In the space about this, the Qian family's third-largest slave planet—
first-grade combat readiness had come wholly into force.
Combat satellites of every kind stood in strict order, and every fighting hand was on call around the clock!
"What do you say — will the Chu family's people truly come?" Qian Dafu leaned back in the captain's chair; he was aboard a T3 warship at this hour, one of the Qian family's very few T3 warships.
"A clever man can see well enough that this is a snare. But there are those who are born with a certain stubbornness in them — a stubbornness that we men of business would call stupidity. Consider: why should the Chu family come all this long way to our Stellar Alliance to save these low creatures off the Chu River Star Region's remote planets? To our eyes, that is a most unreasonable thing. For the number of Chu River Star Region wretches we took is not great — a few tens of billions of people, no more. Set against the Chu River Star Region's whole population, that is no more than one drop in a great sea. The more so as they are no sort of technical talent. Why come all this way for them?" Qian Dafu's adjutant stood beside him and said it mildly.
Qian Dafu worked at his chin and nodded. "That's the reasoning of it. Were it a matter of face, one could understand it at an ordinary time. But at present their Chu family is at war with somebody else. With leisure to spare for this, they'd do better to put the resources into the front they're actually fighting on."
The adjutant said with a light laugh, "Which shows well enough that this trait we find laughable does exist in the Chu family's people. And that trait will, in all likelihood, bring them here even knowing it for a trap."
"Stupid." Qian Dafu cursed it with a sneer.
Before merchants such as these, who set profit above all, a will of that kind was simply not to be understood.
Qian Dafu's tone shifted, and his eyes went cold. "But if that Little Skeleton truly does have some connection with the Chu family's people— then today I mean to make them pay the price for shaming me. Daring to make me the laughingstock of the whole Stellar Alliance!"
At the thought of what he had been through these few days, he had not the nerve to look at the trending items on the Stellar Alliance's networks, nor at the comments beneath them.
He could guess without looking how they would be mocking him.
"Let the young clan head rest easy. This time our Qian family has readied 300 warships, along with the defensive works to match, and there are the Sacred Lancer Legion's 900 warships besides. Let those Chu family warships of theirs dare appear here— and it is a road to their own deaths!" the adjutant said with confidence.
At this hour, every one of the Qian family's people was waiting for this crew of Chu family fools who did not know their own measure to walk into the net.
The 'Chu family's' warships did not keep Qian Dafu waiting long.
"Report — in the direction of coordinates *, traces have appeared of what is thought to be the 'Little Skeleton*' interstellar destroyer!" the radar crewman reported.
A radar map rose before Qian Dafu, and at the edge of the radar's scan there had indeed appeared a red energy signal, very like the energy signature of the Little Skeleton they had captured before!
"Put the deep-space telescope imagery through to me. I want it definite — is it that Little Skeleton or is it not!" Qian Dafu's spirits came up at once, and he gave the order.
Soon a rather blurred picture came through from the deep-space telescope.
But happily, on the strength of these blurred pictures one could make out that this was indeed the very author of the trouble that had wrecked the Qian family's City in the Sky!
"It is her!" Qian Dafu clenched his fists and glared wide-eyed at this enemy ship that had brought him such humiliation, and destroyed 300 of the Qian family's warships.
"Young clan head, I advise putting out as many interstellar scout craft as we can now, to establish how many ships the other side has! And at the same time ordering our own fleet that found the enemy not to be hasty in attacking — to let the enemy ships come in somewhat further, which will serve us in surrounding and annihilating them afterward!" the adjutant advised from beside him.
This campaign Family Head Qian Feng had given over to Qian Dafu and the Sacred Lancer Legion's representative to command.
"Good. Do as you say!" Qian Dafu stared at the Little Skeleton in the picture like a hunter staring at his own quarry.
Qian Dafu licked his lips, and at this hour that twisted cast of mind of his came up in him. "How I wish to see that warship come apart in four and five pieces before my eyes, just like those slaves I've had dismembered!"
Qian Dafu shut his eyes, and had already begun to imagine that fine scene.
The Sacred Lancer Legion's Fifth Fleet, flagship.
The fleet commander sat in the captain's chair with a perfectly flat expression, and on either side of him were two video windows, holding the other two fleets of the Sacred Lancer Legion.
In this operation to assist the Qian family, command lay with him, the Fifth Fleet's commander.
"Report. The Qian family's side has reconnoitered traces of the enemy fleet; the intelligence and radar data have been shared with us," a crewman reported.
The Fifth Fleet's commander looked over the shared battlefield system.
"One… three… five… 10… only 19 ships?"
The Fifth Fleet's commander looked in surprise at this formation of 19 interstellar warships, much at a loss.
And laughed, unable to help it. "That doesn't even make up the establishment of a small fleet of 30 warships. A bare 19 warships — and that pack of good-for-nothings in the Qian family can't settle it themselves?"
"I hear the enemy appear to have a T4 interstellar destroyer, of rather strong fighting ability," said the Ninth Fleet's commander from one of the windows.
"I've had a look at these 19 warships found, and it seems no few of them are T4-grade warships. And of hull types used by that Owl Dragon Legion which fought the duel against the Sacred Angel Legion before!" The Tenth Fleet's commander, being the more careful of them, had found some important data in it.
And shared it with the other two commanders besides.
'T4 Vermilion Bird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser'
'T4 Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile-Escort'
"Taken together, that's three classes of T4-grade warship? Which is to say that of the 19 warships opposite, at least 17 are T4-grade!" The Ninth Fleet's commander knit his brows; he had not thought the other side would have T4 warships on so great a scale.
"I suspect the remaining two unidentified warships are T4-grade as well!" The Tenth Fleet's commander pointed at those two warships whose model and hull type were unknown.
Though going by their outward form, he judged one of them for an interstellar battlecruiser, and the other for what appeared to be an interstellar gunship.
"19 T4-grade warships! And including T4 hull types for which we have no combat data whatever. I hold that we ought to report this matter to my lord the commander," the Tenth Fleet's commander said carefully.
The Fifth Fleet's commander looked at the data on those 19 apparently all-T4 warships, and hesitated a bare few seconds.
Then said carelessly, "Even if the other side has 19 T4 warships, do not forget that we have three T4 Divine-Envoy-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers of our own! And 900 T3 warships. And the Qian family's cannon-fodder fleet besides. Are we truly to be no match for a bare 19 warships?"