Chapter 267: The Sole Authority! This Is the Brightest Path of Human Civilization!
"What… what the hell is going on?!"
Robert quickly demanded an explanation, a sudden sense of dread welling up inside him.
"The navigation system has failed. Our ship can't initiate warp escape."
"Our onboard AI has shut down and cannot be reactivated."
"Captain, our core network is being hacked!"
One report after another poured in, leaving Robert completely stunned. The rapid chain of unexpected events left him at a loss for what to do.
Their core network was being hacked—how was that even possible?
The rebel fleet's systems had been built at great cost and were nearly on par with the UNSC's. Yet in just the blink of an eye, their systems had been breached. This wasn't something those UNSC idiots were capable of pulling off.
Could there be a mole helping them from the inside?!
Robert Watts' expression instantly turned grim. That was the first possibility he thought of.
The Segudos base attack incident hadn't even been resolved, and now a fleet had suddenly shown up here. If someone wasn't sabotaging things from the shadows, he simply couldn't believe it.
Even the most impregnable fortress could fall from within—but Robert had no time to analyze who the traitor might be.
Seeing their own data being siphoned away second by second, Robert immediately gave the order:
"Relay my command—tell all fleet units to prepare for combat inside the ship!"
Since they were already completely surrounded and escape was no longer an option, they might as well go down fighting.
Robert, formerly a senior commander in the UNSC and now the supreme leader of the rebel front, had fought more than his share of hard battles.
A sudden jamming attack, followed by a control blackout, then an infiltration program upload—this kind of tactic meant the enemy was after something valuable.
It could be a person. Or a piece of tech.
Robert's guess? They were after the newly developed nuclear warheads.
"Yes, sir!"
With that, the communications officer sprang into action, transmitting the battle orders to the rest of the rebel fleet.
At the same time, the ship's observers, using their detection systems, spotted the Dreadnought-class vessel Wanderer in the distance beginning to charge up a powerful energy beam.
That eerie blue glow seemed to illuminate the darkness of space itself—this was another attack mode of the Dreadnought: hardlight strikes.
This type of weapon was similar to a light lance, but with the Forerunners' advanced targeting systems, hardlight strikes had terrifying precision—they could literally "shoot a mosquito with a cannon."
Shhh—!
With a flash, the blue beam fired and twisted through an almost surreal trajectory, bypassing the rebels' anti-aircraft turrets and striking the tail engine of one of their warships.
From beam generation to launch to impact, the whole process took less than three seconds. The rebels were completely helpless in the face of this advanced hardlight attack.
After all, they didn't even have basic energy shielding technology. There was no way for them to block the Dreadnought's strikes.
BOOM—!
Just then, the rebel fleet returned fire, launching a full-scale assault on the Megacorp.
Electromagnetic cannons, missile pods, even old-fashioned cannons—anything that could shoot was unleashed in a desperate counterattack.
In some ways, space warfare was a fairly "fair" duel.
Whoever had the better guns, won.
These brutal back-and-forth shootouts might not require much finesse, but for players with deep pockets and maxed-out gear, the experience was extremely satisfying.
In this kind of fight, there were no underdog comeback stories. Those fairy-tale scenarios where a trash-tier space scavenger beats a fully equipped top-tier ship? Not happening here.
Take the Universal Megacorp—its fleet could destroy a rebel flagship engine in a single shot, or jam the rebels' fire control systems with a magnetic field, preventing them from locking onto targets.
This was the pure joy of pay-to-win players wrecking ordinary ones.
Noticing they couldn't get a lock on the Wanderer, the rebels quickly shifted targets and concentrated fire on the Paris-class frigates.
But to their shock, this focus fire also failed to make a dent.
It turned out that the Universal Megacorp fleet had already formed a defensive formation and had activated their maximum-output energy shields.
Full offense and full defense. The rebel fleet broke out in a cold sweat just looking at it.
They were dumbfounded to see their barrage completely "miss"—the enemy fleet didn't suffer a single scratch or meaningful hit.
At that moment, even the most stubborn rebels realized this fleet's weapon and defense systems were top-of-the-line.
It was clear now—this must be a high-cost, no-expense-spared strike force dispatched by the UNSC specifically to annihilate the rebels.
Standing at the command deck, Robert Watts had come to a disturbing conclusion: the traitor was likely their own shipboard AI.
After all, no human could take down their fire control and network defense systems in such a short span of time. Only an AI could pull that off!
And if that was the case, they were in serious trouble.
Even their own AI had switched sides. They were now fish in a barrel.
Before Robert could adjust his strategy, a holographic projection of AI Loki suddenly appeared on his console.
Clearly, the Universal Megacorp's data breach was complete, and they could now transmit Loki's data here.
AI Loki scanned the room, then locked its gaze on Robert Watts—the rebel leader—and spoke:
"Gentlemen, it's not too late to surrender. Otherwise, you're only adding to the body count."
The tone and wording of Loki's message annoyed the rebels. As angry murmurs spread, Robert suppressed his fury and shot back:
"Who are you people? What faction does this fleet belong to?"
Robert still couldn't believe this was a UNSC operation. He knew very well that the UNSC's current tech couldn't produce ships or weapons like these.
But Loki didn't answer his question. The AI's stance was clear: surrender or don't—just give a straight answer.
That left Robert momentarily at a loss. He had never encountered such a sharp, decisive AI.
"No. We will never surrender that easily! Don't think you can fool us!"
After a brief pause, Robert made his decision—rejection.
The others might surrender, but he couldn't. As the leader of the rebellion, if this fleet was connected to the UNSC, surrendering would mean certain death for him.
"Understood."
Loki said nothing more. The projection vanished instantly, without another word of persuasion—just two cold, clinical syllables.
The AI's unorthodox reaction caught Robert off guard. Just then, the radar officer called out urgently:
"Captain! We're detecting a large number of enemy carrier-based craft closing in!"
As he warned Robert of the incoming threat, the officer also highlighted thousands of red markers on the holo-interface, all converging on their position.
Moments later, the display revealed the carrier craft's identities: hundreds of Stormhawk gunships and Skyhawk shuttles, along with swarms of AI drones, were charging toward them.
These units had been upgraded by Megacorp engineers, boasting reinforced durability and enhanced defenses.
Through the holographic display and the porthole, Robert could already see the hundreds of gunboats rapidly approaching. Within five minutes, they would clash with their fleet.
Before Robert could even give the order to open fire, the fleet's gunners had already activated the close-in defense cannons.
In an instant, a barrage of rapid-fire projectiles thundered forth. The reverberations from the cannon blasts rattled the interior of the cabin, making Robert feel as if his heartbeat had synchronized with the rhythm of the gunfire.
Outside the porthole, a blinding wave of tracer fire surged toward the Stormhawk gunboats. But to everyone's surprise, the rebel fleet's close-in defense systems proved completely useless.
Whether it was due to the onboard AI tampering with the targeting systems or some other reason, not a single round managed to hit the incoming enemy gunboats.
Soon, as they neared the rebel flagship, the lead Stormhawk gunboat positioned its hardlight main cannon, charged it up, and fired directly at the rebel fleet's hull.
With the searing blast of the hardlight beam, the external armor of the rebel cruiser instantly melted, leaving a jagged, gaping hole!
This opened up an opportunity for the MegaCorp troops to board via jump assault.
In that moment, the enraged Robert made a snap decision and shouted to the communications officer, "Notify the carrier-based aircraft units to cover the transfer of the Nova-class nuclear warheads to the surface base!"
"All remaining carrier aircraft—whatever the cost—must ensure the nukes reach the base safely!"
"Also, alert all units: Even if it means going down with the enemy fleet, under no circumstances can we allow the nukes to fall into their hands!"
When it came to the most valuable and strategically significant assets in the hands of the rebel faction, nothing topped the Nova-class nuclear weapons.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that these warheads were the cornerstone of the rebels' survival and future development. Losing them would give the UNSC free rein to eliminate the rebels with impunity, no longer holding anything back.
Without the nukes, the rebels would lose their ability to lie low and regroup. Their entire uprising would be brought to a standstill.
If Robert died, another rebel leader would rise to take his place and carry on the fight against the UNSC.
But if they lost the Nova-class nukes, then all hope would be lost.
"Yes, sir!"
The communications officer immediately relayed Robert's orders to every combat unit and aircraft squadron.
Watching the MegaCorp forces preparing to complete their boarding maneuver, Robert realized the enemy wasn't out to annihilate them completely.
After all, if MegaCorp had truly wanted to destroy them, they could have wiped out the rebel fleet in a single volley. There was no need for this elaborate boarding operation.
Since the enemy was clearly after the nukes, there was no way they could be allowed to succeed!
At that moment, inside the damaged cruiser—
With a thunderous explosion, the hardlight cannon blasted a 20-meter-wide hole into the ship's hull. The sudden imbalance in internal pressure caused fierce gusts of wind to tear through the corridor.
Caught off guard, the rebels rushing over to repair the damage were immediately sucked toward the breach.
The quick-thinking ones grabbed onto nearby fixtures to keep themselves from being blown out.
The slower ones weren't so lucky. They were dragged out into open space by the pressure differential, their life signs quickly fading.
BOOM——!!
Moments later, several Stormhawk gunboats barreled in through the hole, crashing directly into the cruiser's interior. Upon docking, the pilots deployed large quantities of gel-based repair compounds.
These compounds contained embedded nanobot AIs that automatically sealed the breach, patching the hull and quickly restoring the pressurized environment.
Now that the cabin's atmosphere was stabilized—
Before the rebels inside could even breathe a sigh of relief, the gunboats' hatches sprang open, and squads of Astartes and power-armored soldiers leapt out.
Thud-thud!
The heavy stomping of boots on metal deck plates echoed through the chamber. Dozens of fully armed warriors stormed out of the cabin with new-generation hardlight weapons raised, quickly securing the area.
At the same time, Tyrants armed with heavy hardlight machine guns and a swarm of cloned soldiers followed behind, executing their assault orders in coordination with their AI systems.
At the sight of these towering, grotesque, metallic "tin cans," the rebels' first thought was: What the hell?! These guys must be aliens!
Most of the rebels were too stunned to speak, standing there slack-jawed. Only a few quick-witted ones managed to raise their hands in surrender.
"We surrender! Please don't kill us!"
Some of the rebels wailed in desperation.
But their pleas were met with bursts of gunfire from the clone soldiers. Crisp shots rang out across the hollow cabin.
Screams of pain erupted in every direction.
The clone soldiers didn't shoot to kill the surrendering rebels—instead, they aimed for non-lethal zones, disabling them without ending their lives.
The goal was to render them incapable of fighting back and to buy time by delaying the arrival of any reinforcements.
After all, in real combat, anyone who's been shot doesn't have the strength to get back up and fire. They're lucky just to lie still and stay conscious—especially these rebel grunts, who were only in it for a paycheck. No one was going to risk their lives after taking a few rounds.
Once they'd neutralized the initial resistance, the Astartes and soldiers followed the route provided by AI Loki and swiftly advanced toward the location of the Nova-class nuclear warheads.
Thump! Thump!!
The Astartes warriors, with their heavy footfalls, led the charge at the front. Along the way, they encountered multiple squads of rebel marines.
Several intense firefights broke out, but the rebels were no match for the Astartes. Every encounter ended in a one-sided slaughter.
To MegaCorp's forces, enemy units that surrendered could be disabled rather than killed.
But those who stubbornly resisted and obstructed the mission—there was only one outcome: total physical annihilation.
Before long, as more Astartes completed their boarding maneuvers, MegaCorp's forces pushed through to the enemy's hangar without meeting serious resistance.
The all-important Nova-class nukes were now within reach.
---
Meanwhile, in the Eridanus II system, at Base Saegutus—
The rebel reinforcements sent to support the base had already been decimated by Rita's brutal strategy of surrounding and isolating enemy groups.
Although a few scattered rebel forces still lingered around the perimeter, none dared to approach.
Rita, relaxed and unbothered, casually wiped down her rifle, occasionally firing a round outward just to keep the rebels jumpy.
The fighting here had long since ended. Rita, Alex, and the others spent most of their time gazing up at the sky.
Through the light of the Eridanus II star, they could see ghostly blue streaks of hardlight fire and the faint flashes of exploding warships above.
But the dazzling spectacle didn't last long. Soon, the sky returned to stillness, leaving only the wails of the wounded near the base.
"Cough…!"
"Aaah! Damn you UNSC mutts!"
"..."
The rebels sprawled across the ground cursed, screamed, and sobbed. Some were eerily silent, dozing off with a baby-like tranquility.
Rita merely cast them a cold glance. For those crawling away in search of aid, she didn't bother interfering.
After all, her orders were to keep them out—not to stop them from retreating.
Elsewhere, when Alex and Cage had nothing better to do, they patrolled the area with weapons in hand, wary of any rebel flanking maneuvers.
For those rebels begging for mercy, writhing in agony, they would occasionally show "humanitarian mercy" by giving them a quick and painless death.
Until MegaCorp's rescue team arrived, their only job was to hold this position and avoid getting themselves killed.
Whoosh——!!
Suddenly, a meteor shower streaked across the sky. As Cage watched the smoky trails falling through the atmosphere, he muttered:
"That's all debris from the warships. The rebel fleet really is full of hard-headed idiots—so willing to sacrifice their own people just to clash with our forces."
William Cage clicked his tongue in disdain, clearly unimpressed by the rebels' stubbornness.
"Loki gave them a chance to surrender. They refused. Now, it's too late. But if they want to give up now, maybe they still can. We'll see."
Alex had no particular feelings about the rebel faction—no sympathy, either. After all, humanity as a species had a talent for self-destruction.
Whether it was MegaCorp or the rebels, they were just two sides of the same coin.
Back on the Neptune, the rebels' actions had been a textbook example—ruthless, efficient, and completely heartless when dealing with their own.
In Alex's view, the most suitable form of government for humanity was absolute autocracy: one visionary, strategic leader guiding civilization into the future.
Such a regime was the most efficient and had the highest potential—far better than endless bickering and self-serving politicians.
Now, with Li Ang as the supreme leader of MegaCorp, guiding the vast corporate empire and the entire human race forward—that was the path of true greatness and glory for mankind.
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