Chapter 389: Delaying Tactics
Artificial intelligence had developed to an incredibly high level. Its processing was so advanced that every single command execution was determined by complex probabilistic calculations.
The crew had pre-programmed a vast set of initial conditions into the system, dictating its primary directive: "Cover the evacuation of the Deep Space carrier, while destroying the enemy at any cost."
Of course, AI cannot natively comprehend human language, so all directives were digitized and assigned weighted values.
"Covering the evacuation of the Deep Space" was the ultimate priority. In mathematical terms, the Deep Space was assigned a survival weight of 10 billion, a Titan received 10,000, while a single drone was only valued at 1. The combined weight of the entire drone fleet didn’t even amount to a fraction of the Deep Space’s value.
By assigning these weighted values, the AI could run the automated battle like a game of chess, executing moves based on calculated algorithms.
Therefore, the moment the drone formation broke apart, the AI deliberately detonated high-yield nuclear warheads in a calculated sequence to unleash massive electromagnetic pulses (EMPs).
The widespread disruption of electromagnetic waves effectively neutralized the enemy’s superior radar technology, forcing both sides to rely entirely on the visible light spectrum from nearby stars for sensor targeting.
In short, every ship on the battlefield was now blind to radar and had to rely on optical image recognition systems, which were vastly less efficient.
"This way, our delaying tactics will be much more effective!" a senior military strategist said, his voice trembling—it was hard to tell if it was from excitement, fear, or a mix of both.
In reality, ultra-long-wave radar, known for its long wavelengths, low signal degradation, and incredible range, was typically used for strategic early warning despite its low targeting accuracy.
Spacecraft combat radars generally operated on much higher frequencies, with wavelengths under 10 millimeters, because shortwave radars offered vastly superior targeting precision.
However!
Radar signal reflection degrades to the fourth power relative to the target’s distance. To double a radar’s detection range, the required power output had to be increased sixteen-fold!
This was a massive engineering bottleneck. The vastness of space meant combat often occurred over distances of hundreds of thousands of kilometers, requiring astronomical power outputs for radar systems.
While high-frequency radar had numerous advantages, if someone tried to build an ultra-high-frequency LIDAR system capable of scanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers in all directions, a standard fusion reactor wouldn’t even generate enough power to turn it on.
Moreover... nuclear detonations primarily jammed shortwave frequencies.
A teraton-yield nuclear warhead could sweep an EMP across tens of thousands of kilometers. Naturally, advanced civilizations that had traveled the stars would have anticipated such tactics.
While many of the enemy’s exposed electrical components might burn out, their core systems wouldn’t be completely paralyzed.
The entire battlefield descended into chaos. Brutal dogfights erupted in quick succession, and countless pinpricks of light densely dotted the void of space.
This kind of close-quarters combat was where the most terrifying displays of aggression occurred.
If the engagement distance was several light-hours away, even with light-speed weapons and a dense barrage of fire, very few shots would actually hit their targets.
Due to the nuclear detonations, the crew aboard the Deep Space could no longer receive any electromagnetic signals from the Federation’s satellite network.
Fortunately, after ten hours of acceleration, the carrier had already traveled 650,000 kilometers away, meaning their optical view was no longer obstructed the Planet.
Jason peered at the distant flashes of light through one of the Deep Space’s optical telescopes. To the naked eye, it was impossible to tell whether those explosions were enemy cruisers, friendly drones, or intercepted missiles...
Continuous laser communication was utterly useless in such a high-speed, long-distance brawl. The logic was simple: if your communication laser could hit your ally, an enemy’s weaponized laser could hit you just as easily.
Up ahead, the entire Federation vanguard fleet was locked in a chaotic melee under the autonomous control of the combat AI.
Through the telescopes, humanity finally got a clear look at the enemy ships...
They were massive!
Even the smallest alien vessel was over 200 meters in diameter, roughly the size of a Leviathan-class destroyer. This was likely the absolute minimum size required to house a stable fusion reactor and a warp drive, considering how massive warp engines had to be.
These spherical alien spaceship featured engine thrusters that could glide freely along circular external tracks, distributing stress evenly across their hulls and granting them terrifying maneuverability.
Theoretically, spherical designs were far more optimal for deep-space combat than the sleek, aerodynamic shapes of the Federation’s Sparrow drones.
The enemy’s flagship, which dwarfed even a Titan dreadnought, continuously deployed swarms of smaller fighter drones. The flashes lighting up the void were likely a mix of railgun slugs finding their marks and heavy laser batteries firing.
The larger alien vessels primarily utilized a devastating beam weapon. While its rate of fire was slow, its destructive yield was catastrophic. It was distinct from standard lasers, as true lasers were mostly invisible in the vacuum of space.
Federation scientists had hypothesized about this tech... it was an "Ion Cannon"!
An Ion Cannon was essentially a variant of a railgun, but instead of solid slugs, it fired highly energized protons at over 99% the speed of light, making it a near-light-speed weapon.
In terms of sheer devastation, an Ion Cannon strike triggered a localized hydrogen fusion reaction upon impact, delivering a combined payload of extreme thermal energy and intense subatomic radiation. It was leagues deadlier than a standard laser!
Such a weapon required an astronomical amount of power, functioning much like a supercharged particle accelerator.
Humanity’s own version of this technology was still in its infancy, with only a few experimental prototypes mounted on the Deep Space.
Their firing rate was abysmal due to immense power draw and thermal venting issues.
Various strange halos of light rippled across the surface of the massive alien spheres, glowing intensely. However, because they were over two million kilometers away, it was impossible to discern exactly what they were...
Tension ran high on the bridge. Everyone knew the enemy wouldn’t simply allow the Deep Space to slip away!
The brilliant flare of the Deep Space’s main thrusters made it a glaring target in the dark.
Code Orange alarms blared across the bridge!
It was highly unlikely that the entire enemy fleet had dropped out of warp in front of the planet... Some of them were bound to overshoot the primary battle zone and drop out on the far side of the planet.
Which was exactly where the Deep Space was currently fleeing!
A distance of three million kilometers would only take ten seconds for a light-speed weapon to cross. Fortunately, at that range, accuracy heavily deteriorated. The Deep Space’s secondary thrusters engaged, shifting the massive carrier into an evasive "S" pattern to make its trajectory harder to predict.
"Deploy the reserve drones! Form a defensive grid!" Jason immediately ordered as he spotted enemy warp signatures dropping out of faster-than-light travel within a million-kilometer radius.
Some of the alien ships decelerated too aggressively. Caught in the gravitational pull of "Dige," their warp bubbles shattered violently, triggering massive spatial implosions.
However, watching the enemy blow themselves up at such close range didn’t ease the crew’s anxiety; it only amplified the suffocating sense of impending doom.
This looming threat forced Jason to throw all caution to the wind, committing every last reserve unit to the field.
Immediately, a massive volley of outdated tactical missiles launched from the carrier’s bays. These missiles had been gradually phased out after the military adopted railguns, but today, every scrap of firepower counted.
They weren’t particularly fast, but their thermal-tracking seekers might just get lucky and score a hit. At the very least, they would force the enemy to waste energy on laser point-defense systems.
As this thought crossed his mind, the number of enemy contacts swarming their position spiked. The Deep Space’s AI system immediately detonated a teraton-yield nuclear warhead, executing the same EMP jamming tactic to blind the nearby alien sensors.
Electric sparks danced across the Deep Space’s hull—induced currents generated by the EMP sweeping over their heavy armor plating.
A second later, the Deep Space came face-to-face with its greatest threat yet: a colossal alien spaceship with a diameter of at least four kilometers!
It had successfully dropped out of warp a mere 600,000 kilometers away.
At 600,000 kilometers, a light-speed attack would connect in just two seconds!
The instant the two behemoths registered each other, a torrential storm of lasers filled the void! On the central tactical display, the exchange of fire formed a dense forty-kilometer-wide web of destruction.
After ten hours of burning its engines, the Deep Space had reached a velocity of nearly 40 kilometers per second. Compared to a strike fighter, it was moving at a snail’s pace. At this close range, the massive carrier was immediately battered by a barrage of light-speed attacks.
A cacophony of red alarms shrieked through the bridge. Over a dozen structural damage reports flashed onto the main screen, sending a wave of genuine terror through the crew.
Fortunately, standard laser weapons lacked pure kinetic stopping power, and scaling up their yield was incredibly difficult. The Federation engineers had prepared for this, outfitting the carrier with layers of nitrogen-fixed composite armor.
However, the enemy’s near-light-speed weapon, the "Ion Cannon," was a different beast entirely. When those blasts struck the armor, they didn’t just melt it; they triggered localized nuclear detonations.
Boom! Boom!
Several deafening shockwaves reverberated through the hull.
Still, as long as the main ion thrusters weren’t directly hit, the heavily armored Deep Space wouldn’t suffer immediate catastrophic failure.
"Even if we take a few critical hits, we have redundant systems for everything!" an officer shouted.
When it came to space warfare, massive warships simply boasted unparalleled survivability.