"Boss, report! One of our T2 Ishtar-class heavy interstellar destroyers has been destroyed by that Zero Blizzard! One shot! Just one shot!" A terrified shout echoed through the internal comms channel.
The bearded pirate captain's heart skipped a beat.
One of his T2 Ishtar-class heavy interstellar destroyers was destroyed?
He had to remember that those five T2 starships in his fleet were his lifeblood.
He didn't care much about losing T1 starships; he could always buy more.
But each T2 starship was incredibly expensive.
He had used his pirate fleet's savings accumulated over five years just to buy that one T2 Ishtar-class heavy interstellar destroyer from the black market.
And now, in just a moment, it was gone?
"Don't you dare f*cking joke with me. That's a T2 Ishtar-class heavy interstellar destroyer! How could it possibly be destroyed by a single shot!
If you keep spouting nonsense, I swear I'll cut off your junk and pickle it in wine when we get back!" The bearded pirate captain roared, refusing to believe such a fact.
"Boss, it's true! That enemy Zero Blizzard has a 1200mm caliber cannon, a full 1200mm caliber!
Oh my god, in all my life, I've never seen such a huge cannon!" The pirate captain's voice trembled as he spoke.
A 1200mm caliber cannon?
The bearded pirate captain's heart trembled; he knew his subordinate wouldn't joke with him at a time like this.
"The Bao and Cui families! Those noble bastards, they tricked me!"
He now blamed everything on his employers, the Bao and Cui families. Their intelligence was incomplete—this was no Waste Baron.
"When I get back, if they don't triple my fee, I'll attack their planet and f*ck their wives right in front of them!" The bearded pirate captain cursed.
Unfortunately, he would never get such a chance again.
During the pursuit of that carrier starship, those stellar drones had destroyed several more of his T1 starships.
Especially one type of T2 interstellar unmanned bomber—the power of its bombs was practically equivalent to the main cannon of a T2 starship!
And they specifically targeted one spot, bombing it repeatedly.
Often, three of these T2 interstellar unmanned bombers, combined with attacks from T2 Killer Bee-class medium stellar drones, could easily destroy a T1 starship within minutes.
"Report, we... have lost another T1 Bluebird-class medium interstellar cruiser..." A subordinate cautiously reported.
The bearded pirate captain clenched his fists.
"Report, we have entered weapon range. We can attack that carrier starship now!" A subordinate reported some good news.
The bearded pirate captain immediately ordered: "Fire! Fire! Fire! Tear that damn carrier starship to shreds!"
"Yes!"
The laser main cannon equipped on the T2 Gray Shark-class medium interstellar cruiser locked onto the carrier starship and fired.
Since that carrier starship was moving slowly, it was basically unable to evade this laser.
Just as the interstellar pirates were waiting to see the carrier starship get hit...
The laser struck some kind of light curtain while still some distance away from the carrier starship, exploding and dissipating.
The carrier starship remained unscathed.
The interstellar pirates were dumbfounded.
"What... what's going on?" The bearded pirate Captain grabbed the pirate crew member in charge of the weapon modules, his voice hysterical.
"I... I don't know either," the pirate crew member replied, looking utterly bewildered.
The skinny adjutant uttered two words in disbelief: "Star... star shield..."
Star shield?
The pirate crew members present snapped to attention.
"It's a star shield!"
"That phenomenon just now was indeed a star shield!"
"But how could a T2 carrier starship possibly have a star shield?"
"Could it be... this is a T3 carrier starship?"
Listening to the crew's chatter, the bearded pirate Captain roared, "Shut up!"
Then he turned to the skinny adjutant: "Isn't the star shield a feature only T3 starships have? This carrier starship doesn't look like a T3 carrier starship at all!"
"Judging by the scale and combat capability of the stellar drones it deploys, it's definitely not a T3 carrier starship. But that just now was indeed a star shield!" Sweat trickled down the skinny adjutant's forehead.
The course of this interstellar battle had now exceeded their expectations.
"So what do we do now?" the bearded pirate Captain demanded.
"The star shield can only block attacks from one direction... So if our starships can launch simultaneous assaults from several other directions, the star shield won't be able to block them all in time," the skinny adjutant explained.
The bearded pirate Captain had already bitten through his lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth.
He naturally understood this logic.
But after chasing this far and paying the price of several T1 starships, they had only just managed to catch up to the tail of this carrier starship.
What further cost would they have to bear to execute a simultaneous flanking attack?
"Boss, we have no other choice now. If we retreat, do you think that Baron will let us go?
I've figured it out—that Baron came prepared.
He used his flagship to lure us in, then arranged for an interstellar drone swarm to ambush us.
This is a trap!" the skinny adjutant said.
It was either kill or be killed.
This kind of situation was actually quite common for interstellar pirates.
In the past, they might still have had the will to fight.
But today... with thirty-five starships, they were besieging just two.
So far, they hadn't even scratched the enemy's starship armor, yet they themselves had already lost nearly one-third of their fleet!
It was a massive blow to morale.
"Full-speed assault! No matter what, we must destroy this carrier starship!" the bearded pirate Captain said through gritted teeth.
Having come this far, there was no turning back.
They could only fight to the bloody end.
"Report: The side armor of T1 Bluebird-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser 03 has been attacked. Remaining hull armor strength on the side is 50%."
"Report: T1 Vulture-class Medium Interstellar Frigate 11 has been destroyed. No survivors."
"Report: T1 Vulture-class Medium Interstellar Frigate 19 has been critically damaged. Lost propulsion and is unable to navigate."
"Report: The left-side hull armor of the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate has been blasted open, creating a hole ten meters in diameter. Twenty-three cabins have been sealed off. Thirty-two casualties. The ship's propulsion system is damaged, and speed is continuously decreasing."
This pursuit battle had lasted for over half an hour.
The launch and recovery cycles of the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship's stellar drones had averaged nearly ten times, with losses exceeding 30%.
However, thanks to the excellent interception performance of the T2 Larval Bee-class Light Stellar Drones, the pursuing interstellar pirate starships had been unable to flank the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
The star shield continued to intercept attacks from the rear.
"Our ship is under attack. Star shield remaining energy at 44%." Accompanied by a shimmering ripple across the star shield, a crew member on the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship nervously reported the figure.
In fact, on the holographic projection on the bridge, Zhao Wan'er could see the continuously decreasing star shield energy value.
It had changed from green to yellow and was about to turn from yellow to red.
Despite this, Zhao Wan'er remained expressionless.
"Report! An enemy T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate has broken through the interception of our T2 Larval Bee-class Light Stellar Drones and is approaching our ship's starboard flank.
At the same time, the enemy fleet's flagship, the T2 Gray Shark-class Medium Interstellar Cruiser, continues to fire at our ship from the rear!
If both ships attack simultaneously, our star shield cannot defend against attacks from two directions!" reported the crew member in charge of the star shield.
Zhao Wan'er fell silent for a moment before commanding sharply, "Deploy all stellar drones to attack the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate with full force!
Meanwhile, the star shield will continue to hold against the attacks from the rear!"
Deputy Captain Charlotte looked at Zhao Wan'er's orders; this was the best course of action under the circumstances.
First, deal with the attack from one side. Even if the ship hull might have to withstand a few hits in the end, at least the overall situation would remain unaffected.
"Report, boss! Our ship is now positioned on the target's flank. Ready to open fire!" roared the captain of the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate.
The bearded pirate captain frantically shouted over the communication channel, "Fire! Fire! Blow a damn big hole in that cursed carrier starship!"
"Yes! Preparing to fire!"
But at that moment, something astonishing happened.
A starship charged at incredible speed to the carrier starship's flank, positioning itself between the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate and the T2 Queen Bee-class Heavy Carrier Starship.
Simultaneously, it accelerated head-on toward the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate.
Its massive 1200mm cannon seemed to herald what was about to happen.
The pirate captain of the T2 Ishkur-class Medium Interstellar Frigate trembled in his captain's chair, panicking as he yelled, "Fire now! Fire now!"