Over the past few months, the clone soldier breeding factories on Avarax had been tirelessly mass-producing cloned soldiers. Thanks to Alexia's strategic allocation, the number of PDF Soldiers under Wesker's command had swelled to over five hundred thousand. Furthermore, these soldiers, benefiting from the long-term influence of the Academy of Immortality, had already begun to approach the "veteran" standard as defined by the Imperium of Man.
Their discipline, obedience, and overall combat readiness far surpassed those of PDFs on other planets, who were often prone to rebellion or collapse. They were even comparable to some of the renowned Astra Militarum regiments.
The equipment of these PDF Soldiers had also undergone significant updates and improvements. In addition to the universally issued large-caliber kinetic weapons, each squad was now also equipped with more powerful armaments manufactured by the Ishimura, such as large Plasma Cutters, Focus Rifles, Kinetic Rifles, and Heavy Pulse Rifles. Stasis grenades were universally issued to every squad leader. Some soldiers even wore RDA's AMP humanoid exoskeletons, further enhancing their combat capabilities. Simultaneously, through the diligent repairs by RDA employees, some of the damaged aircraft at Hell's Gate Base had also regained combat readiness. AT-99 Scorpion gunships, SA-2 Samson helicopters, and a massive C-21 Dragon Assault Ship, supplemented by a large number of armed helicopters from the Resident Evil world, now formed an formidable aerial force capable of dominating Pandora's skies. This combined air power was more than sufficient to launch devastating attacks on the beast tide, which primarily consisted of ground creatures.
Inside and outside Hell's Gate Base, everyone stood ready, poised for battle. Even though the surrounding forest was utterly devoid of light, and even the various fungi that typically glowed in the dark no longer emitted their eerie luminescence, everyone could still feel the increasingly clear and violent tremors shaking the ground. The magnitude of these tremors was so immense that even the radar array and supercomputer in the command tower could not accurately calculate the exact number of the approaching beast tide.
"All aircraft, turn on your searchlights! Keep firing flares!" Blinding light instantly illuminated a large area around Hell's Gate Base. Under the dappled tree shadows, countless ferocious Pandora beasts were rapidly approaching the defensive line.
"Fire! Fire! Eliminate these damned aliens! For the Empire! For the God-Emperor!" The booming voices of officers at all levels continuously echoed throughout the defensive line. The moment the order was received, all soldiers pulled the triggers of their weapons. Missile launchers on the high walls of the base and at various points along the defensive line began to elevate their angles, then launched high-explosive missiles.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Countless dazzling fireballs erupted within the beast tide, illuminating the entire battlefield even brighter. At the very front of the battlefield, thousands of Tyrants had already raised their heavy weapons, unleashing a terrifying torrent of firepower.
For a brief time, the surging beast tide was actually halted by this relentless assault, unable to advance further. But everyone knew this was just the beginning. As weapons overheated and ammunition ran low, the beast tide would soon resume its relentless advance.
"Rumble!" The massive Purifier Colossus once again materialized out of thin air in the center of the defensive line, spewing deadly beams from its giant thermal ray gun, doing its utmost to maintain suppression over the beast tide.
In addition to the intensely fierce ground battlefield, the airborne fleet of aircraft also engaged the overwhelming aerial beast groups and the Na'vi riding on Banshees.
"Eeyah!!!" From atop their Banshees, the Na'vi began to let out earth-shattering war cries, then fearlessly charged towards the various aircraft. Spears and arrows rained down, densely striking the originally fragile windshields of the aircraft. But soon, the Na'vi despairingly discovered that their full-force attacks could not penetrate the glass, only leaving insignificant marks.
"Stupid xenos," a PDF Commander scoffed at the sight. They had long since discovered the universal fatal weakness of RDA aircraft: the windshields were not strong enough, and even the spears in the hands of the Na'vi could penetrate them. Therefore, they had reinforced them. Seeing that the tactic of attacking the windshields and killing the pilots inside was unsuccessful, the Na'vi immediately changed their attack positions, aiming spears and arrows at the turbofan sections of the aircraft.
However, before they could even make their move, the aircraft fleet had already begun a fierce counterattack. Countless metallic torrents instantly riddled large numbers of Banshees, along with the Na'vi riders, causing them to fall from the sky and be trampled into pulp by the beast tide below. The remaining Na'vi, left with no choice, could only urgently retreat into the dense rainforest below.
"Damn it, we have to find a way to deal with those aircraft! Otherwise, the beast tide below won't be able to break through!" On a Banshee, Tsu'tey panted heavily, staring intently at the aircraft overhead. "First, deal with that large combat aircraft; there should be a Commander or someone similar inside." Clan leader Eytukan calmly issued his orders. "Mother Eywa will help us."
Sure enough, under Eywa's influence, countless flying creatures swarmed forward, fearlessly charging towards the C-21 Dragon Assault Ship in the center of the airspace. "Follow them!" The Na'vi immediately urged their Banshees, using the other flying creatures as meat shields, and charged towards the C-21 Dragon Assault Ship.
However, with the activation of the sentry guns, auto-cannons, and incendiary missile launchers mounted on the Dragon Assault Ship, the nearby airspace was instantly swept clear. Countless flying creature corpses fell like rain. The Na'vi were thus directly exposed within the weapon range of the aircraft fleet.
"Quick, get out of the way!" Clan leader Eytukan cried out in despair. He could already envision the tribe's most excellent hunters dying in droves. If such a thing truly happened, he would be the greatest sinner in the tribe's history. After all, this fight to the death was led and initiated by him.
However, something unexpected happened to all the Na'vi.
"Boom!" An RPG precisely hit one of the Dragon Assault Ship's turbofan engines, causing a violent explosion and temporarily paralyzing its weapon systems.
"Human weapons? Who is it!?" Eytukan immediately looked in the direction from which the RPG was fired and was surprised to discover that the attackers were two Avatars, or as they called them, 'Dreamwalkers.' The Avatars, or rather, Isaac and Jill, were standing on a giant truck, holding RPGs, continuously firing at the RDA aircraft in the air, providing cover for the Na'vi. Carlos, meanwhile, was driving the truck, slamming through the base's side gate, and rushing out of the defensive line amidst a hail of gunfire.