The Black Wolf commander watched as the other side, of all things, arrayed out a whole row of T3 interstellar frigates in an attempt to hold back their thrust.
"Foolish behavior. They think these T3-grade interstellar frigates can block our 5,000 interstellar warships!" the Black Wolf commander sneered.
"Report — we're clear to launch the 'Valiant Missiles.'" the adjutant reported.
The Black Wolf commander at once handed down the order.
"Whole fleet, full firepower — cover the 'Valiant Missile' assault! So long as we can settle these 200 T3 interstellar frigates before us, then those carrier starships behind them, and those interstellar missile ships, and that accursed interstellar stealth bomber, are none of them a problem!"
The order was handed down.
The main guns, the secondaries, the interstellar missiles of the 5,000 Black Wolf tribe interstellar warships all took aim to the front.
Lasers, energy beams, solid shells, interstellar missiles — they formed a quite densely woven net of firepower!
At the same time, at some of the hull-weapon positions of these 5,000 Black Wolf tribe interstellar warships, the launchers for the Valiant Missiles quietly opened.
Going by their combat method of old, one minute after the first round of firepower output, these Valiant Missiles would, as the first wave of the forlorn hope, break into the enemy ships!
This one launch of Valiant Missiles alone came to very nearly hundred-thousand; so long as, of these hundred thousand, 1,000 struck their targets and let the Black Wolf combat squads break into the enemy ships, that would count as the mission consummately fulfilled.
Only, the drama did not play out as these Black Wolf commanders had imagined.
The 200 T3-grade six-barreled 600mm-caliber heavy close-in energy cannons mounted upon the 200 T3 Triceratops-class Interstellar Heavy Assault Frigates began to pour out their fire without restraint.
They formed an even denser net of defense, intercepting the enemy's attacks partway.
And even were there fish to slip the net, the three-face star-shield system fitted to each T3 Triceratops could form a second barrier of defense.
And should some individual, exceedingly lucky attack yet land upon the hull — well, with the T3 Triceratops's terrifying hull armor, a T2 interstellar warship's attack was a thing on the order of scratching an itch; and as for a T3 interstellar warship's attack, taking a dozen-odd, or even 100-odd, hits was no problem in the least.
"Report — up to now, our interstellar frigates' interception rate against the enemy's attacks stands at 85%; the remaining 14% are blocked by star shields, and only a scant 1% lands upon the T3 Triceratops hulls." a crew member reported to Charlotte.
Charlotte said, "Next should come Warhammer's signature 'Valiant Missiles.' Faced with other enemies, this is, admittedly, not a bad way of fighting. Only, regrettably…"
Charlotte gave a disdainful little smile.
Under the collision of the two sides' attacking firepower and defending firepower, a great swath of smoke and dust appeared in the space between the interstellar warships of both sides.
By this time the Black Wolf interstellar warships' first-wave attack had weakened greatly in intensity; only a scant few secondary guns capable of sustained fire were still shooting, their intensity nowhere near what it had been a moment before.
And mingled among it, meanwhile, were some special interstellar missiles.
These Black Wolf tribe Valiant Missiles were laden with a great mass of Black Wolf warriors — only, regrettably, this sortie of theirs was one that plunged them into the abyss.
Valiant Missile after Valiant Missile was struck by the T3 Triceratops's defensive weapons, and the Black Wolf warriors within them, too, were reduced to ashes.
Yet there were, still, some Valiant Missiles that luckily dodged the dense rain of fire and the star shields, and slammed heavily against the T3 Triceratops's hulls.
Bump.
Within the rear body of one such Valiant Missile, several hundred Black Wolf soldiers, clad in single-soldier armor and gripping laser rifles, had a kind of excitement brimming in their eyes.
For when the compartment they were in lit up with light, it meant the warhead had smoothly struck the enemy ship's hull.
Next would come the boarding — the leap-across into battle!
And a combat mission such as this, tantamount to being sent to one's death, was one that as a rule carried only cheap soldiers.
But so long as they won through and lived to come back, they could receive lavish rewards, and need never again serve in such a forlorn hope: they would be promoted, directly, to senior officers of a T2 interstellar warship!
This, too, was why — for all that they knew full well such a combat mission was nine parts death to one part life — there were still soldiers by the fistful willing to throw themselves into it.
This was them gambling their very lives!
"Great warriors of the Black Wolf! Board that interstellar warship opposite, slay every enemy you lay eyes on, seize this interstellar warship! And by the time you return in triumph, there'll be she-wolves and wealth by the fistful for you to enjoy! Go — warriors of the wolf clan!" This squad's Black Wolf captain thumped his chest and let out a wolf's howl.
The Black Wolf warriors throughout the whole compartment gave out a wolf's howl as well.
Thereafter, the Black Wolf captain pressed the button beside him, and the gate connecting the front section of the missile body opened.
But… the torn-open interstellar-warship hull they'd pictured — the ship's interior compartment that ought to have shown itself before their eyes — did not appear.
What appeared instead was a pitch-black wall.
"Strange? What's going on here?" The Black Wolf captain was astonished; by rights, the Valiant Missile could tear open the hull armor of the overwhelming majority of T2 interstellar warships, and of a portion of T3 interstellar warships.
The Black Wolf captain's face was overcast; it seemed their luck this time was none too good.
But no matter — for coping with just this sort of situation, they had a further preparation.
"Quick! Use the drill — bore open the way ahead!" the Black Wolf captain ordered.
"Yes!"
Several Black Wolf soldiers took up drilling machinery and set to boring at the wall then and there.
The T3 Triceratops No. 177 ship · the bridge.
"Report — a Valiant Missile has struck our ship's port-side hull armor; the hull-armor strength at that position stands at 70% remaining." a crew member reported.
Looking from outside the hull, one could see that the Valiant Missile hadn't embedded into the hull armor at all — merely the warhead position had pierced a few dozen centimeters in, and no more.
Were the crew inside that Valiant Missile, at this moment, to know it was such a situation — how despairing would that be?
As for boring out a hole by means of the drilling machinery in their hands — there was no telling what year of the monkey or month of the horse[1] they'd manage it.
The more so since they wouldn't be given the chance at all.
A T3 Phoenix-class interstellar fighter sailed to this position; the pilot spotted that Valiant Missile and started up her machine cannon.
The next second, the barrage she fired out directly shattered the Valiant Missile, leaving behind nothing but a hull-dent wound a few dozen centimeters deep.
The Black Wolf tribe legion fleet · the flagship.
"Report… this… this round of boarding combat — all of it… all the Valiant Missiles have been destroyed…" the adjutant said timidly.
The Black Wolf commander clenched both fists, the veins standing out all over him, and growled low, "Just what kind of interstellar frigate is this!"
Such terrifying defensive firepower, and such a hull-armor loadout — it left the Black Wolf legion fleet's every manner of attack for all the world like striking against an iron plate.
Only, they did not yet know that the might of this class of interstellar frigate had not yet fully shown itself.