Emperor's Bane

Chapter 53 Death ([-]) [Riwan, Happy New Year! 】

Lieutenant Andrews, who belonged to the [Sun Devourer Order], wrapped himself in a gray-black cloak. Through the too narrow vision of the MKIII power armor, he observed the attack of Ran Dan's army.

As always, he first saw the endless waves of the slave army, like a blown-up ant nest, they gathered into a dense army of bewilderment, advancing in fear and panic at all costs. Crowds fell under the strangulation of intensive firepower, bombs, mines and barbed wire.

Those mortals, maybe they don't have the courage to face the Randan soldiers who are several meters high, and they don't have the strength to pick up the blade and chop off thousands of alien heads, but let them stay in the cold trenches, let them hold It is still possible to fire every bullet in the air, every cannonball under your feet, as accurately as possible.

All of a sudden, thousands of muzzles were fired, and thousands of explosions were bursting out. Every inch of Lieutenant Andrews' field of vision was occupied by the bloody gunpowder and flames. He watched from every trench and every The fire-yellow steel barrage continuously spewing out from a fortress formed an impenetrable rain of death, like a mechanical curling blade harvesting a ripe wheat field, dropping hundreds, tens of thousands, Death and massacre.

These death cries mercilessly poured over Ran Dan's slave army, causing bloodshed, roars and crackling sounds. This chaotic sonata spread for more than ten kilometers, even if they stayed on the front line The medical team at the end could hear it clearly.

Andrews watched all this silently, watching thousands of alien slaves being swallowed alive by the frantic firepower of the human defenders, or even more tragic: some unfortunate guys were just broken limbs and fell to the ground, Their only way to die is to be trampled to death by thousands of latecomers.

But there are also some accidents that will happen. Andrews can see the outstanding ones among the slave cannon fodder. If they are particularly lucky, or they have great strength and body, this allows these terrible monsters to rush into them. In the trenches of the defenders, kill with claws, rage, and bloodthirsty insanity.

When thousands of various aliens fell on the charge road, hundreds of mutilated human corpses were also thrown down in the trenches.

But for the army of attackers and defenders, all of this is insignificant and insignificant, just like the water droplets scattered and broken when two huge waves beat each other, thousands of lives are in the army. The battlefield is nothing more than a bunch of cheap objects that are not even as good as a mound of earth, the sand table is the most inconspicuous small flag, and it is nothing more than a transaction that benefits neither side: the human army stopped Ran Dan's offensive, but Their first line of defense is crumbling.

And when the battalion commander and the captains on the front line were arguing about whether to retreat or stick to it, with the sound of the second weird horn, Ran Dan's second offensive hardly gave anyone a chance to breathe.

This time, Andrews saw many familiar faces.

He saw those Hruds who were enslaved and mind-controlled by Ran Dan. The human empire once contemptuously called these dirty, despicable, cunning, cruel, and endlessly killing monsters "rats in space".

These tunnel-loving xenos still wear their tattered cloaks, their necks and upper limbs protected by silicate scales, now surrounded by the cables of jaw-dropping neural control collars, irritating These cunning races run and kill like bloodthirsty butchers.

Behind the groups of [Space mice] are Orati who have been tortured until they have completely fallen into madness. They have slender multi-jointed limbs, thick leathery carapaces, and compound eyes like spiders. Astartes stacked taller, like a giant bug with four legs, disgusting.

Still, Andrews knew that these hideous xenomorphs were rare pacifists in the galaxy who scavenged for a living, but that didn't stop the Empire from destroying their wandering fleets, and now it seems that more than Compared with the means of Ran Dan Empire, the killing of the empire is actually a kind of [benevolence].

And those who are taller and more terrifying than the Oreti Zerg are the famous [Bass Memanic]. These aliens have a beast-like body and a full metal shell, and can withstand the craziest bullets. Whole battalions and companies of mortal soldiers were wiped out before.

But this powerful and alien parent star unfortunately exists near the area controlled by the Randan Empire. Therefore, these hideous and terrifying monsters are restrained and tortured by collars, and they have to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. Dan's slave army is everywhere.

Seeing these distorted or ferocious heads moving in his field of vision, Andrews even felt a long-lost intimacy.

Everything was all too familiar to him.

That was thirty Terra Standard Years ago. At that time, Andrews was a Dark Angel, part of the 5-thousand Avenging Army, following the then Legion Commander in the Spin-Morse The galaxy and Ran Dan's southward force were fighting, it was a war that would never be decrypted and disclosed.

And even in the interior of the Dark Angels, it is a battle that is basically not mentioned. The former comrades may miss the 50 combat brothers who died in the Morse galaxy, and the shrewd officers may regret the [-]. Many capital ships were sunk in battle, and everyone in the legion was silent about the fall of the [Paragon of Hate]. Ran Dan's army boarded the ship and died together.

But even with such sacrifices, Morse's Mill of Flesh lasted several Terra standard months, until Randan's master was beheaded, and this bloody war ended in the rout and destruction of the xenos.

Andrews also took part in that battle, bathing in his blood in at least six different battles, and was a member of 22 orders or orders at the time, but that number dropped to eight after the battle .

Andrews will never forget Ran Dan's offensive: the exhaustion of the slave army can even last for several days and nights, and Ran Dan's main force will either appear in front of them majestically under the cover of artillery fire, catch and fight, or fight from the shadows and light. The most feared are the elite legions wielding psychic power or forbidden technology, and the blood shed against them is enough to make any dark angel never forget it.

Nothing more...

The memory of suffering lingered in the Dark Angel veteran's mind for less than a second, and it made him pay attention to the real situation in front of him again.

Around and behind these [old faces], there are at least hundreds of different alien creatures, most of them will not be known to the people of the empire, even other legions that are also Astartes Will not recognize these scary monsters.

But Andrews was different. As a dark angel, he could easily identify each of them, but every time he identified, his complexion became gloomy.

It wasn't until this brutal army tore through the first line of defense of the human defenders that the sound of tearing flesh and blood flowed infinitely amplified along with the strong wind, that the formation of Ran Dan warriors arrived late. The sharp bayonets usually come out of the chaotic battle formation, all the way to the fortress area which is the core of the front line, accompanied by the radioactive electromagnetic individual weapon that is the signature of Ran Dan's main army, only one volley is needed It is enough to dissolve the entire permanent fortress in the dark energy flow.

The energy flow like night light resounded recklessly with Ran Dan Pioneer's deepening, almost covering the entire front line of defense in continuous shadow and haze in the blink of an eye, until a moment later, these bubble-like phantoms It was broken one after another, but nothing can be seen in the place where it used to be: no matter the fortresses that stood by and helped each other, or the thousands of defenders stationed in them, they just disappeared out of thin air, not even a drop of blood was shed .

The restless gale of the Sabis came again with a fury never before seen, as if a wrathful god were yelling.

And Andrews finally picked up the instrument in his hand, and after a while, hoarse and heavy breathing appeared beside his ears.

"Andrews?"

An inquiry came from the other end of the communicator.

"It's me. What appeared on the bridge was Ran Dan's main army. The ratio of the number of fighters to the electromagnetic individual weapons of them met the standard, and even exceeded it by a lot. It is very likely that the [Superior Overlord] led the team."

There was a silence on the other end of the communicator.

"Need help?"

Andrews didn't answer immediately, his eyes and his thinking were running together, passing over the countless burning trenches and positions, passing over the skyline covered by densely packed Ran Dan's successor troops, passing by the countless Thousands of bullets and six shells tore into pieces the huge corpse of Bas Memanic.

Finally, he spoke.

"One standard hour."

"If I haven't sent back a report after one TST, send someone to take over our position."

"I see."

There are often no protracted conversations and honorifics between the veterans of the First Legion. After getting the answer he wanted, Andrews directly hung up the communication and turned to contact several other members.

The first to be contacted was the Tech Sergeant, the only one not on the front lines at this time.

"How long will it take for the Stormbird."

"If it is to restore the flying ability and part of the fighting ability, it will take fifteen to twenty minutes."

"Speed ​​up, you know the combat power of Ran Dan's drone group."

"clear."

"How is [alpha] doing?"

"I've been staying inside the Stormbird, there is no abnormality, I proposed to join the battle 6 minutes ago, do I need to activate her?"

"No, the situation is not that bad. To ensure her situation, [Fortress] has a heavy defense task and cannot provide us with support."

"I will."

Andrews hung up the communication, and then he connected several new ones.

------

"Break, burn, annihilate, kill, and let no alien get past our lines."

"Let them die."

------

"Let them die!"

"Shoot them! Kill them! Let them fall to our guns!"

"For the emperor!"

Sparse shouts responded to the officers' roars, and Latobis was also mixed in. He was stationed at the rear of the middle of the entire trench fortress, and he could even clearly see the steel cables on the bridge here.

There are more than 5000 human defenders stationed near the bridge. Because of the orders of the dark angels, they are all stationed at one end of the bridge. Maybe [-] is not a huge number in the war across the star sea, but in On the battlefield on the ground, this number means that there is no limit that cannot be covered by the vision of a mortal.

The defenders dug countless trenches and poured one fortress after another, extending all the way to a place several kilometers away from the bridgehead of the bridge. When the ground was devastated, the soldiers stationed at the bridgehead could only vaguely see the flickering flames.

But when the first gap is opened, everything may be unstoppable.

It took about half a standard hour for Ran Dan's slave army to rush into the first line of defense, tearing apart or devouring at least a thousand defenders, and then Ran Dan's soldiers rushed into the trenches and tunnels, steel The interweaving with blood quickly transformed into a mere human cry.

After 10 minutes, the second line of defense fell, and the imperial army dropped [-] corpses.

After another 15 minutes, the third line of defense was broken, and the loss exceeded 2000 people.

Latobis squatted in the fourth line of defense, listening to thousands of creepy voices, all he could do was squat in the trenches, and kept filling as many people as possible in convenient places. bullet.

The rustling sound kept ringing around him, more and more soldiers were dispatched into this tunnel, some of them were sweating, with bean-sized sweat dripping from their jaws, and some of them were like dead bodies Silence, only the constantly trembling fingers can reveal a little breath of life, and some have been muttering something in a low voice, or even silently, with their eyes closed, like praying.

This trench has never been as crowded as it is at this time, and even a small breath can form a large cloud of hot air, which burns invisible in the icy air.

This trench has never been as quiet as it is now, thousands of lives are as silent as crowded dead bodies, and even the crying and wailing blown by the wind can easily slip into everyone's ears.

Just like a bell ringing at midnight, the howling sounds brought by the wind gradually disappeared and became silent, only the low roars of those crazy beasts and the wild laughter of Ran Dan's warriors immersed in blood were becoming more and more intense. Approaching them step by step.

Close, close again.

The sound of the wind became more violent and sharper, it slapped the cloth and stones, making a weird laugh.

Latobis could hear the trampling on the ground, which is not a sound that humans can make. He raised his head and slowly stretched out of the bunker. In countless places, countless people are doing this.

The main body of the third trench that has fallen is about a few hundred meters in front of them, and there are more than a dozen burning fortresses standing there. Latobis can vaguely see some tall figures coming from the high temperature and Out of the air twisted by the flames.

"So this is Ran Dan..."

He sighed softly.

In the eyes of the sergeant, creatures that only exist in the most absurd nightmares emerged from the flames one by one, just like the appearance of those devouring demons in legends: these monsters are very tall, very tall, their bodies and armor are different. It is completely distorted, covered with weird spikes, scars and flails, whether it is skin or armor, all wrapped in a disgusting black that seems to be burnt, making it difficult to distinguish where is the torso and where is the armor .

These monsters are holding huge weapons, or holding sharp swords tightly. A kind of faintly visible shield surrounds them. Face, but just from the exposed tip of the iceberg, one can imagine how terrifying and ugly it is.

Those spiky iron boots were covered with blood, bone and flesh, and they walked across the burning land without seeing them, marching towards another front.

"Fire!"

I don't know who gave the order, and the whole trench was silent for a second because of the roar.

The next moment, the guns fired.

Countless bullets, shells and grenades poured down along with the crazy and fearful shouts of the defenders. Everyone was roaring, everyone was shouting, and everyone was using the most desperate shooting to cover up the fear in their hearts.

Tens of thousands of Iron Kiss rushed towards Ran Dan's slowly advancing battle line. In this intertwined barrage that theoretically no living creature would be spared, occasionally some of Ran Dan's fighters were knocked to the ground, as if wounded. But most of them just continued their slow progress, with ripples constantly appearing around them, as if thousands of stones were thrown into the sea one by one.

The air was quiet again.

The first wave of shooting and firepower has been exhausted, but Ran Dan's army has not been affected in the slightest.

They move on, slowly and ironically.

Nearly.

closer.

Latobis could hear the sound of sobbing, as well as the hesitant trampling of footsteps on the ground. Some people seemed to have gone crazy, whispering illogical words constantly. He was not sure who was crying, timid, and crying Whether it was him who was insane, he just emptied his brain and kept reloading bullets, even though they seemed useless.

The alien footsteps came closer, and Latobis could even see the ecstatic smiles on their indescribably ugly faces.

He heard laughter again, it was not Ran Dan's, but the laughter in the wind, a suppressed and expectant laughter, as if the audience was looking forward to the next song.

Just when he was still confused by this laughter, he heard another sound of stomping on the ground.

One and different voices.

------

The voice came.

It was a huge, steady, unmistakable crunch of iron boots.

He is approaching.

Uneasy neighing sounded from Ran Dan's battle line. Those youngest Ran Dan warriors were eager to try, eager for the blood of their powerful opponents. On the contrary, those who looked older and more vicious kept vigilant in a kind of silence.

The sound is still approaching.

It was not a sound that mortals could make, but it also did not belong to those terrifying Randan aliens.

Latobis could feel his neck stiffen, and he tried to look back, but he couldn't until the voice passed his body.

At that moment, he only felt that the sun was completely covered, and an extremely large, extremely powerful, extremely calm, extremely trustworthy and reassuring existence passed by him, and he finally stopped at the rugged place in front of the trench. Standing on the uneven land.

It was an angel of death.

------

Latobis watched the figure.

He watched intently.

A few seconds, but like ten thousand years.

It was a warrior in black armor, the helmet was wrapped in the hood, he looked as tall as those Ran Dan monsters, even taller, his right hand rested on a huge sword, and his left hand stood Holding a weapon they had never seen before, it looked like a cannon, he leaned on the ground with one hand, emitting a disturbing red and black mixed light.

There he stood, like a solitary general on the ground, his tattered cloak fluttering in the fierce evening wind.

Under the gaze of thousands of pupils, he just stood there silently, and the weapon in his hand was also accumulating chilling power.

In this way, I don't know how long, until a hoarse and strange cry pierced the dead sky.

A monster rushed out from Ran Dan's battle formation, with a pair of blood-red pupils on its ferocious face, and a purple long blade tightly held in its slender and thin arms. After a while, no human could understand, In the loud roar of disgust that can only be felt instinctively, it rushed up like a wild beast, and the black figure blew a dark whirlwind on the ground.

------

The quiet angel of death raised his head.

The next moment, Ran Dan's head flew high.

No one could see what happened, only the sword was held tightly by the angel of death at some point.

------

The battle begins.

The death of their companions may have enraged these savage alien warriors, or maybe they were simply excited about a powerful opponent. Samurai Dan stood up.

They were holding swords, or weapons capable of causing damage hundreds of meters away. Obviously, they had no intention of fighting a fair duel. As soon as they stood still, they rushed forward at the same time, and their excited roars interweaved into the most profane song. vocal music.

Even the wind was rumbling and furious, as if the god of war was angry at this despicable siege.

No one can clearly see what happened, at least a mortal like Latobis can't see clearly, they can only observe a black whirlwind revolving around the weapon standing on the ground, the rubbing of the sword Hissing, the precise hit of bullets, and the incomprehensible, yet clearly audible, incomprehensible and horrifying screams of the Alien Ran Dan before his death filled every inch of the air above the land. middle.

After a few more seconds, it was all over again.

I saw the corpses of Ran Dan warriors lying on the ground, their strange black blood was flowing between the stones and the dust, the broken swords and cut-off guns were like scattered autumn leaves, and they were almost broken. Out of shape.

And the Angel of Death still stands there.

Standing in front of hundreds of Randan warriors, he was like an experienced hunter facing the hungry wolves hesitating on the snow alone.

This obviously pissed off some guys.

An unprecedented hiss sounded in Ran Dan's battle ranks. Accompanied by the angry rebuke of this majestic voice, hundreds of guns pointed at the Angel of Death.

But he's faster.

But his weapon was finally ready.

Latobis only saw a pure black beam of light emitting from the place where the angel of death stood, and it was covered with crimson electric current. This beam of light exploded in an instant like a punctured steel balloon. It turned into thousands of tentacles and expanded in all directions, like an octopus looking for food, or like a hungry deep-sea giant opening its bloody mouth, this pure black curtain covered the sky in the blink of an eye , before any of Ran Dan's warriors reacted, it had swallowed everything in front of them.

Whether it is the hundreds of Ran Dan's warriors, or everything that exists in the trenches behind them, they only have time to shoot a few deadly bullets and flames indiscriminately before the catastrophe, creating endless smoke in the sand, and the angel of death Tiny scars popped out of his armor.

But it was not without gains. Scattered bullets flew around the trench, and some unlucky soldiers were hit directly, their heads scattered like rags, and red and white liquid flowed all over the ground.

Until then, the mortal soldiers who were amazed by the duel woke up like a dream, and fell down in the trenches one after another, calling for medical soldiers one after another.

But Latobis was luckier: a bullet hit him in front of him, and the blasted stones went deep like sharp arrows, and one of them was deeply embedded in Latobis' right arm. , exposing Sen Bai's bones and tendons to the air.

When the sergeant came to his senses, he had already fallen on the muddy ground of the trench, rolling all over the ground in pain. The medical soldiers on the side rushed up, looked at his wound, and dragged him away.

But at this time, the curtain fell, covering Ran Dan's army without a doubt, it fell gently on the ground like nothing, and disappeared like fog.

Everything is gone.

Hundreds of Ran Dan's warriors, and at least ten times as many slaves, under the cover of the black curtain blade that reaches the sky, their only cry is a few panic bullets, smashing more than a dozen mortals The head or body of a soldier.

At the moment when Latobis and the other wounded were helped away from the trench, the order of the Angel of Death also reached their ears, although it was not aimed at them.

"Everyone, go forward and regain the front line."

"Hold on, kill, annihilate."

"The war is not over yet."

------

But just as Latobis walked through two trenches with a group of wounded and sick, and gradually approached the temporary medical position at the bridgehead, he heard some kind of piercing and sharp sound.

All heard.

Everyone, no matter if it's a soldier, a doctor, or the moaning wounded, all raised their heads at the same time, looking for that too loud voice under the most instinctive curiosity of human beings, which has enveloped the entire human defenders. position.

Then, they saw a black cloud, a black mist that condensed into a solid body, a terrible condensate that continuously gathered destructive power.

Before everyone could react, the mass of destruction fell from the sky without hesitation, and hit the ground before any warrior could shout out.

"boom----!!!"

Accompanied by this earth-shaking blow, the entire ground trembled, the entire battle line was shaken, and even the thousand-meter-spanning steel bridge behind them let out an overwhelmed groan.

Tens of thousands of soldiers staggered down because of the aftermath of this heavy blow, twisted, and rolled around in the trenches in pain, telling the sorrows of mortals in this battle of monsters and monsters killing each other, among them Some of them were so close that they never stood up again.

The wind was blowing, howling, playing ecstasy that was almost crying, telling the gods above the clouds' sincere appreciation for such a great weapon of destruction.

Sergeant Latobis's ears were bleeding, and the bleeding couldn't be stopped. He touched it subconsciously, only to see that half of his palms were dyed red, and he couldn't tell which ones were stained by his ears for a while. Blood, and which ones were caused by sharp stones piercing the skin.

He wanted to get up, but he found that he really, really, really didn't have any strength left. He squeezed the last of his strength, tried, tried again...

Until the fifth time, he firmly grasped the bodies of the non-moving and silent medical soldiers beside him, and using his shoulders and arms as the fulcrum, he slowly stood up, only to find that the surrounding There is only a dense, khaki-yellow fog that seems to be inseparable.

What does he want to see, what does he want to discover, what is it? He may be walking, or he may not be able to go anywhere, he may be crying, or he may just stand there numbly.

But in the end, when his consciousness was a little clearer, when he could finally realize what he saw, he finally found it.

It's not difficult because it's just so big.

Latobis raised his head, only looking at the huge shadow surrounding the front of the trench, which covered him, the entire position, and everything.

It was a mushroom cloud.

------

He lost a warrior.

Maybe two.

Andrews stood at his position, looking at the huge, black mushroom cloud, which quietly enveloped the entire position.

He knew that it was not a nuclear weapon, at least not the kind that human beings recognized, it was another mysterious, powerful, terrifying and profane technology among the filthy technology of Ran Dan Empire that was higher than that of human empire.

Andrews closed his eyes.

He must have lost a warrior: the one who had gone to the fourth trench to stabilize the front, now with the relic weapon in his hand, the newest of the Dark Angels' countless sacrifices.

Finally, he picked up the communicator.

"How is the repair of the Stormbird going?"

"It has been able to fly short distances again, but it has not yet reached the [fortress]."

"What about the combat function?"

"Part of it recovered."

"very good……"

Andrews paused.

"I need you to go to the rear of Ran Dan's army. They should have set up a long-range fire position, which is enough to completely destroy our combat power out of sight. I can't get any manpower now..."

"I see."

The tech sergeant was silent for a moment, just once.

"What about [alpha]?"

"Escort her to the bridge and someone will take her over."

"clear."

Then the sergeant ended the communication.

Andrews wanted to say something more, but he didn't say anything in the end, there was only one thing he could do.

Picking up his weapon, he stepped into the trenches.

Now, what is more needed here is a fighter.

------

"It's a powerful new weapon, isn't it?"

The assistant officer's sincerely emotional voice sounded beside [Overlord Carmen]. He rolled his eyelids a little lazily, and followed the deputy's gaze.

It was a Ran Dan-style artillery position, some distance away from them, a group of Ran Dan soldiers were manipulating the artillery inside, and the huge [God of War] was too large even by Ran Dan's standards. Huge, slow and awkward to move.

However, in view of its great power, these insignificant problems are naturally ignored. After all, one of Ran Dan's most mature military technologies is to use endless drone groups to plunder and defend. Those researchers in the rear can't imagine it. Something can tear down the walls of endless drones.

"The new application of electromagnetic technology, from the very beginning, a shipborne weapon that was extremely difficult to install, disassemble and maintain, to a detachable weapon that can go hand in hand with the military. It is said that the Academy of Sciences is already researching to further reduce its power and structure Simplified, to form individual weapons, now only need enough actual battlefield data..."

The assistant officer's voice was rambling, without the slightest impatience, and those stupid [overlords] were also delighted by the powerful power of this new weapon, and listened with great joy.

Only Carmen was upset.

Damn, it wants to kill something, anything.

It wants to fight.

An incomprehensible impulse and desire is constantly roaring in Carmen's chest, like a carnivorous beast that has been thoroughly aroused, trying to break free from the shackles because of its hunger.

It is doing its best to control, to do its best.

The instinct as a warrior and warrior tells it that if it really allows this beast to occupy its chest, it will not be a wonderful thing.

But when it heard the continuous, seemingly never-ending narration of the assistant officer, it felt like it couldn't control its anger.

【war……】

[Just ahead...war...]

There was a war going on, the big, the great war that was going on so close to him, and he wasn't in it yet.

Those dark angels, those great opponents, if you don't hurry, it will be too late.

"Next, we just need to..."

"enough!"

[Overlord Carmen] waved his hand, dismissing the assistant officer's interest in continuing to explain.

"Could it be that we cannot win by relying on swords and force?"

Its voice blew across the empty hillside, and after a while, there were excited echoes from the [Overlords].

"Tell them, prepare to [teleport], I can't wait to kill something, the time for science and explanation courses is over, now it's for war, fighting and blood."

"So... who wants to be with me?"

Hoarse cheers scrambled, and the ten blades were raised high, releasing their killing loyalty towards the great declaration of [Overlord Carmen].

------

"I've shot down a dozen enemy planes."

"At least thirty more are surrounding me."

The tech sergeant's voice came over the communicator, along with the sound of the Stormbird slicing through Randan's hail of bullets, thousands of fire either grazed the two sections of the wing or on the body Leave enough scars to give you a headache.

The technical sergeant gave a brief report, while Andrews listened quietly. Neither of them spoke. There were some questions that the technical sergeant did not ask, and Andrews naturally did not answer.

Until a real explosion sounded on the other end of the communicator, and even Andrews could hear it, it was not a trivial matter.

"My right wing was hit, half destroyed."

Even so, the technical sergeant's voice still didn't have a single bit of panic, just like every dark angel who came out of Terra and lived to this day, his voice was only calm and silent.

"Can you hold on?"

"No, I can't precisely control the direction now... Wait, I think I have found that position."

"There are more drones than I thought, Andrews, there are at least a hundred of them."

"I can't return."

He spoke quietly, Andrews remained silent.

After a while, until the sound of bullets rang out more and more frequently, until the trembling of the shell and wings could be heard clearly even through the communicator, until the technical sergeant, after a faint sigh, reported his last words.

"There's only one gun, Andrews, and I've run out of ammunition. I'm going to hit it."

"See you later."

"...See you later."

Andrews responded in a low voice.

Then, he heard a loud noise, even though it was separated by several kilometers of positions, even though it was separated by hills and Gobi hills, even though it was separated by tens of thousands of Ran Dan's army and the sound of human defenders fighting. He could still clearly hear that it was the song born from the simultaneous disintegration of the Stormbird and the explosion of a strange weapon.

A ballad of death and sacrifice.

that's it……

He lost another fighter.

(End of this chapter)