The Almighty Ring

“Give them hell,” Jiang Fei ordered.

“Aye, commander!” the man behind the drones’ control console replied and proceeded to destroy all incoming ships.

A slight move of the joystick, shifting the targeting system a little to the right, a single push of a button, and four ships that charged toward the swarm of drones were reduced to space debris.

“Run! These drones are too strong!” cried those that were only a few kilometers behind. They broke their formation and immediately turned around to run.

The attack drones that were deployed were small; approximately the size of a motorcycle, but they were strong. Their designated model names were Interceptors and their function was to chase and destroy large enemy vessels. Each drone was only equipped with a single auto-cannon with low repeating fire-rate. However, as their main function was to destroy large vessels, a single armor-piercing round would suffice to cause catastrophic damage if they managed to break the hull. Against these “players”, a single round could technically pierce through all fourteen ships if they were aligned together in a straight line.

Another round of firing commenced and four additional ships were destroyed. This was the result of extremely lenient firing. If Jiang Fei really wanted to, he could have all of the ships destroyed in a second.

“Sir, I’m detecting a large number of incoming reinforcements. All of them are Class 2 Vessels, commander!” the radar operator reported. Class 2 Vessels were ships that were large enough to hold at least a hundred crew members. This type of vessel was usually operated by civilian-class operations such as couriers or package transport. They were not built for battle and were extremely weak. Based on the readings, there were about a hundred Class 2 ships heading toward the swarm of drones. Jiang Fei’s plan had worked. Word had gotten out fast and more and more players were gathering here.

“End resupply and let the drones be destroyed. Send out four more squadrons of attack drones,” Jiang Fei ordered.

Thirty-two Lightweight Stallion-Class Dronecarrier captains got to work immediately. The first few that were launched earlier started manufacturing new Interceptor drones to replace the ones that had been destroyed and those that were currently “given” to be destroyed by the enemy.

Since the Fifth Hybrid Fleet was unofficially considered to be a troop carrier fleet, they were given many supplies and only a few Hypercruiser. There were more than ten ships that were currently loaded with supplies; weapons, materials for repairs, armor, parts, and other essential needs for both on-ground and space battles. As such, with more than enough materials, the Dronecarriers were able to continuously manufacture drones on the fly. As long as the enemies were oblivious to the position of the carrier ships, Jiang Fei could continue the battle until he ran out of supplies; which would be very, very long.

Simple rounds were used in dealing with the “players” and to save ammunition, a single round of fire was given to destroy all remaining ships from before. Naturally, there were destroyed drones; it was made purposely to give “players” a sense of accomplishment and to bait them to return.

These Gamma Dimension invaders were exactly like Jiang Fei was when he played “Dawn Break”. No matter how many times he was killed, he would always return. The ships that they were piloting were free-of-charge ships that could be redeemed on an unlimited basis. Hence, the losses players incurred when they died, not accounting for time and effort, were literally none. So, even after death, they would still gain benefits from fighting the drones. From the perspective of a player, this was a good farming ground.

In no time at all, the first fleet of drones ran out of ammunition and was destroyed after being surrounded by the new reinforcements.

There were many kinds of drone models but the Trade Federation generally used two types of attack drones. Funnels were lightweight, small, incredibly fast, and used lightweight beam weapons. They were never used to fight large cruisers as their firepower would never be able to breach their shields, much less cause any damage to their hull.

The other type of drones was called the Interceptors. Interceptors, built inversely to Funnels, were heavy, slow, and used powerful auto-cannons that used solid rounds. Their ammunition was incredibly powerful as they could break through energy shields and penetrate ship hulls. However, there was a drawback as Interceptors had to carry their ammunition with them. As a result, they possessed limited rounds due to their weight and their effect on the drones’ speeds and mobility. As such, they would need to return to their carrier ship for resupply.

Jiang Fei had purposely allowed the drones to be destroyed to provide, or rather, generate a fun environment for the players to play in. Secondly, it was a common strategy used during the deployment of drones on the battlefield. Enemies might track the movements of the drones which would lead them to the location of the carrier ship. This time, the reason Jiang Fei allowed the drones to be destroyed was leaning toward the first reason.

A few minutes later, the second fleet of drones had arrived at the battlefield. This time, Jiang Fei had intentionally revved up the damage output, leading to faster and more destructive damage to the player’s side.

When almost a hundred ships were sunk, Jiang Fei decided to stop the attack.

“Call back the drones. Leave all damaged drones to the enemy,” Jiang Fei ordered.

“Aye, commander. Recalling all undamaged drones…”

This time, no one in the ship questioned Jiang Fei’s orders. They were all informed about the risk of this fight and knew that they had the chance to earn achievements. This was proven when they had seen the powers of the enemies and how they fought. Suffice to say, this war was a complete one-sided victory.

“There aren’t many players joining this game…” Jiang Fei thought.

“Either there aren’t many living beings in the Gamma Dimension or the game itself isn’t as famous…” Jiang Fei thought of reasons. He could still remember the scene in the beginner’s village when he had just started playing “Dawn Break”. If his theory was right; that the light barrier was considered as a spawning zone and the entire Alpha Sector was the beginner’s village, then it would be odd for it not to be populated.

Jiang Fei decided to leave this enigma unanswered for a bit. There was no way he could come up with a reason if he could not even access information from the “other side”. Unless he could kidnap a player and interrogate him as he did before…

It was a huge risk as this might attract the wrong attention. If the player which Jiang Fei had tortured reported this issue to the gaming company, they might brush it off as nothing since it was one person. If the same occurrence happened again, things might turn ugly real fast.

“Dispatch a few observer drones. We will be heading back to Hyur in a bit,” Jiang Fei declared. There was no reason to linger around anymore as the remaining survivors had returned to the light barrier after all the attack drones were decimated.

“Sir, what are they?”

“It is odd to see them sending out weak ships since they possessed such a gargantuan ship in the first place.”

Many captains of different ships called in to ask.

“I do not know. Perhaps they are considered to be fodders for the initial attack.” Jiang Fei gave them a vague, unconvincing answer. No matter how he phrased it, he was certain that no one would believe him.

Half an hour later, Jiang Fei’s fleet returned to Hyur and was met with a huge commotion of civilians on ships leaving the planet. The Ninth Fleet was seen helping civilians all across the planet to evacuate.

“This is Commander Jiang Fei. Leave all battle supplies behind! I will remain in the Domini System to fight the invaders!” Jiang Fei made a planet-wide broadcast.

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“These are my private belongings! You cannot just tell me to give it up!”

“Do you know who I am? I’ll make your life a living hell if you do this!”

“What can you do? You are nothing but fodders for the enemies! Might as well leave your possession for us!”

…

Jiang Fei’s broadcast was met with a shower of insults. He scoffed in return. There was an unbreakable rule in the Trade Federation and it was that all personal possessions cannot be surrendered unwillingly. However, Jiang Fei was not born under the Trade Federation ruling! He was a tyrant of Earth! And he’s got the big guns!