Inside the Fire Salamander Home-Base Starport.
Warship after warship tried, in a panic, to sail clear of this "living coffin." Which only left more warships unable to get out of port quickly — everyone jammed together in one crush. Some ships tried to swing their guns around to sight on that T3 stealth bomber opposite, only to find their line of fire blocked by their own friendly ships. Worse, some, in their haste, actually rammed the ships around them. The whole Fire Salamander starport was, in a word, a shambles.
In this state, those incoming torpedoes and missiles struck the starport and the warships docked in its key channels, one after another — like sparks touched to a woodpile. In no time, fire flared without cease, blasts erupting everywhere.
One T2 warship, most unluckily, took a hit to its magazine — where the ship munitions just resupplied had not even been properly stowed. This set off a horrific sympathetic detonation. After a vast fireball bloomed at one spot of the Fire Salamander starport, a still more terrifying explosion swallowed a fifth of the whole starport. For around that first fireball lay one of the starport's major warehouses of ship missiles. It touched off a chain reaction — one blast after another, one "powder keg" lighting the next.
Those T2 warships, so overweening in the systems the Fire Salamander clan controlled, were now like rats shut in a cage, wholly without recourse, able only to watch, helpless, as their own ships were devoured by the blasts. At this pass, some cold-hearted Fire Salamander captains simply rammed the friendly ships blocking their path aside. And ramming was the milder sort; worse still, some fired their guns on their own friendly ships outright — all so their own warship might escape this "living coffin." Very much the way of it: man and wife are birds of one wood, but when calamity comes, each flies its own way.
The T1 warships and the few T2 warships not inside the starport poured fire on the culprit, hoping to stop the tragedy. But this was a T3 warship possessed of a T4 all-around star shield; even at less than full shield energy, it was not something these T1 and T2 warships could break through in any short time.
Zhao Wan'er watched her "great torch" before her, well content with this masterwork of hers. Above all that T3 Arkham-class Medium Interstellar Battleship she'd "tended" so carefully — now a ruin blasting apart without end, its huge hull blocking the other friendly ships' escape route, so that those T2 warships could only glare, helpless, and wait for death.
A few minutes later, Zhao Chen led his Owl Dragon Fleet to the battlefield. On the T3 Blizzard's bridge, he looked at that "fireball" visible from far off. It had to be said — truly magnificent.
Completion rate updated: destroyed one T3 warship — completion 70%.
Completion rate updated: killed target figure "Fire Salamander chieftain" — completion 75%.
A video window appeared beside Zhao Chen; on the other end was Zhao Wan'er.
Zhao Wan'er stood up straight. "Reporting, Commander — the surprise-strike mission is complete."
"Beautifully done," Zhao Chen praised.
Zhao Wan'er wore the pleased look of one commended. Then, her face turning serious, she reported, "By the enemy-fleet intelligence I detected on arriving here earlier: at this Fire Salamander home base there were over 1,000 warships! The great majority of the T2 warships and the one remaining T3 warship were docked in the starport; though my ship hasn't destroyed the enemy starport, we struck its key internal channels in particular, so the ships inside can't withdraw for a while. The remaining T1 warships outside number an estimated 800-odd."
"Understood. Your task's complete; you may pull back. Leave the rest to us." Zhao Chen nodded, satisfied.
"Yes!"
Ending the comm with Zhao Wan'er, Zhao Chen decisively gave the battle order. "T2 Lion King Number One, Two, and Three — keep up the missile fire strike on the starport. The T3 Blizzard and the T2 Snow Mastiff, encircle and annihilate the remnant T2 warships outside the starport. The T2 Black Rhinos, free engagement — attack the enemy's T1 warships. This operation: leave no one alive! Let these fellows learn just what kind of enemy they've angered!"
Zhao Chen issued the order to slaughter. At it, the crew felt nothing amiss. This was an interstellar battlefield; when it was called for, one had to have this measure of ruthlessness toward the enemy. The Fire Salamander clan had provoked him again and again — so they had to pay the price.
In truth there was another reason: Zhao Chen had found that his task system hadn't yet settled, which meant the ships destroyed here would count toward his tally of ships destroyed too. Naturally Zhao Chen wouldn't let the chance slip.
Cruel? If they must blame something, blame their chieftain for choosing a road to death.
The slaughter formally began. The Fire Salamander starport began to endure the missile bombardment of three T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships — which reduced it, utterly, to a fire-blasted ruin. The Fire Salamander T2 and T1 warships around it couldn't be spared either, hunted without restraint by Zhao Chen's T3 Blizzard, T2 Snow Mastiff, and T2 Black Rhinos.
Completion rate updated: enemy ships destroyed reached two thousand — completion 80%.
Completion rate updated: enemy ships destroyed reached twenty-five hundred — completion 85%.
A war of annihilation lasting more than two hours. No few Fire Salamander ships began to flee in rout, and in the end 100 or 200 did get away. But Zhao Chen had achieved his aim.
Zhao Chen began ordering the T2 Black Rhino-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigates to gather up, as much as they could, the Fire Salamander property on the several surrounding planets — raw-material resources above all. If there were interstellar transports on hand locally, "borrow" them outright. Zhao Chen had come to "pay a call"; naturally he couldn't come empty-handed and leave empty-handed too. He had to bring a little something back.
The Battle Against the Fire Salamander Coalition
Content: Complete the various metrics in this battle; the final reward is granted according to completion rate. Below 60% completion, the task fails.
Difficulty: B+
Completion rate: 85%
Mission complete — settling the reward, please wait…
Just as they were about to head back, the system's prompt sounded in Zhao Chen's mind. There was no telling what sort of reward the System would give this time.
Mission complete — please claim your reward.