Colonel Golandov was right. Under the bombardment from the Sobek fleet, the Void Lord that had been relentlessly gnawing at the Natural Insignia had slowed down and fallen a considerable distance behind its prey. Watching it writhe and twitch, all ghostly and sinister, it looked just like some spirit in a movie about to be captured by a mage.
Just a little oversized, of course.
Then again, this Void Lord had already looked half-dead and ready to topple over half an hour ago. It could barely even summon its own wind and mist tentacles, so how was it still alive?
Of course, the strike craft had little to do with that. So far, this Void Lord was playing the part of Earth's ally.
Even so, everyone agreed it was best not to provoke that indescribable giant shadow. That had been the decision they'd reached before the battle. It meant every strike craft had to keep a safe distance from the Void Lord, so they could only approach from behind the Natural Insignia and attack before wheeling around and quickly withdrawing from the battle line.
That made the strike craft's attack routes somewhat predictable. But for craft equipped with spatial bubbles, it had never been much of a problem.
"The first priority is to cripple the Natural Insignia's engines in the first attack run. We have to take them out," Anne Romanova said. "At the very least, we need to cut her speed to two-thirds of what it is now."
"According to plan, once the Natural Insignia's speed is reduced, our capital ships will catch up and prepare to board," Colonel Golandov added. "So after hitting the engines, focus your attacks on the armor and secondary guns in sections E-12 on the enemy's starboard side. I've sent the target markers to