Agent047
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920 - Taking Action
🕑 Added 2025-06-01 15:38:44 +0000 UTC"That’s not important right now," Aron said, answering his own question before anyone else could respond. "We need to deal with the current situation first. We’ll analyze the reasons later, when we have real data to work with. Speculation without information is just a waste of brainpower."
{I’ll continue developing response strategies and update you as new intel comes in,} Nyx said.
"Good," Aron nodded, then resumed reviewing the surveillance footage. It didn’t take long before everyone who had gone to issue orders or complete their assigned tasks returned.
“Our fleets positioned near the Nexus are ready for immediate deployment,” John reported.
Youssef followed up next. “The civilizations that were attacked claim they can’t dispatch their fleets within the half-hour window we requested. That’s the only answer they gave, saying that, due to the urgency of the situation, they’ll provide further explanation once things settle down.”
He then forwarded an additional report. “As for the rest, they’ve agreed to move their security fleets to the wormhole points. However, the time it’ll take them to arrive correlates directly with their military strength, the weaker the fleet, the longer the delay. This supports our suspicion: it looks like many of them had already recalled their fleets for a larger mobilization.”
“The process of slowing down the operation speed of the wormholes is already underway,” added the head of the Imperial Transportation Agency.
“Then send the fleets now,” Aron said without hesitation, the decision firm in his voice. “Neutralize the threat before it damages public trust in using the wormholes.”
He paused only briefly before continuing, “And keep pressing those civilizations. I want to know exactly why they withdrew their fleets, and why they failed to inform the Empire, especially when their actions directly endangered the wormholes and left us unprepared.”
“Understood,” they responded in unison, and John immediately issued the fleet deployment orders.
……………………
Nexus.
Twenty fleets surged toward separate wormhole gates, moving well beyond the standard velocity limits set for wormhole transit. Yet no one moved to intercept them. Instead, all nearby vessels received a priority override directive: clear the path immediately.
Once the fleets had passed through, construction work in the disrupted zones resumed without delay. However, aboard the civilian vessels stationed nearby, especially those crewed by citizens of the Astral Conclave, observers quickly relayed the entire event to their respective governments.
……………………..
Wormhole Gate #104327518772
The pirate ships continued their rampage, terrorizing civilian vessels with impunity. They reveled in the chaos, freely targeting damaged ships, those too crippled to escape, without fear of interference. Intelligence had assured them a nine-hour window of unchecked freedom, with only the final hour reserved for retreat, giving them ample time to plunder before any military response could reach them.
Initially, they had attempted to breach the wormhole station’s shield. For five full minutes, they unleashed their most powerful attacks, only to find the barrier utterly unyielding. Frustrated, they abandoned the effort, shifting their attention to the vulnerable ships scattered across the area. The plan was simple: eliminate or capture as many targets as possible before returning their efforts to the shield later.
In their focus, neither the pirates nor their active sensors noticed the faint shift in hue, barely perceptible, rippling across the otherwise stable blue of the station’s shield.
But even if they had seen it, it would have been too late.
A moment later, a fleet of ships came from every exit channel of the wormhole, slipping through the shield as though it weren’t there. What followed was swift, coordinated devastation.
The Imperial forces had linked into the wormhole station’s sensor network well in advance. Armed with precise data and pre-calculated targeting plans, they executed their assault with ruthless precision.
Before the pirates could organize any sort of response, ship after ship was disabled, engines crippled, weapons silenced. Within seconds, many were pulled into a massive containment dome, ensnared by powerful tractor beams.
The trap had been set long before the pirates even realized they were prey.
……………….
“Sir, we’ve detected ships approaching with transponder signatures matching those of the pirates we just dealt with at the Bilakis civilization’s wormhole,” the sensors officer reported to the fleet admiral.
“If they’re heading our way, eliminate them the moment they enter our designated operations zone,” the admiral replied coldly, eyes fixed on the transporter data. The signatures were a near-exact match to the pirate vessels they were currently securing, crews still being extracted after being subdued with localized EMP blasts.
“All ships have received the directive and are ready to engage once the targets enter the operational sphere,” the communications officer confirmed.
With the allied civilizations still withholding critical information, John had authorized a standing policy: act decisively based on confirmed intelligence and avoid unnecessary delays that might complicate the situation further.
Meanwhile, Imperial military vessels moved through the field of destruction, among both civilian and pirate wreckage, deploying containment shields around heavily damaged ships. These shields served dual purposes: stabilizing compromised vessels to prevent oxygen loss, and isolating any potential secondary explosions.
Soon after, landing units, mechanized bodies remotely piloted via VR, descended into the wreckage. Their objectives were clear: rescue injured civilians and secure any surviving pirates. Resistance was met with lethal force. Pirates who attempted to fight back were killed without hesitation, while the rest surrendered, except for a few who activated self-destruct sequences in a final attempt to take out Imperial personnel, unaware that they were only targeting remote avatars.
Roughly two hours into the ongoing rescue and recovery operation, the second wave of ships bearing identical pirate transponder codes arrived.
The standing orders remained unchanged.
The moment they crossed into the operational sphere, pre-positioned stealth mines detonated in unison. In the same instant, a coordinated barrage of precision laser fire lit up the battlefield. Within minutes, the entire group was annihilated, no time to respond, no chance to retreat.
The Empire had deployed some of its most advanced ships for this operation, and the results were now on full display for all to see.
Comments
GripenSupremacy
TYFTC!!!!!
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
Thank you for the chapter!!
