As the Galactic Throne turned around, the Left and Right Protector Ship accompanying her swiftly moved forward, turning broadside to shield the Galactic Throne with its entire hull and take the attacks for her.
The twenty sublight vessels of Veronica's fleet formed a vertical square formation in front of the three massive corvettes, their Space Torpedoes ready to launch.
Watching Shoigu's fleet scramble out of the Starport's perimeter and begin forming up in space, Ning Zhiyuan grinned.
"All ships, second volley!"
Veronica's fleet launched a dense barrage of Space Torpedoes first, followed closely by the Left and Right Protector Ship's S-Slot Nuclear Missiles, and finally two beams of Red Laser fire that had plainly missed their targets.
"Report! Our Red Lasers need to recalculate their trajectories when firing backward!" a crew member immediately shouted.
The hardware had been upgraded, but the software drivers had not.
After the entire barrel was turned around, the trajectory calculations also had to be redone from scratch. The weapons could move freely, but the calculations could only be performed for fixed orientations.
"How long?"
Unexpected problems were naturally within Ning Zhiyuan's expectations. He frowned, staring at the bustling mass of Shoigu's fleet outside.
Bustling crowds, our Starport. (Reference spotted.)
"No more than a minute!" answered the crew member operating the Red Laser Emitter.
"Tch, too slow!" Ning Zhiyuan bared his teeth.
"There's nothing we can do. Our ship's Combat Computer can't keep up."
Sweat covered the crew member's head inside his spacesuit. His hands worked back and forth across the controls before he froze in place, waiting for the system to recalculate the trajectories.
Orientation and trajectory calculations in interstellar combat lacked simple reference points. They required considerable time to precisely calculate the ship's own position, the positions of reference objects such as stars, and the enemy's position. Both sides were also constantly moving, and the moving reference points were changing too, greatly increasing the computational demands.
At present, the Interstellar Human Military Junta's low-grade Combat Computers could not complete such complex calculations instantaneously.
"Why have their Red Lasers stopped moving?"
Alexei, commanding from the Starport, stared blankly for a moment before exclaiming in delight, "Whatever the reason, we have to counterattack now!"
"I never expected Red Lasers mounted on corvettes to be this powerful. Once this battle is over, we have to install some ourselves and try them out!"
"All warships, surround them and attack with swarm tactics!"
These Space Torpedoes were utterly useless against Shoigu's fleet and were easily dodged. Only the S-Slot Nuclear Missiles mounted on the corvettes posed any real threat.
However, the Nuclear Missiles' hit rate against these small ships was appallingly low. Shoigu's fleet had now completely poured out of the Starport, spread out evenly, and was making full use of its maneuverability.
Despite all the missiles flying around the Starport, very few could actually hit anything. They merely made an impressive spectacle.
The Enigmatic Observers, a Fallen Empire half a Milky Way Galaxy away, were probably laughing at them.
Look at that bizarre infighting in a tiny interstellar regime. Hilarious-perfect entertainment over dinner!
Alexei quickly issued orders, and more than sixty small warships opened their engines to full power and charged toward Ning Zhiyuan's fleet.
"First and fourth squadrons, close in and attack those three corvettes! Second and third squadrons, wipe out Veronica's fleet!"
Alexei's confidence gradually surged. "They caught us off guard, but we've stabilized our position after all. If we stay steady and methodical, they can't beat me!"
"This round, the advantage is still mine!"
"Damn, they're coming for me!"
Watching two squadrons of Shoigu's fleet attempt to circle around from either flank, Ning Zhiyuan immediately understood Alexei's plan.
"They're not in range of the Flak Cannons yet. We can only rely on the Red Lasers-where are the Red Lasers? Are the calculations still not finished?"
Ning Zhiyuan turned toward the Red Laser control station.
"Not yet! We need more time!" The crew member was already red-faced, his hands frantically tapping the console as he gritted his teeth.
"Fuck! Our ship's detection module is garbage! Once there are this many small ships, it can't track them in real time. And the weapons default to locking onto the nearest enemy ship, so the targeting keeps jumping all over the place-"
"Did they learn this godforsaken targeting system from Miyazaki's Dark Testicle?" the crew member complained with soul-piercing frustration.
Ning Zhiyuan's expression turned frighteningly grim.
That software engineer is a complete waste of space! What the hell did he make?
"At this rate, we'll need another minute or two for emergency debugging," the crew member added.
"Tch, we don't have time."
A minute was enough for those small sublight ships to charge right up to them. They were all fitted with Ion Thrusters, making them far faster than basic Chemical Thrusters.
"Then we can only sacrifice General Veronica's fleet and the Left and Right Protector Ship to let the Galactic Throne pull away first. This blitzkrieg is going to turn into a guerrilla war..."
Ning Zhiyuan pondered.
Damn it, how did things suddenly get so bad? What should I do now? Xi Yan didn't foresee this problem either.
But just as anxiety gripped him, a loud, mechanically synthesized voice rang out from somewhere. It sounded like Beta.
Beta's virtual avatar appeared on the main control panel in front of Ning Zhiyuan.
Its virtual avatar, a little pixel figure, pointed one hand at Ning Zhiyuan and bellowed!
"Ha! I'm here to help!!!"
In an instant, all the error messages on the crew's Combat Computers vanished. The Galactic Throne's Red Laser weapons system completed every orientation calculation and real-time calibration in a flash.
"It's you, Beta!" Ning Zhiyuan was so moved he nearly shed tears.
Good AI, did the Marshal send you?
"The Marshal was worried you might suffer a setback, so he specifically sent me to help!" Beta's steady voice came from Ning Zhiyuan's Wristband.
"Excellent. All hands, fire at will-wait, Beta, don't your protocols prohibit you from interfering in our internal affairs?" Ning Zhiyuan noticed something amiss.
Beta calmly replied, "The Marshal designated Shoigu's fleet as rebels, granted me the authority of a military adviser, and then assigned me to assist you. This does not violate my protocols."
The Marshal really knows how to exploit a bug! Ning Zhiyuan mentally gave Xi Yan's ingenious idea a thumbs-up, then said solemnly, "Then, Adviser Beta, we're relying on you to handle the technical problems."
"Leave it to me!" Beta declared eagerly.
After a brief lull, two dazzling Red Laser beams suddenly shot from the top of the ship, one to the left and one to the right, striking the small Sublight Warships circling around both flanks under fire.
The ships charging at the front took solid hits from the Red Lasers.
"As long as the Red Lasers are ready, everything will be fine!" Having witnessed their power, Ning Zhiyuan was brimming with optimism.
"Damn! Have their Red Lasers finished charging? First and fourth squadrons, no retreating! Push forward!"
Deep inside the Starport, Alexei slammed a hand on the table, a hint of panic in his voice.
This time, however, things seemed a little different.
The Red Lasers struck the incoming sublight ships squarely, but the first thing they hit was the energy Deflector Shields surrounding them.
Immediately, the energy field bent one Red Laser beam by ten degrees, deflecting it away.
That was what Deflector Shields did: alter the angle of incoming energy-weapon fire to divert the attack.
The deflected Red Laser beam struck another warship, but because of its angle, it was once again deflected by a Deflector Shield.
Then it hit another warship.
This time, it struck the bow head-on, leaving the Deflector Shield unable to divert it. The Red Laser struggled against the shield for a moment before brutally punching through the sky-blue barrier and melting a large hole straight through the bow armor beneath it.
The interior, however, had already been configured for combat in a vacuum. Even so, the Red Laser pierced layer after layer of internal barriers without losing its power, finally bursting out through the stern and hitting the ship behind it before disappearing into its Deflector Shield.
It had failed to inflict meaningful casualties, but it had disabled that warship outright.
"Th-this can't be right, can it?" Ning Zhiyuan was bewildered.
Before you continue