Inside the turret, the deafening roar of cannons was gone, replaced by the sharp hum of energy capacitors charging and discharging, and the hissing roar of the cooling system operating beyond its limits.
The air was thick with the smell of ozone and the scorched odor of overheated metal.
Flickering red alarm lights illuminated faces smeared with grease and sweat.
"Energy output holding at 95%! Cooling pressure critical! Group C emitter overheating warning!"
The operator was a veteran with old scars on his face, his voice hoarse, bloodshot eyes fixed on the energy reading meter and the tactical screen filled with static interference.
The young energy coordinator gritted his teeth, operating the control console frantically, trying to divert more coolant to the overheating emitter group while connecting the backup energy capacitor in parallel to the circuit.
His fingers trembled, his military uniform long soaked through with cold sweat.
Every full-power shot from the turret brought a slight tremor to the entire structure and a sharp spike in internal temperature.
"Whoosh—Hiss!"
A precise, bright blue beam streaked past, and a distant "Griffin" fighter attempting to approach at a bizarre angle exploded mid-air, turning into a fireball.
A few suppressed gasps echoed inside the turret.
But the next second, more "Griffins" attacked like phantoms from different directions and at varying speeds.
Their T5-class engines and advanced jamming modules made it difficult for the laser turret's fire control system to maintain a stable lock.
Even when locked on, the enemy could perform unimaginable evasive maneuvers the moment the laser began charging.
On the screen, the targeting reticle frequently lost its target, energy rapidly depleting with each ineffective shot.
"They're too fast! The jamming is too strong! Energy can't keep up with the consumption!"
The young coordinator shouted in despair, watching the capacitor reading plummet.
"Keep up or not, we must!"
The gun chief roared, lunging toward the manual control console. Relying on experience and intuition, he predicted the enemy aircraft's trajectory and forced a short burst fire.
However, laser weapons rely on a continuous energy supply and precise cooling.
Under such high-intensity, overloaded continuous combat, the "Sharp Eye-12" was nearing its limit.
The cooling fins glowed red, emitting an ominous dark red light.
The main energy capacitor shrieked from overload.
One set of laser emitters, its cooling failed, had its internal crystal array crack with a sharp "pop," billowing thick smoke.
At that moment, a devastating beam of sickly green light shot down from the high-altitude orbit without warning, striking the "Sharp Eye-12" turret's core energy compartment directly!
It was the laser cannons from the flanks of the Griffin fighters.
Terrifying energy capable of instantly vaporizing warship armor melted through the turret's relatively thin top armor without resistance.
The fusion batteries and energy capacitors inside the energy compartment were detonated directly!
There was no massive explosion, only an intensely blinding white light that suddenly expanded, engulfing the entire turret.
High-temperature plasma instantly reduced the metal, crystals, composite materials, and the soldiers who had fought to the last moment into fundamental particles.
As the white light faded, only a twisted, molten, glass-edged gaping hole remained in its place.
The "Sharp Eye-12" vanished without a sound.
And this was merely a microcosm of the tragedy unfolding across hundreds of similar nodes on the Pamir Star orbital defense ring.
Three days later.
In the office of General Wen Tingtao at the Myriad Stones Star Domain Theater Command.
On the broad alloy desk, the red top-secret alert from FCB still seemed to carry a lingering chill.
Now, however, it was buried under a thick stack of new reports, their surfaces almost still glowing with the faint light characteristic of electronic documents.
No, these were not battle reports.
They were obituaries. Death notices for one star system after another falling.
Wen Tingtao sat in his chair, his back still ramrod straight, but his face was terrifyingly dark, like a sky weighed down by ten thousand tons of leaden clouds before a storm.
With each document he picked up, the pressure from his fingertips increased, the veins on the back of his hand standing out slightly.
[Urgent Battle Report: The Blue Moon Star System has fallen entirely. The Centaur Fleet, after securing complete control of the S780 jump point, finished clearing the last pockets of resistance in the system at 0900 Standard Time, the day before yesterday. Our garrison fleet and orbital defense forces... have been annihilated.]
[Urgent Battle Report: The Flowing Light Star System was declared fallen at 0300 Standard Time yesterday morning. The vanguard of the Imperial 'Ares' Sequence Fleet breached our border defense line, with follow-up fleets continuously pouring in through the Blue Moon Star System warp point. Our reinforcement fleet encountered interception and failed to arrive in time.]
[Urgent Battle Report: The main colony planet and key jump points of the Vast Mansion Star System were captured by the Imperial Sequence Fleet, the Erebus Fleet, at 0800 Standard Time this morning.]
[Urgent Battle Report: The Myriad Phenomena Star System... has fallen. The Imperial Fleet is using Myriad Phenomena as a springboard to launch radiating attacks into surrounding star sectors...]
[Ongoing Battle Report: In the Shang Yu Star System, our 'Vault of Heaven' Fleet and the main force of the Imperial 'Pandora' Fleet continue to engage in fierce combat, with the situation deadlocked.
The 'Vault of Heaven' Fleet reports that the enemy offensive is exceptionally fierce, supported by a large number of electronic warfare vessels. Our forces are unable to disengage from the battlefield and cannot provide effective support to other fronts...]
One after another, line by line, the cold text burned into Wen Tingtao's eyes like red-hot branding irons, searing his heart even more.
Too fast.
The Empire's offensive was faster than any contingency plan had anticipated, its ferocity shattering all deployments!
He couldn't comprehend how two Sequence Fleets, over two hundred thousand starships, had warped in within such a short timeframe.
His gaze was fixed on the star chart.
Now, vast swathes of it were covered in the glaring red of the Empire.
First, the 'Centaur' Fleet had traversed that insane nebula region, seizing Pamir Star and the S780 jump point with lightning speed.
That move had been risky, unorthodox, precise! It had directly punched a bloody hole in the soft underbelly of his defensive zone!
Then, using that secured warp point, the Empire's true heavy hammers—the two full Sequence Fleets, 'Erebus' and 'Ares'—had surged in like a bursting dam.
They didn't bother with protracted engagements. With absolute numerical superiority and thunderous speed, they struck directly at Flowing Light, Vast Mansion, and Myriad Phenomena surrounding the Blue Moon Star System!
Seventy-two hours!
In just seventy-two hours, these three border star systems, once relatively stable and mutually supportive, had fallen one after another like straws flattened by a gale!
The Empire precisely severed the main jump lanes connecting these star systems to the Federation's heartland, not only preventing the rapid reinforcement of Federation rear forces but also completely disrupting the original defense chain and force deployment rhythm of the Ten Stone Starfield!
Meanwhile, the "Vault of Heaven" Fleet, which I had placed high hopes on and dispatched to deter and confront "Pandora," was indeed firmly pinned down in the Shang Yu Star System.
It now appears that the "sit-in" by the "Pandora" Fleet at Savannah was nothing but a meticulously designed bait from the start!