Jump

"This is the Steel Justice, we are en route to the designated jump point." Charles's image appeared on an idle Holographic Projection screen.

In the images transmitted back by the armored sensors of the Norad II and the Steel Justice, Augustus could see the full extent of the battered warship.

The dark brown armor was covered with burn marks, melting marks, and tears. Some shocking wounds even penetrated deep into the deck. Fragments of steel and alloy were gradually peeled away as the warship moved, like dandelion seeds blown away by the wind.

These unpowered fragments floating in deep space will eventually become targets for interstellar Scavengers. Even a piece of armor plating from a battlecruiser, located beneath a laser cannon, can fetch a good price. Meanwhile, fragments still moving at high speeds into and out of the galaxy are captured by the gravity of asteroids, comets, and even stars in the Rope Rock System.

At this moment, the Norad II and Steel Justice, sailing parallel to each other, were less than half a mile away from the Terran Confederacy Fleets led by the Napoleon. Hundreds of shipborne laser cannons and electromagnetic guns poured their fire upon the shield defense fields and armor of both sides, and orange-red beams of light rippled across the dark green energy shields.

Naval gunfire raged, each dazzling fireball representing a destroyed warship, with scattered, twisted alloy fragments resembling specks of light falling into a galaxy.

The aircraft of the Steel Justice were speeding away from the battlefield toward the Mothership. These aircraft were less than one-tenth of what they were when they left the dock. They were dodging and weaving through the dense crossfire of the battlecruisers of both sides, avoiding the enemy Wraith ' air-to-air laser cannons and Gemini Missiles.

The Korhal Revolutionary Army Fleets has lost nine frigates, four destroyers, and two Umojan Reagan cruisers. Of its approximately three hundred medium-sized raiding ships, less than a third remain. Of its more than two thousand single-engine fighters, patrol boats, and assault boats, piloted by a single pilot, only about six hundred remain, including the damaged ones.

This means that in just forty minutes of fighting, between four and six thousand Revolutionary Army had been killed, and many more were wounded.

"This is Jim. It's 3:43 AM Tarsonis time. The Hyperion's shields have less than 20% remaining." Raynor's image was enlarged as he spoke.

"The entire First Fleets of the Revolutionary Army is ready to jump with the flagship. Guys, hold on tight!"

"Sir, the warp drive will be fully charged in five seconds." The navigators and technicians of the Norad II were already fully engaged in their new task. After all, no one could pull off any tricks in such a tense situation with at least a dozen guns pointed at them from behind.

Even at this time, fierce fighting was taking place over most of the decks and cabins inside the Norad II, but the dock and engine room remained in Augustus's hands.

"Now we're counting down for ten seconds. Prepare to warp on my command." Augustus stared intently at the time displayed on the main screen on the bridge.

Just then, a Confederacy Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, having just completed a short-range warp jump, warped above the severely damaged Giant-class Frigate II and IV. Its massive shadow obscured the two flame-covered warships, and the ground-attack laser cannons unleashed a barrage of fire on the frigates' tattered armor.

In just two or three seconds, the Giant-class Frigate II was completely breached, and the interior immediately turned into a living hell. The oxygen-rich cabins were engulfed in flames, and fragments of people and warships were ejected from the ship's numerous holes.

The other warship was split in two, like a loaf of bread broken in two. From the huge gap, countless people and tiny fragments floated out like sand, drifting in space. From Norad II's perspective, it all looked like slow motion.

These two warships, along with their more than nine hundred crew members, have become history forever.

"Start," Augustus after taking a deep, heavy breath.

In an instant, accompanied by a flash of light, the battlefield and starry sky seen through the bridge porthole disappeared, and the Norad II had already entered the hyperspace journey, entering a state of travel exceeding the speed of light.

After a breath's time, calm returned to the bridge of the Norad II. According to the preset warp coordinates, Augustus and his newly acquired warship would still need several hours to reach the designated coordinates.

"I'll go and take some men to clean up this mess." Warfield said this and left with a few officers, leaving Tychus and Kerrigan to guard Augustus.

"The fighting on the Turaxis II was nothing compared to this," Tychus said. "The only thing I learned in this war was that we need more warships and more naval guns."

"Battlecruisers aren't like those Kel-Morian bastards; even if you fire a whole magazine at them, they won't be a scratch."

"I know that too." While the warship was still in hyperspace jump mode, Augustus's finger swiped across the main screen of the Norad II, searching for useful data in the ship's massive database.

The warship's logbook shows that the Norad II made multiple round trips to several main star systems within two weeks, even reaching a system relatively close to the Korhal system with only two stars and a dwarf planet. This clearly demonstrates that Edmond Duke's Alpha Squadron had been closely following Warfield's Steel Justice.

"They, Duke, must have some way of pinpointing the exact location of the Steel Justice," Augustus.

"Because the Steel Justice once belonged to the Terran Confederacy, cutting off all communication links wouldn't completely free the warship from Confederacy control. Perhaps in the eyes of Confederacy technicians, the Steel Justice shines like a torch in the night in deep space."

"The Hyperion used to be part of the Confederacy Fleets, but Duke couldn't track us," Tychus said.

"The Steel Justice must undergo a complete overhaul. Duke likely located the warship using some kind of tracking device." Augustus looked at the expressionless navigator of the Norad II.

"I'd like to know if you know more about this, since you're the navigator of this warship."

The navigator appeared uneasy. To this man with a respectable government job, a navigator who could lead Fleets through the dangerous universe would be respected anywhere. He was undoubtedly among a mob, and Augustus was naturally the mob leader, the head of the terrorists, a rebel leader who had brought countless deaths.

"No, I don't know," the navigator said, backing away.

"He's lying," Kerrigan Augustus.

"The Steel Justice carries both Confederacy tracking devices and spies hidden within the Warfield forces, which is why Duke has been able to track the Warfield warship all this time."

"Lying will do you no good," Augustus shook his head and said to the astonished navigator, "Because you have no idea whether I will forgive you next time."

Thank you for voting and tipping!