"Report, boss — one of our T2 Ishtars has been destroyed by that Blizzard Zero! One shot! Just one shot!" A terror-stricken cry rose over the internal comm channel.
The bearded pirate captain's heart lurched.
One of his T2 Ishtar-class Heavy Interstellar Destroyers had been destroyed?
The five T2 ships in his fleet, one should know, were his very lifeblood.
Losing T1 ships he didn't mind; at worst he'd just buy more.
But those T2 ships were, every one, no cheap thing.
That one T2 Ishtar he'd bought off the black market only after the pirate fleet had saved up five years' takings.
And just like that, in a moment, it was gone?
"Don't you damn well joke with me. That's a T2 Ishtar-class Heavy Interstellar Destroyer — how could it possibly be destroyed in a single shot! Spout any more nonsense and see if I don't cut off your bits and pickle them in wine when we get back!" the bearded pirate captain snarled, flatly refusing to believe the fact.
"Boss, it's true! That enemy Blizzard Zero has a 1200mm-caliber cannon — a full 1200mm across. Mother of mine, I've lived this long and never once laid eyes on a giant gun of that bore!" The pirate captain's voice was trembling as he spoke.
A 1200mm-caliber cannon?
The bearded pirate captain's heart shuddered; he knew that at a moment like this his subordinate would never joke with him.
"The Bao family, the Cui family! Those noble whelps, hoodwinking me!"
He now shoved the whole blame onto his employers, the Bao and Cui families — theirs was the incomplete intelligence; this was no good-for-nothing baron at all.
"When I get back, if they don't triple the commission, I'll assault their planet and take his wife right in front of him!" the bearded pirate captain cursed.
But alas — he would never have such a chance again.
In the course of pursuing that carrier starship, those interstellar drones had destroyed several more of his T1 ships.
Above all one type — the T2 interstellar bomber drone; the power of those bombs was, quite simply, on a par with a T2 ship's main gun!
And they'd deliberately pick a single spot and bomb it in waves.
Often three of these T2 interstellar bomber drones running one bombing pass, paired with the T2 Killer-Bee-class Medium Interstellar Drones' fire, could destroy a T1 ship with ease inside a few minutes.
"Report — we've… lost another T1 Blue-Sparrow-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser…" a subordinate reported gingerly.
The bearded pirate captain clenched his fists.
"Report — we've entered fire range. We can attack that carrier starship now!" A subordinate reported a piece of good news.
The bearded pirate captain gave the order at once. "Fire for me! Fire! Fire! Tear that damned carrier to shreds for me!"
"Yes!"
The laser main cannon mounted on the T2 Grey-Shark-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser locked onto the carrier starship and fired.
Because that carrier starship was slow, it basically couldn't dodge the laser.
And just as the interstellar pirates waited for the sight of the carrier being struck—
—that beam of laser, still some distance from the carrier, slammed into a screen of light, and exploded into nothing.
The carrier starship was unharmed.
The interstellar pirates were dumbfounded.
"This… what in the world is going on?" The bearded pirate captain hauled up the pirate crewman in charge of the weapon modules in a fit of hysteria.
"I… I don't know either." The pirate crewman wore a wholly innocent face.
The skinny adjutant, meanwhile, spat out two words in disbelief. "A star… star shield…"
A star shield?
The pirate crewmen present came to their senses.
"It's a star shield!"
"That scene just now really was a star shield!"
"But how could a T2 carrier starship possibly have a star shield!"
"Could this… could this be a T3 carrier starship?"
Listening to his pirate crewmen's chatter, the bearded pirate captain gave a furious roar. "Shut up!"
Then he looked to the skinny adjutant. "Isn't the star shield a feature only T3 ships have? That carrier starship looks nothing like a T3 carrier, however you slice it!"
"Judging by the scale and combat power of the interstellar drones it carries, it truly isn't a T3 carrier. But that just now really was a star shield!" Sweat trickled down the skinny adjutant's forehead.
By now the course this interstellar battle had taken was well beyond anything they'd foreseen.
"So what do we do now?" the bearded pirate captain demanded.
"A star shield can only block attacks from a single direction… so as long as our ships strike from several directions at once, the star shield won't be able to block them all in time," the skinny adjutant said.
The bearded pirate captain had already bitten through his own lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth.
He knew that principle well enough, of course.
But they'd chased this far and paid the price of several T1 ships just to lay hold of the carrier's tail at last.
To manage a simultaneous strike from the flanks on top of that — what price would they yet have to pay?
"Boss, we have no choice now. If we retreat, will that baron let us go? I see it clearly now — that baron came prepared. He used his flagship to lure us in, then sprang his interstellar drone swarm on us. This was a trap from the start!" the skinny adjutant said.
Either you die or I die.
A situation like this, the interstellar pirates in fact met often enough.
In the past, they might still have had some will to fight.
But today… their 35 ships, swarming two ships—
—and to this point, they hadn't so much as touched the enemy's hull armor, while they themselves had already lost near a third of their ships!
It was a terrible blow to morale.
"Full-speed attack! Whatever it takes, destroy that carrier starship!" the bearded pirate captain said through gritted teeth.
Having come this far, they had no road left to retreat by.
There was no choice but to fight to the bitter end.
"Report — T1 Blue-Sparrow-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser No. 03's flank armor has been hit; flank hull armor strength at 50%."
"Report — T1 Vulture-class Medium Interstellar Frigate No. 11 destroyed; no survivors."
"Report — T1 Vulture-class Medium Interstellar Frigate No. 19 gravely damaged; lost power, unable to sail."
"Report — a T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate's port hull armor has been blasted open in a 10-meter hole; 23 compartments sealed off in emergency, 32 dead; hull power system damaged, speed steadily falling."
This pursuit-battle had gone on better than half an hour.
The T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship's drone launch-and-recovery cycles had by now averaged near 10 passes, and losses had climbed past 30%.
But thanks to the T2 Baby-Bee-class Light Interstellar Drones' excellent interception work, the pursuing interstellar pirate ships had been unable, all this while, to strike at the T2 Queen Bee from the flank.
And the star shield went on intercepting the attacks coming from behind.
"Our ship is under attack; star-shield remaining energy at 44%." As a ripple of light rolled across the star shield, a crewwoman aboard the T2 Queen Bee reported the figure tensely.
On the bridge's holographic projection, in fact, Zhao Wan'er could see that steadily falling star-shield energy figure.
From green to yellow — and now on the verge of going from yellow to red.
Even so, Zhao Wan'er's expression did not change.
"Report! One of the enemy's T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigates has broken through our T2 Baby-Bee-class Light Interstellar Drone screen and closed to our ship's right flank! At the same time, the enemy fleet's flagship, the T2 Grey-Shark-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, is still keeping up its fire from our rear! If both ships attack at once, our star shield can't defend two directions at the same time!" the crewwoman working the star shield reported.
Zhao Wan'er was silent a moment, then said sharply, "Muster every interstellar drone to strike this T2 Ishkur with everything we have! And keep the star shield holding off the attack from the rear!"
Charlotte watched the order Zhao Wan'er gave — this was the best way to handle the moment.
First find a way to settle one side's attack; even if in the end the hull had to take a few shots, at least the larger situation wouldn't be affected.
"Report, boss — our ship is now on the target's flank. We can fire!" the T2 Ishkur's captain roared.
The bearded pirate captain bellowed like a madman over the comm channel, "Fire! Fire! Blast a great hole in that damned carrier starship for me!"
"Yes! Preparing to fire!"
But just at that moment, a startling scene unfolded.
An interstellar warship came tearing in at tremendous speed to the carrier starship's flank, planting itself between the T2 Ishkur and the T2 Queen Bee.
And at the same time it drove head-on, full speed, straight at the T2 Ishkur.
That 1200mm giant gun seemed to herald something about to happen.
The T2 Ishkur's pirate captain gave a shudder in his captain's chair and shouted in panic, "Fire, quick! Fire, quick!"