They couldn't help.
Yet they had to help.
Nikola no longer dared to clash head-on with Gunie at all, left with no choice but to flee in utter disarray just to survive.
If they didn't intervene, the moment Nikola died, the human fleet would have to face two complete-form Puta'ers all on their own. When that happened, never mind searching for the skeletal remains—they wouldn't even last until Chen Buer arrived before being completely wiped out.
The problem was, how could they help?
Just as the human soldiers across the entire battlefield found themselves completely at a loss regarding Wen Jifei's orders for the very first time...
"I'll do it," Yang Qingbai suddenly spoke up in the general comms channel.
When Yang Qingbai said those words, no one knew what he meant to do or how he planned to do it. Even though everyone who had come here knew he was currently the finest pilot in all of humanity.
Yet that was a Puta'er. An entity like that could not be challenged by piloting skill alone.
Those closest to him immediately thought to urge Yang Qingbai not to be reckless and take such a gamble. Agile and fast as the CA117 was, it was nowhere near capable of brazenly provoking a Puta'er. A Puta'er's own speed, attack speed, and attack range were simply too terrifying. No matter how brilliant his flying was, dancing around one was out of the question.
At the same time, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—hundreds of human source energy warships accelerated at maximum thrust, converging from their respective positions along the Great Spikes' pursuit path to mount a desperate interception against the Great Spike craft chasing the CA117.
General Yergana had led them on a long flight in their escape, only for the pursuing Great Spike fleet to head straight for the Moon, forcing them to take an enormous detour before finally flying back.
And the Great Spikes, including the Puta'ers, still firmly believed that the Yanxiu skeletal remains were inside a satellite.
Immediately, the super combatants led by Shu You of the City of Sin deployed outside their ships, seizing the chaos to hunt down enemy Daie-grade Great Spikes.
Because the Puta'er and the super dreadnought were coming.
No sooner had Wen Jifei's voice faded than several dozen human warships plummeted straight down from high altitude, slamming directly into the swarm of Great Spike craft closing in on the CA117.
And right now, using the dead iron chain and hook beneath the CA117, Yang Qingbai had dragged out a satellite from who-knew-where... a somewhat battered, intact artificial satellite weighing roughly four to five hundred kilograms.
Since they were putting on a show, they had to play it for real. Everyone understood this, and everyone gave it everything they had... After all, this battle was bound to be fought sooner or later anyway.
The CA117 had already flown very, very far away.
"Qingbai, carefully gauge the Puta'er's attack range and be ready to ditch the satellite at any second."
"Understood." Out of immediate danger for the moment, Yang Qingbai accelerated desperately, still holding on.
"Wait, how did Nikola get injured? And so badly?!" someone suddenly blurted out over the command channel.
Only then did everyone realize that, in the brief moment they hadn't been paying attention, Nikola—who had been dueling the dark-gold Puta'er—had been severely wounded, with no opportunity whatsoever to regenerate.
Meanwhile, Yeke and its super dreadnought continued to press straight after the distant CA117.
"It tried to chase Qingbai! That lunatic, that maniac—we were helping it, yet it actually wanted to go after the skeletal remains too! And then that Puta'er named Gunie took the opportunity to catch it with a sword strike!" Rusty Sister, who had been keeping an eye on Nikola's fight, explained.
So the truth was very simple: Nikola had been distracted, whereas the dark-gold Puta'er had not. That this blow hadn't killed Nikola on the spot was already an immense stroke of luck.
Fortunately, because they had evaded in time and the Puta'er had no inclination to deal with them for the moment, most of the Mars fleet's ships managed to survive.
Yet with that tail hitched behind it, the CA117's balance and maneuverability were compromised, preventing it from shaking off pursuit cleanly.
That was an entire satellite, after all!
"Forget it. As long as it can still scramble for its life, that's enough." Wen Jifei knew Nikola couldn't last much longer, but humanity had no means left to assist it.
"Fall back! Retreat, now! Run!" Wen Jifei frantically barked orders to the Mars expedition fleet across the command frequency.
They bought it.
Yang Qingbai only had time to swing into a relatively smooth, sweeping turn to the right—because that turn was the one Qingzi had told him to make.
"Understood. But I can hold on a little longer."
Boom!
The clash had lasted scarcely a dozen seconds.
Second by second, time slipped past. The distance between the two craft shrank steadily as Wen Jifei watched with bated breath.
Having arrived just in the nick of time, they had simply ambushed from high altitude and delivered quite a massive strike.
Having fully accelerated, the dreadnought's speed was astonishing, and its momentum overwhelmingly colossal.
Constantly shifting course would normally have been the best choice against the super dreadnought's pursuit, but with a four-to-five-hundred-kilogram tail swinging behind the CA117, pulling that off was impossible.
Even some Azure soldiers were momentarily dazed, the words "skeletal remains" flashing through their minds—for when they first arrived here, their search for the Yanxiu skeletal remains had begun precisely with locating a satellite.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! Several Mars expedition ships fitted with battering rams rammed wildly into the enemy, braving the risk of tearing themselves apart.
Under the present circumstances, aside from praying Nikola could hold out a little longer and stay alive just a bit more, there was nothing humanity could do.
The ships and personnel of the Mars evacuation fleet had arrived.
Now it was the Great Spike warships' turn to desperately try to bypass the human ships, avoiding any frontal clash.
"Awooo—!" Silver Yeke abruptly halted mid-stride toward Nikola, throwing back its head and howling, the cry reverberating across the entire battlefield.
And then, when Yang Qingbai and his CA117 truly came into view... everyone had to admit that this was, by far, the most brilliant maneuver of the entire lunar campaign.
Amid a collective chorus of "Holy shit!"...
Silver Yeke itself swiftly dropped back onto the roof of the super dreadnought, directing it to turn around and give chase.
Nor could they help but believe it.
In the end, over a dozen Daie-grade Great Spike warships leveraged their combat power and performance superiority to break through the blockade, rocketing straight for the CA117.
Surely they hadn't dragged along the one named Gunie as well? If humanity had that kind of capability, why would they have needed to help it in the first place?
At Silver Yeke's howl, nearly a hundred Great Spike warships across the battlefield immediately lunged from every angle toward the CA117 and the "skeletal remains" trailing in its wake.
A furious scramble ensued...
Once the remains were hauled away and all pursuit was shaken, all the sacrifices they had made and all the slaughter they had wreaked in this battle would become utterly meaningless.
Yang Qingbai piloted the CA117 like a streak of lightning, shooting in a straight line through an opening in the battlefield and rocketing straight away from the Moon.
Beneath the hull of the CA117 hung a long dead iron chain. Not particularly thick, but because it was forged from dead iron, it was exceptionally strong. The end could be fitted with a hook. A number of other Azure craft carried similar gear, mainly used on the battlefield for rescue operations and retrieval—source energy warriors had no need for boarding ladders.
Due to the sheer speed, the chain stretched taut as a rod. The satellite at its end trailed smoothly, rattling and groaning as it flew.
Because it genuinely looked so convincing—so utterly believable.
A massive gash ran straight across its abdomen.
"Watch yourself, Qingbai! If things look hopeless, ditch it! Throw the satellite to them!" Wen Jifei urged over the comms, sick with worry.
And so...
Chapter 986