After the antimatter planet-destroying cannon was fired, the fleet continued its advance. Even though the thrusters were deactivated during the charging process, the fleet's own inertia propelled it forward.
"Estimated arrival at the target planet in 32 hours," stated Yan Xia decisively upon hearing the reminder.
"Let the battleships and landing starships advance first," she ordered. "We must eliminate all enemy warships surrounding the target planet. Once the starships have landed, deploy all drones and ensure absolute control on the ground."
The battleships and landing starships moved forward with the objective of annihilating the enemyspace warships. They approached the enemy warships from multiple angles to prevent them from interfering with the flagship Hope's mission. It also served as an opportunity to assess whether the enemy had any hidden weapons.
Under Ella's command, the battleships and landing starships maneuvered skillfully amidst the enemy's laser barrage. Ella's superior computational abilities allowed her to calculate and predict the trajectory of the lasers, enabling the fleet to evade every attack effortlessly. Meanwhile, the battleships retaliated with zero-degree missiles and armor-piercing cannons, overwhelming the enemy warships with a relentless assault.
The enemy warships, despite their advantage in laser firepower, lacked sufficient defensive capabilities. The armor-piercing shells and zero-degree missiles tore through their hulls, rendering them combat ineffective. Ella observed the enemy ships losing their ability to transmit light as their optic cables were destroyed. Exploiting this vulnerability, Ella increased the firepower output, throwing the enemy fleet into chaos.
Realizing the limited gains from wireless signal interference due to the technological disparity between Earth and the enemy civilization, Ella decided to infiltrate the enemy ship control systems directly. However, the enemy's extensive use of light signals for information transmission presented a challenge.
As the battle raged on, the situation on the ground remained relatively unaffected, as most of the structures were underground. The fleet continued to engage the enemy warships, attempting to create distance and exploit their advantage in long-range combat.
In response to the fleet's relentless assault, the enemy fleet ceased firing and activated a high-energy gamma ray emission. This light pollution tactic disabled the cameras on the fleet's warships and affected various instruments. The enemy used this opportunity to converge more warships toward the fleet.
Realizing the effectiveness of the enemy's light pollution tactic, the fleet prepared to concentrate its fire. The battleships and landing starships readied their weapons, aiming countless fiber-optic barrels at the enemy warships, preparing for a decisive strike.
"It's the perfect moment!"
Ella allowed the enemy warships to gather because it would be highly disadvantageous for them if these warships dispersed.
"All landing starship bays open..."
"Generation I War Gods, ignite..."
"Launch all units..."
"Engage in close-range destruction of enemy warships!"
In just five minutes, a total of 1,200 Generation I War Gods were released in an orderly manner from the four landing starships. They accelerated to a speed of 600 km/s within a short span of 13 hours, enduring a maximum acceleration of 13g, heading towards the enemy warships.
The enemy warships were stunned upon seeing the multitude of combat aircraft. Their weapon systems became chaotic, unsure which targets to aim at.
"Don't mind these small machines; take down their main warships."
It seemed that these organisms also had a commander, and Ella almost instantly determined its location. She directed a portion of the War Gods to attack the enemy's flagship.
The four empty landing starships moved forward and formed a defensive layer in front of the battleship. Countless lasers fired upon the landing starships, instantly melting their surfaces. Within half a minute, the landing starships' hulls were breached, and they were estimated to be unable to hold up for more than five minutes. Fortunately, they were already close enough to the enemy fleet.
The combat aircraft reached the enemy warships, and countless bullets poured onto them, attacking the sluggish warships. However, the bullets' power was limited, only able to shred the weak points of the enemy's hulls.
"Are these small machines just toys?"
"It seems our enemies have no other means."
"All warships, assemble! Once the enemy defense layer is breached, don't stop; continue the attack."
"Fifth and sixth fleets, intercept the enemy's rear fleet."
"..."
"Wait, ground reports coming in, ground reports..."
"The command center has restarted the ground weapons system; it is expected to take only two refracted cycles (alien time). The enemy's previous weapon required a significant amount of time to recharge. They are doomed without a doubt."
"This is revenge for the billions of our comrades who died."
Optical information circulated among the fleet, instantly engulfing all extraterrestrial life forms in the excitement of receiving good news. However, in the next instant, the approaching combat aircraft turned into fireworks, generating light from the annihilation of matter and antimatter. A massive burst of photons emanated, carrying terrifying energy that spread out, engulfing a warship in the blink of an eye. Half of the warship's hull was wiped away as if erased.
Each Generation I War God carried 100 grams of antimatter, and their explosive power could reach over 4 million tons of TNT equivalent, more than 100 times stronger than the combined power of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in warfare on Earth. And this was just the beginning.
One after another, the combat aircraft launched suicide attacks, creating a series of fireworks in outer space. Beautiful yet horrifying. Nearly 400 warships of the geothermal civilization were affected by the explosion, with half of their fleet losing combat capability.
Simultaneously, twelve battleships released 240 Absolute Zero missiles, delivering a continuous strike against the disoriented enemy warships. These 240 Absolute Zero missiles instantly covered a vast expanse of stars. This was what Ella referred to as "the perfect timing."
Only when the enemy warships gathered could their weapons maximize their effectiveness. The chilling onslaught continued, engulfing over a hundred enemy warships.
Meanwhile, reinforcements from the rear fleet had arrived, with five cruiser starships rapidly joining the battle. The situation became even more favorable.