Chapter 149: All-Out Battle, Prelude

In the sector where the SU Space Fleet was expected to engage, Dawson’s pirate fleet arrived first.

In a location still devoid of enemy presence, they methodically arranged their formation.

Dawson directed the pirates on their positions, hoping the SU Space Fleet would arrive soon.

Not because he desired battle.

The longer the delay, the higher the chance that pirates would grow fearful.

Whether his wish was granted or not, the SU Space Fleet appeared in position, detectable via optical imaging, just as the formation reached eighty percent completion.

Dawson transmitted a message toward the Space Fleet while still wearing his mask. This was necessary to finalize the formation and to lock in the next phase of the operation.

"Speaking from the temporary command of the pirates—Dawson, pirate commander. I wish to speak with the SU Space Fleet’s supreme commander."

There was no response from the SU Space Fleet to Dawson’s call.

The outcome was predictable. Dawson continued.

“This is not a surrender request. This is a transmission declaring open resistance. From now on, we pirates will challenge your Space Fleet. You’ve already said we will be annihilated. If that’s the case, we’d rather die in a spectacular fashion than quietly.”

Dawson spoke words without conviction, despite having no intention of dying. In the meantime, he registered that his own formation had settled into position.

He signaled Oine with a hand gesture to begin the operation.

Immediately after, two spheres carried from the Big Cock formed a connected structure and began slow forward motion. Behind it, the pirates quietly began moving into concealed positions.

The pirates' resolve will be shown—no, actually, they're just a bunch of cowards who avoid negotiation. With such half-hearted tactics, even with ten times the force, we might still win. Hahahaha!

Dawson deliberately laughs, but there is no response from the Imperial Navy.

Dawson senses the strength of the Imperial Navy commander, realizing his provocation has failed.

Originally, the plan was to quietly maintain slow forward motion on the linked structure while engaging in verbal confrontation, closing to a suitable range.

But with no reaction, the plan had to be changed.

I'll send the cowardice of the Imperial Navy to the Orion Arm. The footage of this battle will be broadcast across all space. I'll expose their disgrace in real time. Hahahaha!

Dawson laughed as he signaled Vera with a hand gesture.

Vera manipulated the monitor and began broadcasting the footage directly to the Orion Arm.

The transmission originated not from the Sparrow Hawk, but from the familiar connected structure.

The high-volume signal made it clear to the Imperial Navy that the broadcast came from the connected structure.

Dawson terminated the transmission to the Imperial Navy at this point and reconnected with the pirates.

"Execute Plan Two. Pirates, attach to the structure and push! Close with the Imperial Navy in one motion!"

The connected structure accelerated in response to Dawson's command. Numerous pirate vessels pushed it forward, like tugboats, increasing the speed further.

The approaching massive structure. The pirates hidden in its shadow.

The military's reaction to the diagram remains unknown, but they began firing projectiles.

They appear to prioritize destroying the linked cluster over forming a defensive formation.

Projectiles strike the cluster one after another, but it is a structure of comparable size to a habitable artificial satellite. With all bulkheads sealed, even substantial fire only penetrates the surface.

“Oine. Inform me when damage reaches the core.”

“Understood. Current damage is approximately one-tenth of total volume.”

Dawson observed a change in the military's broadcast image, transmitted through the cluster to the entire region.

“Tch. They’ve brought in the decisive cannon after all.”

In the image, five large light points appeared within the military formation. They could only be the accumulated attack light within the battle cannons, just before firing.

Five Super Large Battleships launching their decisive cannons. Taking a direct hit would leave even a colossal linked sphere unscathed.

But Dawson had never intended to preserve the linked sphere. He focused not on countering the decisive cannons the military was about to launch, but on preparing for the aftermath.

"Measure enemy Super Large Battleship positions. After the sphere is struck by attack, target the two remaining Super Large Battleships held by the pirates with their decisive cannons."

"Calculating distance and position from the decisive cannon light."

Immediately after Oine began the calculation, five massive bursts of blinding light erupted simultaneously from five points in the military formation.

Five massive beams of light raced across the void, striking the linked sphere.

"The structural integrity of half the sphere has been lost. Melting is progressing."

"Disregard it. Counterattack."

Under Dawson's command, the pirate forces fired their decisive cannons. The target had already been calculated by Oine.

The attack came too quickly for the military fleet's Super Large Battleship to evade. Seizing the brief window, the pirates' decisive cannons struck, destroying two of the enemy Super Large Battleships while simultaneously damaging multiple others.

"Two out of five... still three remain."

Five coordinated salvos had destroyed half the linked sphere. From this, it could be inferred that three attackers would require only two hits to be considered a success.

Yet Dawson did not consider this a concern.

The fleet had learned from the previous engagement that firing the决战 cannon would risk being targeted in return, resulting in the loss of a Super Large Battleship.

The fleet possessed two hundred thousand vessels, yet only five Super Large Battleships carried the决战 cannon. Now, that number had decreased to three.

Given the rarity of such vessels, the fleet would attempt to preserve the remaining Super Large Battleships.

Dawson’s prediction proved accurate. The fleet began targeting the linked cluster with fire from other vessels.

“Oine. Relay orders to fire the决战 cannon toward the enemy Super Large Battleship’s position, the one we secured earlier.”

“Already in motion, I assume?”

“Success is not the goal. This attack is meant to make the fleet believe we are targeting their Super Large Battleship.”

Oine moved as instructed. A决战 cannon fired from the pirate's Super Large Battleship. However, due to the enemy's evasion along the firing line, the attack caused minimal damage.

The formation broke as a result of the evasion, reducing the pressure of the gunfire directed at the linked cluster.

In that moment, the pirate vessel pushed against the linked cluster, attempting to close the distance with the space fleet as quickly as possible.

Thanks to this effort by the pirates, the gap between both sides decreased significantly.

Dawson tightened his focus. This was the critical phase.

With the distance now closed, both sides could employ weapons capable of destroying a Battleship in a single shot.

That weapon was the space torpedo.

From the space fleet, a large number of torpedoes were launched simultaneously toward the linked cluster.