Chapter Nine: Smashed?

This was the first real mission for the eleven members of the Young Dragons Squad. Although it was a simple escort assignment and they might not encounter any actual enemies, the chance to independently pilot a B-class frigate for the first time was enough to fill them with excitement.

Liu Shaoyu and his team had been assigned to a B-class frigate. The entire escort fleet consisted of three B-class frigates, forty-two C-class destroyers, and one military officer-class B-level supply ship. The other two captains were veterans with over five years of service.

This kind of escort formation was considered a medium-sized protection squad. Their task was to safeguard a transport ship from the United Interstellar Mining Corporation as it carried a newly bartered shipment of heavy metals back to the Galactic Starship Manufacturing Facility.

The Young Dragons’ B-class frigate was a brand-new model, just entering service. It was 3.7 kilometers long and equipped with two Earth-grade particle beam cannons—dubbed "General Cannons" by the crew, as they were currently the most destructive weapons in Earth’s interstellar fleet. These cannons were classified in five tiers: Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow, and Human, each offering varying levels of firepower. A full-capacitor shot from a Human-grade cannon equaled the force of ten nuclear warheads. Such power, however, came with a lengthy cooldown, so these General Cannons were typically used to pierce hulls after enemy shields had been neutralized or to shatter undercharged energy barriers.

Frigate combat relied more heavily on shipborne drones—the mainstream mode of warfare. Drones required no human pilots and were fully controlled by assigned fire officers. The rank of a fire officer was determined by how many drone swarms they could command simultaneously. Liu Shaoyu held an advanced fire officer certification, allowing him to control ten drone swarms at once, with each swarm comprising 1,000 drones. This frigate carried thirty combat drone swarms and ten logistics swarms, perfectly suited for the Young Dragons’ six fire officers to command. The military officer oversaw logistics and communications. Two more crew members operated the frigate’s gun turrets. The main turret was under the charge of First Mate Li Tao, while Liu Shaoyu himself served as captain.

The Young Dragon, coated in gleaming white metal, resembled two slightly overlapped cones. Its hull had an overall curved design, with rectangular recesses on either side in the middle. Gun turrets were distributed above and below these recesses, with three 360-degree Earth-grade laser cannons mounted at the bow, stern, and underside. The two particle cannons were situated on either side of the hull.

“Young Dragon initiating self-diagnostic.”

“Diagnostics complete. Command transferred to the captain. Please confirm order.”

Following the AI’s voice, Liu Shaoyu swiftly keyed in a numerical code at the captain’s console.

“Voice recognition.”

“Activate,” he replied.

“Confirmed. Command transferred to central control console.”

Seated at the heart of the bridge, Liu Shaoyu’s hands trembled with excitement. For the first time, he was in command of his very own starship. He reached out to caress the control panel.

“Flagship of the escort squadron orders all ships to advance.”

The command came through the console.

“All units, attention. The Young Dragon is commencing Star Navigation Escort Mission HXK31876. Prepare for departure.”

With the command given, each department sprang into action. The military officer moved quickly about the command deck.

“Propulsion systems ready. Capacitors at one hundred percent. Seven percent allocated to thrust.”

“Power authorization complete. Propulsion units ready.”

“Advance,” Liu Shaoyu ordered.

A tongue of fire erupted from the white metallic behemoth’s stern, propelling the ship forward. The fleet, a procession of metallic giants, began moving toward the star gate.

“Orbital parameters set. Switching to intelligent navigation,” the quartermaster confirmed after completing operations.

Although this was their first mission, the procedure was one they’d rehearsed thousands of times. As Liu Shaoyu often remarked, “We’re seasoned hands—piloting a frigate or even a Pangu-class carrier is no trouble.” Of course, only in the simulator…

“Approaching star gate. Shutting down transmission system. Preparing for transit.”

Ten minutes later, the fleet reached the colossal star gate—a vast, black maw that seemed to devour everything nearby. If not for the massive metal constructs regulating it, all matter, even light, would be sucked in. This black hole-like entity was in fact a spatial wormhole, connecting two distant points in the universe. Crossing it took but a moment, delivering ships instantly to the other side. Such gates were fiercely contested military assets. The Earth Federation held absolute control over this one and had relocated the Seventh Fleet’s base to guard it. This gate was the threshold to the Milky Way—a gateway to the battlefield beyond.

A wave of suffocating tension swept the bridge as the fleet began its transit. One by one, the ships vanished from one coordinate, appearing at another.

Suddenly, alarms blared.

“Warning: Attack detected,” intoned the AI.

“Damn it,” Liu Shaoyu cursed inwardly. So soon—barely through the gate and already under attack. But his training snapped him to attention.

“Raise energy shields. Begin charging thrusters. Stand by. Deploy all drone swarms to port and starboard. Military officer, launch reconnaissance drones and establish live visuals.”

Calm and efficient, Liu Shaoyu issued orders as the bridge erupted in activity.

Within three seconds, the dark main screen flickered to life, displaying a holographic projection of the real-time feed from the reconnaissance drones. Liu Shaoyu quickly located their position.

“It’s a group of space pirates attacking the gate. We were just caught in the crossfire,” the first mate reported.

Spatial fluctuations rippled as the transport fleet materialized in the void.

“Bridge orders: Hold position, keep shields up, and observe,” Liu Shaoyu relayed, a touch of frustration in his voice. He’d hoped the pirates would serve as good target practice for his crew, but the bridge had ordered restraint. Still, it was best not to stir up trouble during an escort mission.

“All hands, maintain alert status. Defensive systems on standby.”

However, Liu Shaoyu did not order a full withdrawal; instead, all departments were to stand by with capacitors charged.

The pirates unleashed a barrage toward the star gate, but the fleet’s raised energy shields absorbed the onslaught, albeit at the cost of continuous energy consumption.

Suddenly, a massive black warship appeared not far from the gate, its battered hull still aflame in places—a clear sign of recent battle. Its arrival revealed the pirates’ true intention: to draw fire as a diversion.

Liu Shaoyu froze. That infamous warship was the flagship of the third detachment of a notorious pirate group prowling three star systems. Now, mysteriously alone and battered, it appeared the pirates weren't seeking suicide but had just fled from elsewhere. Star gates under military control forbade pirate use; those attempting passage were met with lethal force.

It was clear the black warship had suffered heavy damage during its attempted passage—damage beyond what the gate’s defenses alone could inflict. Evidently, it had just survived a major engagement, one capable of reducing even a Pangu-class carrier to such a sorry state, and had abandoned its escort in its flight.

There was no time to ponder further.

“Deploy all drones! Block their escape—don’t let them jump!”

Without waiting for bridge authorization, Liu Shaoyu issued the attack order. If the pirates initiated a jump, they would never catch them.

“Reporting to flagship: Young Dragon has engaged the enemy, requesting support.” Liu Shaoyu transmitted the message with a hint of “act first, report later,” knowing the Federation fleet would never let such a notorious pirate flagship slip away. These pirates had tormented the fleet with hit-and-run tactics, striking and vanishing before a counterattack could be mounted.

Their persistent harassment had inflicted losses on the Federation and disrupted commerce among the various factions. Masterful at escape, the pirates had perfected the art of “strike and flee.”

As expected, the moment Young Dragon’s drones launched, the other frigates’ drones surged toward the pirate carrier as well. Liu Shaoyu flushed, realizing his impulsiveness—he was still too young.

“Permission granted to engage. Target: prevent enemy flagship’s jump. Two carrier battle groups are en route to assist,” came the flagship’s swift reply.

Two carrier battle groups—this time, the pirates were likely to lose a carrier here, Liu Shaoyu thought. Not that they couldn’t put up a fight, but the Seventh Fleet was fed up with these marauders. With the front lines in battle, they couldn’t tolerate chaos in the rear.

With the escort mission now interrupted, they had no choice but to focus fully on the fight. Their medium-sized frigate formation could do little more than harass the enemy carrier, venting their frustration on the enemy drones and broadcasting interference to prevent the pirate carrier’s jump. Everything now hinged on the arrival of the carrier groups.

“He’s running!” the first mate suddenly shouted.

A pirate strategic cruiser detached itself from the mothership—a clear sign the carrier had given up and was attempting to escape. The cruiser had been modified, half its structure now thrusters—a ship built for flight.

“Pursue!” Liu Shaoyu ordered.

“Adjusting jump data, synchronizing trajectory, ready for jump,” a chorus of AI voices confirmed. The ship’s monitoring system was intercepting the enemy’s jump data, enabling them to pursue with only a minor deviation in arrival point.

With a spatial ripple, both ships vanished from the battlefield, jumping to another sector.

With their disappearance, the escort mission was well and truly botched.

For reasons unknown, the author area was inaccessible today, so this update is a little late.