Time to the Swarm Surge's beginning: 3 hours 17 minutes
One after another, interstellar warships of the Owl Dragon line, with the Dragon-Tiger Legion's fleet blazon cut into their hulls, slid slowly into their battle positions.
"Are they all in place?" Chief Ted stood upon the bridge and looked round, through the viewport, at the interstellar defensive position he lay in.
The 100,000 hulls of the Dragon-Tiger Legion he led were charged with garrisoning here.
"Every fleet of the Dragon-Tiger Legion has reached its battle position," the adjutant reported from beside him.
"How stand the fleets?"
"Every interstellar warship has completed its last repair, checking and supply. Even the interstellar warships lost in the actions before have been made up to us by General Charlotte's side; and the crews are all reserve crews of our own Dragon-Tiger Legion, with old hands taking new hands in hand — the fighting power can be answered for."
"And the materials upon fighting the interstellar hive-race — have the commanders of the several fleets and the captains under them all read them?"
"That…" To this question the adjutant found it somewhat hard to answer.
Chief Ted's brows drew together. "Those are the Owl Dragon Legion's experience of fighting the interstellar hive-race through these years. To learn from them can greatly increase our own experience of such fighting. Does that crew think, every man of them, that the interstellar hive-race are nothing but bugs? Hmph. In the fighting just ended, did they not several times get the worse of it from these hive-race swarms they think so little of? Somebody's flagship was even near being doused through and through by a Hive Mothership's corroding acid!"
"My lord, you know the character of these commanders of ours. Fond of war, every one of them, but not fond of study — still less of materials in writing. Though set your mind at rest: happily, after this round of real fighting, and with the Owl Dragon Legion's having taught us their experience directly several times. In the fighting to come there will assuredly be no trouble!" the adjutant answered.
Chief Ted shook his head helplessly; how should he not know what those subordinates of his were like.
And the quality of his officers was to be reckoned among the better in the Warhammer.
Only the Dragon-Folk tribe's side could match them.
The other tribal fleets — every one of them might be described as a set of bravos.
How did the term go, the one his daughter so often used — strong of limb and simple of head.
"I care not how much they have learned. But the discipline of the field they shall keep clear in their minds for me. In the fighting, all is by the orders that come down from the Owl Dragon Legion's highest command; and where they do not understand, they are to follow the directions of their own secretaries. I did not hire all those fox-folk secretaries of the fox race for nothing. Whoever drops the chain for me in this action. Let him not blame me for dealing with him afterward!" Chief Ted said it with a fierce air.
At this time he happened to see an Owl Dragon legion passing slowly by not far off, with the number ten upon them.
The Owl Dragon Tenth Legion, it should be.
Look at how they kept a battle formation even in sailing.
And then look at these interstellar warships of his own.
"Tell them to draw up a proper battle formation for me! Damn it all, they are starship commanders every one — how comes the difference to be so great!" Chief Ted took off his uniform cap and cursed.
And within, he had begun to mutter that once this battle was over.
He would have Charlotte find a way to set up in the Warhammer too one of those interstellar military academies he had seen in the Owl Dragon Star System, and drill these young dogs properly.
The difference — truly, one does not know until one compares, and comparing gives one a fright!
——————
Time to the Swarm Surge's beginning: 2 hours 30 minutes
The Holy Light Empress fleet groups · flagship.
"Reporting to the Empress — the whole empire, throughout its borders, has entered a state of war control of the highest grade; any breach of the war control ordinances will be gravely punished!"
The Empress Saint Cana nodded, but her eyes stayed upon the interstellar war sand table before her, which held every star region the interstellar hive-race had ever held.
"How stands the clearing of the interstellar hive-race in the several star regions?" The Empress Saint Cana looked toward the secretary beside her.
The secretary pointed at the sand table. "To the present all has gone very smoothly. Including those three star regions, the district held by the interstellar hive-race has shrunk 60 percent from before. Of the remainder, 30 percent is this district of the cosmic bug-nest, and the other 10 percent is certain scattered interstellar hive-race elsewhere. The latter, by our war alliance's plan, are already held within a number of districts and will be no great threat. Once the crisis at the cosmic bug-nest is handled, we shall clear away these scattered swarms of the hive-race and those planets they have squatted upon."
The Empress Saint Cana looked at those stretches of the star-heavens, once red for high danger and now turned yellow for middling danger, and it seemed the grudge in her heart was much laid down.
"And this action — how has it gone?" the Empress Saint Cana asked.
"In this action, above 2 million interstellar warships were moved. In fact there was no need to move so many; but because the Owl Dragon's side advised taking the chance to let every fleet come by real experience of fighting the interstellar hive-race. So so vast a number was moved, to make certain that every interstellar warship had at the least the experience of engaging one or more Hive Motherships, and above five hours of it.
"It must be said this drill in real fighting has truly served. Our Holy Radiance Empire's fleets did well enough; but the fleets from the Warhammer and Starlight, having perhaps no experience of fighting the interstellar hive-race, showed no small troubles in every regular fleet, save that a few elite fleets did excellently. Had there been no elite fleets rich in such fighting beside them to look after them, in real battle they would likely have got much the worse of it," the secretary said with feeling.
Saint Cana nodded in agreement.
Without experience of fighting the interstellar hive-race, taking them for an ordinary interstellar war, one gets much the worse of it without exception.
The interstellar hive-race's way of fighting, and the terror of it, is a thing no one who has not faced it can conceive.
The secretary went on. "And further, under the dispatch and arrangement of that Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship, every field went very smoothly. Against the projected loss of 100,000 to 300,000 interstellar warships, in fact only 50,000 were lost, and a further 60,000 damaged in varying degree by that corroding weapon of the interstellar hive-race and forced out of this campaign. Reckoned together, it comes to a loss of 110,000 interstellar warships. And we destroyed near 500,000 Hive Motherships in all! Though above 90 percent of those were T1 Hive Motherships — some newly hatched, and weak in fighting power. Only that their number was rather great. Yet had there been no elite fleets assisting alongside, this loss might well have been several times as high!"
Saint Cana nodded; that was fact indeed.
In the Holy Radiance Empire's early days against the interstellar hive-race, for want of experience in such fighting, they had got much the worse of it many times.