After the explosion was over, the super tier-one battle fortress Exterminator was severely damaged. A massive hole had been torn through its structure.

"Ugh!!"

Cries of pain echoed throughout as even the command bridge had been heavily affected by the blast. Had it not been for the internal shields protecting it, the bridge would have been completely destroyed.

Even so, the damage was devastating. Panels from above had collapsed—some small, some massive and heavy—crushing a few to death, severely injuring others, and leaving the rest wounded, though still able to move.

The Exterminator began reporting immediately, without even being prompted by Pact, who had just managed to push himself up—throwing aside a massive beam of metal that had pinned him down. He survived only because of his strength at the Paragon Realm.

"[Warning, Lord Commander—C1, C2, C3… through C59 external and internal armor layers critically damaged]"

"[Warning, Lord Commander—ECW power lines severely damaged]"

"[Warning, Lord Commander—multiple point defence and secondary weapons non-functional]"

"[Warning, Lord Commander—launch points L1–400 damaged and inoperable]"

"[Warning, Lord Commander—command bridge has suffered internal and external damage. Multiple functions offline. Advised to relocate to secondary bridge]""[Warning…]"

More alerts followed in rapid succession, listing the extent of the destruction.

The Exterminator continued in its steady, neutral tone. "Lord Commander Pact—the fortress has been severely damaged."

"Ugh…" Groaning in pain, Pacts stared at the notifications, a splitting headache forming. He hadn't expected the situation to spiral from bad… to worse… to the absolute worst. Now even his fortress was nearly half-destroyed. Almost all of the mechanical octopi units were down.

He had no idea what to do.

Before he could gather himself, a shout came from his left.

Those who could still move had already gotten up, eyes fixed on their barely functional devices as they monitored the battlefield.

"Commander!! Incoming!!" the officer shouted in horror.

"What?!"

Pacts turned toward the barely operational tactical display. The viewport had already been sealed with layers of metal to prevent decompression.

And what he saw filled him with dread.

The human fleet was advancing.

Not only that—their mech squadrons and fighter units were rushing forward aggressively toward his fleet.

Worse still, many of his strongest ships were heavily damaged, and numerous others had already been destroyed on both flanks.

With barely any power left to defend against the incoming human assault, Pacts felt a chilling realization settle in.

They were outlasted.Outmatched.

But he refused to die here.

With a shaken voice, he gave the order:

"Damn it! Deploy our mech divisions immediately! Hold the humans at all costs—do not let them break through!"

"Send out whatever remains of our fighter squadrons alongside the mechs!"

"Activate every weapon system that's still functional! Lock on and destroy those human mechs—or at least slow them down as much as possible!"

Pacts was visibly anxious as he issued orders in rapid succession.

"Yes, Lord Commander!" The Exterminator responded instantly, relaying his commands across what remained of the fleet.

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At that moment, a large number of mech troops and starfighter wings surged toward the hegemony fleet. As they advanced, they unleashed continuous streams of plasma beams and laser fire from long range…

Their aim was precise.

They targeted the weapon systems of every ship they could reach—taking full advantage of the fact that the forward ships of the hegemony fleet had already lost their shields. It was the perfect chance to eliminate anything that could still pose a threat.

A few shots even struck the fortress Exterminator, making it tremble as multiple barrages hit in succession—followed closely by long-range attacks from the ships of the Fourth Battle Fleet, which were also focusing on weapon systems.

Rumble—

"Commander! The enemy is targeting our weapon systems—taking advantage of our shields being down! They're destroying them at an increasing rate!"

One of the operators reported, alarmed as weapon system after weapon system went offline under the relentless, precise attacks from the human mechs, starfighters, and ships.

Something felt very wrong.

"What?!" Pact shouted, urgency rising in his voice as he felt something was off—but couldn't quite grasp it.

Just then, another warning rang out—

"[Dreadnought Dark Hegemony has been sunk]""[Dreadnought Arch Hegemony has been sunk]""[Dreadnought Dawn of Hegemony has been severely damaged and is requesting permission to retreat]"

"Damn it!! What the hell is going on?!" shouts echoed across the command bridge as everyone heard the reports—two out of four dreadnoughts destroyed within moments, and the third barely holding on.

"Fuck!!" Pact roared, nearly losing control. "Tell Dawn of Hegemony to retreat! Use the remaining mechanical octopuses to cover its withdrawal!"

"Move battleships Dark Star and Shadow Star—cover its retreat!"

"Deploy mech troops—push them forward! Draw enemy fire away from the ships! Buy us time to recalibrate the shield systems!"

Even in his internal chaos, he forced out his orders.

"Yes, Commander!" the crew snapped back, quickly regaining focus as they relayed his commands across what remained of the fleet.

The two battleships, Dark Star and Shadow Star, moved in close to the dreadnought Dawn of Hegemony, shielding it from the intense fire of the Void Fleet's Fourth Division.

At the same time, Dawn deployed three mechanical octopuses, which rushed ahead and formed a defensive barrier along its bow, starboard, and port sides. With that cover, the dreadnought slowly turned and began retreating toward the rear of the fleet…

Meanwhile, the mech forces from both sides finally met—and collided. Pact, who had been holding onto a sliver of hope for a miracle… went pale.

What unfolded was the complete opposite of what he had expected.

From a single glance, it was clear— The two forces weren't even on the same level.

Despite having fewer numbers, the Fourth Battle Fleet's mechs tore through the hegemony forces with brutal precision, splitting their formations apart one after another… advancing without hesitation, without falling back.

And worse still—

Not a single attack seemed to break through the shields 4th battle fleets mech army.

Even when outnumbered, they adapted.

The human mechs deployed their back-mounted proton laser cannons, picking off hegemony units from range while remaining protected under their own shields…

Meanwhile, the starfighter wings surged past them, heading straight for the hegemony ships—now exposed without shield protection.

They struck fast.

Dozens of squadrons focused on single targets—sometimes more, depending on the class of the ship. Using shield-breaker gauss cannons and energy torpedoes, they tore down what little protection remained… then followed up with ship-breaker torpedoes to finish the job.

Some didn't even bother with completely destroying the ships like others.

Instead, as if they knew exactly where to strike, they targeted the main and secondary command bridges—crippling the ships instantly and rendering them inoperable.

Moments later, hidden Shadow Division troops boarded those disabled vessels…

They moved quickly—clearing resistance, securing control, and taking over the ships.

Using their advanced technical capabilities, they even began rebuilding the destroyed command bridges with unsettling ease.

This was something that the hegemony fleet failed to notice!! As they were all busy thinking and overthinking, trying to improve their odds—which weren't improving at all and were instead continuously falling and falling.

As the pact and his other officers watched in horror, their mech armada was being suppressed, destroyed, and killed with every passing moment!!

Then their ships were being picked apart and destroyed by the efforts of dozens of starfighters each!! And slowly, as their ship strength was brought down, it only increased the efficiency of the human elite starfighters.

"Lord Commander, it—it looks like our mech army is far too weak against the human mech army!! They are not even their main mech!!" one person said in a terrified voice, though it was hard to admit that they—the hidden forces working with experienced mercenaries and pirate groups—were failing against a new faction led by the lowest-ranked race of the galaxy: humans!!

And it felt as if their faces were being dragged across the road—humiliation was all they felt here!!

"Adding their starfighter legions, we can barely do anything to them!! In a mere dozen or so minutes, they have sunk nearly two thousand ships, with the cover fire provided by their fleet!!" another said, gritting their teeth.

"And most of our ships are suffering under constant suppression from the human fleet, not able to lessen the pressure on our forces at all!!" another added, gritting his teeth the same way.

"Load all our still-functioning launch ports and what's left of our interceptor guns, and fire at the human mech army!! Fire!!" Pact, feeling just as frustrated, watched his subordinates being slaughtered like chickens. Gritting his teeth, he gave the order!!

"Yes!!" one of the subordinates quickly responded.

And Fortress Exterminator opened all the surviving launch ports and mobilized densely packed interception missiles and weapons fire!! Frantically pouring firepower, targeting the 4th battle fleet mech legions.

Swish! Swish!!

Beams of light and various missiles filled the void, attacking the fleet mechs!! Which immediately sprang into action as if they had predicted the attack—either backing off, intercepting, or successfully dodging the assault!!