At least fifteen vessels of various types, along with thousands of Imperial officers and soldiers, vanished instantly into the cold silence of the cosmos.
Inside other Imperial ships that had narrowly avoided direct hits but were reeling from the shockwaves of explosions, panicked shouts and desperate reports filled the air.
Brigadier General Hamilton watched as over a dozen friendly markers on the tactical screen instantly dimmed, while the glaring 65% shield reading of the Venom Fang drained all color from his face.
Amidst violent tremors and piercing alarm sounds, Brigadier General Hamilton shook his head fiercely, forcing himself to break free from the initial shock and panic caused by the losses.
Fear and anger could not win battles; only calm calculation and decisive action could.
"Immediate analysis! How many of the hits on our fleet were from Tier 5-class main cannon fire? Exact numbers!" he roared at the sensor and fire control departments, his voice cutting through the background noise.
After a few seconds of rapid data analysis, the adjutant reported loudly, "Confirmed! A total of sixteen energy beam trajectories meeting the standard of Tier 5-class heavy particle cannons were detected! Three struck this ship's shields, while the rest dispersed among other units!"
"Sixteen..." Hamilton's eyes narrowed, his mind racing. "The Federation's most advanced active Tier 5-class battleship is the Mountain-class. According to intelligence, each is equipped with two Aperture-Heavens-Class Heavy Particle Beam Main Cannons..."
He reached a conclusion, his voice suddenly turning cold and clear. "That means the enemy has deployed at least eight Mountain-class battleships to fire sixteen main cannon shots in a single volley!"
Eight against eight! This number acted like a shot of adrenaline, instantly dispelling some of the gloom in Hamilton's heart. Although the enemy held the advantage of longer main cannon range, in terms of the number of top-tier capital ships, the two sides were evenly matched!
His Demon Claw Fleet also possessed eight powerful Tier 5-class battleships—the backbone of the Imperial Navy. Their firepower and defenses were far superior to those of the secondary vessels just destroyed.
More importantly—the tactical timing!
As for the possibility that the enemy possessed far more than eight T5-Class Battleships, Hamilton never even considered it.
If the enemy truly had such a terrifying configuration, they should have deployed it during the first volley.
"Main Cannon charging requires time!
Especially for these ultra-long-range Heavy Particle Beam cannons!"
Fighting spirit reignited in Hamilton's eyes.
"They just completed a full-power volley. Right now is the window period where their energy systems are recharging and their Main Cannons are temporarily silenced!"
This window period was his chance to counterattack!
It was his only opportunity to close the distance and drag the enemy into a brutal close-quarters battle with the equally sharp firepower of the Imperial Fleet!
"Orders!"
Hamilton straightened his posture, his voice carrying a desperate resolve through the Fleet Channel.
"Tiger Claw, Leopard Claw stellar carriers.
Immediately launch all Wyrm-type space fighters!
I want to see skies blotted out by fighter groups!"
"Mission: Disregard losses, advance at full speed, engage the Federation Fleet, disrupt their formation, attack their shields and secondary cannon arrays.
Create an opportunity for our Capital Ships to close in!"
"Order the entire fleet to abandon evasive maneuvers and advance at full speed in a straight line!"
"Push engine power to 105%! Divert all non-essential system power to Thrusters and shields!"
"Objective: Close the distance between us and the enemy to within our Main Cannon Effective Range of 1.8 million kilometers!"
"Once within range, all T5-class Battleships are to prioritize locking onto enemy targets of the same class, fire at will, and attack with full force!
Use our firepower to shatter their damned range advantage!"
The orders spread through the Demon Claw Fleet like wildfire.
The massive bellies of the two Imperial stellar carriers rumbled open, like overturned beehives.
Swarms of Wyrm fighters, trailing azure ion plumes, surged forth like a horde of ravenous locusts.
Dense and numerous, they instantly formed two vast, shifting clouds of death in the void.
With acceleration far surpassing that of the Capital Ships, they fearlessly charged towards the distant Federation Fleet formation.
The missiles and laser cannons mounted under their wings glinted coldly.
Simultaneously, the engines of the remaining two hundred-plus warships of the Demon Claw Fleet roared in unison, spewing forth unprecedented, blazing plumes of light.
Abandoning all tactical evasion, they charged towards the Federation Fleet like heavy cavalry on a death ride, pushing forward with all their might!
Their hulls trembled slightly under inertia as all energy was prioritized for the Propulsion System and shields.
Their goal: to cross that fatal 200,000-kilometer distance gap in the shortest time possible!
Hamilton stared fixedly at the shrinking distance numbers on the Tactical Screen, his fists clenched tight.
"Keep charging, you Federation fools..."
He muttered to himself, his gaze fierce.
"Wait until my fighters tear through your anti-aircraft net, wait until my warships are right in your faces..."
"I'll show you that in the face of the Empire's true firepower, a mere 200,000-kilometer head start won't save your lives!"
However, just as the Imperial Wyrm fighter groups blotted out the sky like a deadly swarm and the entire Demon Claw Fleet was advancing at full speed, heedless of all else, in their attempt to close the distance...
An unexpected change suddenly occurred within the previously well-prepared formation of the Federation Fleet ahead!
The assault cluster of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers at the forefront of the fleet.
As if neatly split in two by an invisible giant hand, they swiftly maneuvered and scattered to the left and right!
Their movements were fluid and rapid, as if rehearsed a thousand times, instantly clearing a wide, unobstructed longitudinal passage through the center of the fleet.
This sight did not resemble a retreat—it was more like deliberately drawing back a curtain!
And what was revealed behind that curtain was not a vulnerable weak point.
Instead, it was a terrifying presence that made every Empire officer and soldier who witnessed it widen their eyes in shock and feel their hearts skip a beat.