Adrian turned and checked on the Sowir main force that was now moving at full speed towards his ships, the clock read another six minutes until they get in range. Adrian adjusted his orders.
The fire between the Empire and Sowir intensified as nine ships from the Empire’s side increased their rate of fire. Suddenly the Valhalla opened up with its particle beams and they started hitting the Sowir ships with deadly precision, destroying ships in a single shot. Laser fire several times more powerful than that of the Empire’s battleships reached out and burned the Sowir ships without stopping for the cooling periods, melting through the Sowir ships cutting them in half.
Invictus and Ras’tar launched missiles, two hundred each. The most advanced missile that the Empire ever produced sped towards the Sowir at amazing speeds, closing the distance in a short time. The Sowir defensive net attempted to take them down, but the missiles evading protocols were far more advanced and the missiles were equipped with the field defense technology. They couldn’t keep the field up for long, only a couple of seconds. But that was enough to get them through the defending laser fire.
Four hundred Enforcer MK 1 missiles smashed into eighty Sowir ships, five missiles per ship. The eighty Sowir ships disappeared in a flash of fire, their debris flying out in every direction, hitting and damaging nearby ships.
In fifteen minutes Sowir had lost one hundred and forty four ships while he lost nineteen of his battleships. On the Nelus side the Sowir had lost another sixty three ships while Nelus fleet losses raised up to eighty nine, their ships just couldn’t stand up to their enemy’s. With only four more minutes until the Sowir main force arrives, Adrian pushed one of his formations in front to screen the other as he positioned it to wait for the main force. He raised the formation his ship was in above the two others, allowing it to fire at both Sowir forces while the wall formations in front still provided defensive and covering fire.
Adrian was tempted to fire more of the Vanguard fleet’s missiles, but he knew that he would need them when the main force arrives. He checked to see the main force’s progress and saw that they had entered the range of his battleships. He sent out orders, keeping in mind the timing, he needed to get this just right.
Out in the darkness of space a shape moved quickly out of the path of the incoming Sowir force. The Vanguard ship Specter sped towards the point above the Sowir fleet. Specter was the fastest ship in the Vanguard fleet, and by default the fastest ship in the Empire. In record time it arrived its vantage point and then settled in to observe its work.
Behind it the Specter had left a gift for the Sowir fleet. And the Sowir fleet was heading right in the middle of it.
The Sowir main force of one thousand and two hundred warships followed by two hundred support ships advanced on the Empire’s force, unsuspecting of the danger on their path. The greatest mistake that the Sowir made was to take a direct path to the Empire’s ships.
The Empire’s task force two had adjusted its position to meet the oncoming Sowir force, and as soon as they entered their missile range they fired. One hundred and fifty battleships fired all of their remaining missiles, with the three Vanguard ships in their task force adding fifty of their more advanced missiles each. Twenty two thousand six hundred and fifty missiles rushed at the Sowir main force in two waves of eleven thousand. The Sowir ships immediately linked their point defense computers, their net started taking down the missiles at an alarming rate. But then their force’s movement brought them close enough to the area that the Specter had left just a few minutes before.
In seven positions around the Sowir fleet’s direct course Specter had laid mines. Although they weren’t really mines, more like missiles that floated around in space until the small guiding drone detected enemy ships nearby. The missiles weren’t in the Sowir fleet’s direct path, but just off it, close enough to be effective, but out of the way of their visual sensors which were probably focused on the Empire’s fleet and now on the missiles speeding towards them. The seven drones sent out signals to their respective groups of missiles and their targeting computers turned on, found a target, and fired their drives.
The missiles were close enough that Sowir ships had no hope of reacting in time, especially when their net was preoccupied with the missiles coming from the Empire’s ships. Each of the seven groups had 200 missiles, 1400 missiles total. The missiles came at the Sowir force from seven different directions from almost point blank range, targeting closest ships.
But even with the element of surprise and their superior speed, the missiles encountered defensive fire. The Sowir new defense system proved much more formidable, the defensive fire took down half of the missiles. But the other 700 found their marks destroying ninety four Sowir ships and crippling thirteen. The first wave of the missiles from the task force two was almost destroyed, but the trap sprung by Specter allowed some to make it through destroying another seventeen ships.
Immediately after the first wave passed the Sowir tightened their formation, filling in the holes made by the destroyed ships. And their defensive fire focused on the second wave. Again the missiles started disappearing quickly, but the second wave had 150 of missiles from Vanguard ships. While Sowir net was taking down the regular missiles those 150 reached the inner envelope of the Sowir defenses and with their field defenses they passed through, destroying another seventy three Sowir ships.
Adrian watched as the Sowir ships took down most of the missiles speeding towards them, but even with their new defense system they couldn’t take them all down. Although if there wasn’t for Specter’s mines they might have been able to so. Their advantage in numbers was negating Adrian’s missiles. If their numbers were equal he could have taken at least half of them with the same amount of missiles.
He checked the holo, the Sowir main force had lost one hundred and eighty four ships, but all of them were light and heavy cruisers. Their battleships was in the second line, and behind them followed one hundred and ten much bigger ships, the Sowir new class that was inspired by the Empire’s dreadnoughts. He didn’t know their capabilities, although scans indicated that their weapons had about 20% more power. He glanced back to the force between his and Nelus ships. Task force zero and one were still pounding the Sowir ships while the Nelus ships did the same from the other side. The force of eight hundred ships was now reduced to five hundred and eighty three ships. Nelus ships had lost more ships than the Sowir force they had engaged and now they had about two hundred and eighty ships left.
With the arrival of the main force, Adrian needed to reposition his fleet. He instructed task force two to be rear guard as his ships slowly moved around the smaller Sowir force to join the Nelus ships. That would allow the two Sowir forces to meet up as well, but there was nothing he could do about that. If his ships remained where they were he would get squashed between two forces larger than his own. His ships were faster than the Sowir so it would be easy for him to change positions if the Nelus ships screened their movement. He was just about to send a message to the defenders when he was interrupted.
“Adrian look!” Iris exclaimed in his head, and he immediately focused on the holo.
“What the hell are they doing?!” Adrian asked angrily. On the holo he could see that Nelus ships were moving back behind towards their defense stations, and the Sowir were letting them. The Sowir force now no longer tied up was moving on task force two.
Immediately Adrian realized what was going to happen. No matter how advanced his ships were they wouldn’t stand a chance against a force that was ten times greater. Frantically Adrian started issuing orders to his ships. Task force zero and one had already moved away from the task force two as it stayed behind to screen his ships movement, it would take time for his ships to turn back and aid task force two. His ships will arrive after the two Sowir forces meet up and attack the task force.