Chapter 57: Iron Fang Attacks (Part I)

56. Iron Fang Strikes (I)

The Kushan Mothership stood 41,370 meters tall.

Even a vessel of this magnitude could not approach a planet too closely; otherwise, its massive gravity would trigger violent tidal reactions—such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

Under the light of the star, the crescent-shaped hull of the mothership shimmered with dazzling glints of light, exuding a sense of profound beauty. Whoever had constructed this giant vessel—capable of shaping over 370 billion tons of material into such a precise and magnificent form—could truly be called a master of a bygone era.

"...Boss... are we really going to attack this mothership?" The first mate swallowed hard, his body trembling slightly.

"This ship... it's too big... we can't even budge it a fraction!" The navigator's mouth hung open, nearly unable to close.

Kuken slapped the navigator on the head and roared, "Is your head filled with Bansa shit? This is a civilian ship! You can tell just by looking at its silhouette—it has almost no armament! We'll just take out their fighters, blast them a few times, and they'll fold! Attack now!"

"Right away!" the operator responded loudly, pressing the button. From the torpedo launchers retrofitted onto the Hammer-class cruiser, two proton torpedoes ignited instantly and streaked toward the mothership.

"Who told you to fire torpedoes! Do you have any idea how much those cost?" Kuken roared again. "Just charge straight in and use the main cannons!"

The Hammer-class cruiser began to accelerate directly toward the mothership. Ahead of the cruiser, two points of light were also gaining speed—the previously launched proton torpedoes. Facing the massive bulk of the mothership, the fire-control radar locked on with ease.

The two proton torpedoes accelerated rapidly before slamming directly into the mothership! Two devastating pale-blue clouds of proton energy exploded dozens of meters from the hull, sending ripples of energy cascading outward. The attack was completely absorbed by the energy shields.

This strike seemed to awaken the behemoth. The mothership began to turn, its engine nozzles glowing with a brilliant blue light. Massive thrust pushed the mothership out of the Dawn Star's synchronous orbit, heading straight toward the Hammer-class cruiser.

"Boss! It's coming at us!" The first mate grew panicked.

"What are you afraid of! Let them come! Open fire as soon as they enter engagement range!" Kuken bellowed.

As the mothership and the *Iron Fang* drew closer, neither side launched fighters. After adjusting its position, the mothership opened fire. Five mass drivers mounted in the center of its hull accelerated heavy projectiles to speeds exceeding 50,000 meters per second via electromagnetic acceleration! Unlike in an atmosphere, this velocity would be maintained in the vacuum, flying indefinitely until they struck something.

However, none of the mothership's salvos hit the target. At a distance of several thousand kilometers, even at such high speeds, the projectiles would take over ten minutes to arrive—plenty of time for the cruiser to evade.

"Hahahaha! They actually dare to resist! Are they tired of living?" Instead of being intimidated, Kuken grew more excited. He could see that the mothership's firepower posed no real threat to them. "Prepare to evade! All the weapons on this big ship are on its front; as long as we avoid the frontal arc, it can't hit us!"

At Kuken's command, the first mate immediately calculated a trajectory on the computer and shouted to the crew, "Calculate the enemy's ballistic path! Port fifteen!!"

"Aye! Port fifteen!"

The *Iron Fang* cruiser immediately began to turn, utilizing its superior speed and agility to circle around and dodge the mothership's attacks. Compared to the gargantuan volume of the Kushan mothership, even the somewhat clumsy Hammer-class cruiser moved as nimbly as a sprite.

The evasive maneuver seemed to work. The mothership's acceleration was slow, and its turning speed was even slower; it simply could not keep up with the *Iron Fang's* movements, even though the cruiser wasn't exactly known for its maneuverability.

Yet, the mothership seemed hell-bent on chasing the *Iron Fang*, continuing to advance and turn, which prevented its speed from ever increasing. It followed the *Iron Fang* in erratic circles like a headless fly. It was a scene akin to an elephant playing hide-and-seek with a mouse.

Seeing this, Kuken burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!! Do you see that?! It's just a useless civilian ship! They're even trying to ram us! Hahahaha!!"

The other pirates nearby joined in the laughter. To them, the mothership's performance looked like a final, desperate struggle. It seemed certain that this mothership possessed massive volume without the matching defensive power! If that were the case, they truly had a chance to seize the vessel for themselves!

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and the mothership did nothing but circle. When they were 5,000 kilometers away, Kuken screamed, spraying saliva everywhere, "All turrets! Fire!!"

Simultaneously, the Hammer-class cruiser's forward main armament—two medium-sized turbo-laser cannons—fired instantly, sending two brilliant beams of light into the mothership. The four secondary turrets, small twin-linked turbo-laser mounts, also began continuous fire, unleashing a barrage of plasma laser beams filled with blast gas.

The mothership's movement did not cease for a moment. All the laser strikes were blocked by the shields, failing to damage the hull itself.

"Hahahaha!! Keep firing!! Open the public channel for me!!" Kuken ordered with a laugh.

Once the channel was connected, he roared, "Listen up, you big hunk of junk! Your master is Iron Fang-Kuken!! This place is my territory!! You think you can just barge into my territory to build a colony? Are you tired of living?! If you know what's good for you, drop your shields and surrender immediately, then pay me my taxes! Otherwise, once I break through your shields, I'll make sure your ship and crew are destroyed!!"

However, no matter how much Iron Fang-Kuken blustered, there was no response from the mothership; it continued its stubborn, circling path.

Kuken felt insulted; he had never been ignored like this! He slammed the table and bellowed, "All fighters, launch! Maximize main cannon energy! Fire the proton torpedoes!! Hit them!!!"

"Boss... didn't you just say proton torpedoes are money..."

"Shut up!! Once we take this big ship, we'll have everything we need!! Fire! Launch every single proton torpedo we have!!" Kuken roared.

The *Iron Fang* cruiser went all out. All turbo-lasers fired at maximum power, and over a dozen proton torpedoes were launched in rapid succession, exploding against the mothership's shields.

The cruiser's hangar doors slid open, and twelve Aurek-class fighters stood ready. One by one, they launched from the hangar platforms, swarming toward the target like a cloud of hornets!

(End of Chapter)