UGT: 7th Ruan 280 a.G.A. / 7:56 p.m.

  ASF Aurora, near Tarnis-Vekk, Karesh-Ti’Varn system(yellow dwarf), Inner-Noran sector, Ruidan Raider Association, Milky Way

  We didn’t rush into the next fight blindly. The war council beforehand had taken a few hours. Admiral Thorrison had gathered his top staff. I had Fen, the Aurora’s mind and edge, at my side. Together, we faced the hard truth. We were heavily outnumbered and obviously couldn’t expect any reinforcements. A Battlecruiser, three Cruisers, six Destroyers, ten Frigates, seven Corvettes, and ten Cutters. Their entire reserve fleet, 37 ships. Standing against our ten, a Battlecruiser, all four Cruisers, two Destroyers, two Frigates. Well, and the ASF Aurora, of course. Our ace. The only reason we stood a chance at winning this entire conflict.

  There had been quite a discussion about whether we even stood a chance, or if we should simply flee. In the end, the greater strategic situation forced Admiral Thorrison to agree with my offensive approach. The Federation was being pushed back on all fronts since the Alliance, and the Association had joined the Second War of Independence. If they lost momentum in the Inner-Noran sector and were driven back, the Federation wouldn’t have the ships to stabilize yet another front. The Admiral knew the truth. The only viable course of action was to push forward, even against terrible odds.

  Once he got his staff to understand that we finally managed to formulate a plan. Not to defeat the reserve fleet, at least not directly head on. That would be impossible without using the full arsenal of the ASF Aurora, and if we did that now? The Association would still have enough strength in-system to overwhelm us in the aftermath. They would know too much. They would adapt. Which meant our goal had to be different: to deal enough damage to force a retreat, with as little damage to ourselves as possible. Drive them back, most likely to Karesh-Ti, while inflicting as many causalities on their fleet as possible and ensuring that the deciding battle would be fought on our and hopefully better terms. First, though, we had to lure them out.

  Our tactic was simple, really. We would move rapidly toward Tarnis-Vekk, implying we wanted to face them in the more defensible terrain of asteroids, moons, and debris that naturally surrounds a highly militarized planet. It would look plausible, even if it was idiotic. After all, Tarnis-Vekk held numerous planetary defense systems that would complicate everything for us. But seen from the outside, with our early victories and the presence of the ASF Aurora, the move would reek of arrogance. Of overconfidence. And mistakes were born from both.

  Especially with the Grand Admiral already dead, and this being a relatively minor Association enclave far from their true core, I doubted we’d see advanced tactics or long-term planning. They’d likely seize the opportunity if they believed we’d made a mistake. So, we would give them one.

  We’d use the illusion of overextension to draw the reserve into acting rashly, committing to intercept us in open space, between themselves and Tarnis-Vekk. Then, we’d collapse the trap. With only ten ships, our numbers were barely enough for a proper spearhead. But what we lacked in bulk, we aimed to compensate with deception and timing.

  The fleet wouldn’t split in any real sense. The entire formation, led by the ASF Aurora at the tip, would move toward Tarnis-Vekk at a deliberate, yet seemingly uncoordinated pace. The ASF Aurora, unmistakable and provocative, would surge ahead slightly. Admiral Thorrison’s Battlecruiser would anchor the rear, its heavier frame and slower thrust creating a natural lag. The four Cruisers and lighter ships would stretch between us, staggered in acceleration, just enough to imply a fleet moving too fast for its own cohesion, leading to a gap between the ASF Aurora and the remaining fleet. To the enemy, it would look like we’d left an accidental opening.

  Then, we’d spring the trap. The ASF Aurora possessed a capability no other ship its size had. A level of acceleration and deceleration sharp enough to throw off attack patterns entirely. That gap they thought they saw? It wasn’t real.

  By baiting the Association into cutting off the ASF Aurora from the rest of the fleet, we’d force them to commit a part of their fleet prematurely. They’d reposition, open up, and strike too early. That would give us a narrow window where we would only have to isolate and face only a portion of their fleet, not its entirety. If the isolated portion could be engaged and shattered before the rest closed in, we’d break their momentum. Whether the second half disengaged or was destroyed didn’t matter. Either result would serve our purpose. The more we destroyed now, the less we’d have to deal with later, so that was obviously preferred. But as long as we came out of this battle without any real losses, I'd count this engagement as a success.

  Now, the time had come to put that plan into motion. Our formation surged forward at a steady but fast pace. The whole formation looked like it was overextending, disjointed and ripe for interception. That was the bait.

  "Fen," I said, keeping my voice level, "how long until the Association notices our supposed slip-up and reacts to it?"

  [ A minute, give or take, I think. They must actively get reports from Tarnis-Vekk. I’m tracking their signal boosts of course, but- Okay never mind, they’ve just noticed. Their fleet is shifting. ]

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I leaned back in the command chair, eyes on the tactical display. A soft pulse blinked where the enemy reserve fleet slowly pushed forward and indeed, they adjusted their course just now.

  [ Ping spike from the reserve. Looks like someone’s waking up their targeting arrays. Tight-band, directional. They’ve switched into full combat-readiness just now, it seems. Antimatter shields also seem to be activated. ]

  I snorted to myself. "What an idiotic doctrine. Sure, they want to save antimatter, but if their reserves in the system weren't that large, I would just order to jump into their fleet and take them down before their antimatter shields can be put up." Fen ignored my comment.

  [ The reserve fleet is splitting into two wings. The first wing consisting of six Destroyers, ten Frigates and five Corvettes will position them next to Tarnis-Vekk to intercept us. The second wing, consisting of the Battlecruiser, three Cruisers, two Corvettes and ten Cutters is positioning between us and the remining fleet. That is more firepower than expected and will make the battle much harder. ]

  "That might be somewhat problematic," I muttered. " Transmit to Admiral Thorrison, we continue with the plan. We'll pivot before the forces supposed to intercept us get into weapon range and fully focus on the isolated portion of the fleet."

  [ Done, Captain. ]

  I let out a slow breath, watching the tactical display update in real-time. The Association’s second wing had nearly completed their maneuver, sliding sideways like a noose tightening between us and the rest of the fleet. “Fen,” I said calmly, “pivot now. Maximum lateral thrust. Begin arc rotation. Take us around.”

  [ Already ahead of you. Initiating full burn. This drastic of a maneuver even pushes our technology to its limit, prepare to feel some G-forces coming through. ]

  I nodded to myself. I was a High-Aetherian, I could take a couple G-forces. The Aurora shuddered for a second and as Fen had announced, I felt myself being pressed into the seat. Then the inertial dampeners caught up, and we swung, a supermassive warship executing a maneuver that should have been impossible for anything of her size. By galactic standards, the ASF Aurora may be a Super Battleship, but by Aetherian standards, this was nothing more than a Destroyer. And for a Destroyer, such an maneuver was anything but impossible, after all.

  [ They won’t react in time. They're still accelerating laterally, trying to trap us against Tarnis-Vekk’s range. But now? Now they’re exposed. Perfect broadside. ]

  On the display, the second wing was still moving forward, a formation meant to cut us off and pressure us. Now we would see if the same formation was also capable of withstanding us. "Can we flank the Association fleet before they shoot off their first salvo at the SHF fleet?" I asked Fen.

  [ Barely, but yes. We can wreak havoc in their lines before they fire at the SHF fleet. ]

  “70% capacity. No Whirlwinds. It's to early still to go all out. I want the Battlecruiser to cease existing. Everything else is secondary.”

  [ Understood. I'm putting the ship into spin now. Engaging in three... two... one. Fire. ]

  The second wing of the enemy fleet had just begun tightening formation when we opened fire. On the tactical display, the effect was immediate.

  A storm of railgun rounds lanced outward like invisible razors, perfectly staggered and guided. Disintegrators flared to life, carving white-hot lines through space. Our siphons bit into their hypershields, draining their integrity just as the first kinetic wave hit.

  The Battlecruiser never stood a chance. Its forward shields collapsed within a second, its armor less than half a second later. The entire vessel folded inward like it had been punched through the chest by a god. The Disintegrators dealt with the rest, dissolving everything that remained of the ship. Two nearby Cutters had the misfortune of being too close. They were torn apart instantly, caught in the remaining weapons crosshair.

  One of the enemy Cruisers banked hard, perhaps trying to compensate or flank us, only to drift right into the overlapping arcs of our Disintegrators and Gauss Cannons mid-sweep. It was like watching a ship fly into a blender. Mid-deck vaporized, power core breached, and a molten spiral of armor plates drifted away as the rest of the hull fractured and died. An explosion followed, taking another Cutter down with it.

  [ The Battlecruiser and another Cruiser destroyed. Three Cutters caught in kinetic overspill as well. The remaining fleet tanked our opening salvo with varying degrees of success. Discharged weapon systems are entering cooldown. Estimated reload: sixty-five seconds before secondary wave is viable. Admiral Thorrison and the SHF are engaging. ]

  Just like that, five of the Association ships had ceased to matter. The remaining fleet, after setting off their own salvo towards, the SHF fleet, turned around as fast as they could, their from the ASF Aurora already weakened shields flickering under the counter attack from the SHF fleet. The Association wing was crippled beyond tactical function. It was clear that they planned to retreat as fast as possible.

  “Not bad at all,” I murmured. This was more damage than I had expected. The only time we ever had the ASF Aurora go all out, it was against a 15 ships big Association fleet, all the way back in the Nyxia system. Back then, the full power of the ASF Aurora had obliterated the fleet, including their Battlecruiser, in one full salvo. But I had thought that was because they had their hypershields not powered by antimatter. Seemingly, I had been wrong. Even with fully powered hypershields, the ASF Aurora should be capable of taking out up to 20 ships with one full-powered salvo. That was valuable information to know.

  [ I'm somewhat surprised as to how weak the Association Battlecruiser was. While we did focus our attacks on it, it still should have survived a little bit longer. Based on this new data, we could've ended the wing entirely, if we’d used the Whirlwinds and our full power. ]

  I gave a short nod. “Still, better to know this late than never. Also, it helps us if they think that's our full capability.”

  [ Classic misdirection. The first wing of the Association reserve fleet is currently retreating towards Tarnis-Vekk, abandoning the second wing. Do you want me to fire a second salvo at the same strength to finish off the second wing? ]

  “No. Just support the SHF fleet. It would be great if we could have some of them surrender and hand over their ships to strengthen our fleet. We will need every ship we can get."