sigh and push it aside.

Back on the Phantom Shadow-class frigate, Captain Jack received Raj’s message. He commanded his crew, “The time is upon us! We shall move as per the Operation Commander’s orders.”

With that, in but a second, the small group—comprising a few frigates and more than a dozen corvettes—began moving. They remained effectively hidden by their stealth technology as they moved from their current position to their ultimate destination.

While they moved, and seizing the chance to re-discuss the plan, Jack opened the division-wide comms and began giving a formal speech that reinforced the known mission plan.

“My fellow crew members and elite Space Marines, the time is upon us. We will soon be making our landing within a few of the enemy’s most precious ships and weapons of war. Our goal is as clear as it can be for each and every one of us.”

“While not technically difficult, this mission is highly demanding due to our limited numbers. However, that should not be seen as a hurdle—not against a race like the Minotaurs, whose combat strength is far below ours, even more so in technology.”

“But we have to be mindful of one thing: even a cornered rabbit can retaliate like a lion when it realizes it has no escape. The Minotaurs will be no different. From the start, they have had the chance to cause us real damage, and they will go for it when they realize our intent to capture these ships.

The danger won’t only come from inside those ships, but from the outside as well. Do not forget: our operation is happening right in the middle of Minotaur forces. Behind us will be their gigantic fortress, and in front, left, and right will be hundreds of ships.”

“All in all, the pressure is immense, but that is something you all need not worry about. Our singular goal is to capture these few ships. This means all of our focus remains within those ships and not on the outside. The outside is the concern of our Admirals, and thus it is their task to worry about this matter, not ours.”

“Now, onto our targets. They are mainly four.”

“Our primary target is the Minotaur secondary flagship, the Taurus Prime. The secondary targets are the three Dreadnought-class battleships surrounding it.”

“We have approximately 4,000 of us here. Of this force, 1,180 will be allocated to the Taurus Prime, and the remaining 2,820 will be divided equally—940 troops in each division—among the three Dreadnoughts.”

“We will make entry through the ship’s hangar in stealth, but you must expect heavy fire once they catch onto us and our stealth barriers drop. Therefore, you must all be extremely careful. From there, based on your target ship, you will be splitting into different groups as per the mission needs.”

“Your primary objectives, which you must complete without fail, involve capturing, securing, and safeguarding the following systems until the combat bots arrive. These all have top priority:”

-1st. Power Systems: The power reactor and its management stations.

-2nd. Command: Both main and secondary command rooms.

-3rd. Communications: Neutralizing the communication channel.

-4th. Armament: All weapons fire control systems, including ordnance bays, missiles, and etc.

-5th. Mobility/Life Support: The propulsion engines and life support systems.

“Only after all these are fully secured will you move on to other secondary targets.”

“In the midst of this, try not to engage the hordes of Minotaurs within the ships. That is not your objective; cleanup will be handled by the combat bots.”

“Ah, one more thing I almost forgot: you need to establish the teleportation channel for the combat bots to make their appearance in the ship. This task must be done immediately after all primary targets are fully captured and secured.”

Captain Jack began to dive into his albeit short, but lengthy, re-briefing of the plan. Meanwhile, the 2nd Shadow Division, moving like a hidden shadow, wove through the countless ships in the Minotaur’s main battle line.

They passed just shy of a distance from the Minotaur Clan’s powerful warships of various shapes, sizes, and capabilities. God forbid any accident happened at this moment; while they might not die, they would definitely suffer huge setbacks. Because of this, the operators worked in synergy with the ships’ advanced AIs and in synchronization with other ships in their division, carefully maneuvering to avoid any unwanted incidents that might lead to discovery.

The 1st Shadow Division, which was currently moving slightly behind the 2nd Shadow Division, exhibited the same cautious maneuvering. They were, however, slightly frustrated when they learned that the advantage they hoped to have was snatched by their counterpart.

But that constant frustration didn’t prevent them from focusing on their mission; rather, it made them even more fired up, wanting to complete their entire mission without any flaws. A briefing was also going on there, though no changes were made to their already created and simulated plan at this moment.

Indeed, before truly participating in this war, Shadow Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 had all already gone through a simulated battle based on their plan and targets. All of them achieved 99.99% success. The remaining 0.01% of uncertainty was attributed to the limitations of the simulation and the unpredictable behavior of individual Minotaurs, which cannot be accounted for even with their advanced hyper-simulations.

One can say they are practically guaranteed to succeed no matter what. This plan accounts for all Shadow Divisions, including the not-yet-visible 3rd, 4th, and 5th Divisions, which also have their own missions to complete—provided nothing unforeseen happens.

“They are almost there, huh,” said Ezra, watching the coordinated movement of Shadow Divisions One and Two.

“It should be starting any moment now,” added Michel, joining the projection from his own ship.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep