Agent047
patreon
722 - Opening Punches
🕑 Added 2024-09-09 10:17:22 +0000 UTC“Since there is a limit on how quickly we can transfer information through our current means of communication, we are two hours away from completing the transmission. It should take about another twelve hours for it to arrive, but since they can review it as they start receiving it, we expect answers within twenty-four hours,” Niwildan replied calmly, deliberately infusing his tone with a sense of defeat and hopelessness.
“Good. Tell them that we expect an answer by then, or we will choose one for you, and you won’t like what we decide,” Xalthar said, cutting the call abruptly. He ensured his smug expression was the last thing the other side saw.
He appeared untroubled, confident that the other side wouldn’t have enough time to mount any significant response. With no immediate threats to worry about, Xalthar was at ease, certain of the outcome.
“Arrogance. The cause of many peoples, armies, and empires’ downfall,” Niwildan remarked, continuing to rest in his chair. They had effectively bought themselves and the empire twenty-four hours.
They were currently operating under the command to appear as weak as possible, adhering to the principle: “Appear weak when you are strong and strong when you are weak.” Since they hadn’t yet determined the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, their strategy focused on “Don’t interrupt your enemy while they’re making a mistake” and “Always strive to maintain the upper hand.”
To reflect this principle, the fleet that was still in stealth mode, breaking into six parts and maneuvering slowly around the ship while keeping a constant distance.
They moved slowly to maintain their stealth and avoid triggering the enemy's monitoring equipment by detecting any minute anomalies in light. Their strategy was to have all six divided groups surround the ship from six different directions: top, bottom, front, back, right, and left. This way, when they move to attack, the enemy would have to contend with simultaneous threats from all sides.
Although their movement was slow, that was only relative to light speed, so it only took a few minutes for them to reach their assigned positions, with the group heading to the rear of the ship taking the longest.
With the certainty of an impending face-off, the fleet was prepared to go all out in their engagement.
Within the stealth, bubbles that were being maintained and powered by a central ship within each divided group. These bubbles kept all the ships invisible to the outside despite every other ship not being stealth ships.
Within the ships soldiers conducted their final checks, preparing to head for their assigned locations.
Most of them headed to the breach pods, taking their places and readying themselves for the imminent action.
………
{Locked}
“Copy that,” Ismail Maylander responded as he took his position within the breach pod, bracing himself for what was about to unfold.
On the left side of his view, Ismail saw a timer steadily counting down, indicating that there were only forty-seven seconds remaining before their breach pod would be launched to carry out its mission: breaching and deploying soldiers.
It was a moment he had rehearsed countless times, yet now that the real action was upon him, he felt an extraordinary calm. His breathing was steady, like that of someone at rest. Inside, however, his heart raced at full throttle, ensuring oxygen was delivered precisely where needed, with nanomachines aiding his respiration. Meanwhile, adrenaline surged through his body, and time acceleration implants sped up his perception to five times normal, synchronizing his highly responsive body with what he observed.
{Thirty seconds remaining, brace yourself} his government-issued AI, which he had named Cortana, instructed. Though the reminder was unnecessary—everyone in the breach pods was already as prepared as possible.
“Show me what’s going on outside,” Maylander requested. Instantly, the feed from his side of the fleet—stationed at the top of the ship relative to the solar system’s plane—appeared on his display.
He watched in silence as the attack ships completed their final positioning, preparing to deliver the initial strikes.
Even as his AI announced fifteen seconds remaining and then ten seconds, the attack did not commence. Maylander wasn’t surprised; he had grown accustomed to these moments of calculated patience.
As the timer hit three seconds, the ships unleashed a barrage of laser attacks. To Maylander’s accelerated perception, each ship flashed more than a hundred times over the span of what felt like fifteen seconds, their laser beams slicing through the void with relentless precision.
As the timer ticked down to one second, the breach pod jolted into motion, accelerating with terrifying speed due to magnetic propulsion. In just five seconds, they would cover the distance between the two ships. Thanks to the inertial compensators, the crew felt almost no impact from the intense acceleration.
The feed vanished, and the breach pod itself became invisible from his view as his implants activated augmented reality and he could see the thousands of other breach pods moving in tune with his. Sensors around the pod provided a seamless connection, allowing him to perceive the outside environment as if he were moving through space independently.
Now, as he exited the stealth bubble, he could see the ship being pummeled by the lasers. The focused strikes had already inflicted significant damage on the engines, rendering any attempt to escape nearly impossible. For a brief moment, he allowed himself a satisfied smile before refocusing entirely on his mission.
As the breach pod closed in on the Visitor's ship, it engaged its tractor beam, anchoring itself to a carefully chosen spot determined to be the ship's weakest point based on their data. The pod maintained its high speed, and with a powerful burst of kinetic force, it punched through the ship’s surface effortlessly, much like a hot knife slicing through cheese. This breach was made possible not only by the pod's immense kinetic energy but also by the shield powered by a micro fusion reactor, which absorbed and redirected any retaliatory fire. The result was a seamless entry, with the crew inside the pod untouched by the intense energy exchange.
{Breaching successful} Cortana informed him as the front of the pod opened to reveal a dimly lit corridor.
The team was inside, and it was time to put their extensive training to the test.
