The T4 Blue-Eyes White Dragon-class Heavy Interstellar Armored Battleship · bridge.
Zhao Chen lay back in the captain's chair, watching that star-port in the distance where some transaction was perhaps still going forward.
"About now, the Sacred Lancer Legion should have had word from over there as well." Zhao Chen laughed in mockery.
Sure enough, in the imagery Zhao Chen was watching, the Sacred Lancer Legion's 2,000-odd warships, which had shown no movement at all before, suddenly seemed to have received some order.
They began to gather, and to run under acceleration toward where Zhao Chen was.
Which was not, of course, because Zhao Chen's party had been given away.
But because the place where Zhao Chen's fleet lay hidden sat on the fastest course to that battlefield.
"Commander-in-Chief, you've agreed to have Secretary-Officer Chu take charge of the mecha landing on the planet herself. Will that not be dangerous? Secretary-Officer Chu serves in our Owl Dragon Legion now, true. But her standing is, after all—" Xue Xiaoxiao asked it from beside him, this being the ship whose place he had usurped from her.
"Rest easy. The armed strength on that planet was all looked into beforehand. And what Chu Xuan is piloting is a T3 Templar-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mecha; unless she meets combat mecha of a higher grade, or a T3-grade warship's threat, there'll be no danger. The more so with three of our T4 warships covering her outside the planet. And I've particularly arranged for Panther-Girl and the rest to be entered in Chu Xuan's mecha squadron to assist her. Panther-Girl's people are my own guard, granted — but they're expert-grade with every kind of single-soldier weapon. And don't make light of Chu Xuan either. She took the mecha-piloting specialty at the Northstar Starship Military Academy back then, and stood in the top three of her year. Born into a house of tigers like the Chu family, after all — how should they have raised a kitten?" Zhao Chen said it without a scrap of worry.
With all the insurance Zhao Chen had arranged for Chu Xuan—
unless a cosmic disaster befell this system, Chu Xuan would have a hard time dying if she wanted to.
Zhao Chen stretched himself, and watched the Sacred Lancer Legion coming steadily on.
He let his eyes slide toward the Saint Cana beside him, plainly very tense, and no longer speaking to him on account of this Commander-in-Chief's 'obstinacy'.
And said with a laugh, "Very well. Next it's our turn to perform. Let my lady the Sacred Angel Legion's commander have a proper look at how we settle that mighty existence opposite — one of the Ten Great Sacred-Light Legions — with a few dozen warships!"
Zhao Chen even put a weight of emphasis upon the words Sacred-Light Legion.
The mockery in and behind the words could hardly have been plainer.
"Understood. After hearing the fighting on Sister Su Lan's side, I've been past waiting already." Xue Xiaoxiao, in her excitement, made without thinking to lift a foot and stamp on something.
And very nearly went over.
And only then came to herself — for the captain's chair she liked best to put a foot on when there was fighting was at present under a certain person's backside.
Xue Xiaoxiao could only rub at her nose, with the air of one to whom nothing whatever had happened.
And gave this beloved ship of hers its combat orders.
Saint Cana stood beside them with her arms folded, watching all of it with a cold eye.
She truly did not believe that on the strength of these few dozen warships alone one could give battle to the Sacred Lancer Legion's 2,000 opposite.
This man must have some other card in hand!
It must certainly be so!
…………
"Damn it! A T4 carrier starship? 300,000 T4 interstellar drones? How is it possible!" The Sacred Lancer Legion's commander knit his brows over these battlefield reports and calls for aid.
To this hour he still did not believe them.
He had just now received the word his three fleets reported.
They had been set upon by the enemy's vast interstellar drone swarm, T4-grade drones at that, and the enemy appeared to hold a T4 carrier starship; the state of the fighting was grievous, and they asked support!
"Since when has the Chu family had a T4 carrier starship? And brought it as far as the Stellar Alliance?" the Sacred Lancer commander muttered, at a loss.
The adjutant beside him said, "My guess is that the figures may carry some exaggeration in them. And the Starlight Empire's former royal house did indeed develop and field a carrier by the name of the T4 Starlight Emperor-class Medium Carrier Starship — but fitted with T3-grade interstellar fighters. Though the Starlight Empire is in civil war now, it cannot be ruled out that the Chu family earlier obtained the relevant technology from the royal house. And then developed a carrier of their own, only keeping it hidden all this while. And now that they've fallen out openly, they naturally bring these cards out."
Hearing his adjutant's supposition, the Sacred Lancer commander found much sense in it.
"But 300,000 T4 interstellar drones… that is indeed a very great threat. Our own empire is still at the development stage on T4 carriers, and we understand that a T4 carrier must be fitted with T4 fighters and T4 drones, or what one builds is no more than an empty show, as the Starlight royal house's was. But by our own manufacturing plan, a T4 carrier can hold 50,000 drones at the most… 300,000… can the Chu family have sent several T4 carriers this time? Is the Chu family's research and manufacture of T4 carriers grown so ripe as that?" There was some worry in the Sacred Lancer commander.
"My lord, do not forget what we have in hand now. Had we learned this news before, we might have had some cause for worry. But with this thing now in our hands — once we have this technology fully in our grasp— then hereafter, what T4 carriers, what T4 drone swarms… Heh, heh, heh. Could anything match this for numbers?" The adjutant pointed at a cipher case at the legion commander's elbow.
Within that case was a certain hive-race technology they had come by in the transaction just completed.
This was what their partner over in the Starlight Empire had promised them beforehand.
"True enough. To compare numbers with the bugs— would that not be showing off one's axe at a master carpenter's door?" the Sacred Lancer commander said with a light laugh. "Let us go and see how matters stand over there first, and clear up the Qian family's wreck of a business. The Qian family is a good-for-nothing lot, but our dispositions in the Stellar Alliance want them to serve as the hinge in the middle. The more so as that base woman Saint Cana may still be mixed in with the other side. And once these matters are dealt with, we set out for the empire. With these tasks accomplished, we can then apply to the Imperial Council of Elders for more warships of the higher grades — and let us see who then dares call our Sacred Lancer Legion the weakest of the Sacred-Light Legions!"
And just as this Sacred Lancer commander, full of confidence, was letting his thoughts run over his own coming career—
suddenly the alarm sounded aboard the ship.
"Report — several dozen interstellar warships detected appearing ahead!" a crewman cried.
The Sacred Lancer commander looked at once at the radar map, and found, of all things, that those warships appearing out of nowhere were very nearly at the edge of fire.
"What is the meaning of this! What have our interstellar scout ships been doing, that warships should appear at so close a distance before they are found!" the Sacred Lancer commander demanded loudly.
"Comman… commander… because these unidentified ships were hidden behind those stellar bodies, our ship's radar did not find them…" the subordinate answered timidly.
The Sacred Lancer commander looked at the imagery the deep-space telescope had taken; those unidentified ships had indeed come sailing out from behind one stellar body after another.
"Pass my order. Stand ready for battle." The Sacred Lancer commander pressed the question of blame no further, but gave the order to make ready.
He had not yet grasped that a crisis was upon him, and supposed only that this was some interception fleet the Chu family had set out without knowing its own measure.
Until he saw several of the pictures the deep-space telescope had taken — and cold sweat came out on his forehead in an instant.
10 T3 Judicator-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships, opened out in a single even line, every missile-launching installation already brought to life.
And besides them, an interstellar gunship of unknown model, whose dense ranks of gun emplacements were giving off the light of energy shells gathering to a point.
And it was as though he heard, at his own ear, a certain man's voice saying it lightly enough.
"Open fire."