I Became a Commander in a Crappy SF Game.

Ch.541Fortress vs. Fortress Battle.

by fnovelpia

The battle naturally began with the first strike from Grand Cross, which had been lured into following us.

While Daedalus’s defense fleet hurriedly emerged to intercept as soon as Grand Cross approached their vicinity…

Unfortunately, the Grand Cross Cannon (main gun) fired faster than the defense fleet could leave Daedalus and bring Grand Cross within their effective range.

Just like that, the fleet deployed for interception suddenly became past tense.

Despite Daedalus suffering considerable damage from the start—with their permanently deployed “fortress cannons” and other defensive installations being shattered by the first strike—

—

<Notice: Everyone standby, attack when ordered>

-[Wow holy shit wait]

-[Daedalus fortress cannon just exploded]

-[All the fortress ships that were about to deploy just got blown up too, damn;;]

-[Wait, there are still more survivors]

-[Let’s go!]

—

Despite Grand Cross’s main cannon fire devastating the Level 8 stronghold with a single shot.

True to its reputation as the only Level 9 stronghold in the Central Zone, Daedalus Fortress suffered far less damage than players had expected.

Instead, they expressed extreme rage at this decrepit mobile fortress that dared to fire a big fucking gun at them, and began launching a full-scale offensive with beast-like ferocity.

Following the will of the fortress command, defense fleets from the Daedalus headquarters and four surrounding Level 3 strongholds all charged toward Grand Cross at once.

Befitting a Level 9 stronghold, they used the “gateway” function—considered a specialized feature of Level 7 strongholds—

To directly dive combat fleets into Grand Cross’s interior.

*KWAAAAA!!!*

*PUBUBUBUBUNG!*

—

<Notice: Everyone standby, attack when ordered>

-[Holy shit]

-[Four fortress cannons firing simultaneously]

-[Haven’t seen fortress cannons firing like this since Humanity attacked Earth’s defense fleet]

-[Mmm fucking awesome yeah]

—

Although one cannon was destroyed in the initial disaster, they still had four fortress cannons remaining.

They began a desperate artillery battle, unleashing fortress cannon fire against Grand Cross, which had stronger individual firepower but only a single main cannon in exchange.

And of course, this spectacularly chaotic scene was exactly according to the plan of the player coalition that had brought Grand Cross here.

The coalition leadership, after observing the situation briefly and confirming that Grand Cross’s surveillance systems and internal defense forces had moved to counter the Daedalus fleet’s deep dive—

—

<Notice: Everyone standby, attack when ordered>

-[Now!]

-[Tannhäuser, open the gates!]

-[We’re going in!]

-[KIYOOOOOOOOT!!]

-[All players on standby nearby, charge in NOW]

—

Our Central Coalition players, judging this to be their opportunity,

Began an all-out offensive against Grand Cross from all directions, simultaneously launching an indiscriminate gateway assault from Tannhäuser into the interior.

—

Although NPCs mocked it as a “decrepit fortress,” Grand Cross’s defensive capabilities were by no means subpar.

While Daedalus Fortress fleets were attempting to infiltrate precisely and surgically “mess up” the internal defenses with pinpoint accuracy.

Grand Cross, which had already deployed sufficient forces internally, completely blocked these attempts.

No, they actually reversed the situation, annihilating the infiltrating Daedalus forces and shaking off their reputation as a “decrepit fortress.”

But Grand Cross’s apparent advantage only lasted that long.

—

<Notice: Let’s crush Grand Cross>

-[We’ve arrived, damn ancient fortress]

-[Where should we attack first?]

-[Everything]

-[That’s what I do best]

-[Start by taking out the outer defenses, so other players rushing in from outside can provide support]

-[Ah OK]

—

Due to the distance involved, the deployed players were scattered quite widely throughout Grand Cross’s interior.

Unfortunately, some even ended up not in Grand Cross’s internal area but…

—

<Notice: Let’s crush Grand Cross>

-[Damn why did I land in front of Grand Cross]

-[Where am I, who am I?]

-[Aaaaaaargh]

-[Hey someone just dropped in from gateway assault and their ship immediately got blown up by defensive fire]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

-[What a mess LOLOL]

-[Shit my fleet got wiped out, retreating]

-[How did you get wiped already]

-[Landed right in front of the fortress defense line that was in the middle of bombardment]

-[Oh no]

—

Some who didn’t receive the dice god’s favor landed right in front of defense lines exchanging heavy fire, losing their fleets in vain.

But what mattered was that our 50,000 Central Zone players.

No, now with the addition of those who had slipped in to pick up the scraps of victory once things started looking promising, 80,000 players had begun their all-out offensive.

As soon as they did, Grand Cross’s command AI immediately lost its dignified appearance, leaving only the image of a loser being bullied by both AI and players.

—

However, this perception of a “desperate battle” only applied to the Central Zone players who were actually fighting.

To players from other zones who had already finished their boss raids and were recovering, the battle scene looked rather bizarre.

—

Title: Why do these guys keep increasing in number?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of three battleships belonging to “different players” charging at a dreadnought in Grand Cross’s defense fleet]

Before the battle started, there were just over 50,000 troops in total

But now people keep coming from everywhere

And the number has swelled to almost 100,000

Comments:

-[They’re like army ants, swarming from all directions to bite at wounded prey]

-[That’s the Central Zone for you]

-[Wow they’re fighting well]

—

Before the offensive began, they were shaking their heads saying they barely had just over 50,000 troops.

But once the offensive started and Grand Cross began taking a beating,

Nearly twice as many players as those who initially participated started popping up from “somewhere.”

—

Title: What’s with the guy kamikaze-ramming a dreadnought into the fortress?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of a single dreadnought spewing black smoke from all over its hull, charging toward the main gate of a fortress firing anti-air barrages in all directions within the planetary system]

I thought you guys had no ships

What kind of crazy thinking leads to this?

Comments:

-[That’s clearly not going to survive;;]

-[They’re going to die anyway, so they’re just self-destructing here to get some points]

-˪[Insane](Author)

-˪[They said there are lots of ships around so they can just take those]

-˪[???]

—

Along with other stories like players boldly claiming to be looting Grand Cross’s ships.

All sorts of random stories were being discussed in the gallery, making this a situation where players’ dopamine levels were constantly maxed out.

But the biggest culture shock for other players was none other than…