Facing a hive-race fleet, if a defensive line gave way, then it was for all the world like a dam bursting its banks — the flood would run a thousand li unchecked.
"Report — three T3 warship energy signals have appeared on one side of the battlefield!" the crew member in charge of monitoring the ship radar suddenly cried out.
"T3 warships? Could it be an Empire military fleet? But how could there be only three? Have you misread it!" The coalition fleet's commander, just now turning from grief to joy, at once demanded.
"It's indeed only three… and I can say for certain, it's no Empire military fleet — for our deep-space telescope has already captured images of these warships!" As he spoke, the crew member put up the captured imagery of the three T3 warships, and above all the paint-emblems on their hulls. It was the emblem of a dragon's head. Behind the emblem were the three hull numbers 007, 008, and 009 respectively.
"This emblem is… how familiar it looks…" The fleet commander rubbed at his chin; he felt as though he'd seen this emblem somewhere, but just now he simply couldn't call it to mind.
"It's the Owl Dragon Fleet! These are the Owl Dragon Fleet's T3 Blizzards! That legendary interstellar warship!" An adjutant beside him cried out, his two eyes seeing stars of gold.
"That's right! It's the Owl Dragon Fleet's emblem!" The fleet commander clapped his hands hard. In that earlier interstellar-hive-race disaster that had befallen the Azure Star Region, it was precisely this Owl Dragon Fleet's warship that had made its name in a single battle.
"The Owl Dragon Fleet has come to support us? But… they have only three T3 warships… this… can't turn the situation around either!" The fleet commander rubbed at his head.
The adjutant who'd recognized the T3 Blizzard, though, said, "Commander, don't forget that this legendary warship once set a record of, within a hive-race fleet, killing one T3 Hive Mothership and gravely crippling another — the feat of fighting one against three and withdrawing wholly unscathed!"
"Report — those three T3 warships have begun accelerating at full power; their speed has already broken 200 star-knots! They're driving straight for the center of the hive-race fleet. Their target… seems to be its T3 Hive Mothership!" the crew member cried out.
The fleet commander at once looked at the star chart — and sure enough. The three T3 Blizzards, in a triangular combat formation, were advancing at full speed toward one direction. And if these three T3 Blizzards didn't change their course, then that route would run them straight up against a T3 Hive Mothership!
"They… what is it they mean to do?" The fleet commander gulped.
And what came next was a sight that left them dumbstruck. Those three T3 Blizzards spread their shields, and at the same time the point-defense guns, secondary guns, and main guns aboard the ships all opened up at full firepower! And they deployed the whole of their interstellar drones! For all the world like a three-pronged war-trident, they stabbed forward without a backward step into the hive-race fleet. And their terrifying firepower, matched with their terrifying speed, actually did leave that hive-race fleet unable to intercept them for the moment. The distance to that T3 Hive Mothership shrank nearer and nearer!
"This is T3 Blizzard 007; the bow cannon is on standby, ready to fire at any moment!" one of the Blizzard captains said on her bridge. Before her, to either side, were two video-comm windows — the captains, respectively, of T3 Blizzard 008 and T3 Blizzard 009.
"008 is likewise ready!"
"Let that cursed T3 Hive Mothership taste our might!"
The two captains held themselves poised and ready. Though the T3 Blizzards they commanded had already driven deep into the hive-race fleet, they showed not the least fear. For, mind you, back then, their Commander had dared to charge alone into a hive-race fleet commanding but a single T3 Blizzard. And now they had three T3 Blizzards, no less?
Before long, the distance between them and the target was already within the bow cannon's range of fire. Almost at the same instant, the three captains gave the order to fire! The bow cannons of the three T3 Blizzards fired out blue cluster-lasers simultaneously. The three blue cluster-lasers destroyed every bug blocking their path ahead, turning them all to ash. In the space of an instant, the three blue cluster-lasers arrived before that T3 Hive Mothership.
The T3 Hive Mothership, too, opened wide its abyssal maw, and a bio-plasma cannon fired forth. But there was nothing to be done — it was one against three! The bio-plasma cannon was torn to shreds outright by the three blue cluster-lasers, which then slammed heavily into the T3 Hive Mothership's bio-armor. It didn't hold for long; the bio-armor of this T3 Hive Mothership was soon pierced through by the three cluster-lasers. Split and shattered, four ways and five!
"Report — target destroyed!"
From all three T3 Blizzards' bridges came the sound of the crew reporting.
But the battle wasn't over yet — for, mind you, there was still another T3 Hive Mothership here. The three T3 Blizzards slightly corrected their course, pointing straight at the next target: the other T3 Hive Mothership!
"Don't tell me they mean to kill two T3 Hive Motherships in one go!" The lord-fleet commander watched this scene in disbelief.
But whatever the case, the appearance of these three T3 Blizzards brought a turn for the better to their line of defense, which had been on the verge of collapse. Because a great mass of bugs began to pull back to protect and support their own mothership. And this, too, gave them the chance to reorganize their line.
Before long, the three T3 Blizzards told them the answer through their actions. This time, the engagement distance between the three T3 Blizzards and the second T3 Hive Mothership was closer still. The T3 Hive Mothership's bio-plasma cannon fired first; T3 Blizzard No.007, holding the very front, used its own shield to ward off this shot. And at the same time it went on advancing, without a backward step!
"Warning! Shield energy value is dropping — 60% remaining… 57%… 54…"
T3 Blizzard No.007's captain's face didn't change; she sat calmly in the captain's chair, her eyes fixed on one datum. That was the optimal firing range of the Blizzard interstellar missiles! Because the bow cannon was, just now, still in its reset-cooldown — but they'd no time to go on waiting. So this time they'd use a new means.
"Report — the second T3 Hive Mothership has entered optimal firing range!" the crew member in charge of the Blizzard interstellar-missile module reported.
"50 T3 Blizzard interstellar missiles — fire!" the captain gave the order decisively.
The three T3 Blizzards' interstellar missiles fired almost at the same instant, and delivered a saturation strike outright! One interstellar missile after another streaked toward the target, trailing tail-flame. Before long, over half of that T3 Hive Mothership's body was covered by the explosions of the interstellar missiles. And on the ship radar, that T3 Hive Mothership's life-energy signal thereupon vanished. After the explosions ended, all that remained was one enormous, wound-riddled carcass!
"They actually did it!" The coalition fleet's commander was worked up beyond measure. In a bare span of under three minutes, for all the world like war-gods descending to earth, they'd slain two T3 Hive Motherships one after the other — and this let them see hope.
"Get in touch with those three T3 Blizzards at once; we're willing to coordinate our fighting with them!" the fleet commander said, worked up.
"Er… my lord… those three T3 Blizzards… seem to have left already…" the adjutant beside him said, stunned.
The fleet commander was left blank; he looked at the ship radar. And sure enough, just as the adjutant said, the three T3 Blizzards that had completed the task of killing two T3 Hive Motherships had, of all things, driven off without so much as a backward glance.
Emmm……
This left the whole of the lord fleet dumbfounded. Weren't you here to support us? How is it you've left this fast?
Though, to speak the truth, with two T3 Hive Motherships lost — and with the three T3 Blizzards having, in the course of that charge just now, killed no small number of hive-race units besides — the hive-race fleet that remained, though still somewhat thorny for them to deal with, posed basically no danger in this battle so long as they made no fatal error.
But why had those three T3 Blizzards left without so much as a word of greeting?
Far too strange.