The Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth · the Mogenda Star Region · the Black Wolf First Star System.
The Wolf-King Starport Fortress.
This was the largest semi-military starport the Black Wolf tribe possessed.
And not far off from it lay the Black Wolf tribe's main star system.
The Black Wolf tribe ranked among the twenty great tribes, but its strength placed it toward the weaker end — otherwise it would hardly have played little brother to the Black Tiger tribe, another of the great tribes.
At the Black Wolf tribe's peak, it had possessed 10 directly subordinate tribal interstellar legions and 30,000 interstellar warships, every one built to regular-army establishment: uniformly T2 interstellar warships fitted out with T3 interstellar warships, and its holdings of T4 interstellar warships reaching into the double digits!
But only a short while ago, and again "just now," two Black Wolf tribe fleets had been wholly annihilated by one and the same interstellar fleet.
The Reef Star Region ambush battle had exterminated the Black Wolf tribe's Third Legion fleet; and only just now, Zhao Chen had exterminated the Black Wolf tribe's Tenth Legion fleet.
At this very moment, far out from this semi-military starport, a T3 Silver Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Reconnaissance Ship lay lurking here on reconnaissance, relaying the situation at the Wolf-King Starport Fortress back to the Owl Dragon Legion's flagship, which was still sailing, without a sound or a whisper, to the rear.
The bridge.
Zhao Chen was just then studying the intelligence the T3 Silver Rat had relayed back.
"At present the Wolf-King Starport Fortress is garrisoned by two legion fleets — the Eighth Legion and the Ninth Legion respectively, 6,000 interstellar warships in all. Beyond that, scattered here and there within this stretch of the star system, there are, besides, some patrol fleets, numbering around 1,000, the greater part of them aged T2 interstellar warships of modest combat power," Charlotte set forth, going by the intelligence.
Zhao Chen raised a hand and examined in detail the two legion fleets' starship dispositions and combat-strength situation.
Charlotte thereupon said, "Among these 6,000 interstellar warships, there are five T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers. Going by the intelligence the T3 Silver Rat obtained, our luck isn't too good. Three of them were newly commissioned this past month — so newly that they haven't even had time to be formally folded into any legion fleet, and are only temporarily kept on garrison at the starport fortress. Apart from these, there are, besides, 200 T3 interstellar warships, and the rest are all T2 interstellar warships."
"Luck isn't good?" Zhao Chen said with a light laugh.
"I don't think our luck's bad at all."
Five T4 interstellar warships.
This was quite enough for Zhao Chen to complete his quarterly mission — and the loss of five T4 interstellar warships all at one go would, one imagined, be enough to leave the Black Wolf tribe smarting for a good while.
"And how do things stand with this starport fortress's defenses?" Zhao Chen inquired.
Charlotte's two hands swept out, enlarging the holographic projection of the starport fortress, and at the same time set forth her analysis without pause, from every direction.
"This starport fortress is of the quasi-T3 grade; it's fitted with a portion of T3-grade defensive weaponry, but it hasn't yet been equipped with a star-shield defense system. It has, besides, an anti-stealth detection system, of the T2 grade. Happily, our T3 Silver Rat scouted it out ahead of time, and did not enter the starport fortress's anti-stealth detection range." As she said this, a 360-degree ring of red radiating-range appeared around the starport fortress before Charlotte.
"This range is the detection range of their anti-stealth equipment. Though it's only T2-grade equipment, for conducting anti-stealth against our T3-grade interstellar warships, it's still no problem."
Zhao Chen fixed his gaze on this red range.
"This range is already some 30% larger than our T3 Phantom Assassin's maximum attack range, isn't it."
"That's right." Charlotte nodded.
Off to the side, Lilith said with some worry, "Then doesn't that mean we can't use the T3 Phantom Assassins to strike the first blow?"
Zhao Chen smiled and said nothing.
Charlotte shook her head.
"No. We can still use the T3 Phantom Assassins."
"Why? Doesn't the enemy have anti-stealth equipment?" Lilith didn't follow — wasn't this charging straight up to the mouth of the other side's guns?
"First, the T3 Phantom Assassin's weapon systems are very well-suited to attacking this sort of target unit. As for the matter of anti-stealth — though the T3 Phantom Assassin entering this anti-stealth range would be detected, still, equipment is equipment. You must bear in mind that these devices are operated by Black Wolf tribe soldiers. From the day of its completion up to now, this Wolf-King Starport Fortress has never once come under attack — still less by stealth interstellar warships. Even should they detect stealth interstellar warships closing in on their starport fortress, they will not, in the first instant, launch an attack; rather, they'll suspect the equipment has erred, or send up the line for instructions. This whole run of procedure will hold things up by at least five minutes. And these five minutes are quite enough for our T3 Phantom Assassins to launch the attack and withdraw smoothly afterward. Even should their warriors be of high combat caliber and launch an attack in the first instant, our T3 Phantom Assassins are fitted with all-around star-shield defense — to withstand a single round of attack is still no problem," Charlotte explained.
Lilith understood.
"By the look of it, Charlotte, you've already thought out how this is to be fought." Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte with a smile.
Charlotte nodded, her two eyes fixed, unmoving, upon that starport fortress — and upon the Black Wolf tribe's main star, not far behind that fortress.
It was for all the world as though some fixed obsession held her.
"Charlotte, I remember it. Back then, your last battle in the revolutionary army — it was the Black Wolf tribe that dispatched three legion fleets, in concert with other tribes' fleets, to ambush your fleet." Zhao Chen suddenly came out with these words.
Charlotte looked at her Commander in astonishment; she'd never imagined the Commander would, of all things, still remember this matter.
"Some grudges — it's time to collect a little interest back on them. Charlotte, this campaign I hand over to you in full to command." Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte.
Charlotte's heart was very warm.
She could not help but call to mind that first time, long ago, in that starship manufacturing workshop; the self she'd been then could never in ten thousand years have imagined that this man before her would, one day, truly bring her back here again — to complete the revenge that was hers.
"Please set your heart at ease, Lord Commander — Charlotte will assuredly annihilate the enemy ships, every one!" Charlotte said, flat and iron-firm.
"I have no other demand — just let this T4 Vermilion Bird show its face too; at the least, clean up a few of the T4 and T3 interstellar warships." Zhao Chen put in this one reminder.
My dear lady, this time do take care not to carelessly grind every last one of these ships to scrap. He still had a quarterly mission to complete.
"Mm." Charlotte took it that the Commander was only saying this in passing, and didn't pay it much mind.
In fact, within her, she'd already made preparations to send the T4 Vermilion Bird into the fight; this time was, after all, an assault on a fortified position — she had to throw in her every strength.
"Report — the enemy still has not discovered our fleet's whereabouts; at present speed, within half an hour we'll enter the target's combat range!" At this moment the several T3 Silver Rats in the escorting fleet reported the navigation situation.
To ensure that the whole main fleet's passage went undiscovered, apart from the one T3 Silver Rat watching and observing the Wolf-King Starport Fortress from afar, the remaining four were all keeping real-time watch around the main fleet.
It was by relying on this method that the Owl Dragon fleet could push in to so deep a position without being discovered by the enemy.
"Wan'er, you carry out the first-step battle plan." Charlotte handed down the order.
Aboard the T3 Phantom Assassin No. 1 ship, Zhao Wan'er answered, calm and self-possessed, "Received." Thereupon she handed down the order to the remaining nine T3 Phantom Assassins.
"Move out."