Decapitation

A blinding white flash erupted, and the 14,100-meter supercapital ship suddenly appeared in space.

At the same time, the bridge of the Golden Light, a Commander-class Dreadnought and flagship of the Galactic Republic's 7th Fleet under the 2nd Legion, was thrown into chaos.

"Hyperspace transition confirmed! One enemy vessel!"

"Length: 14,100 meters. Mass: 900 million tons! Database comparison complete! It's the Plague!" the radar officer shouted.

The operations officer lunged forward and looked at the screen. "Are you sure it's the Plague?"

"Absolutely certain," the radar officer replied.

"How is this possible? How could the Plague slip silently into the Core Worlds?!" the operations officer cried out.

"Order all ships to prepare for battle immediately! Watch out for the Plague's superheavy cannon!" Fleet Commander Admiral Rivers ordered.

At the same time, the Plague was completing its final battle preparations.

"Hyperspace jump successful! Current location: Cato-Neimoidia!" the navigator reported loudly.

"All hands, battle stations! Raise the shields!" the operations officer gave the order according to combat protocol.

"Stop!" Admiral Sefrans Tann, seated in the captain's chair, wore a grave expression. "Divert all power to the Hypermatter Railgun! Put the ship into overload mode! Begin charging immediately!"

"Yes! Shut down the shield system! Divert all power to the Hypermatter Railgun! Overload mode activated!" The operations officer repeated the command as every department immediately carried it out. He glanced at the system feedback, then said, "Without shields, the charging and overload time can be reduced to forty seconds!"

A cruel smile appeared on Sefrans Tann's face. "Adjust firing angle. Target... the enemy flagship."

Darth Lilim, standing nearby, turned her head and smiled teasingly. "There are three Commander-class Dreadnoughts over there. Want big sister to tell you which one is the flagship?"

Sefrans Tann ignored her completely and continued issuing orders. "Target the Commander-class