CHAPTER 251: CH 246 MINOARA STAR -5 (REFINED)

It wasn’t just the left flank of the Minotaur side that had started their attacks; the main battle lines—consisting of the bulk of the Minotaur ships and their Star Fortress—were also engaged.

Back on board the bridge of the Star Fortress, the A’thari, warning lights had long since been flashing red. The situation was both chaotic and systematic at the same time. The intensity of this battle was obviously much higher for them than the previous, shorter one they had just fought.

They had even lost one of their most reliable assets in this fight against the unknown enemy: their six-layered shield system on the Fortress.

And it wasn’t just the loss of their most reliable asset that made this sudden battle so intense; the stakes were also much higher, as the chances of them losing their lives were far too high this time around.

Commander Helran’s eyes were wide open, his tusks gleaming with bloodlust and a murderous, oppressive aura that came from his quasi-world-building realm cultivation. He slammed his fist against his command console. "Report! What is the status of our operational readiness?" he demanded.

The tactical officer, Ke’lar, was fast with his reply. "Commander," he said in a hurry, "our battlecruisers, battleships, destroyers, and other classes of ships—as well as the Star Fortress—are all prepared. Their weapon systems and missile firing sequences have been calibrated and are ready to launch hell upon our enemies."

Though his voice carried some confidence, his mind held nothing close to it. He had seen the first exchange with the unknown enemy and their weapons—all of which had proven completely ineffective. He kept these thoughts to himself, however, knowing his commander was just as aware of the situation as he was.

While the Minotaur were reorganizing, flanking the First Battle Fleet from the left, right, and front, the Void Fleet was not left behind. They had already organized themselves to counter the Minotaur forces and their intentions.

The Vanguard of the First Battle Fleet slowed their forward momentum as they raced toward the Minotaur’s main battle line. However, their speed wasn’t the only thing changing; their weapon systems were charging up.

Much like the Vanguard, the left and right flanking divisions of the First Battle Fleet were also charging their weapons, with their targets primarily being the Minotaur’s flanking divisions. For the most part, the Vanguard was focused on defensive tactics—at least that was the intention.

Just as the First Battle Fleet’s right flank opened fire on the Minotaur’s flanking group of ships, the Vanguard also opened fire on the Minotaur’s main battle line.

The two thousand ships that comprised the Vanguard—mostly battlecruisers, followed by destroyers, frigates, and battleships—all fired their weapons. Whether they were energy-based or kinetic, all the weapons fired with methodical precision, the projectiles and beams racing toward the Minotaur main line.

A couple of seconds before the Vanguard of the First Battle Fleet fired, back on board the Star Fortress, the Minotaur officer responsible for monitoring their enemy’s energy signatures shouted, "Commander! Commander! I’m noticing a high spike of energy from the enemy’s main line, their Vanguard! It’s likely they are preparing to attack!" He made his theory loud and clear as he spoke.

Commander Helran, who was having a talk with other tactical officers, suddenly turned to his command display.

A holographic screen popped up in front of him, showing the same thing the officer had just mentioned. He stood up hurriedly, opening the fleet-wide comms.

"Every weapon that our fleet has on hand and is already charged up... I need all of you to fire them now, or it will be too late!" he commanded. "All battlecruisers as well as the destroyers, tighten your formation and be ready to rotate when the shields are unable to hold on. Be quick, and you need not to ask me about this. Fire, quick!"

Helran gave a series of orders in a succession that took less than a second. Another high-ranking officer quickly answered his call just as fast.

And not only did they reply quickly, but they also carried out the changes exactly as per the Helran command. Just outside the command bridge of the star fortress, the fleet of ships encircled the massive structure in three layers, arranged in a forward-sweeping arc formation. In simple terms, the formation resembled a half-circle.

The foremost layer was composed mainly of battlecruisers and destroyer-class ships. Each of them, though not fully Tier-One, possessed quasi–Tier-One-grade weapon systems, power generators, shield arrays, and targeting modules.

The first layer alone numbered around 800 ships, packed tightly together with only small gaps. The second layer, while not as close, still maintained a tight line—leaving just enough space for maneuvering if an emergency arose.

And just like that, all the Minotaur forces, comprising various kinds of ships, opened fire just before the Vanguard of the First Battle Fleet had. Their energy attacks made the dark space glow with various kinds of light: some red, some blue, some green, some crimson.

The energy of weapons—like the Pearl Cannons, Heavy Plasma Cannons, Heavy Ion Cannons, Quad and Dual-class Turbolasers, and many others—lashed out toward the first layer of the formation the Minotaur had created in front of their Star Fortress. These attacks were not randomly thrown at the Minotaur fleet at all.

Instead, all of the Vanguard’s attacks were meticulously focused on particular targets, which had been locked on by the Void Fleet’s Hyper-Targeting Assistance System.

In just a second, they met their targets. Most of the attacks were focused on counter-attacking the beams the Minotaur had launched at them, while others focused on some of the battlecruisers and destroyers at the front of the Minotaur formation.

As the attacks launched by the two fleets collided, they created explosions that lit up the empty void for a brief moment. If this battle were taking place in an atmosphere, the sound of the explosions would have been deafening.

But unfortunately, the battle was unfolding in space, and everyone—especially the nervous ones fighting their very first battle—were unsettled as they listened to the symphony of battlefield explosions.

The energy attacks from both sides met in a striking fashion. Because of the high capabilities of the Hyper-Targeting Assistance System, 99% of the Minotaur’s attacks were intercepted by the Vanguard’s counter-fire.

The few attacks that managed to pass through—ten, maybe a hundred at most—were basically ignored by the system because they were not seen as a threat.

These were mostly kinetic rounds that quickly struck the shields of the vanguard’s forward-most ships, which were primarily battlecruisers.

And that was only the case for the few attacks—the kinetic rounds that were able to strike even the shields of the Vanguard’s forward ships. About 80% of the attacks that managed to pass the initial interception were then blasted in a second, before they could even strike the shields of the front ships.

These few attacks were intentionally allowed to hit, a show of power the Vanguard was demonstrating for the Minotaur to watch. The attacks were allowed to hit not because they were powerful enough to threaten the ships, but because the Void Fleet chose to let them through. Between the First Battle Fleet and the Minotaur’s main battle line, a sea of explosions was created. Almost every weapon in the Minotaur’s arsenal had been fired and neutralized, and not a single powerful attack was able to pass through the explosive sea created by the two forces’ attacks meeting.

However, that was only the case for the Minotaur forces, and not for the Vanguard itself. The Vanguard’s attacks, while not yet at full power, were easily able to push past the sea of explosions and continue toward their targets—the points marked by the Hyper-Targeting Assistance System.

Back on board the Minotaur Star Fortress, Commander Helran held his breath. He watched as most of their attacks were neutralised right in front of him, unable to even reach their intended targets.

He had expected this to happen, but not in such a way. It was far too surprising to him that the enemy was able to counter even their energy-based attacks.

He had underestimated the enemy far too much. Even while overestimating them, it was still an underestimation of the power and technological superiority that their unknown enemy possessed.

He then swiped his finger, and the holographic display in front of him shifted, showing the position of the left flank subgroup of his fleet. He hoped to see some results, even though he knew he was expecting something impossible to achieve.

What he found was just as bad, if not worse, than what he had hoped for. It wasn’t the results he wanted but a complete catastrophic event. Around five to six ships, mostly destroyers, had been utterly destroyed.

About ten had been compromised of their combat capabilities, and a few more had lost their shields for the time being. The same was the case for his fleet’s right flank. Even so, both the captains commanding the right and left flanks were not backing off. Instead, they were pushing the enemy.