Commander, Sir, the system is saturated with industrial and mining infrastructure, the senior analyst reported looking at his screen, but there is no transport fleet activity typical of such systems. There is a high probability that the enemy detected us at a distance of one jump from the system and had time to evacuate the shipyards and factories. It is also possible that we were discovered even earlier, but this means that the toads know the coordinates of the transport ring.
Pass the order to Commander Somov to undock the portal and jump immediately, ordered I, knowing that we could not afford to lose the opportunity to quickly return to the Federation space. The transport ring, of course, still had its guard ships, but I didnt want to take any chances anyway.
The tactical projection was gradually replenished with scan data, but compared to the usual picture seen when entering an enemy star system, the degree of detail of the picture left a lot to be desired. Our scanners were clearly countered by something very powerful, far superior to our scanning and electronic warfare systems.
Rear Admiral Yoon Gao, what measures have been taken to scout enemy defense systems?
Unmanned probes have been sent to the three central planets, Commander, Sir. They are escorted at some distance by five medium recon ships and three Ghost-class destroyers, so the toads dont try to shoot the probes down with some little thing like patrol corvettes. With their help, they used to prevent us from even approaching the boundaries of the system.
The Ghosts dont have enough firepower, Rear Admiral. Even an attack by two or three enemy corvettes could be a problem for them.
Theres no counteraction so far, Fleet Admiral, Sir," objected Yoon Gao, "and sending Black Dragons to cover the probes
I agree," I nodded, "its a completely unnecessary risk.
Meanwhile, the picture was beginning to become clearer. As the distance to the enemy decreased, the probe scanners began transmitting more and more detailed information to the squadron ships.
How many of them are there said Admiral Fulton in amazement as the tactical projection displayed the largest sites of the orbital defense of the fourth planet.
I understood the Admiral well. This was really the first time we saw anything like this. Even Earth was protected by only 15 orbital fortresses, and it was thought that this number was even excessive. There was something unimaginable going on here. A dense network of hundreds of large marks surrounded the planet in a sphere. It was not yet possible to examine these sites in detail, but their size unambiguously indicated that they were not analogues of relatively weak rocket and artillery monitors, with which we dealt at Luyten-5, but full-fledged orbital fortresses.
Rear Admiral, continue reconnaissance of the fourth planets defense system, and assign several groups to search for a hyperportal, I ordered Yoon Gao, According to the prisoners statements, it should be in this system, and somewhere near the boundaries of the stars zone of influence, but so far our scanners dont see it.
Doin it, Yoon nodded and disappeared from the channel, switching to giving orders to his subordinates.
I did not like what I saw. I had no doubt that my squadron was no match against the network of orbital fortresses of the toads, but to turn around and fly away would be unforgivably stupid. In order to come back here later for a real assault, we needed to understand what the enemys defenses were capable of. Based on what we saw in the battle of the Delta Trianguli, the range of our drone torpedoes was longer than that of the toads guns, but weve never dealt with their orbital fortresses before, so I couldnt say anything with certainty.
The destroyers accompanying the reconnaissance probes approached the orbital fortresses within torpedo launching distance. They had no torpedo weapons on board, but the enemy could not know that, and I hoped that if the toads had something more long-range than the main batteries of their battleships, they would use it. However, our provocation was not successful, the fortresses remained silent.
«Invisibles» One through 30, prepare to accelerate towards the fourth planet. Commander Klitch, I addressed to the squadron commander of the quargs, who had miraculously survived in the melted wreckage of his flagship at the Battle of Delta Trianguli, Assign five of your aircraft carriers to join up with the «Invisibles».
Doin it.
Seven destroyers from the first division and battleship Denver, escort the drone torpedo carriers to the attack line and cover their retreat after the salvo. The squadrons task is a torpedo strike on three enemy orbital fortresses the 75th through the 77th.
The fleet split up. The main force remained behind the orbit of the sixth planet, without entering the stars zone of influence, and one Black Dragon and seven destroyers began approaching the toads planet, escorting the Invisibles and aircraft carriers. The enemy was bound to react to such a threat, of that I had no doubt.
We have never been able to see in detail what the orbital fortresses of the toads are. Even at maximum proximity to them, probe scanners gave only a fuzzy, blurry picture. But at least we could see the fortresses, and the surface of the planet was not scanned in any way.
The fortresses combine their camouflage fields into a common veil through which our scanners are unable to penetrate, reported Yoon Gao, Im afraid that when it comes to the assault, the force fields will also form a single spherical shield over the planet.
If things are so bad, then why did some captive toads agree to work for us in exchange for promises of high positions in the occupation administration after our victory? So they dont really believe in the indestructibility of this defense, answered Fulton with a doubt in his voice, scrutinizing the image on the screen.
Well know everything soon enough, Officers, Sirs, I replied as I watched the «Invisibles» and aircraft carriers approach the torpedo launching line, If the toads are able to surprise us with something, it will happen now.
A wave of ripples went through the image on the projection screen. For a fraction of a second it blurred and then became clear again. The eight orbital fortresses closest to the ships approaching the opening fire line were enveloped in purple protuberances, and after ten seconds a blob of energy resembling a small but brightly flaring artificial sun formed above each of them. The envelopes of the just-born luminaries, reaching an unbearable brightness, burst and fell in themselves, collapsing into dots, and from these points to the seven destroyers and the Black Dragon rushed lightnings of absolute darkness, slightly illuminated in some places by a dark gray, making them distinguishable against the blackness of space.
The destroyers disappeared in bright flashes. No debris, no internal explosions, nothing. Just a spherical wave of scattering photons. Denver was a little luckier, although I couldnt really call it luck. The battleships protective field flared up and instantly went out. It was able to absorb some of the energy of the enemy salvo, but not all of it. The volley of toads could not completely destroy this Black Dragon-class battleship, but what was left of it could no longer be called a warship. A pathetic melted fragment barely a quarter of its original size remained of the once formidable fighting machine.