Ch.138138. Support Troops

Anyway, back to the present.

The defense line established by the Galactic Federation inevitably had its fair share of initial hiccups.

This was understandable, given that each species had different methods of obtaining energy—ranging from eating food to charging with fuel—and amid all this, the weapons they used were completely different from one another.

Species specializing in scientific civilization, represented by humans, used a mix of energy weapons like lasers and plasma along with physical ammunition, whereas civilizations specializing in psychic abilities mostly used their internal psychic energy as fuel for their weapons. In the worst cases, even their basic doctrines were completely different from one another.

Moreover, their fundamental perspectives were so misaligned that conflicts frequently arose, and occasionally problems emerged from completely unexpected places. However…

Thanks to the sacrifice of countless bureaucrats from each civilization and the efforts of psychic counselors with empathic abilities, things somehow managed to work out.

After some time passed and the system stabilized, this multi-species coalition force maintained a permanent presence—a defensive line connecting planet to planet—slaughtering countless monsters and preventing them from crossing over.

Fleets patrolled regularly between planets, artificial asteroids were embedded in empty spaces to serve as outposts, and the moment monster ships were detected, ultra-long-range bombardments were launched from planetary installations.

As a result, once it became virtually impossible for monsters to cross over, countless species—especially those who had dispatched fleets to the coalition forces only to lose them—wanted to attack beyond the line for reasons such as searching for survivors or revenge. However…

The problem, as always, was the monsters.

While the defense line remained impenetrable, there was always a battle with invading monsters happening somewhere along it.

Particularly troublesome were monsters that came with clear intent, often teleporting directly from their ships into planetary atmospheres. It was common for monster landing forces to directly touch down on fortified planetary surfaces. These landing monsters were typically less than 10 years old since production—in other words, they were considered elite troops.

One might question whether specimens produced long ago and surviving for extended periods wouldn’t be stronger, but that would actually be strange.

Monsters continuously evolve through various genetic and biological mutations across the universe in real-time, making newer specimens stronger. Additionally, their “software”—their souls—are retrieved and reinjected, so there’s no issue.

According to normal mechanisms, specimens produced more than 50 years ago should have their bodies decomposed and souls retrieved to be injected into newly produced bodies. Older specimens are typically exceptions where this mechanism failed to function.

Anyway, monsters that teleport to the ground in this manner are often medium-sized armored monsters designed for frontline combat.

These monsters, positioned roughly equivalent to armored vehicles, fight soldiers using their bear-sized bodies, plasma shooters mounted on their shoulders, and thick carapaces covering their entire bodies. Various other small and medium-sized monsters attack as well.

But the monsters that currently give frontline soldiers the biggest headache are different—they’re hive-like clusters of small insect-like monsters about the size of large rats, called Hive Rats.

Small in size but fast, they’re difficult to hit even when weapons are fired indiscriminately, and they primarily hide to conduct sabotage or surprise attacks.

The story of a rat hiding in a general’s bathroom and biting off an alien general’s genitals is so famous it has spread to most fortress planets. There are even planets that nearly fell due to food shortages after rats gnawed through all their provisions.

And amid various other monsters infiltrating fortified planets—

“How long are these damned things going to keep coming!!!”

“Seriously, for real!”

Pirioner, the squad leader of the 11th squad of the 9th platoon of the Foxlief Psychic Support Company stationed on a fortress planet, spat out what would be considered very harsh profanity by Foxlief standards while swinging her psychic computational assistance device (staff) to spew blue flames at the Hive Rat swarm.

※ ※ ※

The Foxliefs, a representative pro-Human Federation species and humanity’s closest allied species, naturally dispatched soldiers to help establish the defense line.

These individuals, each roughly equivalent to a lower-tier psychic-specialized mercenary, typically utilize their psychic abilities for fire support from the rear or providing shields in frontline battles, but they too must fight on the front lines in emergency situations.

Thus, Pirioner, the eldest daughter of a minor noble family with some status (though not a high noble), was fiercely fighting against monsters that had landed directly on the planet, her bright and beautiful orange fur getting soiled first.

These fox-like humanoids, who look like they would drive certain -F-s with suspiciously large amounts of money crazy, wield staff-like implements that resemble magic staves. In reality, due to the attached wires and components, they give off more of a steampunk or dieselpunk vibe rather than a fantasy one.

Their attire also leans toward steampunk, resembling a more elaborate version of 19th-century clothing, which resulted from the Foxliefs making contact with humans right around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Anyway, back to the battlefield. While Pirioner’s original role would be to provide support by firing blue fireballs in an arc like mortar shells, she couldn’t remain so composed when monsters had infiltrated below the surface of the fortified planet and were threatening to overrun it.

“Vadara!!!”

Fwooooooosh!!!

That’s why she—Pirioner—was using the Foxlief species’ distinctive blue psychic flames to reduce the wave-like approaching Hive Rats to ashes, while simultaneously launching fireballs to support soldiers of other species.

The blue flames, which burn psychic energy like psychic fire, may not have special abilities but certainly don’t lack in pure firepower, serving as an excellent area-of-effect attack. And she wasn’t alone.

The entire 9th platoon of the Foxlief Psychic Support Company was fighting here alongside soldiers from species with superior physical abilities.

“Burn them!”

“Burn! Burn them to ashes!!”

The heat-natured psychic phenomena resonated with each other, growing in size until they became a massive firestorm. This Blue Firestorm (provisional name) burned only monsters under the delicate control of the platoon leader.

Additionally, the bear-humanoid Kubelum warriors fighting alongside them possessed natural physical abilities on par with walking bears, enhanced by physical strengthening psychic powers, and were rampaging while wearing specialized power suits provided by the Human Federation.

Ratatatatatatatatatatata!!!

“GRAAAAAAAH!!!”

Crack! Crunch!

Fwoooooosh… KABOOM!!!

Some wielded aircraft-grade Vulcan cannons in each hand, others wore gauntlets that generated shock waves to crush medium-grade monsters head-on, and some casually operated insane weapons like quad-mounted recoilless rifles with one hand.

Others fired 20mm autocannons or simply beat monsters with metal chunks surrounded by psychic energy. Their leader (treated as a platoon commander under Galactic Federation military law) was going berserk with a special hammer.

Swinging a hammer—so large that even by Kubelum standards it should require two hands—with just one hand, the hammer released powerful field energy upon impact that could send even medium-grade monsters flying with a direct hit. In the other hand, the leader wore a gauntlet with the same operating mechanism, pulverizing monsters.

Thanks to these Kubelum warriors fighting without the slightest fear, they were gradually reclaiming a sector occupied by monsters. However…

Around this time, the monsters suddenly started getting stronger.

Creatures that had previously relied on their physical prowess to charge recklessly suddenly formed battle lines and began firing arm-mounted lasers, while some hid behind medium-sized monsters and unleashed heavy weapons.

Unlike the previously melee-focused monster types, ranged weapon-equipped monsters increased over time, and more specimens appeared that looked heavier and more powerful.

This was clear evidence of the presence of a commander-class entity, which indeed was the case.

Just as everyone’s bodies were demanding rest after fighting so well—having become targets precisely because they had fought so effectively—a commander-class entity, known as a Hive Commander, appeared before them.