Every ounce of energy on the warship was frantically channeled into the combined shield facing the incoming attack, while the thick, multi-layered armor plates were adjusted to their optimal angles.
A pale white beam of light slammed violently into the renowned super shield of the "Steel Plate," a shield famously claimed to withstand continuous bombardment from a battleship's main cannons!
Blinding light erupted as the collision of two extreme energies triggered small-scale space-time ripples.
The shield flickered wildly, its energy readings plummeting in a straight line.
It held for only one second.
Before the "Kunlun Mountain - Modified" and its extraordinary, beyond-conventional T5-class strategic main cannon, the "Steel Plate's" proud defenses were like butter meeting a hot knife.
The shield generator shattered into fragments with an overloaded shriek. The pale torrent of particles, unstoppable in its momentum, struck the "Steel Plate's" thick frontal armor head-on!
Armor capable of withstanding ordinary heavy plasma cannons now visibly melted and vaporized.
The beam, like a red-hot iron rod piercing ice, advanced relentlessly inward, penetrating layer after layer of armored compartments, annihilating all matter in its path.
From the point of impact on the front to the opposite side of the hull, it melted a terrifying, meter-wide channel with mirror-smooth edges straight through the ship!
The "Steel Plate's" massive frame shuddered violently. All lights instantly went out, and its engine glow dimmed.
It was not blown to pieces, but the penetrating trauma utterly destroyed its core power and command systems. This leviathan, renowned for defense, instantly became a steel coffin floating in space, its interior still racked by small-scale secondary explosions.
And that lethal particle beam, after piercing through the "Steel Plate," still retained enough force to emerge from the other side, punching clean through two destroyers in the rear that failed to evade in time, before finally dissipating into the void.
With just a single shot.
The flagship of the "Bastion" fleet was crippled, a bloody gap torn open in their flank's defensive line, and multiple escort ships destroyed.
The Iron Curtain Fleet's vaunted, solid defense appeared so fragile in the face of an absolute disparity in firepower.
The Pluto Right Flank Fleet, having seized the advantageous "vertical T" position, naturally would not let this perfect opportunity slip.
All their ships' main cannons, already fully charged, opened fire in unison!
A dense storm of high-energy beams, plasma bolts, and kinetic projectiles poured into the "Bastion" fleet's flank, now thrown into chaos by the loss of their flagship and the breach in their formation!
The situation for the left wing's "Fortress" fleet was slightly better, but they were also being pressured and entangled by the Pluto Left Flank Fleet using similar tactical maneuvers, unable to effectively support the right wing.
While the "Kunlun Mountain - Modified's" main cannon tore open the defensive line and the Pluto main fleet's volley fire expanded the gains, another, even deadlier dagger had already been drawn.
Over thirty Federation "Shadow Moon"-class high-speed destroyers, like ghosts detaching from the fleet, suddenly accelerated and surged forward from behind the flanks of the Pluto fleets!
Their hulls were sleek and streamlined, their engine nozzles erupting with azure flames far exceeding what their size should allow.
Their speed was so great that they left afterimages on the sensors.
The design philosophy of the Shadow Moon Class stands in stark contrast to the Iron Curtain's emphasis on heavy armor.
It prioritizes extreme speed and lethal close-range burst damage.
They stripped away nearly all non-essential armor, reallocating the saved mass entirely to the propulsion system and a specialized weapon system.
The "Kingslayer" Resonance Torpedo Tubes.
The "Kingslayer" torpedo, infamous for its terrifying effects, is dubbed the "Starship Destroyer."
It doesn't rely on brute force to penetrate shields directly. Instead, its unique warhead, upon nearing the target, releases a highly-tuned, strong electromagnetic pulse. This pulse induces a lethal resonance with the target starship's shield generator frequency, capable of drastically weakening or even partially disabling the shield in an extremely short time.
This creates a window for subsequent penetrating attacks.
However, these torpedoes have a relatively short range and require stable guidance, forcing the launch platform to approach dangerously close distances.
At this moment, the formation of the Iron Curtain Fleet's "Bastion" detachment, due to the destruction of their flagship and the attack on their flank, had developed localized chaos and firepower gaps.
This fleeting vulnerability was precisely the opportunity the Shadow Moon-Class Destroyers were waiting for!
"High-speed destroyer group detected breaking through! It's the Shadow Moon-Class Destroyers! They are carrying 'Kingslayers'!"
The voice of the Iron Curtain Fleet's sensor officer was tinged with panic.
On the bridge, Isabella Marlow felt a chill run down her spine the moment she saw those slender, speeding hulls racing towards them. She had witnessed the terrifying results these warships could achieve on other fronts.
A single "Shadow Moon" closing to effective range, with just a few "Kingslayers," had once caused the shields of an Imperial T4-class Cruiser to fail, leading to its subsequent easy destruction.
"All available firepower, prioritize intercepting those destroyers! They must not be allowed to break through!"
Isabella's command was sharp, her voice losing its usual icy calm, carrying a note of urgency.
The remaining firepower of the Iron Curtain Fleet immediately shifted focus. Point Defense Cannons created a dense curtain of fire, while Laser Point Defense Systems shot searing beams, attempting to weave an interception net.
Yet, the Shadow Moon-Class Destroyers were not only fast but also not entirely unprotected. They were equipped with small deflection shields focused on defending against kinetic projectiles and low-energy beams.
The hail of close-in firepower struck their shields, sending ripples across their surfaces, but struggled to breach them quickly. Only direct hits from starship main cannons posed a real threat.
"For Pluto! For victory! Charge!"
On the bridge of one Shadow Moon-class destroyer, a young captain, his face a mix of fanaticism and grim resolve, broadcasted to the entire ship. His vessel performed dizzying zigzag maneuvers, evading the thick beams of main cannon fire.
Outside the viewport, another friendly ship was struck by a precise plasma cannon shot. The moment its small shield overloaded, the hull was torn apart by the ensuing artillery bombardment, transforming into a ball of silently exploding flame, its wreckage mingling with ice crystals as it scattered.
But this did not deter the survivors.
"Maintain formation! Launch jamming flares! Draw their fire!" roared the captain of another "Shadow Moon," his ship releasing a cloud of decoy flares to create opportunities for the ships behind him.
Constantly, "Shadow Moons" were struck by main cannon fire during their charge. Some disintegrated mid-flight; others had their engines destroyed, becoming helpless targets before being blasted to fragments by subsequent fire.
Yet, the momentum of their charge never ceased. Like moths flying into a net of flame, they used their own sacrifices to buy progress for the whole.
Finally, over fifteen "Shadow Moon"-class vessels, relying on their speed and sacrifice, brazenly broke through to the critical distance of three hundred thousand kilometers on the flank of the Iron Curtain Fleet!
"Fire!"
The captains of each ship gave the order almost simultaneously.
Sleek, pitch-black "Kingslayer" torpedoes slid silently out of the rotating launch tubes of the "Shadow Moon"-class ships.
Their initial velocity was not particularly fast, resembling arrowfish in the deep sea—silent yet lethally homing in on their locked targets.
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