Chapter 471: Ch
And so they couldn’t help but have the corners of their mouths twitch, as they didn’t know what else they could add.
"What happened?" Mav mocked. "No energy to speak about anything now, huh?"
Mav threw his gaze towards both brother and sister, who couldn’t help but swallow their saliva and look at each other with eyes full of criticism, each blaming the other as if to say, It’s your fault. Why did you have to speak at that moment?
And when they realized that neither of them could reach a conclusion, they could only look at Mav with pleading eyes.
Mav, seeing their puppy-like eyes that were almost about to fill with tears, could only stop and not cause them any more trouble. Still, he inwardly rejoiced in his triumphant victory over the two.
"Hmph! Go now and prepare your fleets to move to your designated locations."
Mav said as he cast aside the random banter and spoke about the real matter.
Ritika and Ritik sighed in relief upon hearing this, thinking, Finally, he dropped the matter and became serious. Nodding their heads like hens, they replied,
"Yes, Grand Admiral."
Before they could leave, Mav spoke a few more words with absolute seriousness.
"Remember, we must not let a single one escape our encirclement. This is a matter of utmost importance, so ensure that no gaps are formed within your sectors."
Hearing this, both Ritika and Ritik solemnly saluted and assured him.
"No mistakes will happen under our command. We take full responsibility for it, Grand Admiral."
"Good."
Mav nodded with visible approval on his face. Their words satisfied him, and their guarantee put him at ease, for these were people he knew could do exactly what they said without the slightest hint of exaggeration.
With that, he waved his hand, causing the holographic projections of both of them to disappear, and the room returned to its silence.
"Admiral Mink," he called out.
Quickly, a figure appeared exactly where Ritik had been standing a few seconds ago. He saluted and said,
"I’m here, Grand Admiral."
"Pass down the order to the other eleven Legion Admirals to move according to the plan..."
Mav began issuing orders and reorganizing his own fleet to complete his side of the encirclement.
The same was true for Ritika and Ritik. After quickly sighing in relief as they realized they had dodged a bullet, they reminded themselves to listen first and speak later before immediately proceeding to reorganize their respective fleets, much like Mav was doing.
One legion after another organized themselves and moved towards the portals opened by the Warp Gate Ships ahead. Ships that were among the most unique creations of their now-established Evolution Department, not only because of their functionality but because of their appearance as well.
At this moment, about six of these ships were in position, opening portals leading from one point to another, allowing each legion to move directly to where it needed to be in order to form the triangular encirclement.
And in no more than half an hour, both Ritika’s and Ritik’s fleets had vanished from the empty sea of space. What remained was Mav’s direct fleet, with him personally leading one legion while the other eleven legions had already moved to their designated positions.
In another few minutes, Mav received communications from his two High Admirals, who stated that their parts of the encirclement were complete. They were in position, ready to attack at any moment, and were waiting for his command.
Mav confirmed it with the fleet admirals leading their own legions and received positive replies that they too were in their respective positions and could begin the attack at any moment.
Seeing that everything was in place, he turned his attention towards the ships and defense installations of the Bright Moon Republic forces present within the star system through the targeting systems of his thousands of secondary weapon batteries.
At the same time, he locked onto the Bright Moon Republic’s Battlestar with his main cannons, the Lance of the Void Super Plasma Annihilation Cannons.
The moment the targets were locked, Mav fired the first shot.
A hail of dense, highly charged, concentrated fire erupted from roughly six hundred secondary weapon batteries. Half of them were energy-type weapon systems, while the other half were kinetic-type weapon systems. All of them rushed into the void at speeds far exceeding the speed of light.
Following behind them were two massive dark energy shells composed of densely supercharged annihilation plasma.
These energy shells were shaped like lances and traveled no slower than the secondary cannon fire itself, rushing relentlessly towards their targets.
Just as Mav launched the first attack, he simultaneously issued the order, "Attack! Hold nothing back!"
Meanwhile, at the Oren-Top Star System, where the Moon-9 Nexus Fortress was situated, stood one of the few Tier-3 strongholds of the Bright Moon Republic.
It belonged to the Illyrian Clan, an avian-mammalian hybrid species known for their crystalline architecture and deep religious devotion towards their homeworld’s twin yellow suns.
They were one of the dominant clans within the Bright Moon Republic, controlling a large portion of the Republic’s space naval forces.
This heavily militarized star system had six inhabited worlds, three mining worlds, twelve moons, and one supermoon converted into the Battlestar Moon-9 Nexus.
It had a population of about one hundred billion souls, if not more. Most of them belonged to the Illyrian Race, while the rest came from other races. The majority were from Tier-2 powers, with only a small number belonging to no major faction at all.
At this moment, everything within the star system and on each habitable world, despite the heavy security and restrictions because of the constant naval presence, was full of vitality and prosperity, just like any other day.
Myriads of people could be seen moving along the pathways or through the lanes filled with flying cars and shuttles, landing and departing from the spaceports. Others traveled towards the towering sky cities and even beyond them to the gigantic space cities suspended in orbit.
It was then that something disastrous happened, a sight witnessed by almost all the higher-ups of the Oren-Top Star System and its naval commanders.
BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!!
Suddenly, one after another, the defense installations at the edge of the star system were attacked at the same time. They were quickly destroyed without even a moment of reaction being left for the personnel stationed within them. Before they could respond, they were completely wiped out.
And this was happening across every point of the entire star system, much to the surprise and fear of the Illyrian Clan and their leaders who were deployed within this star system.
Before they were given even the slightest chance to take countermeasures or react against this sudden assault, the Moon-9 Nexus Fortress was struck by two gigantic crimson lance-shaped energy shells.
They directly tore through its eight-layered shields and slammed into the Moon Battlestar itself.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Two miniature suns rose where the energy lances struck and detonated, sending the entire Moon Fortress violently shaking.
The explosions tore apart sections of its outer armor, destroyed countless weapon batteries, and obliterated two of its main weapon systems in an instant.
"W-What is happening, Vael?!"
The Grand Admiral and supreme commander of all the Illyrian Clan’s forces stationed within the Oren-Top Star System shouted. He barely managed to keep his footing, astonishingly remaining standing despite the violent tremors that swept through the entire Moon Fortress.
Before any of his subordinates, who still remained standing, could reply, multiple alarms immediately began ringing throughout the command center.
One after another, warning displays lit up before everyone’s eyes.
[SYSTEM ALERT – COMBAT DAMAGE REPORT]
[VESSEL STATUS: CRITICAL]
ALERT: SHIELD COLLAPSE Primary and secondary deflector grids offline. Shield Integrity: 0%.
CRITICAL: STRUCTURAL FAILURE Outer hull breach detected in Frontal Section. Decompression imminent. Structural integrity failing.
WARNING: COMPARTMENT COMPROMISED Automated bulkheads engaging in Sectors UPSD-456 through UPSD-786. Severe internal pressure loss detected.
CRITICAL: WEAPONS SYSTEMS OFFLINE Main Battery [Super-Laser Cannons]: DESTROYED.
Secondary Batteries: HEAVILY DAMAGED. Estimated functional capacity: 65%.
CRITICAL: MOON FORTRESS STRUCTURAL FAILURE Moon Fortress Structural Integrity: 78% and falling.
"W-What the hell...?" someone on the bridge uttered as they listened to the multiple warnings sounding one after another.
In this sudden and unknown attack, even their defense network had failed to detect the enemy despite being on constant alert and operating in continuous scanning mode. Yet nothing had been detected until it was already too late.
SYSTEM ALERT Massive spatial fluctuations detected. Source: Northern edge of the star system.
Following the alert, the star chart flickered, and a few red dots began to appear.
One...
Ten...
A hundred...
A thousand...
Until the number finally exceeded ten thousand, no longer increasing by any noticeable amount.
Seeing that, Grand Admiral Vael frowned.
"A fleet of only ten thousand ships? C-Can they really be behind that attack?"
He muttered in disbelief.
"Impossible... If that were the case, how did they destroy the defense installations and the patrol fleets on the southern and other side of the star system...?"