14 Chapter 14 – The Pacific Fleet Needs Help Part 2

The Giant Isopods are 62 feet long and 45 feet wide in size. Basically, the exact dimensions of an F-22 Raptor. One of them would not be so hard to take on, but a dozen of them cling to the Aircraft Carrier.

The Isopods are gorging on the runway and the remains of the old F-69 Kunais. One could see the crew who refused to abandon their ship firing all kinds of small arms weapons at the sea cockroaches.

They even used grenade launchers at the Giant Isopod's thick Ice Carapace in vain. However, their Ice shell kept regenerating by absorbing the water from the environment.

Meanwhile, the Goliath class ship numbered twelve are floating fortresses equipped with hundreds of different weapons such as rail guns, Phalanx CIWS, heavy lasers, and surface-to-air missiles that targeted the biggest flying Ice-bugs in the air.

Dead bodies of flying Ice-Bugs fell into the sea by the dozens when they got too close to those ships. So instead, the bugs shot Ice Attacks from afar that immobilized the sophisticated weapons, which prevented them from intercepting incoming Kamikaze bugs. Whenever their bodies struck the Goliaths, their bodies would explode and disperse Ice shards in all directions, which would tear through more of the ship's defenses, creating an opening for more attacks.

The Sentinel-class ships, much smaller than the Goliath but whose role is to mark enemy targets, were attacked by Giant Ice White Lobsters and Giant Ice Blue Coconut crabs. The monsters climbed onto the ships and used their powerful claws to tear apart the heavy steel armor of the ships and disable their armaments. In addition, their Diamond-like ice armor deflected all small-arms-fire, and handheld lasers sent their way.

Even when a Crab or Lobster was brought down, three more of them would rise out of the sea to continue dismantling the ships.

In this battle of attrition, the Ice bugs had the advantage in numbers and abilities to overwhelm the remnants of the pacific fleet.

Carl. "Holy shit! That is a lot of Giant lobsters and Crabs... why am I drooling? Shit, they are making me hungry, dammit!"

Soma. "Have a look at those Isopods on the aircraft carrier, and then you will lose your appetite."

Carl. "Eww, are those things alien cockroaches? Oh god, I think I am going to puke!"

Soma. "Aim that Puke toward the sea and not on me, you fool!"

Both Carl and Soma bickered as they were dragged by the ropes attached to Dale as they sped through the sky. However, Dale soon shuts down his Jet propulsion skill and slows down. As a result, his two passengers come to a complete stop in the air. However, since they both had abilities that allowed them to float, they didn't pull Dale down when he stopped.

Carl. "Why did Dale stop?"

Soma. "I don't know, but we can't hang around like this. Cut the rope!"

Carl and Soma detached themselves from the ropes attached to him and fell toward the sea, but their rapid descent halted right above the water's surface. Soma floated in the air over the ocean while Carl stood on the water surface.

Soma. "You can walk on water?"

Carl. "I don't know the science, but my precious is handling it for me."

Soma. "Then let's get moving."

Soma activated the Static step skill, which teleported him 5 meters forward, and after waiting for five seconds, he started it once more.

Carl. "You can teleport? That ain't fair!"

Carl yelled as he tried to catch up to Soma, who was still at least a hundred meters away from the nearest ship being attacked.

An Ice-Bug that looked like Kabuterimon from the television show Digimon charged toward Dale, who seemed to be unable to move from his spot. But, right before it reached ten feet in front of him, Zao intercepted it by boring through the Kabuterimon with his Drill Lance and then pulled his weapon out, which let the body fall to the ocean.

Zao then hovered over to Dale's side with Marco still dangling from the rope he is tethered to. The poor Italian man had lost consciousness on the way here. So Zao couldn't drop him into the sea at the moment.

Zao slid back the Bumblebee helmet's visor to get a better loot at Dale's face, mostly hidden by his winged helmet and faceguard. Dale's eyes were closed, and his breathing was rapid. It looked like he was suffering from some anxiety attack.

Zao. "Dale, if those creatures do not die here, then our base at Seward will be their next target. Tell me you are not getting cold feet now!"

Dale. "No, I emptied most of my Mana tank getting here. I stopped here to recharge before launching an attack on them. Otherwise, I would run out of Mana in the battle."

Zao. "In case you haven't noticed, we are already inside the battlefield. There is no safe place here to stop and stare. I can't protect you and save the fleet at the same time."

Dale suddenly got an idea and looked up at the sky filled with burning smoke coming out of the destroyed ships. All the flying Ice-bugs were flying low over the Dreadnoughts and weren't paying attention to the sky above them.

Then his eyes widened as a plan of attack put itself together in his mind.

Dale. "Zao! Don't charge in until my first wave of attacks hit them all."

Zao. "What are you-"

Dale didn't let Zao finish his sentence as he launched himself into the air and activated his jet propulsion once more. With the little bit of Mana he absorbed before, Dale rocketed straight into the sky above the battlefield and reached over fifteen thousand feet into the air.

The sun's rays were intense here. The Rubies all over his upper body and wings quickly converted the solar energy into Mana. Dale did not need any interface to know the exact amount of Mana he had in his power bank. Agni's mind was linked to his own in this form. He could feel her enjoying the solar bath and did not stop soaking up the solar rays until he sensed her satiety being filled to the brim.

Zao stared at the sky in confusion about what Dale's plan was. He wanted to charge in to help the fleet immediately but had to give his comrade at least a few minutes to execute his mysterious strategy.

Dale activated the skill Fire Ball Barrage, which summoned several giant fireballs around him. He then spammed the skill until the air around him was filled with them.

Once he reached almost two hundred fireballs, he noticed his mana tank was almost empty again. Dale dropped from the sky, and the fireballs followed behind him. He activated the Jet propulsion and sped towards the surface like a small meteor.

The giant fireballs increased their speed to match Dale's. Carl and Soma, at this point, were just twenty feet from the nearest Sentinel being attacked by Crustaceans when they noticed hundreds of fireballs were raining down from the sky above.

Carl. "Where is that coming from?"

Soma. "I think I see Dale!"

Carl. "Wait! Is that a monster skill of his?"

Dale used Agni's senses to lock onto all the targets for his giant fireballs. He didn't want to waste them on small fry, so he selected the most significant threats in the air and the giant Isopods on the aircraft carrier.

Once the targets were confirmed, the fireballs broke away from him. The flying Ice bugs on the battlefield stopped their attack runs on the Dreadnoughts to look up to find where the intense light and heat were coming from.

Most of them didn't know what hit them before exploding into giant pieces of Ice carapace and bug meat after eating several fireballs.

Those who realized what was coming for them tried to use their compound eye vision and reflexes to dodge the fireballs, but these balls of fire were almost sentient. They chased their targets like heat-seeking missiles until they reached their mark or hit something else during the chase.

The soldiers, pilots, and sailors on the ships had to shield their eyes as the sky exploded above them. Charred Ice Bug carapace, meat, and guts rain down from the black clouds. More fireballs broke through the first wave of impact and then found their way to the aircraft carrier.

The Isopods didn't stand a chance against the firepower of the barrage. Their powerful regenerative Ice carapace armor couldn't regenerate fast enough before the fourth fireball blew their insides out.

The ones clinging onto the sides of the aircraft carrier dropped to the sea as burning husks. Sailors on the U.S.S Destiny roared a battle cry of victory as they had seen the attack from start to finish and hailed Dale as he passed over their ship before activating his Jet Propulsion to climb back into the sky above.

All the Goliath Class ships began concentrating their arsenal at the small flying-Ice-bugs that had avoided the fire missiles. The air was filled with the dying cries of bugs as they fell to the ocean.

However, the crustaceans on the ships had been spared from the fireball barrage and continued dismantling the other vessels. Soma and Carl had dumbfounded expressions on their faces, but the screams of dying men of the pacific fleet brought them back to their senses.

Soma. "It's our turn now!"

Carl "You bugs are about to know the power of my Precious!"