You had to understand that at this distance, they were already beyond the range of the super-heavy lances carried by Titan-class ships. Even the arc cannons still in the laboratory might have their energy dissipate before reaching them.
Then there was only one possibility! The enemy was using railguns—guns that, "in theory, would keep firing until the end of the universe as long as they didn't hit their target."
But even if their range was infinite, what good would firing do? At this distance, several minutes would pass before the shells arrived. What could they possibly hit then?
...Of course, it was also possible that the Marauders had mastered some exceptionally powerful naval-gun technology. But that would make Yu Lian look rather foolish. Only five minutes ago, he, Colonel Yu Lian, had been confidently holding forth about how the Marauders weren't good at gunnery.
At the thought, Yu Lian's face began to ache in a rather peculiar way.
Fortunately, at that moment, Lieutenant General Tariel spoke again. "Your Highness, we've confirmed it's a railgun!"
Thanks to the assist from a powerful Seeker! Yu Lian felt his face recover a little.
But it still didn't make sense! Were railgun shells somehow better than other kinds?
"Calculate their trajectory!" The technical officers on the bridge were already working deftly at their data terminals.
Well, in theory, any weapon using physical projectiles could be intercepted. But the odds were about the same as hitting a bullet with another bullet—purely a matter of luck. And this was an era when the tech tree had gone askew, with such poor fire-control technology that aiming the main guns depended on the skill, experience, and even intuition of elite gunners.
The technicians weren't trying to intercept the enemy shells, of course. They were assessing the threat, checking