Counterattack

The counterattack began across the entire front.

Since this was a counterattack everyone had anticipated and could see coming, every unit had made preparations despite how urgently it began.

Under the Master Control Intelligence's direction, the Artillery Drones automatically headed for optimal firing positions, ready to pour shells onto the rebels once the ground forces were prepared.

The infantry entered the armory, donned their Power Armor, and swiftly took up the neatly arranged Laser Rifles.

Under the Logistics Machines' direction, the armored troops drove the Leman Russ Tanks out of their parking bays. They had long since learned how to operate these War Machines through the training systems integrated into the tanks.

Duncan's side was ready faster than any of the allied forces. The moment he learned through the communicator that the other friendly units were prepared, he entered a Leman Russ Tank and ordered the entire regiment to advance.

"How are we supposed to fight?"

The acting Regimental Commander of the 31st Regiment spoke from the tank cockpit. He was a young man highly respected by his comrades. He had assumed command after Albert's death, but he still had much to learn about warfare from his seniors.

"Advance." Duncan answered with only two words.

That was Qin Mo's order.

There was no specific battle plan, no detailed order telling each unit where it had to fight to. There was only one command: advance.

It inevitably made people wonder what the true purpose of this counterattack was.

"No chatting on the comms channel!"

"More detailed orders have been issued."

"The order for all our forces is to advance and draw in as much of the rebels' main force as possible, creating better battlefield conditions for the Legion Commander and his guards."

Brian's voice came through the communicator.

Duncan froze for a moment, then could not help asking, "May I ask what the Legion Commander and the others are going to do?"

"They are going to assassinate the rebels' leader. To prevent the plan from leaking, I only learned about it myself just now."

Hearing that, Duncan suddenly understood. He poked half his body out through the hatch to inspect his unit's situation.

The infantry, all clad in Power Armor, were advancing around the regiment's ten tanks.

The Artillery Drones behind them had already opened fire. After thunderous detonations, dense explosions appeared along the horizon directly ahead.

Before the firelight from the explosions had faded, the second artillery barrage had already begun.

A moment later, two Fire Support Drones flew in from the sky, hovering above the ground forces as they slowly moved forward.

Even the Logistics Machines had joined the formation.

As everyone in the regiment drew closer and closer to the rebels, more drones flew ahead of the formation and deployed a horizontal Gravity Shield. Red warning projections surrounded its area of effect, warning others not to approach it.

White medical drones howled overhead and flew into the distance. Presumably, forces over there had already engaged the enemy and suffered casualties.

"Emperor above." Duncan was somewhat astonished.

The scale of this counterattack was far more formidable than he had imagined. He had thought it was merely a suicidal final charge against the rebels before everyone died...

"Counterattack!" Duncan raised his Chainsword and shouted over the 87th Regiment's internal channel. "For the Emperor! For the Legion Commander!"

The 87th Regiment drew closer and closer to the Rebel forces.

These rebels had been ravaged by artillery fire, and not many remained, yet they still fought back. However, all bullets from their solid-projectile weapons were stopped by the Gravity Shield, while only a small number of lasers struck the Power Armor or tank plating.

The infantry activated biological detection to locate every enemy still alive, then eliminated them and continued advancing.

The situation faced by the 87th Regiment was not unique. Other regiments across the entire front were advancing even faster.

While the ground forces advanced steadily, Qin Mo, Grey, and the others were already riding a Transport Drone deeper into the Rebel lines.

They had passed over many Rebel units. Those units seemed to know what they were there to do, and hastily constructed anti-air positions to fire upon the transport.

Standing on the transport, they could not even see the ground below. They could only see an enormous amount of anti-air fire being blocked outside the Gravity Shield. Occasionally, one or two missiles flew at them, but they too were crushed by the Gravity Shield.

"Our allies have helped us tie down most of the rebels, but we may still face tens of thousands, perhaps even more than a hundred thousand rebels. The battle ahead will be difficult."

"But we have to complete it. No matter how many of us must be sacrificed, if I die, you will finish the mission."

"As long as we kill the Patriarch, the situation can be reversed."

Qin Mo spoke to the other five people wearing Terminator Power Armor, bolstering their morale.

But their morale did not need bolstering at all.

"As long as you're here, there's nothing we can't do," Grey said.

"Of course." Qin Mo smiled and nodded.

The others also smiled and nodded.

After waiting a moment, the transport shifted from flight to hovering, indicating that they had reached the target location.

This was where Qin Mo had located the Rebel Patriarch through the tracker.

Qin Mo rose and walked to the transport's hatch. Grey and the others immediately stood and followed.

"We'll go down one at a time. Activate your Gravity Shields as soon as you leave the transport." As Qin Mo spoke, he deactivated the unmanned transport's Gravity Shield and jumped down first.

Because his falling posture was not ideal, his Jump Pack gave him a brief burst of cushioning, allowing him to descend in a better position.

The others had already landed.

Amid the dense anti-air fire, the Gravity Shields protected the wearers of Terminator Power Armor as reliably as ever.

The rebels carpeting the ground could only see six figures descending through the barrage. They immediately scattered, seeking or building cover and readying heavy weapons.

Grey was the first to hit the ground, followed by the second person, then the third...

Until Qin Mo, who had slowed himself in midair, landed at the very front.

The six of them straightened and looked toward the rebels ahead.

Dense attacks immediately swept toward the six of them.

The attacks were so dense that they had no choice but to activate thermal vision; otherwise, they could not see beyond the Gravity Shields.

"Psychic Power reaction detected!"

A prompt sounded, and a purple marker appeared on the six HUDs.

Through thermal vision, they could see that it was a massive seven-meter-tall alien. Its Psychic Power attack could arrive at any moment.

Qin Mo led the other five in a charge, his Jump Pack providing powerful thrust as he ran.

They bypassed every enemy that did not need killing and headed straight for the Patriarch.

Qin Mo ran at the very front, prepared to withstand the Psychic Power attack, his eyes fixed tightly on the Patriarch.

But strangely, the Patriarch failed to unleash its Psychic Power attack. Its massive body suddenly shuddered and collapsed to the ground.

Qin Mo had no time to think about what the hell was happening. He immediately fired his Shoulder Cannon at the Patriarch.

The others did the same.

Six beams shot toward the Patriarch, vaporizing enemies along their paths. Then twelve spheres of light flew out and unleashed a rain of beams.

The Patriarch's huge body immediately reacted, rolling twice to the left across the ground to evade the incoming beams.

It was not dead, but more than half the rebels around it were, which enraged it greatly.

The Patriarch's rage stirred the rage of the entire Rebel force as well.

At that moment, whether on Qin Mo's side or elsewhere, every Rebel along the front fell into a berserk fury and began a desperate counterattack regardless of cost.

Qin Mo advanced while continuously firing his Shoulder Cannon at the Patriarch and "purging" the rebels. Countless rebels were crushed by the Gravity Shield, yet they seemed to have gone mad, endlessly forcing themselves into its area of effect.

The Patriarch seemed able to know the firing trajectory before the Shoulder Cannon even fired. It always managed to evade.

Then, after rolling once more, it tried again to unleash a Psychic Power attack—only to suddenly collapse as before, struck by beams that flew before it in the blink of an eye.