The Black Wolf tribe's interstellar warships, their first-stage attack having proved worthless, could only grit their teeth and press on to the next stage of the attack.
And that was to ram outright!
While ramming, they could, besides, seek a chance to carry out the boarding action once more!
But this method, as a rule, would wound the enemy by 1,000 at a cost of 800 of one's own — only, in the reckoning of the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth's cheap, low-cost interstellar warships, it was indeed a decent enough tactic.
"Charge! Charge! Lock the target, fix the ram angle, full speed ahead!" the captain of one Black Wolf interstellar warship handed down order after order.
But at this point, his subordinate reported a piece of news he'd never expected.
"Report — the 200 T3 interstellar frigates opposite have suddenly picked up speed; they're charging straight at us!"
The subordinate's report left the Black Wolf captain thunderstruck.
These interstellar warships of unknown origin meant, of all things, to ram them?
And with mere interstellar frigates, no less.
Yes, your interstellar frigates' defensive firepower was strong.
True enough, your interstellar frigates' armor strength was formidable.
And they were, moreover, all T3-grade interstellar frigates.
But don't forget!
You were only interstellar frigates — the least conspicuous existence among the ship-types of any one grade.
However strong, how strong could they possibly get?
At worst I'd trade 10 or 20 T2 interstellar warships for one of yours — the more so since they, too, had 200-odd T3 interstellar warships!
Did they truly imagine only they had T3s?
And it was just as the whole crowd of Black Wolf captains were fancying thus that a single scene shattered their sweet dream.
It was a Black Wolf T2 interstellar destroyer, charging out at the very front.
Its sharp ramming horn collided head-on with the ramming horn of that class of T3 interstellar frigate opposite, both sides at considerable speed.
Originally, as the Black Wolf captains had it figured, this could only be a result of mutual ruin, surely?
But the fact was—!
One side's interstellar warship, from bow to stern, in the space of a few short seconds burst open with an enormous fissure, and thereafter the whole warship broke apart; as for that ramming horn they'd taken such pride in, in the very instant of impact it snapped clean off.
Turn, by contrast, to the T3 interstellar frigate opposite — that glossy black ramming horn was, as before, polished and gleaming bright.
That T3 interstellar frigate, which had rammed the enemy ship to ruin, sailed on ahead as though nothing whatever had happened, grinding straight over the wreckage of the interstellar warships blocking its way.
Its only change was that its speed had slowed a touch from a moment before.
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
The whole crowd of Black Wolf captains, their feelings churning within, half-consciously took this for mere coincidence.
That's right!
This had to be coincidence.
But as this "coincidence" played itself out one time after another, these Black Wolf captains grew flustered within — grew afraid, grew fearful.
And when they watched, wide-eyed, as a T3-grade interstellar destroyer was likewise rammed straight to ruin, they understood that they had been wrong.
Wrong through and through.
Whatever manner of "interstellar frigates" these before them were — they were, beyond all doubt, super-warships wearing the outer shell of an interstellar frigate!
"Decelerate! Come about! Quick! Quick! Quick!" the captain of one Black Wolf T2 interstellar warship handed down the order in terror.
"But Captain — the commander's order is for us to assault… to decelerate and come about at a time like this…" the adjutant said, worried.
The Black Wolf captain, trembling, pointed at the swath of wreckage of their own side's interstellar warships that the collisions had left ahead.
"Can't you see it! Our interstellar warships ramming the enemy — that's outright suicide! Decelerate and come about at once, for me!" the Black Wolf captain roared.
By this moment, a portion of the Black Wolf interstellar warships had already begun to decelerate and give way, steering clear of these devils with their three horns.
With that first wave of the ramming tide, in the space of a few short tens of minutes, the Black Wolf tribe's side lost close to 1,000 interstellar warships outright.
True, they were almost all T2-grade interstellar warships.
But this was quite enough to leave those two Black Wolf commanders smarting a good long while.
"We were wrong! We were gravely, gravely wrong. We need to request support at once — we need at least three more legion fleets dispatched over here!" the Ninth Legion's Black Wolf commander shouted anxiously, over the video comm, to the Eighth Legion's Black Wolf commander.
At this very moment, the Eighth Legion's Black Wolf commander, too, had come to sense that the situation was badly amiss.
These interstellar warships were too strong — absurdly, outrageously strong!
This campaign, fought to now, had run close to an hour's time.
They had lost a starport, and near enough 3,000 interstellar warships all told.
But the enemy?
Fought to now, apart from expending some interstellar missiles and shells, had they suffered any other loss at all?
"Contact the tribal legion fleets in every quarter at once — have them come to our support this instant, the more the better. At the same time, contact the several nearest great tribes, and request that they find some way to come to our support!" The Eighth Legion's Black Wolf commander now handed down the order to call for aid.
And he would not shrink even from begging aid of the other great tribes.
For at this very moment, within the bounds of the Black Wolf tribe's own territory, there were scarcely any fleets left to mobilize — the greater part of them were out there, off scrambling for the resources of the masterless star systems.
"For the nearest legion-grade fleet to come to our support will take three hours at the least. The farther ones will need at least five hours. Without fail, we must hold on until that time!" the Ninth Legion's Black Wolf commander said, grinding his teeth.
Hold on!
Defend to the death!
They had no other choice.
For at their backs was the Black Wolf tribe's home star, and upon that home star were a great many of the Black Wolf tribe's nobles, along with a number of important installations and institutions.
Once the home star was wrecked, it would set the Black Wolf tribe's strength back by decades — by a century, even!
If the destruction of the military-port fortress before this meant only that they must bear the blame of dereliction, then were the home star to be destroyed, they would be the Black Wolf tribe's sinners for all the ages!
"Pass down the order — turn from attack to defense!" the Eighth Legion's Black Wolf commander handed down a fresh command.
And at the same time, he prayed silently in his heart: we must hold, without fail!
But fine as the notion was, their opponent was powerful.
The T3 Triceratops's performance was not yet over; they went on charging in as the muck-stirring stick, barging and shoving every which way, and smashed the Black Wolf legion fleet's formation into an utter shambles.
Following hard upon, naturally, the T3 Imperial-class Heavy Interstellar Battleships served as the firepower-output points, hunting down T3 interstellar warship after T3 interstellar warship.
And there was, besides, the T3 Blizzard roving and hunting out beyond, now and again threading through and cleaving apart the enemy fleet's formation.
Each threading-through amounted to slicing the flesh from the Black Wolf legion fleet's very body — for those Black Wolf interstellar warships that were cut off and split away would, before long, be destroyed.
Even so, the two Black Wolf commanders still cradled a last hope within them — for in their hands they still had three T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers, along with close to 200 T3 interstellar warships.
They massed these elite interstellar warships together, forming a triangular defensive position, meaning to hold out by it until their reinforcements arrived.
But at this moment, a crimson-red figure was, at exceedingly swift speed, crossing the whole of the battlefield, racing toward those three T4 Butchers.
That speed — even the T3 Blizzard following close at its heels could not catch up to it.
Very soon, this interstellar warship loosed three crimson-red beams of light, pointing straight at one of the T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers!