The Judgment Angel Queen fixed a frowning gaze on the one before her.
At the same time, a warning came from the radar department on the bridge.
"Reporting, a great many interstellar warships have appeared around us. It looks to be the Angel Race's Holy Dragon Angel Legion! There are… there are… a full 30,000 interstellar warships!"[1]
The angel Tilia gazed across at Renee, the Judgment Angel Queen. "Rebel commander Renee. Your fleet is surrounded on every side by our Holy Dragon Angel Legion. The one choice left to you now is to surrender and accept the judgment of the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire. Pay the price for what you have done!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha." Renee's voice turned wild. "Judgment? You would judge me? In this world, no one has the right to judge me. You do not! Nor do those two Angel Sovereigns! Not even that damned Owl Dragon Emperor of yours. All forces, hear my order, prepare for battle!"
Renee, the Judgment Angel Queen, gave the order to fight without the least hesitation,
though she had only 3,000 interstellar warships, and though the enemy she faced outnumbered her more than ten times over.
Those who had followed the Judgment Angel Queen this far were, beyond doubt, a band of madmen, a band of zealots.
"Renee, since you persist in your error, then let your crimes be pronounced here."
The angel Tilia put her own video straight onto the open channel.
She paused, and said, "Renee, formerly the Judgment Angel Queen, for betraying the Angel Race and doing grievous harm to her fellow angels, whereby the Judgment Angel star system has come under threat from the undead: the sentence now pronounced is death!"
With that, she at once gave her battle order as well: "Holy Dragon Angel Legion, prepare for battle. Destroy every rebel fleet that stands at bay!"
With that, battle broke out.
This was an operation of 30,000 interstellar warships encircling and destroying 3,000.
In starship quality alone, the two sides were in fact well matched.
The Holy Dragon Angel Legion's active ships were Owl Dragon-series interstellar warships without exception, but it had few T5-grade interstellar warships, and still kept a certain number of T3 interstellar warships.
The rebel side, by contrast, had only 3,000 interstellar warships.
But every one of them, without exception, was an interstellar warship of grade T4 or T5.
The T5 interstellar warships even numbered a hundred!
So, though they fell short of the Holy Dragon Angel Legion in numbers, when it came to fighting power, no one would truly dare vouch for the outcome.
Only, the end of this battle had in fact been sealed already.
For in the dark, one more armed force lay in wait.
"Reporting, the Holy Dragon Angel Legion is now locked in battle with the Judgment Angel Queen's rebel fleet," the secretary officer reported to Commander Zhao Waner before her.
Zhao Waner gave a yawn in her captain's chair.
"Keep a close watch. His Majesty the Emperor did grant the two Angel Sovereigns' request and put this operation in the Holy Dragon Angel Legion's hands, but we are still needed as the backstop. Not one enemy interstellar warship is to get away, least of all that Judgment Angel Queen, Renee. We have let her slip out from under our noses once already. That must not happen a second time."
"Rest assured, Commander. We have set several T5 Netherworld-Wolf-King-class Medium Interstellar Stealth Bombers to watch the flagship carrying the enemy commander. We guarantee absolutely that the enemy will have no chance of escape whatever," the secretary officer said, very firmly.
Zhao Waner folded her arms and coolly watched the battle on the interstellar war holo-table before her.
The tactics the Holy Dragon Angel Legion used now were, for the most part, the Owl Dragon's own.
Seize the initiative on the battlefield with the saturation fire of interstellar missile ships, then destroy the enemy step by step.
The Holy Dragon Angel Legion's strength was naturally no match for the orthodox Owl Dragon legion fleets, but a certain power could still be seen in it.
Any other ordinary legion fleet could never have withstood an attack like this.
Only this elite rebel fleet the Judgment Angel Queen had built had any power to resist at all.
"Are we truly to stay out of it entirely? As things look now, the Holy Dragon Angel Legion holds the advantage both in position and in numbers. But fighting on against the rebel fleet across the way, it will very likely take no small casualties itself. By the results of our big-data calculation, wiping out these 3,000 rebel interstellar warships in the end may cost them the loss of at least 5,000 interstellar warships, a loss rate of about 15%.[2] But if we assist, that loss rate could be brought below 3%," the secretary officer said at her side.
Zhao Waner said coolly, "This task was originally given to our Shadow Hunter ace fleet group. But the Angel Race's two Angel Sovereigns both came forward to His Majesty the Emperor together and volunteered, asking that the task of wiping out the Judgment Angel Queen's rebel fleet be given to them. And His Majesty the Emperor agreed. I know that, from the standpoint of reason, putting this operation in our hands would beyond doubt be the best choice. We could destroy every target in the shortest time, with the highest efficiency and the fewest casualties. But there are some things that cannot be dealt with by the measure of reason. The Judgment Angel Queen's rebel fleet, for instance, is a different matter altogether to the Angel Race. Never mind these 5,000 interstellar warships, even at a greater price than that, they would still do it. For to them, there are some things they must settle themselves, in person!"
Zhao Waner gazed coolly at the interstellar holo-table.
Others might not be able to understand this, but she could.
Had the Owl Dragon an enemy like this, they too would take their revenge at any cost; some things were truly finished only when one settled them oneself, in person.
"Hm?" Zhao Waner narrowed her eyes just then at one marker on the interstellar holo-table.
"It seems we cannot sit idle after all."
The secretary officer beside her watched for a while, then asked her commander, "Then do we move at once?"
"No hurry. Let her enjoy herself a little longer. Prey that has fallen into the trap can hop about all she likes; she will never get out of the palm of our Shadow Hunter ace fleet group's hand," Zhao Waner said with a cold smile.
After that, the rebels' 3,000 interstellar warships were steadily worn down in the fighting.
From 3,000 to 2,500, then to 2,000, 1,500, 1,000.
Zealots though they were, their morale was very high.
Very high morale could indeed raise fighting power to some degree.
But before decisive force, the outcome still could not be changed.
Only, in the thick of this fierce battle, someone was already working out a little scheme of her own.
In a stretch of starry expanse outside the battlefield,
a stealthed interstellar warship was stealing quietly along.
"Your Highness." The captain spoke respectfully to Her Highness the Judgment Angel Queen, who had just walked onto the bridge.