Why there had been a sudden gravitational fluctuation aboard their own ship, and what it had to do with the sudden appearance of Earthling assault troops inside it, no longer mattered.
Even if the Bakwei leadership had figured it out, there was nothing they could do now.
Marshal Yikou stared blankly at his chief of staff, who looked even more bewildered than he did, then at his adjutant, who looked more bewildered still. For a moment, he didn't even know what expression to make.
Then, crying rang out across the bridge. "Mommy, Mommy, the dragon—the dragon's going to eat me..."
Well, the usually composed Bakwei rarely broke down this badly. The one sobbing like that was one of the bridge's orderlies, a Lazakai.
The ship's auxiliary AI reacted even faster than the senior officers. It automatically sounded the enemy attack alarm, and its piercing shriek rang through every corridor of the Bakwei ship.
"Enemy boarding! Enemy boarding! Marines! Prepare to repel boarders immediately! Prepare to repel boarders immediately!"
But less than ten minutes had passed since headquarters had announced, "Earthling warships are charging in. Prepare for boarding." Most of the marine troops hadn't even had time to arm themselves.
Meanwhile, Earth had already sent an entire regiment aboard through a spatial passage opened by a single gravity-field shell.
So, before the shrill alarm had even begun ringing through the ship, fierce hand-to-hand combat had already broken out along the warship's central passageway.
Of course, calling it hand-to-hand combat wasn't quite accurate.
The soldiers of the Tiger Guards Division were accompanied by Blue Label Company's No. 4 robots. These squad-level infantry fighting vehicles could move on hydraulic legs, wheels, or magnetic suspension. With shields treated with composite mirrors raised before them, they charged ahead without fear, their Vulcan cannons raining dense