The Black Tiger King Naval Port
The largest interstellar naval port in the Black Tiger Star Region, and the largest naval port the Black Tiger tribe possessed.
The port's main body could hold 30,000 T2-grade interstellar warships at once, and could carry out repairs upon T3-grade and some T4 interstellar warships.
Beyond the main body of the port there were besides several outlying port zones remade out of asteroids.
These naval-port asteroids served on the one hand to take on some of the port's work at certain times, the starship berths within them being able to hold at the least 10,000 T2-grade interstellar warships.
And these naval-port asteroids were besides the port's combat satellites, bearing the role of protecting it.
Tick… tick… tick… In the general command room of the Black Tiger King Naval Port's Third Combat Satellite, a Black Tiger beast-folk sat drinking fine wine with one leg crossed over the other, watching the interstellar radar map before him.
Every tick signified that the radar matrix had made a scan across this area.
Suddenly a tiger's paw came down upon this Black Tiger beast-folk's head where he sat his watch.
"Still drinking! Do you not know that all our Black Tiger tribe's regulations have lately been tightened! Drinking while on watch — it seems to me you don't want this post of yours." The Black Tiger officer behind him, in officer's uniform, upbraided him.
The Black Tiger beast-folk on watch saw who it was, and said with a careful, ingratiating laugh, "You frightened the life out of me; I thought it was somebody or other. Uncle, what is there to worry about here? You are the man in charge here; if you don't tell, no one else will dare tell — and who is to know what I'm drinking?"
The Black Tiger officer rolled his eyes and said, pointing at the wine bottle, "Mind yourself next time… at the very least change to an opaque bottle!"
The Black Tiger beast-folk on watch straightened up and answered with a show of obedience, "Yes!"
"You young rascal — don't you go careless on me. On account of what the rebel army did earlier, the people above us have been very tense of late. They have even recalled every crew member who was resting back to his post. Have you not noticed that the density of patrols has been increased!" The Black Tiger officer stared at the interstellar radar's display.
The Black Tiger beast-folk on watch shrugged and said, "Set your mind at rest. Even if there were a slip on the home star, there could not possibly be a slip here. We are fitted with the Warhammer's most advanced radar system, and counter-stealth reconnaissance equipment besides, and spatial-anomaly reconnaissance equipment. Under this radar suite, we can discover any enemy ship at five times the range of its own firepower!"
The Black Tiger officer knew what this nephew of his said was fact, but he ran through it all once over regardless.
And confirmed there was no problem of any kind.
"Uncle, I hear that this Owl Dragon Legion or whatever it is annihilated two Dragon-folk fleet groups — 60,000 interstellar warships — on the strength of a bare 3,000 interstellar warships? Is that true or false, then?" the Black Tiger beast-folk on duty asked curiously.
"I am not certain either; those above have blocked the spread of the news. But by the look of things, even if two Dragon-folk fleet groups were not annihilated entire, they must have swallowed no small bitterness. Or our Black Tiger tribe could not possibly be so cautious. Presumably those above are anxious that the rebel army's newly founded Hundred Beasts Alliance, headed by the White-Tiger tribe's General Charlotte, will make our Black Tiger tribe their first target. For everything our Black Tiger tribe now possesses was, after all, seized from the White-Tiger tribe," the Black Tiger officer said.
"Uncle, now you are borrowing trouble like the man who feared the sky would fall. How strong is our Black Tiger tribe? Among the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth's great tribes we can be sent into the top three! If that Charlotte or whoever dares raise a hand against us— then she is seeking her own death." The Black Tiger beast-folk on duty said it with confidence.
And just at this moment, points of light suddenly appeared out among the stars in the distance.
"What is that?" The Black Tiger officer knit his brows, looking at those points of light through the viewport.
"Can it be interstellar warships just returned?" the Black Tiger beast-folk on duty muttered.
"Bring up the deep-space telescope for me," the Black Tiger officer ordered.
Thereafter the imagery captured by the deep-space telescope appeared before the Black Tiger officer.
And when the Black Tiger officer made those points of light out clearly, his pupils dilated and filled with terror.
Those were, astonishingly, interstellar warships appearing out of empty air, one after another.
They seemed to have crossed a barrier of dimensions and emerged into this stretch of the starry heavens.
And from the outward form of these interstellar warships alone one could tell they were assuredly no ordinary interstellar warships — every one of them, without exception, was T3-grade.
"Owl Dragon… those are… those are Owl Dragon Legion interstellar warships." The Black Tiger beast-folk on duty recognized that Owl Dragon crest.
Those above had earlier issued a file to every one of them.
Within which was described in detail the material their Black Tiger tribe had gathered on the Owl Dragon Legion.
And the most conspicuous item in it was the Owl Dragon Legion's fleet crest.
"How can this be! Our spatial detection apparatus has found no anomaly whatever in this region of space!" The Black Tiger officer glanced at the radar detection apparatus.
And at this point he discovered that something was wrong.
Because at this very moment they had watched with their own eyes the Owl Dragon Legion's interstellar warships descend upon this stretch of the starry heavens.
Yet upon the radar star-chart there was, astonishingly, still no movement of any kind.
Which left only one possibility.
That their radar system had been penetrated.
Without a soul aware of it.
"Quickly! Initiate first-grade combat alert at once! Owl Dragon Legion fleets have appeared about our naval port. Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle at once!" The Black Tiger officer shouted it while pressing a red button.
That was the naval port's alarm button.
Once pressed, this military satellite would send out a signal, and would flash a dazzling red light besides.
Raising the alarm at every level.
But now there was no movement whatever.
"What is going on? What on earth is going on!" The Black Tiger officer pressed that red button like a madman.
But to no effect whatever.
"Un… un… uncle… look, quickly… what is that…" The Black Tiger beast-folk on duty beside him pointed trembling out the viewport.
Only then did the Black Tiger officer raise his head, and astonishment came into his eyes.
He saw an interstellar warship hanging at a position not far from their combat satellite.
The Owl Dragon Legion's crest clearly visible upon it.
"That is… that is an interstellar stealth scout ship!" By this interstellar warship's outward form the Black Tiger officer identified its class type.
And putting that together with what had happened before—
the Black Tiger officer woke to it all at once. "It was that ship that penetrated our network — it is jamming us! Quickly! Quickly! Emergency startup of the combat satellite's defensive weapons; destroy this interstellar stealth scout ship!"
"We can't! Our programs have thrown errors and won't start. Not unless we reboot — and a reboot needs 10 minutes at the least."
"Then change to mechanical startup! Quickly!"
Because the programs had been penetrated, a great many software systems had failed, or else were rebooting.
But 10 minutes they very plainly could not afford to wait.
Yet the designers had foreseen such a case at the time of building, and the overwhelming majority of technological weapons and installations, besides being operated by intelligent software—
had a backup mechanical startup as well.
Several hundred close-in defense guns upon the combat satellite began slowly to turn, making ready to sight upon that interstellar stealth scout ship opposite.
But the next moment, a more terrible sight appeared.
Interstellar bombs, one after another, struck the combat satellite's defensive weapons, and left the combat satellite wholly bereft of combat capability.
The Black Tiger officer looked hard.
At this hour, besides that interstellar stealth scout ship, several dozen interstellar stealth bombers had appeared about it as well.
That attack a moment ago had been their doing.
And this same scene was playing out upon the other combat satellites too.
The Black Tiger officer looked at the 3,000 Owl Dragon interstellar warships that had now completed their interstellar jump, and sat down hard upon the floor in terror.