'T5 Holy Redeemer starship intelligent-system notice: the hull has left warp and arrived at the designated point; now in automatic-pilot mode.'
Medusa opened her eyes and looked at the scene ahead, now that the warp run was done.
In the distance lay the object of this relief: Storm Fortress No. 3.
Only, at this moment no interstellar fortress or military port could be seen at all.
All that could be seen was a nest of bugs, layer upon layer, blanketing the target area.
"Reporting, our interstellar stealth scout ships have finished scanning the enemy here. We have found 5,000,000 Hive Motherships in all, of which 3,000,000 are already committed to the siege of Storm Fortress No. 3. The remaining 2,000,000 Hive Motherships are gathered round about in small fleets, held back as a reserve, most likely, waiting to be thrown into the battle," the secretary officer reported to Medusa.
"Are all fleets in position?" Medusa asked.
"All ten fleets under our Owl Dragon Third Fleet Group's First Legion have arrived here safe and sound," the secretary officer answered.
Just then, two holographic images appeared one after the other.
They were the wolf-girl Baixue, commander of the Hell-Angel ace fleet group, and the Hive Princess, commander of the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet.
"General Medusa, my Hell-Angel ace fleet group has completed its warp run in full and arrived safely at this position. What are your tactical instructions?" the wolf-girl Baixue asked, looking to Medusa.
Under the present system of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire, though an ace fleet group's fighting power exceeded that of an imperial fleet group, their command authority on the battlefield was in fact level.
And more often than not, an ace fleet group worked to the tactical plan of the Owl Dragon imperial fleet group,
unless special arrangements had been made.
In this battle, for instance, the wolf-girl Baixue had to ask Medusa what her tactical arrangements were.
Her Hell-Angel ace fleet group would carry them out.
But how the Hell-Angel ace fleet group fought — how it went into battle, how it arranged itself — was something Medusa had no authority whatever to interfere in; at most she could ask a question or two.
"You've finally come! The Order hive-race here is too big. Little Bug has too few Hive Motherships; I just can't beat them," the Hive Princess said just then, in a huff.
The Hive Princess was not here by chance.
In the plan Grand Marshal Charlotte had drawn up, the first to be relieved was Storm Fortress No. 3.
For Storm Fortress No. 3 stood at a very critical point on the northern hive line, and so its safety had to be secured first.
"No matter, we are here now, aren't we?" Medusa turned her gaze to the interstellar holo-table.
"The enemy is the hive-race… the Order hive-race."
Medusa caught herself and changed the name.
Before, they had always called the enemy the hive-race.
But things were different now.
Their comrades-in-arms now included the Owl Dragon hive-race fleet.
So the name for the enemy's hive-race had to change as well.
Zhao Chen had specially ordered that the enemy's hive-race units all be called the Order hive-race.
Not a few Owl Dragon officers of the middle and lower ranks did not know why they were called the Order hive-race, but on that point Zhao Chen would not explain too soon.
In short, that was simply what they were called.
But let us return to the matter at hand.
Medusa began to lay out her battle phalanx: "The enemy is the Order hive-race; we should fight steadily. No one attacks on her own initiative. First, six fleets of my First Legion will set up a defensive position here, with the Hell-Angel ace fleet group protected in the middle, to give it a safe place from which to put out its fire. The remaining four fleets have no task for now; later they may strike at particular gaps and weak points that open in the enemy."
"What about me? What about me?" the Hive Princess asked eagerly.
"Hive Princess, how many Hive Motherships do you have left here?" Medusa asked first.
"I had a fight with this lot of Order hive-race. Now I have 400,000 Hive Motherships left." The Hive Princess paused, then added, "And Little Bug's Owl Dragon hive-race fleet wiped out 300,000 of the enemy's Hive Motherships, you know!"
As she said it, the Hive Princess looked mighty pleased with herself.
But Medusa was not Zhao Chen, and would not stop just then to praise this Hive Princess with a child's temperament.
"Four hundred thousand… then here is what we do. Divide your Owl Dragon hive-race fleet into five columns.[1] Later, when we engage, we will lay area-saturation fire on the Order hive fleets attacking us. As soon as our fire ends, send one Owl Dragon hive-race fleet charging in at once to bring back the hive-race carcasses you can use, or, rather, to reap the enemy Hive Motherships caught in that area. Mind this: your task is to strike fast and finish fast. You will not have much time; when time is up, even if you have not finished everything, you must pull back all the same.[2] On no account get bogged down!" Medusa did not forget to warn her.
The Hive Princess nodded earnestly. "Got it!"
"Good. In ten minutes, we attack. At the same time, the position we form will move slowly toward Storm Fortress Star Port No. 3; that way we can also take some of the pressure off it. And, Hive Princess, use your means of communication to tell Commander Hu Xiner in the besieged Storm Fortress Star Port No. 3 that we have arrived. She is not to panic, only remember to act in concert with us afterward."
"Got it."
Under Medusa's arrangements, the six fleets of the Owl Dragon Third Fleet Group's First Legion soon formed a battle phalanx in perfect order.
It enclosed the Hell-Angel ace fleet group in its middle, while the Hive Princess's Owl Dragon hive-race fleet was divided into four, two of them waiting for orders at the outer rear.
The other two likewise waited for orders, under protection.
By now great numbers of Order hive fleets had begun to bear down in this direction; they too had found the enemy that had appeared here.
Earlier, faced with the attacks of the Hive Princess's band of Owl Dragon hive-race fleets, not a few of their hive fleets had been somewhat at a loss.
But these Owl Dragon legion fleets appearing now were, beyond any question, the enemy.
These Order bugs came snapping in wave on wave, like a wolf pack that had caught the scent of blood.
"Prepare for battle. Once the enemy is in range, attack with conventional fire first. When the enemy has massed in numbers, then let the Hell-Angel ace fleet group deal it a heavy blow," Medusa said gravely.
"Understood!"
The Hive Princess, too, was in the middle of the battle phalanx now.
She looked at the Owl Dragon legion starships before her, in such perfect order, and her eyes shone.
If only the Owl Dragon Hive Motherships under her could someday be this efficient too.