War.

In a sense, war is synonymous with civilization, and it may be the closest thing to the truth of any nation, race, or galaxy.

No matter what race, no matter what gene, no matter what ideology and morality, when civilization is born out of beastly ignorance, when greed is extracted from the instinct of survival, when the memories of former carnivores marking territories and fighting are picked up and swept away, and then given simple reasons such as glory or faith, war comes into being as a matter of course.

So hasty, so reasonable.

Two villages, two kingdoms, two races, maybe they have never seen each other before, and maybe the relations of production and moral cognition between them are not the slightest bit the same as in the past, but this does not prevent [war] from appearing in the minds of both sides at the same time when one of them does not intend to solve the problem with peace and exchange.

In this sense, war is neither despicable nor cruel, but it has the same meaning as the words civilization, communication, and survival, and is the innate and simple gift of any intelligent race.

From wrapping in tattered leaves, waving sticks, throwing sharp stones at each other; to cover the vital points with planks and cloths, and to fight with long swords and war horses; and then from the smoke of the factory to drive more than a dozen tons of tanks and self-propelled guns, so that the nightmare of nuclear fission and biological and chemical weapons completely stepped on the bottom line and sense of security.

Until he flew into space, touched the sun, moon and stars that he once worshipped, and let his breath echo in the same field of vision as the twinkle of the stars, but it was nothing more than replacing swords and shells with chainsaws and explosive bombs, so that the great battleships that were several kilometers long replaced the former aircraft cannons......

That's all.

From the scuffle of three or five fighters, to the battle between two battle groups, to the selfless destruction of millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of armies under the orders of the sand table and the tip of the pen, the war has never changed.

It is the nightmare of every individual, the catastrophe of every collective, the tribulation of every kingdom......

and, the great victory of every race.

When the marshal gave the order, the general drew up a plan, the regiment commander planned the route, the battalion commander rallied the soldiers, and the company commander swung his blade and gave the order to charge.

When the edge of war turns into the blade of the tiger, the hooves of the cavalry, the tracks of the tank, and then the buzz of the dense drone swarm.

No one cares about those who actually face it.

Even those people themselves don't care.

At least, Latobis, doesn't care.

——————

"Bomb! It's a drone! ”

Shouts of confusion rang out in the trenches, and Sergeant Latobis clutched his gun tightly, the only thing he hadn't abandoned since he had been on the move.

He clung to the dirt wall of the trench, and with one hand the sapper shovel that had just been sent down, he desperately tried to dig deeper, and even a centimeter of progress was more likely to keep him alive.

Finally, before he could hear the shrill cracking sound tear his eardrums completely, he was finally able to shove his entire body inside, leaving only a tattered boot still outside.

The bombing began.

Ran Dan's drone swarm may have hundreds, thousands, or even more, anyway, Latobis had heard those anti-aircraft guns firing at all costs, and he had heard the soldiers in charge of the anti-aircraft guns boast that their big guys could block the airspace for kilometers, and could fire thousands of shells per minute, and even a fly would be torn to shreds by their cannon fodder.

But it didn't seem to work, and Latobis only heard the anti-aircraft guns going crazy, pouring tongues of fire incessantly, and a jumbled song of resistance playing from the muzzles of the entire position, but none of this stopped Randan from dropping bombs into the trenches.

Latobius covered his ears, but he couldn't stop the explosion from pounding at his fragile eardrums, a frenzied sound that was at times heavy and solemn, sometimes as sharp as a blasted glass bottle.

The sergeant could even hear the sound of the seemingly solid mound being blown away along with the soldiers inside, a distinctive, muffled sound that was almost impossible to hear, and meant that an unlucky person or even more had been buried alive in the earth.

Some of the shells landed on the ground, some in the trenches, and even one near Latobis, where he could feel the sound of the blown dirt and stones hitting the soles of his boots.

He heard everything: the explosion of bombs, the firing of artillery, the strange sounds and hiss of the drone's wings as it swept low into the air, but the only thing he could hear was the screams of a human being: whether it was buried alive by a wave of earth, or consumed by flames in an instant, or even drained of all oxygen in the vacuum field evaporated by the shells, these were not the ways to make any sound.

There were only shells, only explosions, and the nightmarish sonata rang for five minutes, if not more.

Finally, it stopped.

——————

Latobis had forgotten how he had crawled out of the pit, and he struggled to his feet with his weak legs and feet, but within a few seconds he collapsed to the ground as if he had been drained of strength.

Then, remembering something, he crawled to the side, almost on his hands and feet, digging frantically through the dirt and rubble, letting his fingers get blood stabbed out, and after a while, under his tugging, Tigray's head came out of the dirt.

Neither of them spoke, they just glanced at each other, then lowered their heads and gasped for breath.

The whole position was now like a mud puddle that had been trampled by thousands of troops, full of potholes and scattered corpse fragments, the bombed soil and kidneys were mixed together, emitting an unprecedented stench, and the soldiers who still had energy were screaming loudly, either looking for their comrades, or simply crying for help, and countless shouts sounded at the same time with the whistles of the officers and the groans of the dying wounded, no quieter than the terrible bombardment of the Randan army just now.

But soon, all the sounds died down, as everyone stopped in unison.

Shake.

A trembling sensation hit their senses, the earth trembling, like thousands of monsters migrating around them.

With great difficulty, Latobis stood up, and then he saw Randan's army, which was coming from directly in front of the bridge and rolling down the hill.

It was like a living curve, a black wave, something that could not be described exactly, like a swarm of ants crawling across a field, and the soldiers and slaves of Randan appeared one after another from the light of the day, forming one dense army after another, and rushed towards them.

Almost in the blink of an eye, they were all over the place.

Latobis watched, he just watched, watched this horrible and fascinating scene, watched perhaps hundreds of thousands of Randan's army rush towards their position, like a whole tsunami pounced on a fishing boat.

He forgot to fight, he forgot to think, and even forgot to breathe for a moment, until the side of his ear was bumped by the loudest and hoarseest command.

"The enemy is coming!"

"Back to combat duty! Get the back to my combat duties! ”

——————

"Back to combat duty!"

"The battle isn't over yet! Maintain a third cruising speed and be careful to avoid those asteroids. ”

"Replenish the torpedo, repeat, replenish the torpedo!"

On Sabis IV, a battle may have just begun, but on Sabis VIII, which is closest to Mandeville, a battle has already been completely over.

Randan's Screenship and Void Drone swarm were blazing, and just before a Terra Standard Hour, they were the remnants of a victory, hordes of arrogant hunters racing after a defeated and fleeing Dark Angel warship.

However, when entering the edge of the galaxy and the asteroid belt that the Randan fleet had no time to take care of, the situation had a 180-degree reversal, and the Dark Angel ship that was originally [rushing to escape] showed the most hideous fangs and claws in an instant.

The three small warships with the most ferocious firepower were destroyed almost instantaneously, but the remaining stragglers were shattered in the shadows of asteroids and meteorites before they could even tell what was happening.

After less than an hour of chase and counter-chase, the Dark Angel's ship proudly left the scene of the chaotic melee and began to swim along the edge of the shadow of Sabis VIII, carefully observing the state of the garrison near Mandeville Point.

"So...... What exactly are we going to do? ”

From the rout, to the counterattack, to the hunt, to the current sneaky reconnaissance.

Ahriman was still confused.

He could understand every operation and every plan of the Dark Angels, but he just couldn't understand what these guys were doing.

Want to resist?

So why not assemble forces in low-Earth orbit on the Sabis 4 planet for a fight?

Want to avoid enemies?

The galaxy is full of Ran Dan's warships, where can they avoid it?

Want to escape?

So what do you think this Mandeville point is for? This one leads to the area controlled by Randan!

"Hoo ......"

Ahriman took as deep a breath as he could, and eventually, he chose to turn around and walk in front of the leader of the Dark Angel Force.

"I guess I'm qualified to know something."

He said.

The leader of the Dark Angel on this ship was a veteran who had hidden himself under his hood, and the only thing Ahriman could see was his scarred jaws.

"Crimson Magnus, you are indeed our ally and safeguard in this battle, but that doesn't mean you know more, be aware of it."

Ahriman did his best not to get angry.

"Can you tell me, then, where Ms. Morgan was taken by you? She and I are companions in the same team, why did you let her stay on Sabis IV and bring me here? ”

"Because this is a mission, Ms. Morgan's business, unfortunately I can't answer, the order I received is to let you stay here, as an ally and as a safeguard."

Guarantee?

This word made Ahriman feel bad, and he became more and more suspicious of the Dark Angel's purpose in taking Morgan.

"So...... I think I should at least be qualified and in a position to know, what are we going to do? What are the plans looming over this galaxy? ”

The Dark Angel couldn't help but laugh, and after laughing for a while, he continued to shake his head.

"I'd love to explain everything to you, but alas, I can't."

"You don't want to say?"

"No, it can't."

The Dark Angel corrected.

"I can only tell you that our task at this stage is to hide here and wait for the moment."

"When?"

"I don't know."

The Dark Angel denied it very calmly.

"Because I don't know the full plan, I'm only responsible for what I've accepted, and even what I'm going to do next is something I can't know now, and only when the necessary conditions are met, the memory lock in our minds will be opened, and the next action will be known."

"So now, even if you ask the Dark Angels all over the galaxy, you will only get the same answer, and no one will know the complete and concrete plan and plan until it all begins and ends."

"If you can't get used to it yet, then adapt as soon as possible."

Ahriman lowered his head, and he was silent for a moment.

Then, Chiko sighed.

"At the very least, I mean at the very least, I should know everything you know, and I think I have reason to know more of the truth and details of what I'm fighting for before the fight, fight, and death begin."

The question silenced the Dark Angel for a moment, and then he patted Ahriman on the shoulder.

"Son of Magnus, do you know Azr?"

"I've heard people mention that he has given everything he has for the empire and the emperor."

The Dark Angel nodded.

"Yes, we all know that Azir has died for the Empire, but Ran Dan doesn't know."

"They think we don't know."

"In their analysis, we see Azir's death as an accident entirely, and they think they were quick enough and agile enough to end the fight before they even started together."

"But in fact, they don't."

"Whether it's Azir, or the 244th Cruiser Fleet, or even anything else you don't know, they may be unknown, maybe you haven't heard of them, maybe the next second they meet the Randan fleet, they will be completely torn to pieces."

"But they weren't silent, Ran Dan thought they were, but in reality, they weren't."

"Whether it's Azil, or them."

"Their information and communications were transmitted precisely in the moments before the annihilation of the whole army, and countless bloodstained communications told us."

"Where did they die, when did they die, and at whose hands did they die."

"We all know that."

"And Ran Dan, I thought we didn't know."

As he spoke, the Dark Angel pointed to the star map on the side, and following his instructions, Ahriman's gaze fell to the corner of the star map.

It was markers, mark after marker, stretching from the darkness of the Zandan zone to the Sabis system, their time, appearance, and memo quotations more different, but only their color was the same.

It was a red, a red like blood.