A few minutes later, amid increasingly fierce gunfire and explosions, three high-speed mail ships, barely larger than the new torpedo ships, slipped quietly away from Fortress No. 6. They accelerated at maximum efficiency, then split up and headed for the edge of the starfield beyond the battlefield.
On a battlefield this intense, their maneuver was the equivalent of a naked sprinter dashing through a hail of bullets and arrows.
Between them, the three mail ships carried twelve Starrealm Knights, including a Knight Commander and a Deputy Standard-Bearer, along with more than eighty elite officers and veteran noncommissioned officers. The loss of even one ship would be a truly devastating blow in terms of personnel.
Still, this was the most feasible way to get them out.
By the time the members of the advisory team had boarded, the Fuxi, a dreadnought, had also reached the outskirts of the battlefield and begun bombarding the outermost Fortress No. 1 with rapid long-range fire.
The Earthlings' new dreadnought had a terrifyingly high hit rate. Aside from the capabilities of the new ship itself, it went without saying that torpedo ships operating nearby were providing it with targeting coordinates and aiming assistance.
At this rate, Fortress No. 1 would be dismantled in twenty minutes at most.
If they didn't run now, Fortress No. 6 might be next.
The Earth carrier ships that had arrived with the Fuxi also launched their escort fighters. These well-rested fighters left their motherships and began maneuvering in groups of three in every direction, as if preparing to cover the entire battlefield.
But the soldiers of the Imperial advisory team insisted that everything was under control. It was just a high-speed chase, after all. They'd done this sort of thing before.
Naturally, to improve their chances of success, the Starrealm Knights