Escape
Moreover, this was only the loss of Hamis's First Fleet. The second and Third Fleet, which were distributed around Laze Planet, were also severely damaged in this sudden attack, losing a total of 79 warships.
"We have lost this war, and we must retreat now," Hamis said in a video call.
"Alas, though it is unwilling, we must preserve as much of our strength as possible for our people," Novaru echoed.
"Retreat!" The hot-tempered Arther was now on the verge of exploding.
Who could have imagined that the situation, which was just looking promising, would suddenly change so drastically and become what it is now?
Now the only option is to cut your losses.
The three fleets retreated very decisively because more and more Electromagnetic Cannon were taking shape on the purplish-gray patches on Laze Planet.
The instruments detected that the energy from the electromagnetic attack had already accumulated. If it weren't for the fact that the Creep had spread out from a depth of thousands of meters underground in a short period of time, consuming a large amount of stored energy, the second wave of attacks might have already arrived.
Fortunately, there's still some time. If not now, when?
The remaining warships of the three fleets blazed with blinding light from their stern engines, their power briefly reaching maximum. Fortunately, they had been in a state of maneuvering and dodging. Otherwise, if they had just started moving from a standstill, all the warships would likely have perished here.
As the fleet withdrew, the fighter jets that had been engaged with the Mature Form and Larval Form also received orders to retreat. All Missile Drone were tasked with covering the rear, and even wingmen were to be abandoned at critical moments, as long as the safety of the Rickon pilots was guaranteed.
The battle situation changed too quickly; the Riken Race never expected the situation to develop like this in such a short time. Therefore, the fighter jets could not be recovered in time. Fortunately, this was Riken Race home ground, and the fighter jets could fly back to their rear positions using their own power.
It's unrealistic to use a long-range, Ancient Class Electromagnetic Cannon against these agile small combat units. As long as the pursuit of the Mature Form and Larval Form is stopped, the chances of the Rickon pilot surviving are very high.
They had an even greater chance of survival than the Rickon crews on those warships.
Because the three fleets were too close to Laze Planet before, even if they were running at full speed now, it would take a considerable amount of time to get out of the range of the Electromagnetic Cannon on Laze Planet.
Because the fleet was in a hurry to get away from Laze Planet, it didn't have the time or angle to make many evasive maneuvers. In addition, the Swarm's attack was a calculated lead-based coverage strike, Riken Race fleet could only choose to charge out through the weaker areas of the attack.
Although the fleet tried its best to adjust its angle as the shells approached, attempting to use the Reactive Armor on the sides, rear, and stern of the ship to withstand the bombardment of the Electromagnetic Cannon, the huge engine exhaust nozzles could not be protected.
The Electromagnetic Cannon the Creep flashed blue light as they fired their projectiles. Although the number of Electromagnetic Cannon that could hit the retreating fleet was limited by the firing angle, their first three attacks still caused extremely serious damage to the Riken Race fleet.
In the first wave of attacks, because the Riken Race fleet hadn't gone very far, a total of more than 70 warships from the three fleets were destroyed, and more than 100 warships had their main engines damaged, reducing their movement speed.
The second wave of attacks destroyed more than 50 warships, more than half of which had their engines damaged in the previous wave. This wave of attacks also resulted in nearly 50 new warships with damaged main engines.
In the third wave, more than 50 warships were destroyed, with over 90% of them having their main engines damaged. In contrast, fewer than 20 warships had their main engines damaged in this wave of attacks.
When the fourth wave of attacks began, thanks to the sufficient distance buffer and the fact that the Swarm's firepower prioritized targeting warships with damaged main engines, the Riken Race warships with intact main engines suffered almost no further losses.
The ship group with intact engines dared not linger, because the Swarm's long-range Ancient Class ships had already begun approaching the front lines when the anomaly first occurred on Laze Planet, and had now crossed Laze Planet to catch up.
Those warships with damaged main engines, seeing no way to escape, were reluctantly abandoned. The captains gave the order to abandon ship, and a large number of Gunboat, Transport Craft, and escape pods flew out and scattered in all directions.
The Riken Race warships had already picked up speed, and their main engines were undamaged, so the Swarm's subsequent attacks were ineffective.
The Electromagnetic Cannon on Laze Planet fired twelve rounds, by which time the Riken Race fleet had moved out of their effective firing range and reached a safe area.
Without the cover of Laze Planet, the ranged Ancient Class, having nearly exhausted their metal reserves in the previous battle, saw little benefit in continuing the pursuit and risked being surrounded. Therefore, they abandoned the chase and focused their efforts on destroying the abandoned warships.
However, the Riken Race inside those warships had all fled, and the warships activated their self-destruct programs, exploding into fireworks in space one after another.
However, the Swarm did not mind the Riken Race warships that had become space debris. Some of the Ancient Class ships were sent to chase after the escape pods, while the remaining Ancient Class cleaned up the battlefield and dragged away all the large pieces of debris.
After some time, some of the Mature Form and Larval Form finally arrived. They meticulously cleaned up the battlefield again, taking away almost all the visible metal fragments. The cleanliness was enough for Rowan to start a space cleaning company.
By this time, the Ancient Class ships that had gone to chase after the small escape vehicles had also returned. The vastness of space made it difficult to capture the scattered and fleeing Riken Race. In addition, the Swarm did not intend to exterminate them all, so the pursuers only made a token effort, destroying a few Gunboat and Transport Craft before returning.
On Laze Planet, the Larval Form are still entangled with the Missile Drone on the battlefield. These hedgehogs really don't have a good way to deal with them. The Larval Form are too restrained to fight them.
However, with the defenses in place, the Missile Drone are unlikely to achieve any significant results. Furthermore, since they are expendable and carry limited fuel, they will probably shut down soon.
The Riken Race understood this as well, so when the Missile Drone were almost out of fuel, they detonated them all remotely. Even if they couldn't achieve any results, they wouldn't leave them for the Swarm.
On the orbit of Laze Planet, some remotely located Orbital Cannon have also had their self-destruct programs activated, but it doesn't matter; fully equipped and scrap metal are about the same to the Swarm.
The Larval Form trapped in the Metal Fiber Net were also rescued and joined the operation to clear the battlefield.
The war produced a vast amount of debris, including a massive number of Orbital Cannon. The resulting metal storms from their destruction nearly sealed off the orbit of Laze Planet. If a nascent civilization had existed on Laze Planet, under such a metal storm, they would likely never have been able to venture into the cosmos and become a high-level player.
However, for a force of Zerg size, a metal storm of this scale is nothing.
Thank you Jiyu the 3000 Qidian Coins reward, and Abyss Order and reader 20200115165958132 for the 100 Qidian Coins rewards.