Mental Breakdown

Earthshaking flames erupted from the terrifying rows of gun barrels. The tremors of a full broadside from the main batteries could be felt from bow to stern. Amid massive vibrations and blinding flashes, the thunderous barrage of the Imperial fleet was beyond description.

Like pairs of steel birds borne aloft by flames streaming from their tails, countless Vikings weaved through dense curtains of orange-red laser fire, spaceborne creatures, and high-speed missiles, pressing relentlessly toward the enormous warships. They circled the heavily damaged vessels and harried them without mercy, like vultures wheeling over carrion.

The rebel fleet led by the Mobius Ring was clearly at an absolute disadvantage, crushed in the very first clash of the naval battle. Compared with the Imperial fleet, which possessed multiple Gorgon-class ships, the disparity in strength was utterly disproportionate.

Jim Raynor could see almost no possibility of Roberto Lamas turning the tide. Likewise, he could not see any strategic value in this Hybrid-corrupted Moebius Corps fleet attacking Jera.

Jera was an important world in the Terran Empire's expansion into the Milky Way Galaxy, but it had no major naval ports or surface military installations. It had initially been established as a colony for scientific research and cultural purposes.

Compared with Jera, Grissom IV was a better choice. The Apollo Shipyard there had already become the Terran Empire's most important large orbital shipyard in this sector.

Seize the port, take the warships, then burn the rest to the ground. An old method, but an effective one.

This Moebius Corps fleet had not been corrupted for long, and it could easily have infiltrated the Apollo Shipyard without being discovered.

Even so, Roberto Lamas had chosen Jera. Destroying Jera might have dealt a blow to Imperial morale, but it was not enough to threaten the still-massive Imperial fleet.