The imperial-navy flagship · T2 Fire-Leopard-class Medium Interstellar Battleship · the bridge.
"What is that ship doing!" Commander Chu Xuan looked on in astonishment as Blizzard Zero, of all things, charged straight at a T2 Hive Mothership — with a small knot of swarm before that mothership besides.
"It looks… it looks like it means to ram them…" The female adjutant was dumbfounded.
Commander Chu Xuan said gravely, "This Blizzard Zero's main gun should need about five minutes to reset and reload. It's only been three minutes since the last shot; the main gun can't be used yet. Right now it must have released its engine limiter — by my eye, its speed's already past 130 star-knots!"
In a mere few minutes of watching the fight, Chu Xuan had already read out no little of Blizzard Zero's combat data.
And at this moment, the two of them fell silent.
Eyes fixed, unmoving, on that ship in the video image — like some ancient knight going gladly to his death, about to plunge into the enemy host!
The swarm guarding that T2 Hive Mothership sensed the danger too, and at once turned into a "black whirlwind," rushing to intercept this ship.
At the same time, the T2 Hive Mothership's abyssal maw slowly opened, taking aim at the fast-onrushing ship.
Within that abyssal maw, a bio-plasma cannon began gathering its charge, flickering with blue light.
And by now Blizzard Zero was already rushing headlong at the swarm!
From Chu Xuan and the others' vantage—
—it was simply Blizzard Zero plowing head-first into the swarm; but because Blizzard Zero's speed was so great, greater even than the speed of the T1 flying-hive-race and T2 sting-snakes—
—what happens when two fast-moving bodies collide?
One side is torn open, flesh and all.
And the ones playing that part now were the bugs.
T1 flying-hive-race and T2 sting-snakes slammed against Blizzard Zero's hull, and before they could so much as attack, became so much pulped meat, their green juices the ship's new paint.
And the crew inside Blizzard Zero felt, in their very bodies, what it was to sit in the heart of a storm.
Anywhere aboard the ship you could hear the ceaseless thud, thud, thud; the deck beneath their feet shook.
The bridge.
"Report — frontal hull armor overall damage reaching 10%… 12%… 14%…"
"Report — flank hull armor overall damage reaching 3%… 5%… 7%…"
The crew reported the ship's condition without cease.
That endless thud, thud, thud of impacts in their ears cast a shadow over no small number of the bridge crew's hearts.
But Charlotte, the ship's acting captain, had at this moment a manic light dancing in her eyes; the blood that had lain quiet in her so long was afire!
"What's our speed now!" Charlotte demanded loudly.
"Speed 135 star-knots… though the swarm-impacts have slowed us somewhat, the ship's speed is still climbing bit by bit… um… are we still to keep accelerating?" The crewwoman on speed control was, by now, drenched in sweat.
Watching that figure, gone red and still leaping upward, she felt her own heart pounding many times faster than usual.
"Keep accelerating!" Charlotte said.
Charlotte looked at the imagery being relayed from outside the hull.
In truth, there was no imagery to see now — only pitch black, for the whole outside of the hull was swarm!
They were driving against the current, through the very heart of the swarm!
Because of the ship's tremendous speed, the bugs couldn't inflict any effective damage on the hull armor at all; the only real harm they could do was to hurl their lives away in the collisions.
Unseen it might be, but on the ship radar—
—Blizzard Zero was drawing closer and closer to that largest energy-mass.
At last!
The scene before them brightened, breaking through the dark!
Blizzard Zero came bursting head-first out of the swarm, the T2 Hive Mothership across from it all but "an arm's length away."
That T2 Hive Mothership gaped its blood-basin maw, its readied bio-plasma cannon on the very verge of spewing forth!
"All secondary guns, all close-in guns — fire with everything!" Charlotte roared.
The long-readied secondary guns and close-in guns fired all at once.
The bio-plasma cannon spewed forth at the same moment; the two collided, forming a brilliant fireball of an effect, and a great billow of smoke and dust, the shockwave sweeping outward blowing the few scattered bugs about far and wide.
A few seconds later, Blizzard Zero came bursting out of the exploding smoke and dust.
"Ram it! Close-in guns keep firing!" Charlotte roared!
A crewman beside her at once broadcast to the whole ship, shouting, "All hands, brace for impact! I repeat, all hands, brace for impact!…"
Every crewman aboard Blizzard Zero at once made ready to meet the collision, gripping anything within reach to steady themselves.
The next instant, the hurtling T2 Blizzard Zero slammed head-first into the T2 Hive Mothership at the bow.
The two differed several times over in size.
But don't forget—
—what hull was it Blizzard Zero used?
That was the hull of an interstellar battleship, whose average strength stood, among same-tier hulls, second only to the interstellar frigate's.
Add in the boost of its speed, and this Blizzard Zero had turned itself, quite simply, into an accelerated "starship shell."
Under that terrifying force of impact, the T2 Hive Mothership's bow crumpled straight inward, and the whole mothership's hull was knocked askew to one side.
At the same time, Blizzard Zero's close-in guns fired on, sparing nothing.
On Blizzard Zero's bridge, a few of the crewwomen, from the sudden collision, lost their grip and went flying outright, slamming hard to the deck in a sprawling heap, limbs to the sky — mercifully, only surface scrapes.
Paying no mind to the hurts on their bodies, they scrambled straight back to their combat posts.
"Report — frontal hull armor overall damage reaching 50%!"
"Report — speed falling to 100 star-knots… 90… 80…"
"Report — the swarm behind has caught up!"
Charlotte said nothing, only stared!
As though in this moment her eyes could see through the hull armor and meet, eye to eye, the T2 Hive Mothership before her.
At last, under the violent collision, the T2 Hive Mothership's position was knocked awry.
Blizzard Zero's hull, grinding against the T2 Hive Mothership's, scraped past it crosswise, the two ships crossing each other.
"Full power — keep going!" Charlotte cried at once.
With no obstacle before it now, the T2 Blizzard Zero began to accelerate once more, this time bound for the main battlefield of the imperial-navy fleet.
Behind it, a great mass of swarm came chasing like a black tide.
As for that rammed T2 Hive Mothership—
—its bow crumpled a full third inward, one flank riddled with cannon-holes; by the look of it, this bio-starship was already at its last gasp.
Who could have imagined a T2 Hive Mothership would, of all things, be "rammed" to death, alive and whole, by a single T2 ship?
Was this… luck?
T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship · the bridge.
"All T2 Baby-Bee-class Light Interstellar Drones and T2 Hornet-class Heavy Interstellar Drones, assemble — tear open a gap for Blizzard Zero! Have the imperial-navy fleet coordinate with us." Zhao Chen watched Blizzard Zero drawing steadily nearer on the ship radar.
At this moment there was still a line of swarm between the two, barring the way.
Blizzard Zero's situation was still perilous — a line of swarm ahead, a mass of swarm chasing behind.
Like the filling in a sandwich; one slip, and it could be devoured clean by the swarm.
The imperial-navy fleet · T2 Fire-Leopard-class Medium Interstellar Battleship, the bridge.
In truth, even without Zhao Chen relaying it, Commander Chu Xuan knew well enough what to do. She gave her order, expression grave!
"By my command — whatever the cost! You will tear open a breach for me!"