Super Mothership
Time passed slowly, and before long, a whole day had gone by…
Sea Clan Support Fleet.
The commanders of the First and Second Task Forces were discussing tactical plans and contingency measures for when they reached the wormhole battlefield, when they suddenly both received a message from the communications officer.
“Sir, Commander Isabel has sent an alert — she wants us to pay close attention to our rear!”
“Our rear?” The two of them were both stunned.
Soon after, they really did pick up an anomalous target on their gravity radar.
“Sir, an unknown celestial body has been detected behind the fleet, at a distance of 68 million kilometers. Its mass is enormous, and it’s charging toward us at an astonishing speed. Estimated to make contact with our fleet in 10 hours!”
Unknown celestial body?
Everyone stared doubtfully at the suddenly-appearing signal on the radar.
“Could it be a rogue celestial body?”
“It shouldn’t be. We’ve already established a complete monitoring system for celestial movements within this neighboring star system. There shouldn’t be any object in that position! Besides, a celestial body with this speed and mass would be classified as a level-3 hazard — there’s no way we would have missed it!”
If it wasn’t a rogue celestial body… then the truth seemed to leave only one possibility!
The eyes of the two task force commanders flashed with disbelief…
An hour later, the fleet’s optical radar finally captured an image of the target.
What appeared before everyone… was a giant green umbrella?!
A green canopy spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers blocked all optical information behind the target, preventing them from seeing its full shape.
“Is it… that?”
“Although its appearance has changed a bit… it can only be that!”
A grim look appeared on both commanders’ faces.
That biological fortress… actually caught up with them?!
The Immortal, after undergoing extreme gravitational acceleration from a star, had already gained considerable velocity. Not only that — in addition to its original high-power propulsion unit, Nie Yun had given the Immortal an extra boost.
If the Sea Clan fleet could see the underside of the canopy, they would notice that the newly-regrown leaves of the Immortal were now coated in a silvery sheen, reflecting the starlight behind them in shimmering points of light — giving it an almost dreamlike, transcendent quality.
This coating was actually a one-layer-thick fully-reflective film of mechanical insects, costing only a negligible amount of material but forming a “super solar sail.”
Light, though massless at rest, carries momentum. When photons strike a smooth surface, they can rebound like ping pong balls bouncing off a wall, imparting force to the surface they hit — this is the principle behind the solar sail.
The famous astronomer Kepler proposed the solar sail hypothesis 400 years ago.
And the closer to a star, the stronger the propulsion effect of a solar sail!
In fact, the “Torch” series of energy-collection devices orbiting the sun in the Prometheus Project relied on the immense push of photons to counteract the star’s gravity, maintaining stable low-orbit operation.
The thrust of a single photon is infinitesimally small, but when the sail area is large enough and the reflective coating highly effective, the solar sail can provide a spacecraft with continuous, powerful propulsion in the vacuum of space.
For Captain Nie, who favored sail designs, this was a cost-free, propellant-free method of propulsion — providing about 10% additional acceleration for the Immortal.
That was how it managed to close the gap in such a short time and catch up before the two Sea Clan fleets could merge.
This, of course, went far beyond Isabel’s expectations.
Her original plan had been for the Sea Clan fleet to lock down the Solar System’s wormhole while she dealt with the biological fortress and removed that unstable factor.
But now, surveying the situation in the neighboring star system:
the Sea Clan’s First and Second Task Forces were rushing toward the wormhole battlefield;
behind them, the Immortal pursued relentlessly;
and behind the Immortal, the Feathered Clan’s First and Second Task Forces also chased closely.
The three forces, on the same course, chased each other, each vying for strategic initiative — forming a straight pursuit chain with all their mobile forces.
The Solar System wormhole and the Second Planet’s spaceport were, without doubt, currently the strongholds of Nie Yun’s side and the Gemini side respectively — both strategic defensive positions.
If Nie Yun lost the wormhole, it would be equivalent to having his retreat cut off and reinforcements severed. Conversely, if the Gemini side lost the spaceport, it would be like having their granary burned — their logistics cut off.
No matter which side lost its “base of operations,” the outcome of the war would essentially be decided.
According to the current situation, both sides’ forces were moving toward the Solar System’s wormhole. The difference was that Nie Yun was on the defensive, with the Immortal falling back to defend, while the Gemini side had superior numbers and was on the offensive — completely pushing their battle line forward.
And for now, the ones “holding the tower” were Nie Yun’s mecha corps and… uh… Nie Yun’s “Feathered Clan Third Task Force”…
Well, ignoring Nie Yun’s cheating “backdoor steal” tactic and the “Silver Revolution” quietly brewing inside the spaceport at this very moment, at least in Isabel’s unknowing eyes, her side’s base of operations seemed perfectly secure.
But as the attacker, the current situation was not encouraging — because the opponent’s space fortress had already completed a dangerously sharp inside track overtake and was about to collide with the Sea Clan’s First and Second Task Forces ahead of schedule!
Isabel naturally could not just watch as the enemy’s two forces met up successfully. She immediately ordered the two forward Sea Clan task forces to intercept the biological fortress at all costs — and ideally, destroy it!
But the two Sea Clan task force commanders were clearly reluctant to carry out this order…
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“The military’s appointment has already been issued. Isabel is now the highest-ranking commander of the legion. We can’t disobey her orders — we can only carry them out!”
“Here we go again. We charge headfirst into danger while they just sit back and watch. We don’t even know the combat strength of this biological fortress. If we recklessly intercept it and take heavy losses, wouldn’t that just let the Feathered Clan reap all the rewards?”
“Mm. We can’t take it lightly. But we still need to make the right show of force. Let’s start by probing it. If it turns out to be impossible… well then, it won’t be our fault for not trying, but the enemy’s fault for being too cunning.”
“Haha! Fine — we’ll do it that way!”
…
Ten hours flew by, and at last the distance to the Immortal closed to within the Sea Clan fleet’s firing range!
“Open fire!”
The Sea Clan fleet, on full alert, immediately launched its attack. More than 40 warships fired in unison, with beams of devastating power tearing through space toward the Immortal!
Because the giant canopy completely obscured the Immortal’s main body, the Sea Clan’s line of sight was blocked. They could only fire at the approximate position based on radar, so this volley was somewhat scattered.
At the very next moment after the Sea Clan opened fire, the previously motionless Immortal also moved!
Its crown rapidly contracted, transforming from a fully open umbrella into a sharp, conical spear. Then the leaves all flipped over, and its overall color changed in an instant from dark green to bright silver.
The super solar sail designed by Nie Yun not only worked as a booster, but could also instantly become a set of mirror-reflective armor!
With the target’s cross-section shrinking rapidly, the bulk of the Sea Clan’s attacks missed entirely, and less than 10% of the volleys actually struck the Immortal.
Various beams pierced through layer after layer of protective leaves, but were weakened layer by layer, and after penetrating more than a dozen layers of defenses, they were finally stopped!
Several heavy force-field beams with greater penetration power did enter the Immortal’s body, but with the canopy blocking the view, it was impossible to see any actual effect.
The next moment, the Immortal’s branches danced, quickly covering the damaged areas — and on the surface, there was no longer any visible damage at all…
“This… this is impossible!”
All the Sea Clan officers who saw this were dumbfounded.
They had imagined that the opponent might activate some kind of super shield to block the attack, or perhaps deploy some secret defensive weapon.
But they had never imagined… that the opponent would simply tank it head-on!
Just with its body alone… it withstood their full fleet volley?!
How terrifying must its physical defense be?!
TL Note- Space Wood?
Next
Comments
Post a Comment