Chapter 60: The Onslaught of Ironfang (Part V)

However, due to the staggering mass of over 370,000,000,000 tons of the Kushan Mothership, the gravity generated by this immense mass alone was enough to cause a hyperspace jump failure!

Kuken’s eyes were filled with despair. "They rushed over and circled around with us from the very beginning not to attack us... but to use their own gravity to prevent us from making a hyperspace jump? They planned this from the very beginning? No... impossible!"

He roared frantically, "I neutralized that coward Kunto at the very first moment, not a single word leaked out! How did they know we were coming?!"

"Boss... could it be... that strange message we received earlier?" the first mate whispered.

Kuken suddenly remembered that before they set off, their cruiser had received a bizarre string of messages. It sounded as if someone was continuously tapping on a microphone. After pondering for a long time and comparing it against all known code tables without figuring out what it was, they simply dismissed it as background noise and ignored it.

Now, looking back, the only possibility was that this burst of noise had leaked their coordinates!

"No!!!!" Kuken roared in fury. "You want to outsmart me! It won't be that easy! Even if I'm going to die, I'll drag you down with me!!"

He abruptly turned his head and bellowed at the communications officer, "Transmit the intel here to the 'Black Sun'! Send it to Vigo Xizor Galuran! I want them dead! I want them to die with me, damn it!!!"

The communications officer pressed a few buttons, but there was no response. With a face as grim as mourning, he said, "It's no use! The electronic interference is too strong! The communication signal cannot be sent out..."

"Useless trash!!" Kuken raised his blaster and shot the communications officer right between the eyes, roaring, "Get someone else up here! Send that signal out for me!"

Yet no one around him spoke. Kuken glanced around and found that everyone was lowering their eyes, not daring to look up at him or utter a word. The anger in his heart burned even hotter. "Are you all useless? Someone get over here!! As long as you send the message out, I'll give you 10,000 Upi!!"

"You! Can you do it?" Kuken pointed his gun at a pirate and roared. The pirate shook his head frantically, shrinking into a ball.

"You! Can you do it?" Kuken looked at another person, but that person did not dare to sit in the bloody seat of the communications console either.

"Boss... let's... surrender..." the first mate whispered.

"Surrender?" Kuken had never considered that option. "This thing is our prey! You expect me to surrender to my own prey?! Ha!!"

Growing increasingly furious, he pressed the muzzle of his blaster directly against the first mate's forehead.

Pushed to the limit, the first mate raised his hands, lowered his head, and shouted, "Surrendering can at least keep us alive, Boss!!"

"Cowards! You're all cowards!" Kuken kicked the first mate to the ground, pointed out the viewport, and said, "Can't you see? Those opposite us are just small ships and tiny fighters! We still have a chance to escape!! As long as we push to maximum speed, we can put some distance between us, even if the ship sustains some damage."

The other pirates snapped out of their daze and hurriedly scrambled back to their posts.

The engines of the Iron Fang cruiser roared to acceleration. No longer tangling with the mothership and those starfighters, it desperately sped toward the outer perimeter of the Endor system.

Kuken grabbed another pirate, shoved him into the communications officer's seat, pointed his blaster at his head, and roared, "Keep calling continuously! Until you transmit the intelligence here to Lord Galuran!!"

Then, turning back to the first mate, he said, "Those starfighters are no threat now! Don't we still have two point-defense guns available? Station heavy guards on those two point-defense guns, and don't let anyone near them! Aside from the bow main gun, aim all other turrets at those three corvettes, with priority on the big-bellied one!"

The Iron Fang cruiser immediately began to turn. While the forward-fixed main gun lost its utility, the other four twin turbo-laser turrets adjusted their angles, pouring all their firepower directly onto those Hammer-class corvettes!

The cruiser's firepower was ferocious. Having abandoned the mothership to focus its firepower on other vessels, it finally began to display its formidable might.

Under the continuous barrage, the Hammer-class corvette equipped with the two turbo-laser turrets had its shields destroyed first. Its heavy armor failed to withstand several turbo-laser hits, and following a violent explosion, the corvette disintegrated in space.

Tang Xiao piloted his Blade-class fighter, firing wildly at the Iron Fang. However, the Blade-class was essentially a cobbled-together scrap, with practically everything replaced except for the hull.

The infrared laser cannons mounted on the starfighter were fine for dealing with other fighters, but attacking a 315-meter-long capital ship didn't even amount to an itch.

Moreover, the enemy had smartened up, ceasing fire on the mothership and concentrating all their firepower on the only three Hammer-class corvettes that posed a threat.

"Not enough! Just a bit more! Qi Jian! What is the enemy cruiser's shield strength remaining?" Tang Xiao shouted over the comms.

"According to the mainframe scan, the enemy's shield strength should be under 10%!" Qi Jian replied over the comms. "Even if we drop their shields, a cruiser of this size isn't easy to sink—not to mention that Churt and the others are still on that ship."

"How many Gemini missiles do we have in stock?"

"We have 30 left. The mothership's production line is running at full capacity right now. But after all, we've only just reverse-engineered the Gemini missile technology; both production capacity and inventory are insufficient."

"Have the marines ready. Once the shields are down, immediately board the enemy hangar using an Aurora-class cargo ship for a boarding assault!" Tang Xiao issued the command. "Also, have a T-850 pilot a fighter, and rig that fighter with a proximity nuclear warhead! If the Aurora-class cargo ship cannot get close, use the nuclear bomb to blast them first!"

"But the enemy's firepower is still fierce; the starfighters probably won't get a chance to ram them..." Qi Jian replied, shaking his head. "Without neutralizing the enemy's turrets, forcing a landing with an Aurora-class cargo ship would mostly be a suicidal mission..."

"Execute the order! In short, we must not let this cruiser escape! This is our turf, there's no such thing as coming and going as they please!" Tang Xiao said decisively. "First Squadron, return to base! Load up all remaining Gemini missiles! Today, I swear to make sure none of them return alive!"

"Wait a minute! Hyperspace fluctuations detected! Another ship is approaching via hyperspace jump!!" the radar operator suddenly shouted loudly.

***

Note 1: Vigo is the title given to the leadership members within the 'Black Sun'. There are a total of 9 Vigos in the 'Black Sun', each with their own territory and military forces, second in status only to the Underlord.