Fireline Defense

Although the lot of them could be called "Guard Team Minions," they were still regular troops of the Commonwealth, possessing at least a basic level of competence. The soldiers, despite their internal grumbling, carried out the previous orders.

Yu Lian was quite satisfied. Among all the military organizations he had seen, their quality was at least not at the bottom.

Thus, one minute after Ina's warning, everyone was in position at their designated tactical spots.

At this time, Yu Lian also climbed to a sentry gun on the outer city wall and inspected its overly primitive operating system.

It's hand-cranked, with no fire control.

A convergence of the primitive and the futuristic, a classical and conservative core hidden beneath the magnificent grandeur of the sea of stars. What a dazzling and brilliant wondrous world this is!

This is the real deal, the essence of space opera, right?

Yu Lian sighed as he loaded an entire box of steel-nail shells into the magazine. It was then, under the scorching sun, that most people finally saw the black dots emerging from the hazy heatwaves.

The soldiers caused a brief commotion, but it stopped under the stern shouts of Lieutenant Mondsen and Ina.

"As expected..." Yu Lian sighed, his gaze fully focused on the approaching black dots, searching for the smaller but more dangerous targets among them.

"L-lieutenant, w-will we survive?" Yu Lian heard a trembling voice from behind him. He glanced sideways and saw a young private, about his age, carrying a rifle and clutching an ammunition box as if it could give him some sense of security.

He seemed to be the loader for this heavy machine gun, Buninger or something.

"I'll do my best! You need to protect yourself too, don't forget what you learned in recruit training."

The other party seemed to tremble even more, looking at him with hopeful eyes like a stray puppy. Yu Lian knew what he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to utter the irresponsible words, "I will definitely get every one of you out alive."

At this moment, the black dots that were once on the horizon had expanded tenfold in their vision. Everyone could finally see the figures of those things.

They looked like oversized, legless centipedes with huge bat-like wings. Their heads were adorned with four barbs, and a pair of gaping mouths occupied more than half of their entire heads. Their bodies were covered in rough carapaces, and even their abdomens, which should have been weak points, were completely covered.

"Dragon Bugs... Tsk, as long as they haven't evolved, you're just weaklings! The real threat is the Exploding Mosquitoes! Uh, thankfully... there shouldn't be any now."

Yu Lian knew that when those tiny things, no bigger than sparrows, swept in like a swarm of locusts, even the invincible Titan ships that roamed the stars would be at a loss.

The Dragon Bugs grew closer, emitting a piercing "wuwuwu" sound as they tore through the air, like banshees shrieking.

Yu Lian glanced at the soldiers who had already raised their weapons, then out of the corner of his eye at Private Buninger, who was still trembling while holding the ammunition box. Finally, he made a gesture to Ina in the other watchtower. He believed Ina would definitely see it.

He then turned his attention to the charging enemies. The sentry gun he was operating had no fire control, no rangefinder, and was hand-cranked. If there was anything better than a real point-defense system, it was that it relied heavily on the shooter's skill and was very much about individual heroism, perfectly fitting the ethos of the universe he was in.

At this moment, he could only judge the best firing time with his naked eye. Fortunately, he had accumulated considerable experience in this regard in his previous life.

"2000... 1500... 1200..." Yu Lian silently judged the enemy's distance in his mind, and their roars grew louder. The mouthparts in the center of the four barbs had opened, and the blade bugs slowly emerging from within were indistinct but exuded a chilling pressure.

"Awu... Mama, Mama..." the loader wailed.

...So why did you join the army? Yu Lian wanted to sympathize with him but couldn't bring himself to. He forcefully pulled the crank.

The barrage of fire, like a whip of light swung from the sky, directly struck the head of a Dragon Bug, cleaving it and the blade bugs that had crawled to its mouth.

And almost at the same moment, Ina opened fire. This time, she didn't use a three-round burst but pulled the crank hard, firing over a dozen shells in an instant, sweeping across and taking down three Dragon Bugs on the spot.

...Alright, Yu Lian had to admit that even with a fire control radar, it would have been impossible to achieve such results. This was the most magical yet charming aspect of this world.

"A natural sniper, and also a natural gunner! It's only natural that she will eventually awaken as a 'Star Hunter.' Or rather, no path is more suitable for her than being a Star Hunter."

The other sentry guns also opened fire. This time, their aim was not as accurate, but at least they could form a barrage to restrict the enemy's movement. Yu Lian was also not entirely satisfied. Truly well-trained gunners, even using hand-cranked anti-aircraft guns, could form a dense coordinated fire in space combat. Even when facing emblem machines piloted by high-level awakened individuals, they could suppress the enemy within a small space until they were completely torn apart. The elite troops of the Empire and the Alliance could do it, and back then, no... in the future, when he was still a young man in his previous life, the unit he participated in could also do it.

Time flies, it truly makes one sigh with emotion!

Perhaps it's difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Yu Lian had served in the most elite units and fought against the strongest enemies, so naturally, he found his current teammates unbearable. But regardless, the guard soldiers were still trying their best to shoot, preventing the flying monsters from getting closer with all their might.

The soldiers manning the city walls and trenches were also preparing to join the firing, but were stopped by their respective sergeants. This was, of course, Yu Lian's prior arrangement.

Lieutenant Mondsen appeared in the trench outside the city wall at some point, holding his beloved Chainsaw Sword and with his rifle in front of him, silently smoking a cigarette. He was contemplating how much of the spoils he had just acquired should be given to that Moonfolk after this was over, in order to get him to put in a good word with Commander Bonaparte.

"Sir, look ahead!" Sergeant Youyou shouted from the outer wall.

"I see them. Let them come," the lieutenant continued to smoke silently, watching the smoke plumes rise and grow larger in his vision. It wasn't until he could clearly see the monsters within the smoke.

There were "smaller" monsters resembling clawed hyenas and armored cobras, and then larger ones that appeared later, resembling eight-legged scorpions, which should have been more formidable.

"The New Jade Gate colony has been established for nearly twenty years, and they didn't know these things existed here? What kind of geniuses are the intelligence departments? Uh, the higher-ups really are just freeloaders. The only thing they've learned is how to eat snacks with their dicks!"

The lieutenant took a large puff of the remaining cigarette, flicked the butt towards the approaching swarm, and raised his rifle expressionlessly.

"Bang bang bang!" A near-perfectly timed three-round burst. Lieutenant Mondsen stated that although he hadn't studied much, he was willing to learn. Since that Moon kid shot like that, it must be a secret shooting technique mastered by elite units.

An instant later, the steel-nail bullets crossed a distance of over three hundred meters, shattering the central nervous system of a Raptor on the spot.

The soldiers in the trenches cheered loudly for the lieutenant's sharpshooting. The lieutenant beamed with pride, though he felt a bit embarrassed internally. He had actually aimed for the "cobra" next to it.

As an old soldier (meow, don't know why this is censored) scoundrel, Mr. Mondsen was quite self-aware and didn't think he could hit the vital point of that "eight-legged giant spider" from that distance—uh, didn't that Moon kid say? The monster's vital point was between its two large pincers. That spot was smaller than a human head.

Regardless, Lieutenant Mondsen's "sharpshooting" greatly boosted morale, and the soldiers opened fire.

The sentry guns and the three-tiered sloped firing positions formed an almost impenetrable net of interception, creating a nearly insurmountable firepower barrier below the gentle slope of the outpost. Dust flew and bullets rained down, with insect limbs and bodily fluids splashing everywhere, yet no fish managed to slip through the death line. The screams, devoid of pain, seemed to carry a hint of exasperation.

...If they had their usual firepower configuration, they might have already reached us by now? The lieutenant couldn't help but think so. He felt his chainsaw sword was getting thirsty, but he also felt that this was good enough, no need to take any more risks.

The Moonfolk, truly worthy of being called Moonfolk!

And up in the sky, with Ina as the sharpshooter, the hand-cranked anti-aircraft guns achieved a surprisingly accurate hit rate. These Dragon Bugs were still the first experimental batch, far from the later improved versions that could advance through battleship particle cannons and hive missiles in space. Once hit by 20mm high-carbon steel-nail rounds, they would lose their combat effectiveness.

Soon, both on the ground and in the air, over half of the Xenomorphs were killed, or had their bones broken and were on the verge of death.

Private Buninger, hiding behind the turret, no longer cried for his mother. He stared at Yu Lian's back at the gun position, openly showing his undisguised admiration. He had watched the entire process and knew who had arranged the defensive line.

"Reload!" Yu Lian shouted loudly.

It took the young private nearly a second to react. He quickly fumbled to open the shell compartment below the turret, pulled out the empty box, and shoved the new box full of steel nails inside.

The others grew more relaxed, but Yu Lian remained tense. He didn't think the enemy was limited to just this. If their goal was to silence them, why wouldn't they go all the way? They probably hadn't unlocked the Exploding Mosquito's tech tree yet, but they at least had Dragon Bugs. So, could it be...

At the thought, Yu Lian's heart tightened. He felt as if he were shrouded in dark clouds. He then realized it wasn't just a feeling, but something that was actually happening.

A colossal beast, seven or eight tenths similar to those Dragon Bugs but over ten meters long, appeared from the sky. It swooped down silently, closing to less than a hundred meters away.