Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 996: Go all in, airborne operation!
"All units dropping, please prepare yourself. The airdrop operation will begin in fifteen seconds!"
In order to preserve the strength of the Skadi as much as possible in the early stages of the battle, the Skadi did not approach the giant tree for airdrops, but instead sent out dozens of transport planes to rush towards the gap in the energy shield in a dispersed charge formation.
For some reason, the Ark did not launch any counterattack this time - not only did it not intercept these fighter jets and transport planes, it did not even try to fill the energy gap.
"I always feel like something is wrong..." The Hound stared at the screen intently and muttered, "This is really a bit too smooth... Could this be a trap set by the other party? Lure me into a trap?"
"It's hard to say." Chi Hanfeng shook his head. "Perhaps the Undead Crew has paid too much of a price to grow this giant tree, and they have no time to care about us..."
"That shouldn't be the case." Hound questioned immediately. "Based on the behavior of those bastards in the Undead Crew, it is impossible for them to leave such a big loophole. They knew that Ke Lan and Yaguna Kator were out of control, and they also knew that the survivors in the wilderness formed a survivor alliance to fight against them. It is impossible for them not to take any precautions."
The Hound took a deep breath and continued, "Unless, they deliberately sold this flaw to us."
"Suppose this is a trap, what are they trying to do?" Chi Hanfeng frowned, "Are they planning to lure all our manpower into the Ark and then annihilate them in one fell swoop?"
"It's hard to say," the Hound said with difficulty, "but time waits for no one. We no longer have the opportunity to test it. I guess the Undead Crew is sure of this, so they dare to do this... This is no longer a conspiracy, it is an open conspiracy."
"Yes, we have no choice." Ivan continued, "If we choose to go all out, we will easily fall into their trap; if we hesitate, then when the roots of the giant tree penetrate deep into the earth of Alpha Star, we will never have a chance to turn the tables."
"Then why not just go all the way!" Layton's loud voice rang out, "Forget about the fucking trap, just stuff the annihilation bomb into his fucking mouth. There's an old Chinese saying, yes, it's called one force can break ten skills!"
"One force can defeat ten skills." The Hound rolled his eyes at Layton and corrected him.
"It's all the same anyway, as long as you understand what I mean." Layton waved his hand, "I don't believe they can still resist the attack of the annihilation bomb... If they can really defend against it, then we have no chance of winning this battle from the beginning, and it's not unfair for us to lose!"
"Okay, will you die if you don't say a few words..." The Hound raised his leg and kicked Layton's butt. "Ke Lan and the others have already set off. If the annihilation bomb fails to destroy the giant tree, then we are left with only one choice."
The Hound didn't say what this only option was, but everyone present knew it.
"Drive the Yaguna Kotor into them and die together with the enemy."
…
There were a total of sixty-four transport planes in the first batch. Most of the weapons and armor of these transport planes were removed in order to maximize their speed and carrying capacity... In the face of the Ark's defense measures, firepower and defense capabilities were completely meaningless - even battleships could not withstand it. Even if the armor strength of these transport planes was increased to the upper limit, they would still fall at the first blow.
The only thing that works is speed.
Sixty-four transport planes quickly flew over the gap in the energy shield. Marines and tactical mechas jumped out of the cabin like dumplings and fell downward at the speed of free fall.
These airborne troops were not equipped with parachutes, which would slow down their descent and easily turn them into live targets in mid-air. Therefore, the soldiers only wore bat-wing suits that could control their flight angles in the air, and the impact of landing was completely resolved by cushioning airbags and elastic mechanical exoskeletons.
All the soldiers selected for the airborne troops were enhanced humans. A group of them had undergone temporary enhanced surgery and had just come off the operating table a few hours ago. Even the stitches on their incisions had not healed yet.
Enhanced surgery cannot guarantee that they can survive the airborne operation, and it may even cause wound rupture or a series of other postoperative sequelae under the huge impact force... But in order to increase the probability of success of the combat operation, these soldiers still underwent the surgery without hesitation.
Everyone knows very well that if they lose this war, human civilization will most likely come to an end.
For Ke Lan and others, it was not only the human civilization on the Ark that came to an end, but also the "inheritance" from human civilization in an unknown dimension to Alpha civilization and then to Ark civilization.
This torch in the dark night was like a baton, passed from one human civilization to another, and now it was in their hands. A rainstorm suddenly fell in the dark night, and the cold rain beat on everything on the earth. The flame kept flickering, as if it would go out at any time.
Ke Lan didn’t know how many times different human civilizations had encountered such a “rainstorm” during the inheritance process... But since the torch could be passed into their hands, it meant that those civilizations had survived the baptism of the rainstorm.
Even if civilization collapsed and even if individuals died, they did not let this torch of hope go out.
Then Ke Lan must not let the torch go out in his hands!
"Altitude 300! 270! Enemies spotted below! Prepare to attack!" The roar mixed with the whistling wind echoed in the headphones of every airborne soldier. Looking down, they could clearly see many black figures on the platform below, standing ready for battle.
Directly above the core area of the Ark is a huge platform, on which are built many important buildings, such as the Ark's main signal tower, the central antenna of the radar system, the array-type anti-aircraft turrets, etc. These buildings can be retracted into the interior of the Ark when the Ark takes off, just like the "Third New Tokyo City" that can sink to the ground in an anime called "Neon Genesis Evangelion".
However, these buildings did not shrink into the ground at this time. Instead, they turned into ruins one after another - these ruins were not the masterpieces of the previous round of bombers, but were created by the giant trees right in front of them.
When the giant tree "broke out of the ground" from the core area, the entire core platform was squeezed and cracked, the ground plates were torn and deformed, and the buildings fell down like dominoes. The most important area on the upper part of the Ark was razed to the ground in just a few seconds.
The black-clad men observed by the airborne troops were standing among the ruins, holding their guns and continuously firing into the air. However, the airborne tribe was falling very fast, and it was difficult for ordinary guns to aim at them. Only a few unlucky guys were hit by stray bullets, and most of the other airborne troops passed through the rain of bullets and landed on the high platform.
Ke Lan and Ze Luo secretly mixed in with this first batch of airborne troops.
Ke Lan told General Maginot and Major General Alexander about the battle plan: "First, the Skadi and the survivor alliance's army will tear open a gap in the energy shield and clear out the enemies around the gap. Then, the Yaguna Kator's 'Star Destroyer' will open a hole directly to the roots of the giant tree. Finally, Ze Luo will carry the annihilation bomb into the root area to carry out the blast."
But this was just a plan on the surface. Ke Lan knew very well that there must be spies planted by the Undead Crew in the survivor alliance. After this battle plan was issued, the spies would definitely find ways to pass the news back to the Ark... Ke Lan couldn't even fully trust the command system of the survivor alliance. Once there was a traitor among the staff, the Undead Crew would have already mastered all the information in advance without even waiting for the battle plan to be issued to the front-line combat units.
Only by taking the enemy by surprise can you attack them where they are unprepared.
Ke Lan directly chose to blend into the first batch of airborne troops... If this was a trap, then he would simply take advantage of the situation and take advantage of the fact that the undead crew members had no time to react, and directly break through their defenses and pierce their heart.
The traps used to deal with ordinary soldiers could not stop Ke Lan and Ze Luo. Ke Lan wanted to take advantage of this information gap.
"Land immediately. When using the spatial ability to buffer, try to camouflage yourself and don't be too obvious." Ke Lan said to Ze Luo, who was hugging Ke Lan's chest like a koala at this time - it seemed that the two were tied together with seat belts, but in fact, the two were "sitting" in a "space content" that could not be detected by the naked eye.
This space container can not only block the bullets shot at them, but also adjust the positions of the two people at any time to ensure that they land where they want.
"No, let's not take the risk." In an instant, Ke Lan changed his mind again, "Put away the ability. I can't guarantee that there will be no one in the Undead Crew who can sense spatial fluctuations. Adjust the speed and we will land in a free fall state."
"Okay." Ze Luo said in Ke Lan's ear.
The space container that framed the two people suddenly disappeared, and a high-speed airflow mixed with gunpowder and the smell of burning instantly poured into the gap between Ke Lan's neck, and a whistling sound was heard in his ears... Seeing that the two were about to hit the platform heavily, Ke Lan pulled the rope around his waist hard , and several huge air bags suddenly expanded, wrapping the two of them.
This cushioning airbag was developed with inspiration from early space probes. However, compared to the prototype product that would bounce a long way like a ball when it landed, this cushioning airbag has an air pressure regulating valve inside and a layer of viscosity coated on the outside. When impacted, the squeezed side will quickly release air pressure through the regulating valve to offset the impact force and rebound force as much as possible.
The airbag that wrapped the two people only bounced twice and rolled less than twenty meters before stopping. Ke Lan immediately released the gas in the airbag and pulled Ze Luo out.
"Time Stop" is turned on——
Everything around him turned into a black and white frozen picture. Taking this opportunity, Ke Lan observed the situation on the battlefield to his heart's content.
Those black-clad men who blocked the airborne troops were obviously eroded clones... or in other words, " special" clones created specifically for combat. They all had control chips implanted in their brains, and would never betray the orders of the Undead Crew. The complex biochemical transformation surgery and the physical mutations brought about by the erosion gave them powerful physical strength and terrifying healing abilities.
In terms of individual combat power, these men in black were far superior to the airborne troops. It was difficult to kill them completely with the guns in the hands of the airborne troops. Even if they were mowed into pulp by heavy machine guns, the pulp would struggle to gather together and condense into a human form... or some other alien monster, and join the battle again.
The only thing that could kill these corroded men in black was the flamethrowers equipped by a few soldiers and tactical mechas. Only those men in black who were burned to charcoal by the flamethrowers showed no signs of resurrection.
But in this regard, these men in black seem to be easier to deal with than the container of the Seed of Corrosion.
Some sharp-eyed soldiers have already discovered this. After "killing" a man in black, they would throw his body into the fire before he could be resurrected. The stench of burnt protein spread across the battlefield, even covering up the smell of gunpowder and blood.
The time stop was lifted, and Ke Lan pulled out the large-caliber pistol from his waist at a speed so fast that it almost produced an afterimage. He forced the muzzle of the gun into the mouth of a man in black who was rushing over, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet directly took away the back half of the opponent's head, and the splattering blood and brain matter splashed directly on Ke Lan's mask and clothes - Ze Luo originally wanted to use the space barrier to help Ke Lan block these filth, but Ke Lan once again signaled her not to use the space power.
"The people from the Undead Crew are definitely keeping an eye on this battlefield. Before we find a way to get to the roots of the giant tree, we must disguise ourselves as ordinary soldiers as much as possible." Ke Lan said in a voice that only Ze Luo could hear.
"Ordinary soldiers wouldn't have the reaction speed you did just now." Ze Luo said expressionlessly.
"Well... there are some higher-level enhanced people in the elite troops. It's normal, as long as they don't behave too eye-catchingly." Ke Lan said.
Just as the two men were leaning against each other and continuously shooting at the black-clad men around them, a "Tiger Hunter" tactical mecha painted in a very inconspicuous iron gray color tore through the heavy encirclement and approached the two men.
Not only Ke Lan and Ze Luo sneaked into the first batch of airborne troops, but also Valentina who was driving the "Tiger Hunter" - originally Chi Hanfeng was unwilling to let her come, but Valentina insisted on participating in the assault, and Chi Hanfeng had no choice but to agree.
Although the outer shell of this tactical mecha is a "Tiger Hunter", the internal structure is actually all customized high-end accessories. It is a "big toy" that Layton assembled by himself when he was free. Because the Blasphemer's target was too obvious, this mecha was temporarily loaned to Valentina for use.
"We are going to move due west." Ke Lan shouted towards the Tiger Hunter, "There should be a vertical passage for helicopters there, which can land directly on the helipad on the next level!"
