Chapter 137: Fleet Review, Assault
A fleet review by the S.U. Space Force.
Two hundred thousand vessels assembled to eradicate space pirates.
Their orderly formation broadcast across the Orion Arm emitted a pressure so overwhelming that even the weakest pirate or rebel would be broken by the sight alone.
The ceremony would continue until the scheduled time—everyone watching thought so.
Yet those watching the screens noticed.
The vessels, previously moving in formation, abruptly began rotating their turrets.
Was this the ceremonial firing of blank rounds? No—this was not the time for such an event.
A few of the cameras monitoring the fleet review shifted their focus to the direction the turrets were pointing.
Through maximum optical zoom, barely visible in the void of space, a white light stretched across the darkness.
A meteor or comet approaching, and the ships on alert. If that were the case, no issue would arise.
Everyone watching the feed thought the same.
But it was not.
All ships participating in the fleet review began firing toward the white light, one after another.
The density of the barrage did not resemble fire aimed at a meteor or comet with a fixed trajectory.
It resembled artillery fire designed to cut off an opponent’s escape route, anticipating evasion.
In fact, no flashes of impact or explosions occurred where the multiple salvos struck.
The mysterious white light had avoided every single shot.
In the camera feed, the source of the white light was finally captured.
It was an awkwardly shaped carrier vessel.
Its rear end bulged outward, as if overloaded with propulsion units at the stern.
The vessel approached while avoiding heavy artillery fire, driven by immense acceleration from its numerous propulsion units and sustained by generator output sufficient to support such force.
"Identify that carrier as enemy! Now is the time to demonstrate the results of your training!"
Whether the emergency broadcast band was used by accident or deliberately to capture footage of destroying the mysterious carrier remained unclear.
Either way, the command reached the Orion Arm.
From the warship participating in the fleet review, a second barrage was fired.
This time, half of the fleet's Charged Particle Beams were discharged in a wide arc around the carrier, emitting a white light. After half a second, the remaining beams were fired.
A well-executed tactic: first encircle with particle beams to restrict escape routes, then saturate the confined zone with subsequent fire.
The SU Navy's plan succeeded. A massive explosion erupted ahead of the beams.
The unruly carrier disrupting the fleet review had been eliminated—so it seemed. But that was not the case.
From the point where the carrier had detonated, numerous trails of light scattered outward.
The news cameras captured, barely, the image of a space fighter carrying a large torpedo beneath its hull.
A fighter that had apparently escaped before the mysterious carrier sank. Approximately one hundred such fighters.
These fighters zigzagged through space, yet approached the fleet review vessels in sequence.
"Shoot them down! Establish a barrage at the gun stations!"
Twenty thousand warships discharged beams of heat energy. A deluge of light, relentless in number, surged toward the evading fighters.
Yet no matter how dense the barrage, this was space. The enemy were fighters.
Gaps inevitably formed between beams. Fighters could slip through if even the space of their fuselage and wings remained.
A thick curtain of fire could not stop fighters that turned their noses toward the fleet with ease.
Still, with countless beams fired from twenty thousand vessels, the number of attempts created a probabilistic advantage. The more trials, the more the odds converged.
The mysterious fighters avoided most shots. But some fell to unexpected hits, or lucky strikes.
A missile carried by one fighter struck by a heat beam exploded violently, vaporizing the aircraft completely.
Another fighter, hit in the wing section, began to spin and lost the ability to maneuver.
The next fighter, and the one after that, were also struck by heat beams and destroyed.
Even so, about ten fighters managed to approach near the SU fleet vessels.
The closer they came, the shorter the time between beam launch and impact.
Of the ten fighters, eight were shot down and exploded violently near the target.
The remaining two used the explosion as cover. One veered around the blast, the other passed straight through the center of the explosion, and both proceeded toward the SU fleet vessels.
Only the craft that pierced the explosion continued forward, slamming torpedoes into SU fleet vessels even as flames engulfed their hulls.
Dawson watched the sequence as broadcast footage from within the Sparrow Hawk.
"Using one modified carrier and one hundred kamikaze fighters, the result is one vessel heavily damaged. An unexpected success."
To an outside observer, it appeared a major failure. Dawson perceived it as a success.
Kiwaka voiced doubt.
"Considering the amount of pirate credit invested, this outcome seems disappointing."
"Not necessarily. The purpose of the carrier and the fighters was to disrupt the SU fleet's review ceremony. Judging solely by that criterion, they performed well."
Under Dawson's standard, the objective had indeed been achieved.
Allowed the approach of an unknown carrier, failed to intercept fighter aircraft launched from it, and suffered the destruction of one vessel despite only one being lost.
Moreover, the failure had been broadcast live across the Orion Arm.
The SU government and the space navy had been utterly humiliated.
"Why did you allow the fleet review to be marred by such a blemish?"
Kiwaka found this point perplexing.
The reputation had been damaged, but that was all.
Dawson did not believe this alone would serve the purpose of the order issued by the Amato Imperial Japan navy—pressuring the SU government to abandon its advance into the Amato Orion Arm.
Yet Dawson stated this was a setup.
"Those who witnessed the fleet review of two hundred thousand vessels would have been struck by its scale, their resistance dulled by its presence. But what would one think upon seeing the entire review ruined by the destruction of a single carrier?"
"Something about it... two hundred thousand vessels, and still so unimpressive."
"Exactly. The greater the presence, the more glaring even a minor flaw becomes. To be honest, from a tactical standpoint, both the carriers and the fighters had been modified for kamikaze operations. The results achieved were expected. Destroying one vessel was fortunate, but nothing more."
Yet to those without tactical understanding, the SU Space Fleet would appear weak.
From that perception, the idea emerged that organizing two hundred thousand vessels required such a vast number precisely because only that many were needed to defeat pirates.
If one begins to doubt that the naval force is a powerful instrument of violence, it means the resistance within people’s minds is reviving.
The reason for their dejection after viewing the fleet review was fear of its imposing presence. If that fear was mistaken, then there is no reason to remain submissive.
That mistaken belief applies to pirates as well. It is better for pirates to believe their opponent is weak rather than strong. Their actions improve when they perceive the enemy as weak.
So, before direct confrontation with the S.U. Navy, the intention was to boost pirate morale by destroying aircraft carriers and fighters.
Fighter costs and modifications were paid in credits. The carrier was seized. It carried a nameless brain unit, specifically trained for kamikaze operations. Considering cost-effectiveness across all fronts, it was a cheap acquisition.
Dawson spoke lightly, but there was no smile on his face.
This was a minor tactic, intended to slightly weaken enemy morale and slightly boost allied resolve.
The fact that he had prepared such a maneuver in advance was proof that Dawson understood the difficulty of leading pirates in combat against the SU Space Force.
……I laid out the path for this outcome, but actually carrying it out in reality is exhausting.
He exhaled, a breath like a sigh, and began preparing for the next action.