The first thing was the thirty-minute wait. Everything unfolded like a prearranged performance, playing out step by step just as everyone had imagined.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire Earth fleet, the raider fleet seemed to have been forced to reveal its true response. They didn't dare turn and flee, but they lacked the resolve to push ahead and break through, so they simply crawled forward at a snail's pace. At that moment, they no longer looked like ravenous hyenas. They looked more like a flock of panicked sheep.
By the time the raider fleet had finally crept to within two astronomical units of the Azure Princess, a clear jump signal appeared behind the fleet, in the direction of Gravity Well No. 2.
There was no need to guess. The Alliance fleet had arrived.
That was indeed the case. The first ship to enter the system was a heavy cruiser with an overall triangular-pyramid shape: the renowned Neutron Star-class cruiser. Before the Empire's Clear Sky-class entered service, it had been widely regarded as the cruiser that struck the perfect balance between combat power and performance across the universe.
A few minutes later, all of the Alliance's dozen-plus warships had arrived. They completed their fleet formation within half a minute and began advancing.
They didn't stop, or even waste time on pleasantries. They simply sent the Azure Princess a prearranged friendly signal, then without another word accelerated to full charge speed and surged toward the raiders' rear.
The ships hadn't arrived, but their fire had. The lead Neutron Star-class warship launched a salvo of long-range, sublight missiles. Judging by their flight paths, they were far more advanced than the anti-air missiles the raiders had just fired.
A small raider assault ship at the rear of the formation was destroyed immediately.