Half a year had passed since the alliance with the Far Shore of Deep Space.
In this half year,
the Fierce Dragon civilization had developed extremely fast as well.
"At present our Fierce Dragon civilization's nine systems have reached a total annual output value of twenty trillion star coins! The shipworks in the Fierce Dragon First System have been upgraded to T4 grade across the board, and can produce T4-grade interstellar warships at full capacity. And in the Sixth System and the remaining few systems, some component shipworks have been built too. The components they produce are shipped to the Fierce Dragon First System, where assembly can be completed," Secretary Officer Shuixian said, going into the development of the Fierce Dragon civilization's nine great systems in detail.
Zhao Chen looked at these figures.
From three years ago, when annual output value was under three million star coins,[1]
to now, holding nine great systems,
with annual output value over twenty trillion star coins:
this rate of growth was truly quite terrifying.
"But at present the resource development of our nine great systems is nearly past its period of rapid growth. From here on the rate of increase will slow, and it'll be very hard to rise as fast as in the last few years," Secretary Officer Shuixian said.
Zhao Chen looked at Chief Engineer Annie: "Twenty trillion star coins: can that meet our production needs for now?"
Chief Engineer Annie called up a data display.
In it was set out the Fierce Dragon civilization's present internal interstellar warship capacity,
written in great detail; it could be called quite perfect.
But Zhao Chen knew this thing could not possibly have been put together by Annie herself.
It was said she had set up something like a secretariat in her own industrial department too.
All of this had been written by those subordinates.
They had only to go over each figure with Annie before every meeting, and Annie would bring it out and report it.
Of course, Annie did not take the credit for herself either.
The rewards those staff officers got were quite large too.
And brought up this way by Annie, every one of them was growing fast as well.
It could be said that Annie's laziness had trained up a crop of talent for the Fierce Dragon civilization.
"The starship output of our Fierce Dragon civilization's five great shipworks, plus all the scattered shipworks, put together, is all here. What we've planned at present is T4-grade interstellar warships at an annual output of a thousand, covering T4 interstellar warships of every ship type, expected to be worth eight trillion star coins. And T3 interstellar warships we've set at an annual output of a hundred thousand, also covering every ship type. The remaining two trillion star coins' worth of resources serve as reserve capacity, and for producing the interstellar missiles our Fierce Dragon fleets use up so enormously. All told, a year's output has already reached a hundred thousand interstellar warships!"
An annual output of a hundred thousand T3 interstellar warships.
For the Fierce Dragon civilization now, this could already be called quite a fine output.
At least within the Far Shore of Deep Space, none of those few Trial civilizations, taken on its own, could meet the Fierce Dragon civilization's standard.
Had they known that the Fierce Dragon civilization, with only thirty thousand interstellar warships a little over half a year ago,
now had the capacity for an annual output of a hundred thousand T3 interstellar warships, they would probably all have been greatly startled.
"Then how many interstellar warships do we have in active service?" Zhao Chen looked at Marshal Chu Xuan beside him.
"At present our active-service interstellar warships number sixty thousand–odd. Of these, thirty thousand are T3 interstellar warships, and there are a thousand T4 interstellar warships besides,"[2] Marshal Chu Xuan said.
Sixty thousand interstellar warships.
If they kept lying low,
a year from now it would be nearly two hundred thousand interstellar warships.
But the Fierce Dragon civilization was growing, and those other Trial civilizations were growing too.
The Fierce Dragon civilization could not keep lying low.
"It's about time for us to make a move. Chu Xuan. The battle plan from here on is in your hands."
Zhao Chen looked at Chu Xuan.
"Very good." Marshal Chu Xuan raised her hand and opened a battle plan long since prepared:
Operation Beast Hunt.
——————
The Savage Beast Alliance · A combat system somewhere.
"After this wave of attacks, we can finish clearing the hive-race from three-quarters of this system. One more system's resources can raise our T4 interstellar warship capacity further!" a tiger-headed commander said with a hearty laugh, drinking.
"That's right. And our three-year deadline is getting closer and closer. Our T4 interstellar warships are getting more and more numerous. How could those Trial civilizations possibly be a match for us?" the tiger-headed commander said with a great laugh.
"Come, cheers!" The bear-headed one raised his glass.
The three Trial civilizations' commanders raised their glasses and drank together.
But the bear-headed commander gave a sigh of regret and said, "When our Savage Beast Alliance has wiped out every one of those Trial civilizations, that'll be when the three of us stand on the battlefield against each other. I truly hope that day never comes."
Hearing this, the eyes of the other two races' commanders dimmed for an instant too.
But the tiger-headed commander soon clapped the two of them on the shoulder with a hearty laugh and said, "What's to fear? We soldiers all have to die someday. This Trial of the Gods will have only one victor. Rather than let those Trial civilizations pick the peaches, I'd much rather one of our three civilizations win. I ask nothing else; only that the interstellar civilization that wins treat our bereaved kin well once it's out."
The Savage Beast Alliance's three Trial civilizations had long since agreed:
after the Savage Beast Alliance had wiped out the other Trial blocs, it would be the great decisive battle among the three of them.
In the great decisive battle, whichever side won,
once out, it must treat the other two civilizations' bereaved kin well.
They had sworn it.
"No problem. Our lord has said: if we win, your two races will be first-class citizens in our civilization. The families behind all of you will enjoy noble status outright, keep all their original fiefs, and their powers will stay just as they are now. Our civilization will look after you!" the lion-headed commander said, thumping his chest.
"Ha ha ha, you young fellow. The way you talk, it's as if your civilization's sure to win. With that command skill of yours, I could spot you half a brain and you still couldn't beat me!"
"You fellow, last time we ran a simulated war game, who won!"
"Last time doesn't count; you hid a fleet. That broke the rules!"
"What do you mean, broke the rules? On the battlefield that's called all's fair in war."
The three commanders of their various civilizations laughed heartily, without the least worry about one day taking up arms against each other for their own civilizations.
After the drinking:
"All right. The eating and drinking are over. But let's not forget our task either. Thirty thousand strong. Of them, ten thousand advance on the front battlefield. Ten thousand stay behind to guard the rear base camp. And ten thousand are stationed here as a reserve. Whatever happens, they can give support!"
"Rest assured. Nothing will go wrong."
"Three days from now is when we launch our offensive."
At this moment, outside this interstellar fortress,
a T4 interstellar stealth reconnaissance ship lay quietly in wait, watching every move of these Savage Beast Alliance fleets' interstellar warships.
And in a remote corner of this system,
thirty thousand Fierce Dragon fleet ships lay in hiding.
"Marshal. We have a fleet of thirty thousand. Do we really need to hide and sneak about? Just bear down on them with the whole army. Thirty thousand against thirty thousand. I really can't see how we could lose!" an officer said with a hearty laugh.
In the campaigns of this period, they had all come, without realizing it, to believe that Fierce Dragon-made interstellar warships were the strongest.
At equal numbers like this,
they truly could not see how they could lose.
"Don't underestimate the other side. The Savage Beast Alliance fleet over there may have only thirty thousand interstellar warships, but among those thirty thousand interstellar warships are fifteen hundred T4 interstellar warships. And we have only a thousand T4 interstellar warships. In this respect, we have a certain gap. Besides, when the Savage Beast Alliance's fleets come under attack, they're bound to send fleets from their home systems in support. And we, as we are now, don't have enough resources to sustain a great battle. So the intensity of the fighting is limited. First, time. One day. Our fighting time is only one day. Within this one day, however many enemy ships we can clear away, that's how many. After one day, the whole fleet withdraws! No fleet is to linger in the fight!" Marshal Chu Xuan said gravely.
"Yes!"
"Next, our hunt begins." Marshal Chu Xuan raised her hand over the star map, like a god,
and gave battle order after battle order.
As these orders went down,
every Fierce Dragon fleet began to move too.
And the key target of the Fierce Dragon fleets' attack this time was not the fleet guarding the rear,
but the reserve in the middle.
The reason was simple too.
These ten thousand interstellar warships were highly concentrated.
These ten thousand Savage Beast Alliance interstellar warships were all gathered around an interstellar fortress.
For the Fierce Dragon fleets, striving for a quick decision,
this was without doubt the best prey.
And the bugle call for the Fierce Dragon fleets to launch their attack
would naturally be when the Savage Beast Alliance fleet's front-line forces had launched their attack on the hive-race fleet and the fighting was at its height.
Wait!
Wait!
Wait for an order.
"Prepare to attack."
Marshal Chu Xuan's order came down.
Every fleet received it.
Almost in the same instant,
around this Savage Beast Alliance interstellar fortress,
starship after starship suddenly appeared.
Interstellar missile after interstellar missile came streaking at these interstellar fortresses with tail flames.
The interstellar fortress garrison's supreme commander of the Savage Beast Alliance:
"This is bad; it's interstellar stealth bombers! It's an enemy attack!" The supreme commander saw these red dots appear on the radar
and at once sounded the alarm.
But the alarm was truly somewhat late.
These interstellar stealth bombers had struck, and the targets they locked onto were all the T4 interstellar warships in this area, and high-value strategic targets.
Shadow-Demon-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bomber
Class: interstellar stealth bomber
Tech level: T4
Hull armor: 3,000–3,800 units
Star shield energy: 200,000 units
Cruising speed: 600 star-knots
Warp drive: grade-8
Length: 2.8 kilometers
Mass: 1,100,000 tons
Crew: 1,000
Weapons:
6,000 heavy short-range particle torpedoes
500 short-range heavy anti-ship missiles
500 short-range heavy cluster bombs
50 optical-mimicry missiles
50 electromagnetic-jamming missiles
50 thermal-decoy missiles
50 smoke-decoy missiles
Special: Shadow-Demon concealment mode (can enter cloak at speed, and for a short while thereafter sail the faster for it).
Phantom Assassin-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bomber
Class: interstellar stealth bomber
Tech level: T3
Hull armor: 1,000–1,200 units
Star shield energy: 20,000 units
Cruising speed: 300 star-knots
Warp drive: grade-6
Length: 490 meters
Mass: 120,000 tons
Crew: 50
Weapons: 10-cell vertical-launch silo (10 optical-mimicry missiles, 20 short-range heavy anti-ship missiles, 20 short-range heavy cluster bombs); 10-tube torpedo bank (200 heavy short-range particle torpedoes).
Special: Phantom cloaked-flight mode (10 seconds to enter cloak).
"Thrilling! Truly thrilling. These two interstellar stealth bombers of ours are just too cool. This young lady just loves the feeling of ambushing people. It's actually got that rush I used to get back when I was a pirate!" Fire Lydia was standing at this moment on the bridge of a T4 Shadow-Demon-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bomber.
She was the commander of this fleet made up of interstellar stealth bombers,
in charge of commanding this fleet specifically:
about six hundred interstellar warships in all,
thirty T4 Shadow-Demon-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bombers and six hundred T3 Phantom Assassin-class Light Interstellar Stealth Bombers.
These interstellar stealth bombers slipped soundlessly into position around their targets,
then, in an extremely short time,
fired off every interstellar missile these interstellar stealth bombers carried,
enough to catch those Savage Beast Alliance T4 interstellar warships completely off guard.
"Quick, quick, quick! Get moving, all of you, faster. Once all the interstellar missiles are fired, withdraw from the battlefield at full speed! If you're too slow and get hit by our own interstellar missiles, nobody will pay your death benefits!" Fire Lydia shouted in the command channel.
All the interstellar stealth bombers completed their attack task and at once withdrew at full speed.
For at this very moment,
in the distant airspace,
interstellar missile ship after interstellar missile ship had already shown its edge.
On the hulls of these interstellar missile ships, those interstellar missile launch cells opened one by one, revealing the interstellar missiles long since ready inside.
At a word of command from these interstellar missile ships' captains,
these long-ready interstellar missiles shot out with tail flames.
These interstellar missiles first leapt over the Fierce Dragon fleets still charging,
and interstellar missile after interstellar missile passed through the Fierce Dragon fleets' formation like a meteor shower,
flying toward their targets.
"Damn! Run faster!" Fire Lydia looked at the bombardment-zone map her own interstellar missile ships had sent to the interstellar radar.
At this moment they still had dozens of interstellar stealth bombers inside those red zones.
Once they failed to get out of these red zones within the time required, they might very well be caught by this round of interstellar missile attacks!
She did not want, the first time she led these interstellar stealth bombers into battle, to have a few lines added to her record:
that several interstellar stealth bombers, failing to withdraw in time, had been hit by friendly starships.
That would be far too embarrassing.