"Warning! Warning! Warning! The star shield is under attack; remaining energy 98%… 96%… 93%."
An unexpected scene had appeared.
The three crimson-red beams of light were, of all things, not bound for a single T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer.
Rather, they struck, one each, the star shields of the three T4 Butchers.
This set the star-shield-under-attack alarm-tone ringing out upon the bridges of all three T4 Butchers.
The Ninth Legion's Black Wolf commander stared in disbelief at that crimson-red interstellar warship of the exceedingly swift speed.
Such terrifying firepower output, and such swift speed — this crimson-red interstellar warship had to be a T4-grade interstellar cruiser, or an interstellar battlecruiser!
"Where has this T4 interstellar warship sprung from!" A look of astonishment showed on the Ninth Legion Black Wolf commander's face.
The T4 and quasi-T4-grade interstellar warships the Galactic Alliance openly possessed came, all told, to only eight classes!
And everyone was well acquainted with the name and the form of every one of them — for these were, after all, the trump cards of the various empires.
Yet this crimson-red interstellar warship before them, of the astonishing speed, was a thing unheard of.
"Don't panic! Hold the present defensive formation, and counterattack this interstellar warship! However strong it may be, it's no more than one T4 interstellar warship — don't forget, we have three! And, besides that, 200-odd T3 interstellar warships!" the Eighth Legion's Black Wolf commander reminded him from within the video window.
The Ninth Legion's Black Wolf commander gulped, and consoled himself within: that's right, they had three, the enemy but one!
But they had, by all appearances, forgotten one fact.
And that was that the three they possessed were only quasi-T4-grade interstellar warships.
Though it was but a single word's difference, the gulf in strength was as heaven from earth.
"Report — the defensive radar system has detected that we are locked by the fire-control systems of three T4-grade interstellar warships and 79 T3 interstellar warships!" a crew member reported.
Zhao Chen looked at the back of Charlotte, standing there before him.
Charlotte's expression did not so much as change; calm and composed, she handed down her orders.
"Apart from the three bow cannons, which are to go on attacking that one T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer, the remaining weapon modules — fire at will. Ready the 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles; the moment we destroy those three T4 Butchers' star shields, these interstellar missiles are all to be laid down upon those three T4 Butchers' hulls!"
"Yes!"
"The 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles are readied; targets are locked; they may be launched at any moment."
At this very moment, upon the all-around star shield of the T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, hit-flares kept appearing without pause.
And at the same time, the star-shield energy value kept, ceaselessly, dropping.
But happily, the T4 Vermilion Bird's star-shield system was of the genuine, true-worth T4 grade — its defensive capacity stronger than those three quasi-T4-grade interstellar warships opposite by no one knew how much.
Zhao Chen tapped his fingers upon the captain's chair, for all the world as though tapping out a musical score, savoring the gorgeous star-battle scene before him.
The T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, apart from its three thermal cluster-laser bow cannons keeping up their might, and the 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles at the ready, had besides a full 12 4000mm-caliber medium electromagnetic railgun main guns, 88 pulse-laser rapid-fire secondary guns, and 500 fully automatic medium close-in guns, all of them firing without pause.
Though this was but an interstellar cruiser, the might of the weaponry fitted aboard it was stronger than the three quasi-T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers opposite all added together.
Such a fierce battle held on for a dozen-odd minutes.
The T4 Vermilion Bird, by virtue of its exceedingly swift speed, was for all the world like a "satellite," sailing swiftly in circles around the combat formation composed of the three quasi-T4 Butchers, and firing without cease.
Were one to gaze across from some far-off planet, one might, perhaps, be able to see this "wondrous spectacle" too — as though around a "minor planet" there had appeared a crimson-red "ring."
And these dozen-odd minutes were, for those two Black Wolf commanders, a thing of sheer heart-stopping dread.
Two thoughts kept rising, again and again, within them.
How does that accursed red rat opposite run so fast?
Just how much energy does its star shield have — why hasn't it been shattered yet!
Because of the T4 Vermilion Bird's high speed, and its fighting all the while in a circling course, in this local battlefield — though there were three quasi-T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers and 200-odd T3 interstellar warships — the interstellar warships that could, at any one time, actually fire upon the T4 Vermilion Bird came to less than half.
At times, even, less than a third.
The flight-course Charlotte had laid out let the T4 Vermilion Bird bear, at any one time, only a portion of the enemy ships' attacks.
But even so, to be able to withstand head-on the wild bombardment of so many interstellar warships was, still, a quite astonishing thing.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Star-shield energy value below 30%!"
At last, the star-shield energy-value figure before Zhao Chen, which had originally shown in green, turned to yellow.
Zhao Chen folded his two hands and rested them at his chest; he said with a smile, "That's about it."
As Zhao Chen's voice fell, the star shields of those three quasi-T4 Butchers opposite could, at the last, no longer be maintained.
Vanished!
This meant that their star-shield energy was spent to exhaustion.
"Launch all 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles." Charlotte handed down the order in the first instant.
The five unit missile-silos in the middle of the T4 Vermilion Bird's hull opened.
Crimson-red interstellar missile after interstellar missile launched at speed.
A full 40 rounds it fired, sending out all 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles.
For one must bear in mind — the technology-grade these interstellar missiles employed was, of all things, T4 tech.
The 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles were for all the world like 200 firebirds, beating their two wings as they charged toward their targets.
Not only was the T4 Vermilion Bird's own speed swift; the speed of the interstellar missiles it launched was swift as well.
Of the 200 Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles, in transit, merely under 20% were intercepted!
The rest landed, one and all, upon the hulls of those three quasi-T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers.
With the Butchers' star shields gone, the Vermilion Bird interstellar missiles struck the hull armor for all the world like raindrops!
Explosion!
In very nearly the blink of an eye, these three quasi-T4 Butchers were engulfed by the flames of the blast.
"Rather pretty, really — for all the world like three little red flowers coming into bloom," Zhao Chen said in a bantering tone.
"Engage Vermilion Bird Combat Mode · Gear Two! Straight through the enemy ship-position at full speed!" As Charlotte handed down the order, another command, too, was relayed out.
To the rear, the five T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships — long since finished with their loading and resupply — took aim toward this direction.
It was another round of saturation firepower strike.
Its target pointed straight at those remaining T3 Black Wolf interstellar warships!
For one must bear in mind — at this very moment, the T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser was in the very midst of threading through the enemy formation!