UGT (Unified Galactic Time): 20th Revol (July) 280 a.G.A. (after Galactic Armistace) / 11:39 a.m.

  Location: ASF Destroyer Aurora, Felsmark system (yellow dwarf), (Outer-)Noran Principality, Kingdom of Ferron, Milky Way

  While we had successfully secured the hyperlane exit, it didn't really feel like victory. We had lost four ships in the process, a Cruiser, a Destroyer, a Frigate and a Corvette. Not all of them were destroyed but they were definitely out of commission for this battle. And these were higher losses than acceptable if we hoped to quickly continue our campaign.

  [ Captain, the fleet has reformed properly. Our outer perimeter is secure, and we made sure the surviving crews of the four lost ships were taken on board or started repairs. We also took care of the last stragglers in terms of mines and missiles. There is no Ferron presence left in our immediate surroundings. ]

  Not responding, I let my gaze drift across the holoscreen showing the Felsmark system. The system held five planets, two of them habitable. And right now, their orbits were incredibly close to each other, our attack coming at a bad time. Their orbits would drift apart again with time, but right now they gave Admiral von Kr?henfels a great defense. Not even that, the asteroid ring stretching between the two orbits added another easily defensible layer to the system. Admiral von Kr?henfels had his fleet held within that asteroid ring, knowing he could easily use it to reach and defend both habitable planets in time, seemingly content to give up the remaining system if necessary.

  And why wouldn't he? Between the asteroid ring and the two inhabited planets he had all the resources he needed to withstand a long siege. Time that we couldn't afford to lose if we wanted to win this war. No, we would need another approach. And luckily, Admiral Thorrison and I had already agreed on what to do next.

  Between the two habitable planets that we needed to take, their primary habitable world with over 100 million inhabitants was far stronger protected than the other. Admiral von Kr?henfels only had enough forces to protect one, not both at once. We, in turn, lacked the power to break either position. The Battlestations the size of Battleships would stop our attacks in their tracks. Luckily for us, the ASF Aurora held a significant range advantage over Ferron, meaning it was possible for us to take out the Battlestations at extreme range, but only as long as the Federation fleet didn't engage us. While they wouldn't be able to destroy us, they could easily drive us off or do enough damage to make sure we would be unable to continue to push deeper into the Kingdom of Ferron.

  Our primary goal had to be to take out the Battlestations without directly engaging. And with us having two different targets that was easy enough to achieve. We would fake an attack on their primary inhabited world, pretending to seek a decisive engagement. When Admiral von Kr?henfels committed his forces to said world, the ASF Aurora would use her emergency jump drive to jump towards their secondary inhabited world. There I would take out the orbital stations from maximum range, while Admiral von Kr?henfels could not intercept me, for he would risk opening the other world for the same attack. Between the ASF Aurora's incredible speed and range advantage there was little he could do to stop us from destroying all the Battlestations in orbit around the secondary inhabitable planet. Once done, the Federation fleet would change course and join me over the secondary habitable planet, taking it without losses or even a fight. Seeing how it was the primary food production in the system, it would be a massive hit to Admiral von Kr?henfels and his logistics.

  Admiral Thorrison was not quite convinced of my plan as I was. He believed that splitting our fleet into two, even one part was only the ASF Aurora, was still too risky. Should Admiral von Kr?henfels still have a few tricks up his sleeve, it could risk the destruction of either the ASF Aurora or the Federation fleet. Still, in the end he agreed to my plan with a frown, seeing how he was unable to name a better alternative.

  I sighed silently before nodding to myself. While I was less sure of my plan than I wanted to be, it was the best option I saw. And even if it failed, we were unlikely to actually lose anything by trying. "Fen, signal Admiral Thorrison. If he's ready as well, it's time to advance."

  [ Admiral Thorrison confirms the readiness of his fleet. We're ready to move forward with our plan. ]

  "Then do so please."

  As we started to move through the system and set course towards the primary inhabited planet, I kept a sharp eye on the holoscreen showing the Ferron fleet. 3 Battlecruisers, 6 Cruiser, 14 Destroyers, 14 Frigates and 15 Corvettes, certainly still a sizeable number of ships. But other than a few slight formation adjustments and military readiness after their sublight sensors finally picked up our movement, they did nothing. Faster-than-light sensors was still very much something only the ASF Aurora had, and as expected Admiral von Kr?henfels would wait until more information about our movement reached him before acting.

  "So, they are really just observing," I mused to myself. "Fen, get our ship into a spin. I want a fully powered salvo of railgun slugs to be sent to their primary planet. Don't load antimatter warheads on them, it would be nothing more than a waste of a precious resource."

  We were still far outside of the effective range of our railguns. With the long traveling times involved and the static trajectory of the railguns, Ferron had more than enough time to calculate their course, shoot them down before they could hit anything, even despite the high speeds they were moving at. It was little more than a statement, a clear sign that we were testing their orbital protections for weaknesses.

  Fen gave no visible reaction, but only a few minutes later, after the ASF Aurora restarted its spin, the first volley of railgun slugs streaked across the void, followed by a second one. Fen even went as far as to time the railgun impact with our Gamma Particle Lasers, which also wouldn't do any damage at such extreme ranges. As expected, our railgun slugs were all shot down by plasma bolts, and the shields of the Ferron Battlestations easily absorbed the remaining residue of our lasers.

  Fen continued these attacks every 15 minutes, intent on making it look like we were actively testing their defenses at all ranges while closing in. And not even an hour later, we finally saw movement from the Ferron fleet. It seemed like we had convinced Admiral von Kr?henfels of our intent to attack the primary planet, for he finally started to slowly reposition his fleet towards it.

  It only took Admiral von Kr?henfels one more volley to finally make his decision. The Ferron fleet finally fully shifted and started integrating itself into the defenses of the primary world soon after. Admiral von Kr?henfels had made his decision.

  [ And so he has made his decision. Am I to prepare an emergency jump sequence towards the secondary planet? We'll need two. ]

  “Yes,” I agreed. “Prepare emergency jump sequence. It's time to strike him where it hurts."

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  [ Our emergency jump drive is charged and ready. ]

  “Jump on my mark. And tell Admiral Thorrison we're about to jump."

  [ Admiral Thorrison has confirmed and wishes you a happy hunt, as well as good luck. ]

  I nodded at that. “Jump.”

  Instantly space twisted as we made our first jump before dropping into realspace again, before we reoriented and jumped a second time. And this time we were close to the secondary world, just outside of their Battlestations weapon range. "Well then, let's begi-"

  I was caught off abruptly as suddenly thousands of small signatures ignited around us and the ASF Aurora started to shake with enough force to nearly throw me out of the Captain's chair. "What's going on!?" I demanded to know instantly.

  [ It seems we jumped into another minefield. Once more, multiple mines went off within our hypershield, and a few more detonated before I could get our shields up again. Luckily, they were far weaker than the ones at the hyperlane exit point and quite a few are electromagnetic disruptors and not antimatter warheads. The ASF Aurora will certainly need a new paint job again, but when was that ever not the case? ]

  While Fen spoke, explosions continued to blossom around us in rapid, overlapping bursts, suspiciously constant in their nature, with apparently even the Battlestations firing at us even when we were outside of their effective range. Seeing that a sinking suspicion formed in my head. Admiral von Kr?henfels was clearly not trying to destroy or even damage the ASF Aurora with this, not that he even could. Just mines wouldn't get the job done. But if they only tried to keep us occupied...

  "Fen, what are our sensor and emergency jump capabilities, especially in long-range?" I asked through clenched teeth.

  [ Our long-range resolution has degraded by 63% and slowly climbing due to all the explosions around the ASF Aurora. Right now, doing an emergency jump is not possible as we would have to drop our shields first. While that would be viable should we get even just a second of reprieve, right now that is not possible and unadvisable with how limited our sensors are operating. ]

  I leaned forward, my fears proven correct. Admiral Kr?henfels wasn’t trying to damage us. No, he was doing his best to keep us blind and stuck in place. He had somehow not just expected my maneuver; he had even placed his mines correctly so that we jumped into them. He had perfectly played us by only moving his ships when he knew we would see it and jump into his minefield. I had been perfectly played by his incredibly risky strategy. And right now, he would be pushing out to engage the Federation fleet.

  "Fen, get us out of this missile storm and into Battlestation range, he won't have any mines there. Wait for an opportune moment, drop our shields and jump us back to the Federation!" I ordered, thinking quickly. What I was about to do was risky, but also the only chance we had at getting back into formation with the remaining Federation fleet in time!

  Fen reacted instantly, pushing the ASF Aurora into full acceleration towards the secondary planet. Within seconds we had left the exploding minefield behind us but now had to contend with four Battlestations with more firepower than the average Ferron battleship concentrating their fire on us. Instantly I saw our shield integrity drop from its current 89% to 71% as we entered effective weapon range of Ferron Battlestations.

  "Fen fire back, full salvo. Get our point defense to maximum effectiveness. Use our ECM Beam, stun the Battlestations even if just for a few seconds and then jump us out of here!" I ordered quickly and at my command the ASF Aurora unleashed true mayhem at the enemy.

  20 disintegration beams, while 15 siphon arrays started up, actively siphoning stability and integrity from the Ferron Battlestation shields. 40 loaded antimatter slugs were unleashed, followed by another 15 antimatter missiles that quickly started multiplying into a salvo of 180 antimatter missiles targeting in on the Battlestations. Seconds later the ECM Beam finished charging up and started wreaking electrical mayhem over the Battlestations. Meanwhile all 120 point-defense weapons, from lasers to kinetic scraps and electromagnetic deflectors, did their best to stop the incoming tide of attacks while the shield integrity dropped rapidly first to 60%, then 50%.

  Then, the ASF Aurora's finally hit. Explosions flared up across all four Battlestations as antimatter round after antimatter round hammered the Battlestation's impressive layered shields, even weakened by the siphons. Railgun slugs practically splattered against them, leaving cracks for other shots or disintegration beams to punch through, but few managed to penetrate deep into the Battlestations. Still, it was enough oversaturation for the ECM Beam to wreak true havoc, temporarily stopping the constant onslaught of attacks the ASF Aurora had to weather.

  "Jump us out Fen, right now!" I ordered, but I wouldn't have had to bother, for Fen had already dropped our shields and initiated the emergency jump. The last thing the holoscreens showed was one of our Disintegrators atomizing parts of the armor of one Battlestation enough for one of our last railgun warheads to punch through and to detonate its deadly antimatter payload within the Battlestation. Then the ASF Aurora was gone.

  Space snapped and we emerged halfway between the Federation fleet and the secondary planet again. "Status on the Battlestation we hit and the Federation fleet?" I asked instantly.

  [ There is nothing left of the Battlestation on our sensors, meaning the antimatter warhead must've successfully hit one or more of their reactors. It is destroyed. The Federation fleet is indeed on a retreat, with Admiral von Kr?henfels and his fleet behind them and now retreating after firing off a single salvo. It seems like we might be just in time to protect the SHF fleet from the first salvo if we jump in now. ]

  "Do it," I ordered and instantly space snapped once more as we appeared right next to the Federation fleet, just in time to be met face-first by the incoming Federation salvo of lasers, missiles, torpedoes and so much more. Once more the entire defensive arsenal of the ASF Aurora was unleashed at the incoming volley and together with the Federation fleet, was reduced to close to nothing in no time at all. One Federation Cruiser took a glancing hit, but no serious damage. And as I watched the Ferron fleet retreat, I exhaled slowly.

  "Can we catch up to them?" I asked Fen, hands still clenched.

  [ The ASF Aurora can reach them before they reach their Battlestations, but the remaining fleet would be too slow. And engaging them on our lonesome would lead to massive damage that we already said we cannot afford. ]

  I exhaled slowly before relaxing in the Captain's chair. “Well played,” I admitted. "Admiral von Kr?henfels not only anticipated our separation and caught the ASF Aurora in it, he would've also been able to land a devasting salvo on Admiral Thorrison's fleet had we not taken the gamble of breaking out of his minefield as fast as possible. He turned our attack against us."

  [ You are correct. And while we did take down one of the Battlestations, that was nothing more than a lucky hit. Realistically speaking, we shouldn't have been able to crack them open if we hadn't thrown everything out in a single salvo, and even then, such a lucky hit was rather unlikely. Had that failed, we would've been stuck reloading without firing for up to 40 seconds, which would be too risky in a prolonged engagement. ]

  "...This is bad," I muttered to myself. "Do we have a count of how many more mines he had available?"

  [ Unfortunately our sensors were too degraded at the time to find out. ]

  "So, we need to expect that he is capable of repeating that stunt at least a few times, even if without the surprise factor. I doubt his mine reserves are already depleted, for that he has spent them too liberally until now. At the very least he's buying a bunch of time like that and forces us to risk our fleet every single time. Plus, we have to recharge the emergency jumpdrive first as well, even if we were idiotic enough to try again."

  Silently I stared at the defenses Admiral von Kr?henfels had built, defenses that felt impenetrable to me right now. I had always known the ASF Aurora would be in trouble the moment we met something in the same strength class as a Battleship, which these Battlestations without a doubt were. But I did not expect to be stopped in my tracks that completely, to the point where I was thinking that maybe just passing by the fleet and deeper into Ferron territory to force them to pursue was the better idea. “He’s turning my advantage into a time problem,” I said softly.

  [ That he is. He is a competent Admiral. We won't get through by technological supremacy alone, but we already knew that. ]

  I smiled grimly. I wasn't about to give up just yet. I still had a few plans up my sleeve.