Ravens of Eternity

343 The Star Dragon, Pt The Hegemony fleet circled around the massive repair yard at top speed from multiple angles, and fired their broadside weapons straight into the various targets the yard present. And they spared no expense in obliterating whatever they could, with whatever weapons they had.

Structures and ships and drones and goods were torn apart with vicious ferocity.

Not that the Federation took any of it lying down. Although the cruiser and the destroyers that were being repaired were instantly neutralized, there were still plenty in the space all around. There was still one of the cruisers, eight of its destroyers, and 40 of its frigates in perfect working order.

Most of them spun and rolled in place as they counter-fired on the Hegemony fleet that was bombarding them on all sides. Their broadside guns tracked their targets quickly and fired as many shells as they could.

Federation destroyers rotated and spun in place as they tracked the two cruisers – their relative lack of velocity allowed them to keep their aim tight, and on point. And, along with the rest of their defending fleet, fired as quickly as they could.

Sabot rounds and cannon shells tore at the Hegemony cruisers, and severely dented and wrenched their armor in large swaths.

One of the rounds punched through one of the cruiser’s portside plating, and caused massive damage to the structure below. It ripped into one of the decks and killed dozens of crew members in the blink of an eye.

While the terrible exchange of destruction was happening between, Hegemony fighter squadrons flew fearlessly into the Federation’s capital ship formation. With the ships facing outward in every direction, the bomber pilots in the formation salivated at the sheer amount of targets open to them.

“On my marks!” cried the bomber captain.

.....

He immediately marked out numerous targets on multiple ships, which appeared to snake around the haphazard Federation formation. Then, they all charged forward as their torpedo tubes opened.

The pilots’ hearts thudded in their chests as they wove between the destroyers, while also avoiding incoming defensive turret fire and enemy fighter wings. They gripped their flight sticks tightly in their hands as they entered their attack pattern, as they neared each of their targets.

Then, they fired their weapons.

Large torpedo missiles dropped from their bays, even as the bombers veered off to their next target. Then, the torpedos’ rear thrusters lit up brightly and shot forward with unbelievable speed. It was only a moment later that they struck their targets – the first volley smashed into the side of one of the destroyers, and violently tore it apart.

The torpedoes first smashed any turrets into useless fragments of scrap, punched into the armor plating, then exploded with such potence and violence that the ship’s broadside caved inward. Entire sheets of armor were ripped off from the force of impact alone.

And while the bombers continued to wreak havoc on the Federation destroyers, their escort fighters fought off Federation interceptors as fiercely as they could. Thankfully, because almost a good chunk of the Federation’s fighter squadrons had been torn apart while rearming, they were relatively even in numbers.

All of them wove wildly around and between the destroyers and the cruiser, as they each vied for domination over the other. Streams of chaingun fire and beams filled the space between them all.

Armor was shorn off ships on both sides, and many were torn apart and dismantled, piece by piece.

The Star Dragon watched as the divided 5th Hegemony Fleet attacked the six Federation Repair Yards all at once. He watched as they dismantled them, printer by printer, depot by depot, bolt by bolt.

They crippled the Federation’s support structure in the entire sector further, with every moment that passed. But they also took on a great amount of damage themselves. All knew that sacrifices were necessary, and that they would be paid back in kind, eventually.

However, this seemed different somehow.

The Star Dragon realized that so much more was at stake, but it was more than he could actually fathom. All he truly knew was that their success here was critical to the Hegemony’s future, even if success was simply delaying the Federation’s advance.

And though the damage that the fleet was taking certainly worried him, there was something else that bothered him even more.

Some of the defending Federation fleets ported out without a fight. They even left whatever ships that were still repairing or rearming behind. Which, of course, gave the incoming attack force the ability to wipe out the station without tallying a single casualty.

It meant that they were gearing up for a fight elsewhere. Likely, his own position.

“Admiral!” cried out one of his technicians. “Receiving reports from Listening Station HFF-XI. They’ve detected an amassed Federation force cruising past their location. 5 cruisers, 15 destroyers, 50 frigates. Estimated 500 skirmish vessels. All with trajectories towards Sorallus Orbital Station.”

The high admiral’s eyes went wide on hearing that. Though they were right to assume that the Federation was after Sorallus, it wasn’t because of the administration city on the planet. It was the orbital station itself – the center of commerce in the sector itself.

He cursed lightly to himself for underestimating the Federation, and misunderstanding their intent.

They didn’t want control of the sector, not exactly. They wanted control of the market. To gain the profits that the Hegemony was currently enjoying. Control of it all was simply the bonus.

He of all people should have realized that from the start. The Federation, after all, only carried about money and profits. Everything else be damned.

“I need a report on the state of planetary conflicts,” he said. “Did they pull back from their positions?”

“No sir,” said another technician. “Their assaults on the settlements are still going strong, sir.”

A murmur spread across the bridge on hearing that. All had assumed that their forces were going to pull back, pool together, then attack. The Star Dragon included.

“Send a critical comm to the rest of the fleet,” the admiral commanded. “Raise their orders to Critical – they are to obliterate those repair yards completely and absolutely before they can commit to any defensive measures. They must destroy them at all costs.

“Now, increase operational alert level to Seven, and move to defend the Sorallus Orbital Station. Send all turret gunners to their stations, and alert all pilots and have them ready to sortie.”

Outside, the massive carrier lumbered towards the orbital station, which was only a dozen or so kilometers away. And though the orbital station itself was technically a city in and of itself, the carrier was twice its size.

It was certainly longer than the station was tall, and practically eclipsed the large haulers and passenger liners scattered all around.

The entire station and most of the ships surrounding it were utterly panicked on the inside. Everyone had been swept up by the hysteria from the news of the Federation’s increased aggressions. Some had heard the countless emergency requests across public channels, and relayed them to everyone they came across.

As a result, many dropped everything they were doing, bought the next ship out of the sector, and ran wholesale towards the docking bays.

There, they found the tens of thousands who thought the exact same thing, and practically crowded any and all departure zones. Even the streets became congested with all manner of traffic, from foot to hopper and everything in between.

Some began to trample others as they clamored to be first in line out.

“Admiral!” cried out another technician. “Listening Station HFF-IIV sent in a report seconds ago that an amassed Federation fleet passed through their zone as well. Same numbers, same destination.”

“Listening Station HFF-XXI is also reporting enemy troop movement. Fleet composition and destination is exactly as the others.”

High Admiral de Jardin was struck dumbfounded for a second time, when he realized what was going on. At just how far the Federation were willing to go to capture the station. They poured in triple the amount of combatants into the sector – not just double.

While two-thirds razed the planets, the remaining third advanced on Pallan’cha.

They truly wanted to secure their victory.

He wanted to curse himself even more, for not being able to see this coming. It all seemed so obvious in retrospect.

But realized that there was no way any of them could have predicted this. Their numbers were far too high. Never mind if their intelligence didn’t catch everything – the amount they brought to the field seemed logically unfeasible.

Even the Hegemony would have difficulty reinforcing an entire sector by triple at the drop of a hat.

“How the hell’s that possible?” cried a technician. “Did they seriously bring in half their entire armada out here? What in the hell?!”

“That doesn’t matter!” the admiral shouted out. The frustration was evident in his voice, and that alone was enough to quiet everyone down.

“We need to focus,” he continued, but with a calmer tone. “We’re all about to bear an incredible weight, and we need to keep our hearts and minds strong.

“Increase operational alert level again, to Nine. Ascend to 600 meters in front of the station, and request permission to take over their defensive turret platforms. Launch our artillery mecha, and have them connect to the carrier’s targeting intelligence directly. ETA to the first wave?”

“Five minutes, sir.”

“Then let’s get moving!”

The carrier slid upwards, then angled itself so its entire top deck was exposed to the incoming first wave of Federation ships. As they did so, they took control of the orbital station’s myriad defense platforms scattered all around. They adjusted their position and placed them right around the carrier, to help bolster its own defenses.

And on the top deck itself, multiple elevator platforms opened up to reveal gravity lifts packed to the brim with artillery mecha.

These were very much unlike the standard two-legged infantry type, and were easily three times as large.

They all had a disc-like chassis that walked on four legs, much like a crab. Their thick legs shuffled their much heavier tops with equal parts balance, precision, and speed. Which was critically important due to the chassis also being home to whatever massive gun was installed onto the mecha.

More than half were typically large cannons that fired massive armor-piercing shells, while the rest were equipped with heavy beams strong enough to slag anything the Federation had.

They walked out by the dozens and spread themselves out across the top deck itself, in neat rows and columns up and down its length. They planted themselves down flat onto the deck, then stretched all four legs outward.

And in doing so, absolutely solidified their balance.

But the mecha were far from the only defenses that the carrier had. Scattered across the top deck were numerous turrets and emplacements as well, though most were designed to counter frigates and smaller skirmish vessels.

There were numerous chaingun turrets, smart missile emplacements, and flak cannons all over the carrier’s top deck.

And just as the last of the mecha settled itself down, the first incoming Federation fleet appeared on their targeting lists.

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