"Battle begin!"
At one and the same moment, the chief referee's declaration of the battle's start rang out across the bridges of both Blizzard Zero and the T2 Bald Eagle-class Light Interstellar Cruiser.
Over in the duel arbitration area, those backing Zhang Haoran cheered and whooped.
"Go, Young Master Zhang!"
"Young Master Zhang, give that fellow who's bitten off more than he can chew a proper thrashing!"
"Here's hoping that Zhao Chen puts up a bit more of a struggle — because if the whole battle's over in a few minutes, that rather wastes the special trip we all made to watch the show, doesn't it? Hahahaha."
The ones talking were, of course, Zhang Haoran's pack of cronies; they believed, to a man, that victory in this starship duel belonged to Zhang Haoran.
Among the onlookers, naturally, was Jiang Shasha.
She watched the relayed video feed with a cold detachment. It came by way of battlefield drones, and showed the two ships setting out from their respective spawn points and starting toward one another. Should both hold their present headings—
—then in 10 minutes' time the two ships would come within each other's fire range.
Zhao Chen, this time it's you who bit off more than you could chew. Getting yourself expelled is a fruit of your own planting, so don't go blaming me, Jiang Shasha thought coldly.
In her heart, there was of course no suspense to this duel.
Beyond Zhang Haoran's victory, what other possibility was there?
——————
Blizzard Zero · the bridge.
"On our present heading, hold speed at 40 star-knots." Deputy Captain Charlotte, under the authority Zhao Chen had granted her, was now in charge of directing this ship's combat.
"40 star-knots — so you mean to play the pig to eat the elephant.[1]" Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte with a light laugh.
"I simply don't care to waste time on tedious things," Charlotte said mildly.
Idle at the moment, Zhao Chen raised a hand and called up the holographic data page for Blizzard Zero.
Blizzard Zero
Ship type: interstellar cruiser (interstellar destroyer, interstellar battleship)
Tech tier: T2
Hull armor strength: 210 units – 270 units
Cruise speed: 100 star-knots
Warp drive: grade-3 warp engine
Mass: 85,000 tons
Crew posts: 50
Weapons: one T2 heavy 1200mm Devil-Croc cannon (one shot at a time; 300-second interval)
five T2 medium Hyena laser cannons (one shot at a time; 180-second interval)
thirty 130mm T2 medium close-in turrets (two shots at a time; no interval)
Of the three weapons Blizzard Zero carried, the latter two were mounted right on the hull's surface; the first was of a concealed design — a little trick Zhao Chen had kept up his sleeve.
"Mind if I take a rough guess at your battle plan?" Zhao Chen rubbed at his chin, looking at Charlotte.
"You're the captain; you can take back my command at any moment. Here, whatever you say is holy writ," said Deputy Captain Charlotte.
Zhao Chen raised a hand and opened up a rather more meager set of ship data besides.
It was the T2 Bald Eagle across from them.
"The T2 Bald Eagle's weapons are made up chiefly of three sorts: five T2 medium 180mm rapid-fire cannons, 10-second interval; then 20 150mm T2 medium quad-mounted close-in guns, four shots at a time, no interval. Its main weapon is a single T2 medium Bald Eagle laser main cannon — one shot at a time, 210-second interval."
A gleam kindled in Zhao Chen's eyes. "First off, our advantage lies in the fact that they know nothing whatever of our ship's true performance. Your order just now to hold at 40 star-knots was meant to plant a false impression in the enemy — that our ship's top speed is somewhere in the low forties. But when it comes to the real clash, we hit them with something they'll never see coming. The T2 Bald Eagle's five T2 medium 180mm rapid-fire cannons pack a decent punch, but their range is short. The one thing that poses any real threat to us is their laser main cannon. So when the moment comes, we seize the opening: the instant the enemy's laser main cannon fires, we throw on the speed and open the distance in a rush, dodging their attack. A laser main cannon's line of fire can be predicted, and the interval before it strikes is more than enough for us to get clear. Then, once that laser main cannon drops into its recharge-and-cooldown window — that's when it's our turn to push them around."
Charlotte looked at Zhao Chen. "That military academy of yours wasn't wasted on you, then. A T2-tier ship that hits 100 star-knots — I've never once laid eyes on one. Which is exactly why I rated this Blizzard Zero, earlier, an 'undefeatable ship within the T2 tier.'"
She'd read out the general shape of his battle plan.
Zhao Chen sat back at his ease in the captain's chair, and waited for the good show to begin.
Before long, Blizzard Zero and the T2 Bald Eagle appeared, each within the other's radar-detection range.
Charlotte glanced at the time and murmured under her breath, "55."
At the same time she set a countdown, projected in holographic form between herself and Zhao Chen.
Countdown 10:00
The girl really had taken it to heart — what she'd told Zhao Chen earlier, about ending the battle in 10 minutes.
Over on the other side, the T2 Bald Eagle was making its move as well.
"Report — target sighted. Target is approaching our position at roughly 40 star-knots," the radar officer reported.
"Full speed ahead — go blast that junk ship to pieces for me!" said Zhang Haoran in his excitement.
Wang Cheng slid Zhang Haoran a glance. By rights, to rush in at full speed without any grasp of the enemy ship's performance was a cardinal sin on an interstellar battlefield.
But then — the opponent was just some student, and that neither-fish-nor-fowl ship of his truly did look like nothing much; the weapons mounted on its hull weren't worth a second glance either.
Surely it posed no threat worth speaking of.
And what was more, this T2 Bald Eagle had a top speed as high as 65 star-knots; should anything unexpected crop up, its speed would let it adapt on the fly.
"By the captain's order, our ship is to sail full speed at the target; all weapons to standby." Though this was Wang Cheng's own command, he gave Zhang Haoran face by issuing it in Zhang Haoran's name — for he was, after all, the man's hired hand.
"Use our T2 laser main cannon; the moment we're in range, give them a shot first — let them get a good look at the gap in strength between two starships. Hahaha… I'm betting that Zhao Chen ends up scared right off his captain's chair and onto the floor." Zhang Haoran seemed already to see the ridiculous, terror-stricken figure Zhao Chen would cut.
"Yes." Wang Cheng had no objection to an arrangement like that — it was, after all, no more than a duel whose ending was already written.
Before long, both ships were on the verge of entering maximum fire range.
Charlotte's eyes were fixed on the radar star-map, as though waiting for something.
"Warning! Warning! Laser weapon attack detected in progress!"
"Warning! Warning! Detected—"
"War—"
Zhao Chen noticed the faint upward curve at the corner of Charlotte's mouth — and, in eyes that until now had been still as dead water, the sudden stir of a ripple.
"Full-speed turn to starboard!" Deputy Captain Charlotte barked.