BATTLE FOR STARS

After all, if you jumped directly into the heart of an enemy nation's core star region and then lost access to the Stargate, destruction was only a matter of time.

The side that controlled a Stargate controlled continuous supplies and troop deployments. And in interstellar warfare, logistics often determined everything. Without energy or ammunition, how could you keep fighting?

Although Epsom now technically "bordered" the Hill Empire, the distance between star systems was still immense. Conventional travel was far too slow and far too easy to detect, exposing both a fleet's position and its intentions.

As a result, nearly all offensive operations relied on forced transit.

Pierre knew his turn was coming soon.

He would be among the first invasion forces entering the Confederation's territory.

That meant enormous rewards and promotions in the future.

It also meant enormous risk.

Sure enough, a red signal flashed across his retinal display.

New orders had arrived.

After straightening his uniform, Pierre hurried toward the fighter hangar aboard the Carrier. A newly modified Fighter was already waiting for him there.

The modifications weren't particularly dramatic.

The primary upgrade was a more powerful gravitational detector—the most effective tool for locating Warp Mines.

Warp Mines were a type of space mine, and by far the most common. They were scattered throughout nearly every star system, though critical regions naturally had much higher concentrations.

Their main purpose was simple.

Whenever a Stargate activated and an interstellar jump was about to occur, nearby Warp Mines would detect the spatial disturbance and interfere with the surrounding space, disrupting the transit process.

Of course, there was always a delay.

First, the mine had to recognize the Stargate activation and initiate its interference systems.

Second, Warp Mines were spread across vast distances.

In remote regions, a single mine might be separated from the next by millions or even tens of millions of kilometers. Even in strategically important areas, they were rarely closer than tens of thousands of kilometers apart.

So even when a mine detected a spatial anomaly and responded immediately, the enormous distance involved created a lag in the interference effect.

The delay might be tiny.

Perhaps only a few microseconds.

But during that brief instant, the interstellar corridor remained open.

Pierre's mission was to enter Confederation territory during that fleeting window.

Once inside, he and the advance forces would eliminate the Warp Mines and prepare the way for the main invasion fleet.

In military terms, they would be establishing the first bridgehead.

Of course, before that bridgehead could truly be secured, there was still a great deal of work to do.

And plenty of dangers waiting for them.

For the Hill Empire, this offensive would not be launched from a single direction.

There would be two attack points.

The reason was simple.

And strangely absurd.

Two Fleet Commanders couldn't agree on where the attack should begin.

The argument had started during the prewar strategy conference.

Although both Fleets belonged to the First Army Group, overall command rested with One-Lion General Augustin of the Eighth Fleet.

Within the Hill Empire, lower-numbered Fleets generally meant older Fleets.

They were the traditional powerhouses.

Older Fleets possessed more distinguished combat records, greater prestige, superior equipment, and better personnel.

Augustin, however, commanded the Eighth Fleet—the newest Fleet in the Empire.

The Eighth Fleet had been established only a few decades earlier.

At the time, it had been assembled from planetary defense squadrons across the Empire.

The reason was straightforward.

The Empire wanted to expand the size of its offensive forces.

Building enough new Starships to form an entirely new Fleet would have taken far too long, so ships were transferred directly from planetary defense units instead. Some vessels were even retired models passed down from other Fleets after equipment upgrades.

No matter how one looked at it, the Eighth Fleet started at a disadvantage.

Its numbers were smaller.

Its Starships were older.

Its personnel were considered average.

And its combat experience was limited.

The veterans of other Fleets looked down on this newly formed force.

Because of that, everyone in the Eighth Fleet—from the Commander down to the newest recruit—had spent years trying to prove themselves.

General Augustin led by example.

He demanded excellence from his subordinates and constantly searched for talented officers.

That was how Miu Landon had been recruited.

Thanks to his extraordinary military talent, Landon rose rapidly after graduation. He advanced from Starship captain to Task Force Commander in a remarkably short time.

Several years later, he became Chief of Staff of the Eighth Fleet.

He also earned Augustin's complete trust and admiration.

Had Deputy Fleet Commander Chipman not been an old military veteran with a spotless service record, Landon would likely have become the youngest deputy fleet commander in Imperial history.

As Augustin's right-hand man and one of the youngest senior staff officers in the Fleet, Landon had spent years carefully building victory after victory.

Every campaign against the Confederation ended with a decisive success.

Under his leadership, the Eighth Fleet transformed from a second-rate force mocked by its peers into one of the Empire's finest Fleets.

What made those victories remarkable wasn't that Landon somehow fought wars without casualties.

Rather, the Eighth Fleet consistently achieved extraordinarily favorable loss ratios.

In other words, after every battle, it suffered the fewest casualties possible.

And that was accomplished despite the Eighth Fleet operating equipment generally inferior to that of other Fleets.

Many of those engagements had been brutal, hard-fought battles.

In interstellar warfare, the destruction of a Starship usually meant death for most of its crew.

Starships carried numerous escape systems, ranging from multi-person escape craft to individual emergency survival units.

But once a vessel's outer armor was breached, the protection available inside was extremely limited.

Against high-yield weapons, human beings were almost helpless.

Even if someone managed to reach an escape craft before the ship exploded, survival was far from guaranteed.

A raging battlefield in deep space was no place for fragile escape pods.

Their armor was insignificant compared to that of a Starship.

Take neutron bombs, for example.

Without the protection of a Starship's heavy hull, many personal survival units offered little defense against them.

And in fleet warfare, neutron weapons could be found everywhere.

Even if someone survived all of that, defeat would still mean capture.

Enemy Starships sweeping the battlefield afterward would simply collect the survivors as prisoners of war.

It was precisely because of the Eighth Fleet's astonishing record over the past several years that it had become the Main Fleet of the First Army Group.

As a result, its commander, Augustin, had been appointed supreme commander of the entire campaign.

That left Clay, commander of the former Third Fleet, serving as deputy commander.

The thought alone irritated him.

The two Fleet Commanders had even argued over who would launch the first offensive.

Neither was willing to hand such a prestigious achievement to the other.

In the end, a compromise was reached.

Each Fleet would dispatch a mixed task force to attack a separate star region.

Whichever force succeeded first would become the main breakthrough direction for the invasion.

As supreme commander of the First Army Group, Augustin could have simply ordered the Third Fleet to obey.

But Clay possessed greater seniority and broader prestige throughout the military.

Forcing the issue was hardly the best solution.

And so the compromise stood.

Soon afterward, the order for forced transit was transmitted throughout the Fleet.

The war was about to begin.