An hour later, the Dawn Angel and ten dreadnoughts began advancing in a brazen, almost taunting display. Before long, Lion's Den Fortress was within range of their main guns.
Brigadier General Kesore, who was still holding out inside the fortress, was indeed a man of his word. As expected, the fortress's main guns did not fire. Even its shields barely flickered to life. Compared to the three layers of shields Lion's Den could bring up during wartime, it was practically unarmored.
Admiral Farrell said he had spent two weeks at Lion's Den and knew its layout better than anyone, then marked several key positions for bombardment.
Aside from the fortress guns King Suluca had specifically ordered destroyed, he also highlighted several important sections. These lay along some of the raiders' main routes into Imperial-controlled territory, and all were close to the fortress's outer perimeter. If their bombardment tore through the fortress's armor, they might even be able to lay down suppressing fire and ease the pressure on Brigadier General Kesore and his men.
In truth, Admiral Farrell wasn't the only one in King Suluca's forces who knew Lion's Den's layout. Several members of the engineering team that had overseen the fortress's construction were now serving in important positions.
According to them, Lion's Den was sturdy, and it would take a lot to cause structural damage to the entire fortress, so they should bombard it to their hearts' content. They had even marked the locations of several barracks inside. Those had plenty of beds, medical pods, food compressors, and automatic cooking machines. The raiders were always short on proper meals, so they were bound to set up camp there. Their main guns could give those spots a little extra attention.
Admiral Farrell couldn't help but marvel. When it came to being