The colossal wormhole suddenly appeared behind the Spiral Mosquito Fleet that was pursuing the Alliance Fleet. From the deep, dark mouth of the wormhole, the well-arrayed Iridium Star Fleet shot forth.
The warships, with their sleek bodies gleaming with a captivating metallic luster, had already raised their turrets by the time they passed through the wormhole, like a ferocious beast baring its fangs and claws at its enemy.
Blue plasma continuously sprayed from the engines of the warships, propelling them at exceedingly high speeds. Particularly when no one had anticipated their arrival, these warships were as terrifying as cheetahs pouncing out of nowhere.
Not even twenty seconds had passed since they emerged from the wormhole when Xu Lanzhou, the commander in chief of the entire Iridium Star Fleet, ordered to open fire.
The already disheartened Di Maquan awoke with a start from the horrifying barrage from the Iridium Star Fleet. Such a density of firepower was far beyond his imagination, with each Iridium Star warship outputting unparalleled firepower, and the different types of weaponry configurations also varied greatly.
The most formidable were the Incandescence Cannons, super beam weapons that merged Elder Race technology. As they fired abruptly, they immediately shook the energy shields of the Spiral Mosquito warships.
Unlike the light drizzle that seemed to hit the Alliance Fleet, the Spiral Mosquito warships that the Incandescence Cannons struck saw their energy shields melt away like snow in hot soup. Once other ammunition hit the unprotected Spiral Mosquito warships, they were instantly enveloped in flames and explosions.
"This..." Di Maquan couldn't believe his own eyes, he immediately recognized from the shape of the warships that those sleek vessels that had suddenly appeared belonged to the Iridians he had previously looked down upon.
The Spiral Mosquitoes were certainly not about to take a loss lying down. Following the surprise attack on their rear by the Iridium Star Fleet, the Spiral Mosquitoes immediately mobilized their forces to face the Iridium Star Fleet. The numerous space fighters previously used to intercept the Alliance Fleet now swarmed in, seemingly ready to arrange into turret formations to give the Iridians a taste of their strength.
"Been waiting for you," said Bai Zhongqi with a cold smile. The Iridians naturally hadn't forgotten the aviation soldier tactics of the Spiral Mosquitoes. Ever since they knew they would be dealing with the Spiral Mosquito Civilization, Bai Zhongqi had ordered the construction of a new batch of fighters.
The Weilong IX was a brand new space fighter designed by the United Empire of Iridium. Its initial prototype was the fifth-generation fighter designed by Country C at the end of the old era, which Bai Zhongqi later, due to a fond attachment, transformed into an aerial space fighter. Even until the era of Xiao Yu, although the platform and framework had been completely replaced, the name Weilong continued as a synonym for the main force fighter and went through multiple updates.
It wasn't until Bai Zhongqi took back the Star Alliance, and the Star Alliance was incorporated into Iridium, combining the technologies from both sides, that this new space fighter was finally redesigned. It had a nose very similar to the first generation J-20, a pair of wings with a small surface area, and a pair of tail fins at a sixty-degree angle. Since space fighters didn't actually need these things, the wings served a different purpose, housing electronic equipment and even a laser emitter within their slender frames.
With the massive industrial manufacturing capabilities of the Star Alliance, Bai Zhongqi outfitted the Fleet with as many as 200,000 Weilong IXs in a few days, a portion of which were drones.
The Weilong IX couldn't perform configurations like combination into one large fighter, but in terms of maneuverability and firepower, it more than surpassed the Spiral Mosquito warplanes.
The previously dominating Spiral Mosquito warplanes hit a wall composed of fighters, and the Spiral Mosquito pilots tried to shoot down the agile Weilongs. However, the nimble and team-coordinated Weilong swarms played with the Spiral Mosquitoes.
Even when a few attacks hit the Weilong Fighters, the shields on these tough fighters were more than enough to ensure their safety. Unless the Spiral Mosquitoes combined their fighters into a cannon formation, but then it would be difficult for them to hit the agile fighters.
The assault by the Iridium Star aviation soldiers was like spraying insecticide, shooting down Spiral Mosquito warplanes in swathes. Even those warplanes that had just formed up were met with a barrage from a group of Weilong fighters and ultimately dismantled.
During the initial stages of the Iridium Star-Spiral Mosquito Star War, the Iridium Star flight squadrons had been at a disadvantage, but in the later stages, Spiral Mosquito Star pilots found it increasingly difficult to gain any advantage over the technologically and capability superior Iridium Starfighters.
At that moment, Di Maquan didn't know what to say as he watched the dizzying aerial dogfight unfolding in space.
"It seems everything Barbaro said was true, the United Empire of Iridium Star really is exceptionally powerful." Di Maquan thought and felt a surge of fear; had he really provoked the people of Iridium Star, his corpse would probably not even be intact by now.
Even though he could see that the Iridium Star Fleet had a significant advantage, he still didn't dare to recall his own fleet to deal with the Spiral Mosquito Fleet. He was relieved that Bai Zhongqi had never counted on their minimal strength, otherwise they would have been completely ruined by their own hands.
Xu Lanzhou took the initative, delivering a demoralizing blow to the Spiral Mosquitoes right from the start. She had no intention of pausing and decided to intimidate their opponents again at this moment.
"Raise the flag signal."
Bai Zhongqi once again saw the symbol of triple lightning bolts being displayed above his fleet, which filled him with both nostalgia and excitement.
On the Spiral Mosquito Fleet side, they were originally bewildered by the surprise attack from behind that put them in a tough fight. Now, they saw an all-too-familiar scene before them.
There once was a time when their ancestors encountered their lifetime enemy in another universe. Two civilizations, both full of ambition for the entire stellar galaxy, sparked a fierce conflict over territorial disputes. It was an incredibly brutal war, with both sides paying a hefty price.
The Spiral Mosquitoes lost billions of lives and their homelands. From then on, they became a nomadic civilization and eventually made their way to a new world.
Every Spiral Mosquito, as they grew up, was educated about their history. The dazzling triple lightning bolts recorded too many pains of the Spiral Mosquito people and spoke of unspeakable fear.
Today, fear struck again, climbing back into their hearts. The Spiral Mosquito people, who were originally rallying to counterattack, saw their will collapse in an instant under the triple lightning bolts.
"It's the Iridium Star people! The damned Iridium Star people!"
Panic immediately spread among the Spiral Mosquito people. A nearly taboo name, yet etched into everyone's memory, now invoked and shouted once more, unexpectedly held such powerful magic that it made them all reluctant to continue fighting.
Bai Zhongqi certainly wouldn't let them go. The flag-raised Iridium Star Fleet launched its fiercest attack, with explosions and bright light enveloping the entire starry sky. The Alliance Fleet, which was supposed to be the main offensive force, had become mere onlookers, watching from a distance as the Iridium Star Fleet ground the once-arrogant Spiral Mosquito people into dust.