Ten hours later, the Federal Fleet's warp trails, like colorless dragons, streaked across the sky, casting a shadow of death outside the orbit of Planet Nostramo.
Aboard a Moon-class Cruiser flagship, the fleet commander Modis's fingers traced silver-blue lines on the tactical console.
On the holographic star map, the outline of Nostramo's space fortress, 'Emperor's Shield,' emerged in the void, its surface gun barrels slowly turning, like a waking steel beast opening its crimson eyes.
"Report, enemy space fortress weapons are charging," a technical sergeant's voice, metallic in tone, said as his fingers rapidly waved, importing real-time data into the command system.
"Void Shield strength detected at 120% of Imperial standard fortress-grade shields.
It appears they've been modified."
"Report, the enemy seems to be preparing to resist our arrival; the space fortress has aimed its weapons at our fleet," an adjutant reported, striding briskly to Captain Modis, his posture tall, expression serious, and voice steady yet unable to conceal a hint of excitement.
The Captain tilted his head slightly, a confident smile playing on his lips: "Hahahaha, it seems they're still unwilling to give up.
But they won't know that our warships are far superior to the Imperial ones.
Not only do we have anti-matter shockwaves that can easily obliterate planets, but also infinite shields based on light energy, Void Shields, and psionic shields." He crossed his arms, his eyes filled with pride for the immense power of his fleet.
"Hahahaha, exactly, even if we just sat here and let them shoot, it would still take them a lot of effort," a technical officer from the weapon operating system below the bridge laughed nonchalantly while adjusting instruments.
The Captain's face instantly darkened, his gaze sharp as an eagle's: "Alright, don't be careless.
Although our warships' shields are powerful, we can't just tank the space fortress's attacks; that would be the most foolish approach."
His voice resonated through the bridge like a great bell, "In war, you must always give your all, even if the opponent seems weak.
This time is an exception; don't let it happen again." The Captain's tone was firm, carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Yes, we guarantee mission completion!" The others immediately responded solemnly, their voices neat and loud, showing firm resolve.
"First, send a message to persuade them to surrender.
They are all human compatriots; we should try to win them over if possible.
But at the same time, prepare for battle.
We absolutely do not fear war, nor do we avoid it," Captain Modis ordered decisively after a moment of thought, his eyes showing both hope and a calm readiness for battle.
"Yes, connecting to their communications now, please wait!" The communications major quickly rose, walked swiftly to the communication equipment, and began operating it skillfully.
Meanwhile, inside the space fortress, a junior officer rushed to the highest-ranking officer, Kage: "Officer Kage, the enemy has sent a communication request."
Kage frowned slightly, considered for a moment, then said: "Hmm, connect it.
The Governor wants us to buy time, so this is a good opportunity to parley with them, and also to find out who these guys are and provide some information to the ground forces, which can also be used for subsequent ground operations." As he spoke, he straightened his uniform, trying to compose himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, an image of the other side was projected.
It was a bridge space completely different from the dirty and old Imperial bridge, full of advanced sci-fi aesthetics, and filled with... "Humans!"
Everyone on the space fortress was clearly surprised.
In their view, such flexible warships, with extremely fast light-lance macro cannon firing rates and sturdy shields, could never have been built by humans.
Their faces were filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"That's right, we are the Divine River Federation's Fifth Exploration Fleet, fighting for the liberation of all humanity.
Please immediately cease your futile resistance, surrender unconditionally, disable your Void Shields, and accept our reorganization," Captain Modis stated solemnly, his voice firm and powerful, striking like a heavy hammer to the heart.
"Impossible! How can you be humans! Humans can't build such flexible warships; you must be vile xenos in disguise!
To use such a treacherous method to trick us into opening our shields, don't even think about it!"
Kage roared furiously, his face flushed red, his eyes wide as if about to spit fire.
Before the Federation personnel could respond, he abruptly waved his hand, and the holographic projection instantly extinguished.
Modis and the others exchanged glances, and silence fell over the bridge.
"Indeed, Imperial people are all unreasonable," someone muttered softly; though quiet, the voice echoed clearly through the bridge, and everyone nodded silently, their eyes showing helplessness and disdain.
"Alright, since peace is impossible, don't hold onto false hope.
Prepare for battle!" Modis took a deep breath, his eyes rekindling with fighting spirit, and gave a decisive order.
"Utilize the warships' advantages, disperse the fleet, adopt a high-speed, high-maneuverability, disordered circling tactic around the space fortress, and use our warships' high precision and rate of fire to remotely destroy the enemy's anti-air firepoints.
The operation prioritizes preserving our warships; if you can't hold on, retreat to a safe zone." The Captain spoke while simulating battle scenarios on the tactical console, demonstrating the combat strategy to everyone.
Under Modis's command, the Federal Fleet, like a startled swarm of bees, with four Moon-class Cruisers and various types of frigates and destroyers, deployed multiple shield types to form a defensive array, and twenty frigates sliced into the battlefield like sharp blades.
The space fortress's light lance arrays were the first to fire, white beams tracing distorted paths through space, hitting the nearest frigate, 'Swift.'
The light energy shield erupted with waves of white ripples upon contact, converting the impact energy into harmless undulations that spread across the shield.
The fleet rapidly dispersed, darting in different directions like arrows loosed from a bow.
Immediately after, dense macro cannons and light lances fired like a sudden storm, dazzling beams of light streaking through space, continuously impacting the space fortress's Void Shield, which flickered with strange light.
Each impact sent up brilliant sparks, and the Void Shield's light flickered erratically, a sign of impending overload from sustained attacks.
The space fortress, relying on its massive size, did not need to move.
It was equipped with multiple Void Shields, and countless light lance arrays and macro cannons.
The space fortress's counterattack was also exceptionally fierce; in an instant, the space outside the entire planetary orbit became as bright as day, radiating brilliant light, with energy intertwining and colliding, and deafening roars.
Against the Federation Navy's dispersed, disordered, high-speed maneuvering tactics, the planetary fortress's artillery hit rate was extremely low, and even if it did hit, it couldn't overload the opponent's shields or destroy the opponent's warships in one go.
To avoid this technological disadvantage, Kage had to adopt a desperate tactic.
Since the artillery speed couldn't keep up, he concentrated a large number of attacks from the same batch, targeting only one or two enemy warships, to instantly overload their shields and inflict losses on the enemy fleet.
Soon, the Federation Navy noticed the change.
Some small warships were continuously focused, instantly suffering concentrated multiple firepower strikes.
Their Void Shields and light energy shields overloaded in a very short time, flickering a few times before dimming.
At a critical moment, the psionic shield system, installed later, came into play.
Psionic crystals burning furiously in the warship's psionic reactor provided a large amount of psionic energy, and the psionic shield instantly lit up, erupting with emerald light upon contact, converting the impact energy into harmless ripples.
Seeing this, other Moon-class Cruisers, using their high maneuverability, instantly cut in front of the smaller warships like agile eagles.
Leveraging their massive size advantage, they were equipped with stronger, more powerful shields, and they withstood the space fortress's subsequent attacks, buying the focused frigates a chance to escape.
"Destroyers and frigates, increase distance to reduce the probability of being focused.
Moon-class Cruisers, move forward to draw fire," Fleet Commander Modis ordered loudly, his eyes fixed on the holographic screen of the battle, focused and resolute, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead, yet he remained oblivious.
The deafening roars continued on the planetary fortress, the Void Shields constantly flashing with colorful lights, as if performing a splendid yet tragic show.
Occasionally, a layer of Void Shield would shatter, emitting dazzling light before dissipating into countless fragments in space, with the next layer of Void Shield continuing to hold.
The space fortress's damage control personnel and Adeptus Mechanicus members risked their lives, frantically making repairs amidst the flames.
Damage control personnel weaved through the pervasive smoke and flying sparks, shouting out each other's positions, racing against time to repair damaged sections; Adeptus Mechanicus members chanted incantations, their mechanical tools gleaming with strange light, striving to get damaged equipment back online.
Their faces were covered in sweat and soot, but their eyes were firm and determined, willing to pay any price to defend the space fortress.