Congratulations — annual task complete; completion 25 stars; task reward will now be issued
Completion twenty stars: one basic reward-pack; completion twenty-three stars: one extra reward-pack; completion twenty-five stars: one mystery reward-pack
At this moment Zhao Chen's heart had long since been rubbing its palms together, itching past all bearing.
Gazing at these three rewards was for all the world like gazing at three little wives.
Slurp~
Little darlings, His Lordship is coming, heh heh heh…
Opening the basic reward-pack: obtained 5,000,000 System points, 500 task points, and the "T4 Selene-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ship"[1] technical blueprint
The basic reward-pack held no high-grade combat-type interstellar warship, but the points and task points it gave were considerable all the same.
And there was a T4 Selene-class Heavy Interstellar Supply Ship's technical blueprint besides — which meant the logistics-resupply in battle would grow more efficient yet!
Especially where T4-grade interstellar warships were concerned.
Opening the extra reward-pack: obtained the "T4 Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship" technical blueprint
Zhao Chen's eyes lit up — an interstellar heavy-artillery ship!
This was, all along, the Holy Radiance Empire's stock-in-trade technology within the Galactic Alliance!
Earlier the Sacred Angel Legion had once held the T3 Divine-Spear-class Medium Interstellar Combined-Firepower Ship as a trump card; that combined-firepower ship was in truth more nearly an interstellar heavy-artillery ship — its other name being the "T3 Divine-Spear-class Medium Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship."
But because it had interstellar missiles fitted on besides, it was called a combined-firepower ship instead.
And the interstellar heavy-artillery ship, as one of the Holy Radiance Empire's core technologies, was no such simple matter as merely mounting a heavy cannon on an interstellar warship.
First, these energy heavy-cannons each demanded a great supply of power at every salvo, which meant such a warship must have a "heart" strong enough for it.
Next, to supply so vast an energy in one go, the transmission system too had to be most advanced.
Otherwise, there'd be no way at all to deliver the power safely and steadily to each heavy cannon in a short span!
This was why, though the other interstellar empires of the Galactic Alliance eyed this warship class hungrily, none had ever managed to develop it.
And now Zhao Chen had brought out a T4-grade interstellar heavy-artillery ship outright — were the people of the Holy Radiance Empire to see it, they'd likely be left doubting the meaning of their lives.
Zhao Chen at once examined this warship's data.
He was most curious just how strong this warship class was — for before this, Zhao Chen's Owl Dragon Legion had never had the interstellar heavy-artillery ship among its ship types.
Gorgon-class Heavy Interstellar Heavy-Artillery Ship
Ship type: interstellar heavy-artillery ship
Tech grade: T4
Hull-armor strength: 3,000 units – 3,600 units
Star-shield energy value: 100,000 units
Cruise speed: 300 star-knots
Warp engine: grade-8 warp engine
Length: 3.6 kilometers
Mass: 2.11 million tons
Crew: 1,000
Ship weapons: 400 Gorgon-type particle-energy heavy-cannons
200 fully automatic high-density quad-mount energy close-in guns
In base attributes it was on the weaker side; its defense wasn't strong, and once closed with, it had near enough no power to hit back.
For this was, like the interstellar missile ship, a long-range output-type interstellar warship.
But in firepower, fitted with 400 Gorgon-type particle-energy heavy-cannons—
—that firepower already surpassed outright the 10 T3 Divine-Spear-class Medium Interstellar Combined-Firepower Ships the Sacred Angel Legion had once fielded!
This energy heavy-cannon's principle of attack was to charge up within the heavy cannon at the moment of firing, then loose a fast-moving round particle-energy shell; on striking its target, or on being intercepted, it would produce an explosion — and because the explosion was of the energy type, it had a superb wrecking effect on star-shields.
The strategic niche of this interstellar heavy-cannon was, in truth, somewhere between the bow cannon of an interstellar battleship and the interstellar missiles of an interstellar missile ship.
It was cheaper than interstellar missiles, and its firing interval was short besides; before a campaign began, one need only refuel the interstellar warship's core power supply, and that was enough to fight through a whole interstellar campaign — low in cost.
But its might fell short of interstellar missiles, its range fell short of interstellar missiles, and its line of attack was fixed, which made it easy to predict and intercept.
Its one advantage was the short attack interval and the cheap cost.
And its manner of firing was somewhat like the bow cannon — its might, naturally, likewise falling short of a bow cannon, though its firing interval was far shorter than a bow cannon's.
It could furnish a short spell of area saturation-fire attack over a zone!
In this way, it could make up for the problem of firepower falling off sharply once the interstellar-missile attack was spent.
Think of it — on the battlefield, Zhao Chen opens with a round of interstellar missiles scouring the ground, then follows with a round of interstellar heavy-cannon frontal fire-suppression.
This was, quite simply, naked firepower subjugation!
Worth noting, though, was that this warship's build-cost was not cheap, and a single refueling of its energy engine was not cheap either.
Per-ship build-cost: 6 billion star coins.
Single engine refueling: 1 billion star coins.
Still, set against the coin-flinging pace of interstellar missiles, that was but a small witch beside a great one.
Taking this moment, Zhao Chen swept an eye over the interstellar warship he'd fancied for so long, and redeemed to complete the annual task.
Tyrant-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Battlecruiser
Ship type: interstellar missile-battlecruiser
Tech grade: T4
Hull-armor strength: 50,000 units – 56,000 units
Star-shield energy value: 1,000,000 units
Cruise speed: 560 star-knots
Warp engine: grade-8 warp engine
Length: 7.8 kilometers
Mass: 4.66 million tons
Crew: 2,000
Ship weapons:
1 Tyrant heavy bow cannon
6 10,000mm-bore heavy railguns (can fire EMP shells, armor-piercing shells, proton shells, plasma shells, fusion shells, and nineteen kinds of solid ordnance in all)
50 interstellar missile launchers (fitted with 5,000 mid-short-range Tyrant-type interstellar missiles)
166 quad-mount heavy particle-energy rapid-fire cannons
488 fully automatic high-density six-mount energy close-in guns
This was an interstellar heavy battlecruiser — and a heavy battlecruiser fitted with interstellar missiles on top of that.
Why fit interstellar missiles?
To strengthen the firepower a further step, of course!
And what the T4 Tyrant was fitted with were mid-short-range interstellar missiles; for as an interstellar heavy battlecruiser, its task was still to charge the enemy line, to thrust in and cut through.
The interstellar missiles were there to lift its short-span firepower-output capacity a step higher.
In time to come, seeing this whole series of interstellar warships Zhao Chen built, people gave Zhao Chen one more nickname.
The Firepower Tyrant!
The pursuit of firepower carried to its utmost!
Firepower strikes that brooked no reason!
He put away, for the moment, the stirrings of his restless heart.
After all, there was still one more task reward.
"If even the extra reward is this bountiful, then this mystery reward — will it not be mightier still!" Zhao Chen looked expectantly at the last, still-unopened mystery reward-pack.
Bearing that anticipation, Zhao Chen opened it up.