Global Transmigration: Empire of the Stars - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Fleet Cannon Volley

Even the worst space fighters had a flight speed of nearly one kilometer per second. Unless they were specifically designed for anti-aircraft defense, the only enemies of space fighters were other space fighters.

After a few minutes, both sides’ fighters finally engaged in the asteroid belt. Due to superior fighter performance, the Meteor Mercenary Group’s fighters detected the enemy first and fired a volley of laser beams from a longer range.

The power of fighter-mounted laser weapons was much less than that of ship-mounted weapons, but their advantage was speed. Each fighter was equipped with four laser cannons, and a squadron of 144 fighters could unleash a rain of laser beams in a single volley, completely enveloping the pirate fighter group.

It was like a web of beams, continuously washing over the pirate fighters.

A faint energy glow appeared, weakening the laser beams’ energy. This was the energy shield, which was highly effective at reducing energy damage.

But the attacks from the Meteor Mercenary Group’s fighters were not just a single volley. Under the continuous rain of beams, the originally sturdy fighter hulls gradually melted, their temperatures rising to extreme levels, and then they exploded into balls of fire.

In line with the pirate warships, the pirate fighters also prioritized speed over defense. After just three waves of beam rain, the pirate fighter group in space experienced large-scale explosions. Fireballs lit up one after another, and in almost an instant, more than half of the pirate fighters were destroyed.

Far in the rear, Lin Zhichen took a moment to check the space fighter battlefield. He saw the small light spots representing pirate fighters rapidly disappearing. In just a few minutes of engagement, all the pirate fighters were destroyed.

While recalling his own fighters, he checked the pilots’ skills. As expected, after a brief aerial battle, most of the NPC pilots in this squadron had reached advanced skill levels, with a few even advancing to expert level.

Such highly skilled professionals, if trained within the Federation, would typically require several years and the expenditure of hundreds of energy coins to produce batches of high-level professionals.

However, with his talent support, just a few small-scale battles achieved the same effect, and the cost was negligible.

“It’s a pity that the pilots’ skills are generally too low. If they were higher, the fighter group alone could easily handle the pirate fleet.”

Slightly regretful, Lin Zhichen commanded the fleet to launch a new round of concentrated fire on the last three struggling pirate ships, annihilating them in one volley.

Relieved from the danger of being flanked by enemy ships, Lin Zhichen took a breath and quickly directed the fleet to change formation, preparing to face the new wave of the pirate fleet.

The power of an aircraft carrier lies in its carrier-based aircraft. Without them, it became a toothless tiger. At this moment, the carrier cruiser, serving as the flagship of this pirate fleet, had less firepower than a pirate gunboat. Its only advantage was its more powerful radar, which prevented it from being completely unresponsive to electromagnetic bombardment.

After more than a month of practice, the Meteor Mercenary Group had transformed from battlefield rookies into a skilled regular army. Under Lin Zhichen’s skill enhancements, the entire fleet’s formation transitions were quite smooth.

When the enemy ships approached within three light-seconds, the Meteor Mercenary Group had already completed their first round of shooting preparations. Electromagnetic projectiles were fired, concentrating on the leading pirate gunboat.

The radar of the pirate pursuit ship quickly detected the incoming barrage. The leading pirate gunboat immediately attempted to turn and evade, avoiding total destruction. However, it was still hit by several subsequent electromagnetic projectiles, severely damaging it.

The damaged pirate gunboat’s speed sharply decreased, forcing it to withdraw from the battle sequence. To avoid the damaged ally, nearby pirate ships had to maneuver, causing their previously well-ordered formation to scatter.

At this moment, far in the rear, Lin Zhichen frowned. The radar of the pirate pursuit ship had negated the advantage of long-range bombardment, and the movement of the fleet’s target positions rendered the subsequent volleys ineffective.

“Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.”

Suddenly recalling this phrase, he finally understood his mistake. This precise bombardment was effective only because it exploited the outdated radar of pirate warships. As soon as the enemy made any improvements, this bombardment method would fail.

Understanding the key issue, he immediately changed the volley strategy. Instead of targeting a specific warship, he considered the entire enemy fleet. Under psionic perception, certain future possibilities were discerned.

Based on the scale of his fleet, he selected a few of the highest probability scenarios and then sent the targets to each ship, resuming the bombardment.

At this moment, Lin Zhichen felt new pressure. To calculate the numerous changes in the enemy fleet after being attacked, he had to increase his psionic output to support accelerated thinking. His psionic perception was also fully extended. At a certain moment, a flash of insight allowed him to lock onto the enemy fleet’s changes in the next ten to several dozen seconds in the most efficient way.

As the combat mode shifted, Lin Zhichen’s fleet command skill, which had been growing slowly, rapidly advanced on his personal panel. In a short time, it reached the advanced level and quickly progressed towards the expert level.

With the support of his talent, he could improve his skills with less time and effort than ordinary people, but that did not mean that finding the right direction for progress was useless.

Feeling the entire fleet operating more smoothly, Lin Zhichen was filled with joy. This was the significance of real combat; it always revealed one’s shortcomings in the heat of battle.

The volley speed had been compressed to under 10 seconds. With continuous rounds of bombardment, the pirate fleet was being hit faster and suffering greater losses.

After the first pirate raiding boat exploded, the second volley caused two more heavily damaged pirate ships to explode simultaneously.

Although this scattershot approach couldn’t guarantee the destruction rate of focused fire, the damage across the enemy ships was more uniformly distributed under the firepower coverage.

After thirty rounds of volleys, the remaining pirate ships finally reached a range of one light-second, barely able to scan the location of the Meteor Mercenary Group. Unable to endure the passive beating any longer, the pirates launched a counterattack against the enemy fleet.

Of course, this method of firing at the edge of radar detection range, unless possessing long-range bombardment capabilities, meant that projectiles fired from 30 kilometers away would be wildly off-target by the time they reached their destination.

Without any intention of dodging, the Meteor Mercenary Group continued their volleys. After six more rounds, the closer range significantly increased the hit rate, nearly annihilating the pirate fleet—only the heavily damaged pirate pursuit ship remained, crippled in space.

Two squadrons of space fighters then moved in, and after three rounds of beam rain, they finally destroyed it completely.

This relatively prolonged battle finally came to an end, with the Meteor Mercenary Group achieving total victory after two consecutive battles.

At this moment, Lin Zhichen felt a stirring in his heart and looked at his personal panel.