The rift device at the stern of the Scarlet Dawn had been designed to harvest resources from planets and replenish a starship's supplies. It probably wasn't very useful in actual combat. It was cumbersome, consumed a lot of energy, and could only fire at a single point.
But all those drawbacks couldn't hide its advantage: its firepower was truly terrifying.
"Drilled twenty-seven kilometers! We've breached Zero Hive's outer structure and are entering the core region. The rift core is stable, no cause for concern!"
First Officer Solma's voice rang out beside Murphy's captain's chair. The dutiful first officer, a Bloodfiend, reported:
"The rift lance should reach its designated firing position in about five minutes!
"Captain, you can start warming up the engines. When the time comes, follow the preset procedure to pilot the starship through the collision. All parameters have already been set, and the hull defenses will activate before impact. You needn't worry about the starship itself taking damage. Everything is within acceptable limits."
"Mm. Hearing you say that puts me at ease."
Murphy replied, then used his captain's authority to lock in the "automatic docking" procedure.
That was right: this head-on assault plan had been adapted from a docking program by First Officer Solma. The principle was more or less the same—maneuvering a massive vehicle into the right place. The only difference was whether there'd be any bumps along the way.
"Given this starship's weight and the kinetic energy it'll build up during the collision, we don't even need to start the engines. Just plunging straight down will shatter Zero Hive's core region."
Murphy sat in the captain's chair and spoke to the two "right-hand men" on either side of him:
"Are you ready? We're about to crash right in."
"I'm pretty sure that line has a very