The Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth · the Black Wolf Tribe's Third Legion Fleet · flagship.
Upon the flagship's bridge, the environment was, at this moment, dim and gloomy, all around it a stretch of silence, with only those towering dormancy pods. At the position of the captain's chair, a black-furred werewolf lay dormant within a dormancy pod. He was the supreme commander of this Reef Star Region military action. And, at the same time, he was the commander of the Black Wolf Tribe's Third Legion Fleet, ordered to lead his own Black Wolf Tribe's Third Legion Fleet, along with two other tribes' fleets, in hastening to the Reef Star Region, to merge it into the territorial map of his Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth. And by Warhammer's rules, whoever opens up territory — those star systems, of course, belong to them.
And so, after this Mechanical Race withdrawal, the very first to react was the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth! Those tribal chieftains, for all the world like beasts that had caught the scent of blood, at the very first moment dispatched their own tribal fleets toward those unregulated, unadministered star systems, making ready to take control of them into their own hands. And this Reef Star Region had been allotted to the Black Wolf Tribe — the Black Wolf Tribe being one of Warhammer's twenty great tribes.
The corner of the Black Wolf commander's mouth, deep in his slumber, curled into a trace of a smile; by the look of it, he was in the midst of a beautiful dream. Once he had taken control of the Reef Star Region, his standing within the Black Wolf Tribe would surely rise with the tide, and he'd be all the more valued by the chieftain.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! A warp interceptor has been detected upon the warp-navigation route; the ship will drop out of warp-navigation state in-frequency! All ship personnel, return to combat posts at once!"
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Upon the warp-navigation route…"
Suddenly, a piercing warning-tone came to his ears; the whole bridge flickered with a dazzling, stinging red radiance.
The Black Wolf commander awoke in the shortest span of time; he opened his own dormancy pod, and looked at the crew all around, still somewhat at a loss. And just as he was about to give an order and inquire into the current situation —
Another warning-tone rang out upon his bridge.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! A great quantity of interstellar missiles in transit has been detected; please conduct interception or evasion at once!"
"Warning! Warning! Warning! A great quantity has been detected…!"
Interstellar missiles?
The Black Wolf commander was a whole face of bafflement. Even granting that they'd been intercepted by some hostile force's fleet — yet they'd only just now been intercepted; how had it already locked onto his fleet and launched an attack? In the past, in an interception operation of this kind, the ambushing side might well need five minutes of prep time — indeed, even upward of 10 minutes! But now? This was under 10 seconds' time!
"Enter combat state at once; order all interstellar warships of the fleet to activate their defensive weapons!" The Black Wolf commander looked at the deputy commander at his side, who'd likewise awakened, and there and then handed down the order.
The deputy commander's expression was somewhat complex; he looked toward the Black Wolf commander. "My lord… you'd do best to take a look at this radar chart first…"
The Black Wolf commander had, to begin with, been about to consult the radar chart; and at this moment this radar chart appeared before his eyes. In an instant, his whole face changed color.
Upon the interstellar radar chart one could see that the position where all the interstellar warships of their fleet were gathered was quite densely clustered — a good deal closer than the normal spacing between hulls! And at the same time, at the fleet's edge there had appeared a great mass of red dots, closing in upon their interstellar fleet's formation at exceedingly swift speed.
Originally the Black Wolf commander had merely supposed that this wave of the enemy's attack was, perhaps, a few thousand interstellar missiles. But now, at a sudden glance, there were, at the least, upward of 10,000 interstellar missiles. And, moreover, his own fleet's formation of this sort was, against so vast a number of interstellar missiles, quite simply the finest of targets — not a better one to be had.
"Defend! Intercept! Now! Quickly!" the Black Wolf commander roared out; he could scarcely imagine what sort of scene it would be for so many interstellar missiles to fall amid his fleet.
But the problem lay in this: the overwhelming majority of the Warhammer interstellar fleet's interstellar warships had only just come out of the warp-navigation state, and the various modules of the ships all needed a certain amount of time to start up. The more so for those defensive-type weapons. Among them, even some of the T3-grade star shields had not yet activated!
"Reporting — the fleet's interstellar warships are sustaining attack!"
"Reporting — one T2 Beetle-class Medium Interstellar Frigate, ship No. B201, has been destroyed!"
"Reporting — one T2 Grey Shark-class…"
Because it was the flagship, the Black Wolf commander's bridge restored order in the shortest span of time, and had, at this moment, already begun to report up the news of ships being destroyed.
The Black Wolf commander, his face blackened, looked at the video footage before him — that was the scene of his interstellar fleet suffering a wild storm of interstellar-missile bombardment. Interstellar missiles beyond counting bombarded his interstellar warships, one after another. Some T3 interstellar warships that hadn't had time to activate their defensive weapons and star shields were, indeed, destroyed by dozens of interstellar missiles in the blink of an eye, exploding and falling.
Interstellar missiles of such might! Terrifying to such a degree!
"These are, of all things, still T3-grade interstellar missiles." The Black Wolf commander ground out a hissing, sibilant sound of friction with his sharp fangs, a kind of enraged low growl coming, besides, from within his throat.
"Reporting — the Mole Tribe's First Legion Fleet and Second Legion Fleet request our support!" the deputy commander reported at his side. The Mole Tribe was a tribal force controlled by the Black Wolf Tribe; in this Reef Star Region combat action, it had been ordered to lead the Mole Tribe's sole two legion fleets and fight alongside the Black Wolf Tribe's Third Legion Fleet. But who could have imagined they'd, of all things, come to suffer an ambush right here. Set against the Black Wolf Tribe's interstellar fleet, the Mole Tribe's interstellar fleet's combat power was, of course, a notch inferior; and so, over on their side, the losses were all the more grievous.
"Hold on! Hold on through this round of interstellar missiles, and then at once unfold a counterattack and seek a chance to break out of the encirclement!" the Black Wolf commander said in a low, grave voice. The attack of an interstellar missile ship — its strength lay in a single wave of powerful offensive, but the interval between rounds was long. And so, once the interstellar missile ships had finished their attack, it would then be the turn for their Black Wolf Tribe's interstellar warships to have their chance to counterattack.
"Reporting — the reconnaissance drones we sent out have scanned out part of the situation of the enemy fleet besieging us. The total number is no more than 500 interstellar warships!" the deputy commander reported.
"Only under 500 interstellar warships?" A keen light, and a murderous intent, kindled in the Black Wolf commander's eyes. If it were only 500 interstellar warships, then he'd soon have the surety of making these fellows who dared ambush him pay a price in blood.
"But… of these under-500 interstellar warships, half are… T3-grade interstellar warships." The deputy commander gulped, and let out a figure quite astonishing.
"Over 200 T3 interstellar warships?" The Black Wolf Tribe commander was given a start, his brows knitting slightly; this proportion of T3 interstellar warships was quite high. For one must know that, of the 10,000 interstellar warships he led, there were, likewise, only 300 T3 interstellar warships. A ratio of 30 to one.
Just which force's interstellar fleet was this, after all?
He'd begun to feel a touch of unease — but happily, the number of his interstellar fleet still, for the moment, held the upper hand.