Chapter 814: Battle in the K-78 Asteroid Belt (2)

On the star map, a light point representing a Feng Qi Xing warship is rushing out rapidly from behind a dense asteroid cluster.

The Fengqi Star Alliance's "Gargoyle"-class light frigate has a thick main cannon beneath its bow flashing with charging light, and the energy cannon arrays on both sides of the hull have also deployed.

"'Gargoyle'? Just one? Ha!"

Vika's eyes are full of fighting spirit, and she issues an order immediately.

"Does Feng Qi look down on us? Razor formation, spread out! Evasive maneuvers!

Let this 'Gargoyle' taste the sharpness of the Razor! Main cannon lock on, tear its shield open for me!"

Three "Razor" ships instantly spread out at high speed in different directions, their engine nozzles trailing long, scorching exhaust plumes.

Dense crimson particle beams shoot toward the incoming "Gargoyle" light frigate.

Inside the "Gargoyle" bridge, the atmosphere is heavy.

Captain Halun sits steadily in the command chair, staring at the tactical screen.

The hull vibrates violently under the continuous bombardment of particle beams, and the energy shield ripples with dense, water-like waves.

"Shield strength dropped to 75%! Sustaining medium-intensity fire!"

An analyst reports.

"Steady."

Halun's voice is calm, his three eyes fixed on the three Razor cursors on the tactical screen.

"Is the main cannon fully charged?"

"Main cannon charge at 90%... 95%... Charge complete!"

Halun orders immediately.

"Target, enemy lead ship! Calculate the lead, correct for gravitational disturbance! Aim and fire!"

The "Gargoyle's" thick bow main cannon jolts violently.

A pale-white high-energy particle stream, several times thicker than the "Razor Beak" particle beams and condensed with destructive energy, shoots out, lunging straight at Vika's flagship.

Vika's pupils shrink, and she hurriedly issues an order.

"Emergency evasion! Full power lateral thrust!"

The "Razor's" engines emit a shrill scream as it swerves violently to the side.

The pale beam grazes the hull, but the violent energy shockwave still sends the patrol boat flying, the shield flashes violently, the internal lights flicker on and off, and various alarms inside the bridge blend into a cacophony.

"Shield overload! Partial hull damage! Starboard engine output dropped by 15%!"

Vika's Adjutant's voice is urgent.

Vika spits with her slender tongue, anger burning in her eyes.

"Damn cannon! Razor 2 and 3, flank it! Attack the engines and weapon nodes! Don't let it fire a second shot!"

The two wingmen nimbly bypass the main cannon's firing arc, cutting in at high speed from the side-rear of the "Gargoyle," their dense crimson particle beams attacking the "Gargoyle's" relatively weaker side shield and engine nozzle area.

The "Gargoyle's" vibrations become even more intense, and the light of its side shields dims rapidly.

"Port shield strength 40%! Engine compartment outer armor damaged! Number 2 pulse cannon group offline!"

Halun's brows are tightly locked, but he is not panicked.

He sees "Probe Seven," which has lost power, is drifting at the edge of the battlefield, and from which small lifeboats are struggling to eject.

"Cannot let it become a sitting duck."

Halun quickly issues an order.

"Release decoys! Target area: around the survey ship! Cover the lifeboats! Energy cannon array, fire at will, suppress those two annoying flies! Main cannon, begin cooling and recharging!"

Dozens of light points explode beneath the "Gargoyle's" belly, and these specialized decoys instantly release a large cloud of strong electromagnetic interference and countless high-speed flying metal chaff, scattering a vast expanse of "Stardust" shimmering with eerie light into the void, instantly obscuring the signals and line of sight to "Probe Seven" and some of the lifeboats.

At the same time, the surviving energy cannon groups on both sides of the "Gargoyle" fire at full capacity, their dense blue energy beams weaving into an interception fire net, temporarily forcing back the Ashes wingmen attempting to approach the survey ship's wreckage to "Harvest."

Vika looks at the interference cloud, her face gloomy.

"Want to cover a retreat? Not that easy! Razor 1, with me!

Concentrate fire, while its main cannon is cooling, break through its shield for me!"

Her flagship and the other wingman reform their formation, pushing through the "Gargoyle's" fire to strike directly at the "Gargoyle's" front.

Halun watches the two light points rapidly approaching on the screen, his eyes narrowing as he emits a sound like a cold laugh.

"Hmph, courting death! Close-in Defense System, activate! 'Swarm' missiles, target: both enemy ships! Launch!"

Dozens of smaller light points instantly light up on the surface of the "Gargoyle" hull, and dense close-in defense energy beams weave into a final line of defense.

At the same time, the launch ports on both sides of the hull silently spit out dozens of missiles only the size of single-person aircraft.

These missiles have no large warheads, their tails flashing with an eerie blue light, as they silently pounce toward the two incoming "Razors"!

Vika sees the swarming, ominously blue-flashing dots and feels a chill.

"It's a Swarm! Intercept with everything!"

The "Razor's" close-in defense fire sweeps wildly, destroying some missiles, but over a dozen break through the fire net.

They do not explode; instead, upon approaching the targets, they violently release a sweeping, violent, directional Electromagnetic Pulse!

A silent shockwave sweeps over the two Ashes patrol ships.

All the screens inside Vika's bridge are instantly occupied by blinding static and garbled code, and the ear-piercing screech is enough to tear her eardrums.

The lights flicker wildly before extinguishing completely, plunging the bridge into darkness, with only the faint light of emergency lamps and electric sparks jumping and bursting all over the Control Console.

The roar of the engines stops abruptly, the hull loses all power and continues to glide forward under inertia, the arcs jumping on the ship's body outlining their dead, silent silhouettes.

In the communication channel, only the static of current and the faint, intermittent, and blurred exclamations from the wingmen due to the communication breakdown remain.

"Report status!"

Halun's voice rings out in the relatively bright bridge of the "Gargoyle," his warship also swaying slightly from the impact, with some screens flickering a few times.

"Enemy lead ship and wingman hit by high-intensity EMP! Their energy signatures detected as vanished, lost power and signal, confirmed paralyzed! The other enemy ship is evading, temporarily breaking contact!"

Halun looked at the two light spots on the star map that were no longer moving, then glanced at the Probe Seven area shrouded in interference clouds, where several lifeboats were desperately heading toward the asteroid belt to seek cover, as well as the light spot in the distance representing the last Razor still capable of action, which was retreating in a panic.

"Cease pursuit."

Halun gave the order decisively.

"Priority Task: Recover all our escape pods and ensure the survivors. Send an encrypted emergency report to the nearest Fengqi Outpost: 'K-78 encountered an unprovoked attack by an Ash Star Alliance patrol ship, Probe Seven is heavily damaged, two enemy ships are paralyzed.

Requesting reinforcements and filing a diplomatic protest.'"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield debris belt outside the porthole, where twisted metal, frozen ice crystals, leaping electric arcs, and two dead enemy ships were floating.

"Clear the battlefield and prepare to withdraw. This place... it's bad luck to stay here too long."

Gargoyle slowly turned, its engines emitting a low roar, and began to execute the recovery task.