The Colony Ship full of Drone Fighters was the one to stabilize the portal this time, leading just outside the contested star system.
[All vessels enter in the dispatched order, one-second spacing. Go, go, go.] Max ordered, setting the pace with his words.
The ships poured through the portal in pairs. The transfer was done with the ships side by side until they got to the Destroyers, which had to enter slightly staggered.
The portal closed just as the Colony Ship passed through, and the fleet went to Warp 15, the most that the Morphos fleet could hold, in preparation for the assault.
Nico had the Cutter hold back as the fleet deployed, as they weren't actively involved in the first stage of Drone Fighter drops and Mecha deployments.
[Drone Fighters are away.] The Colony Ship AI informed them, signalling that the shock troops were on their way down to the surface to try to retake some strategic positions on behalf of the locals.
Or simply because whatever was there was important to the Morphos, but the effect would be the same in the end as long as they managed to retake the positions.
[Drone Bombers are away.]
[Android Army is deployed.]
The two messages came at the same instant as the two groups departed their vessels to fight the fleet that was in orbit.
The Cathedral Ships were more prepared for them this time, and they were scrambling their defensive forces to head toward the Mecha as soon as they appeared.
"It looks like they didn't send all the Energy Beings to the surface. There are a number of them among the forces facing our orbital fleet." Envoy Queen noted.
"That should still be manageable. The Mecha are capable of close combat in zero gravity and fractional gravity. If things start to get lopsided, I will join the battle personally." Max assured her.
The Mecha were holding their ground without issues for the moment, and the Cathedral Ships' shields were beginning to weaken, but the fleet was holding strong, giving their surface forces as much time to work as possible.
[All units are fully engaged. Zero casualties among the shock troops before deployment.] The AI announced.
"Good news, Envoy. All of your troopers made it to the surface at their designated locations, and the Drone Fighters are providing cover for them." Max relayed the message with a gentle smile.
The Envoy's team shared a round of celebratory hugs at the news, and the fleet in orbit sent out another wave of breaching teams that Max's Destroyers were working to clear a path for.
[Movement in the Secondary Layer detected.] The ship's computer announced.
Max checked the sensors and found that a full fleet of Arisen ships had just arrived, but so had the Cathedral Ships that Max had been concerned about, including a truly massive Dreadnaught Class vessel. At over twenty kilometres long, it was nearly twice the size of most Colony Ships, and it was fully armed for battle, carrying nothing but weapons of war and troops.
"Incoming attack from the secondary layer of space," Nico announced, and then suddenly, all of their sensors went wonky, and the view of the battle disappeared.
"Feth, they're opening a portal around us. Layer unknown." Max swore.
"I hope that you're all combat proficient, Envoy. Because it looks very much like we are about to face a boarding attempt," Nico informed their guests.
"We have combat gear in the shuttle." Envoy Queen announced.
"Don't go anywhere. I will have it brought to us." Nico decided and tasked some of the onboard Android service staff to get everything that they could need, including Mobile Suits for herself and Max.
Then Nico put the ship's repair bay to work creating Androids in Mobile Suits to repel the expected invaders. A few dozen was all they would have time for unless the enemy messed up their timing, but it should be enough to slow down any invasion, and their personal Mecha were in Sentry mode.
The rest of the Mecha team was in the bay as well, but the Warriors would have to be insane to try to get in there, so Nico simply discounted the area as secured and focused on everywhere else that she needed the Cutter's replicators to make defenders.
One per room was a strain on the power system, but they weren't going anywhere, so she ordered it, spreading Androids all over the ship to report any ingress of attackers.
"Your equipment, Envoy. Please hurry to get armed. My compatriots have reported attempts by the Energy Beings to board the ship." The maintenance Android reported.
Max and Nico got into their suits as quickly as possible while the Morphos struggled into the less user-friendly equipment.
"This is going to take too long. Envoy, do you mind wearing one of our suits instead? They're mostly intuitive, and you can use your own weapons." Max suggested when he realized the process was going to take them over ten minutes to complete.
Since the two humans were already armoured, the Envoy nodded in agreement while Nico began printing off augmentic armour suits with forearm-mounted Ion Blasters. The other weapons were less intuitive to use, and she didn't want them to cause an incident. The Plasma Rifles they had wouldn't cause too serious of damage to the ship, so those could be fired until they ran out of power, then linked to the suit to recharge.
A large blue energy being with psychedelic patterns on its oversized wings appeared in front of them, and Nico quickly put a blade through its beaked head before she raced out of the room, looking for more targets to deal with based on the reports of the Androids on board.
"It looks like I'm with you on defence. We will remain here in the main area and protect the crossroads from intrusion." Max informed the others, trying to hide his amusement at how fast Nico had vanished when there was melee combat waiting.
