Agent047
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959 - Bait and Switch
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 02:34:09 +0000 UTC[Joint scanning the planet]
Ismail looked at the planet data that was being collected jointly by the ten mechas, who had appeared in different locations around the planet and were integrating it into a single comprehensive dataset.
[Basic Planetary Intelligence Dossier: Porku
Ownership: Elara civilization.
Type: Terrestrial
Population: 1.5 billion.
Rank: 54 among the Elara civilization's planets.
Strategic Importance: Medium
Security: Level 5 of 10
VR connection: Available and active.
…….......
.......
]
The empire was brave enough to even send a team to a planet of one of the top ten members in the Conclave. Although they were last, tied with the Feyn, they were still in the top ten.
The list contained basic information next to a hovering globe showing real-time information collected from both the mechas and live data that was constantly refreshed by linking to all the VR devices on the planet. This provided them with even more comprehensive on-the-ground information: where the largest population centers were, what sort of people were in which areas, where the most high-value targets were, and more.
Their AIs, having been present during the planning and modifications of their plans, immediately overlaid them on the hovering globe, modifying them to fit the new and more trustworthy information before generating a list of things they needed to do.
“Let’s deal with them first,” Ismail said, looking at the defense forces that were still not moving. Since their appearance, less than two seconds had passed, as they were currently in a higher time-acceleration mode, allowing them to digest information so fast that things appeared to be moving in slow motion.
He raised his hand, pointing toward the closest ship in passive orbit. The mecha's massive forearm opened, a cannon revealing itself before instantly firing as the gravity drives activated to provide an immediate and matching counter-thrust, so he was not sent barreling backward from the shot.
(Boom) is what would have been heard had the explosion taken place within an atmosphere, but in the silence of space, no one heard the explosion or the people inside it screaming at all.
The projectile had accelerated so fast that it covered the distance within two seconds. Seeing the cannon appear had triggered the automatic defenses into action, and they had immediately started firing at the oncoming projectile. But in a move that appeared normal to Ismail but caused gasps from the defending side, all of the bullets being fired at the projectile were broken apart in real-time by the bomb itself. When it arrived at the hull, they braced for an explosion that didn't come. The projectile just opened a hole and entered the ship, targeting the power source before exploding when it hit it, removing any chance of the ship surviving the initial shot.
[1 Corvette has been logged as your kill]
[1 Security space station has been logged as Kanoni’s kill]
[1 Frigate has been logged as ……..]
[1 Interceptor has.......]
Different kill count notifications scrolled across the edge of his HUD as he continued firing projectiles, the mecha constantly adjusting its course as new targets were marked for him to take down.
But just as he was about to fire his fifteenth shot to earn his fifteenth official kill, he was pulled into an even faster bullet time, an automatic defensive action triggered when something was being sent in the mech's direction. Without turning his head, he just raised his right hand, shifting his body into a T-pose. A mecha-palm-sized hexagonal shield appeared a meter in front of his hand before a tractor beam shot out and near-instantly pushed it a kilometer away, intercepting the incoming missile in the least energy-intensive way. A moment later, the shield returned before dissolving back into the mecha, returning with a portion of the explosion's energy.
But once one ship was ready and had responded, it meant the rest were as well. The mission changed from cleaning the orbit, and the five mechas once again powered their gravity drives, pushing them toward the planet's atmosphere while constantly defending against the oncoming attacks that tried to stop them.
For a full minute, the five mechas were barraged with enough missiles and laser attacks to raze a whole city. The enemy tried to either destroy the mechas or deliberately use the explosions to alter their trajectory away from the planet. But the mechas held on, now fully covered in interlocking hexagonal double shields, constantly draining mana while harvesting kinetic energy from the explosions to power a portion of the shields. Then, as if their attackers had all run out of ammunition, everything paused.
When Ismail turned his head, his face was illuminated at different intervals from different directions as the ships, the space stations, defensive orbital satellites, and anything set as a defensive measure against invasion exploded at the same time.
“The ol' bait and switch always works,” Ismail said with a smile. It seemed their distraction had worked, buying time for the five mechas in full active stealth. They had timed and sent out stealth missiles targeting all of the defensive assets that had finally revealed themselves, perfectly calculated so that all the projectiles reached their targets at the same time, not allowing even a moment for any survivors to escape and send information to others.
“Okay, guys, we will continue to clean up space and ready the defenses against reinforcements, so go ahead,” Kafuku, one of the mechas that had been in stealth, said. His mecha did not yet reveal itself, as their sensors were already informing them that military ships from different areas of the star system were now returning to defend the planet, and they were planning to deal with them while under the veil of stealth.
“For the empire!” Ismail shouted in excitement before he continued falling to the planet.
“For the Emperor!” the remaining ones responded in unison before they too started heading to their new tasks. The stealth mechas began setting mines and other measures to allow them to deal with multiple enemies at once without being overwhelmed. And still, only four minutes had passed since they arrived, with one minute remaining in their operation time before the rescue was to commence. If one of the empire's reasons for this attack was to act as a distraction, then it was working, as similar situations were happening on a thousand planets.
Comments
GripenSupremacy
TYFTC!!
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
TYFTC
