Chapter 18: Strike from Nyx’s Shadow

At this moment, Alexei commanded a force of 30 warships.

Among them: 1 battleship, 4 cruisers and 25 destroyers.

Yes, not a single frigate in sight.

Originally, Volkov intended to use this fleet to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

But now, with the main Klein fleet appearing from Pluto’s direction—and the Fourth Fleet battered by a large-scale raiding force—everything had changed.

So Volkov made a different call.

There was no way he’d walk away without taking a chunk out of the enemy.

——

“Admiral, all stats are in!”

“Right now, including our own Petrov Glory Warstar, we have 52 fully operational warships left!”

“Of the remaining ships, 27 have under 70% combat capability but their engines are untouched.”

“Crew transfers are expected to finish in three minutes.”

Hearing the report,

Volkov nodded.

“Once personnel are transferred, order those ships to withdraw to Europa immediately.”

“The rest form up on this ship—get ready for a direct assault on the enemy!”

“While the staff plots our course, keep an eye on threats from Pluto. Make sure when they chase we’ll be out of Nyx’s shadow.”

With a flurry of commands,

the entire Warstar bridge moved with the precision of a finely tuned machine.

In less than a minute,

everything was ready.

“No need to worry about formation—full speed ahead, all ships!”

“Yes, Admiral!”

A beat later, the engines of all 52 ships roared to life.

The assault had begun.

Meanwhile, not far off, shuttlecraft from every warship filled the void, shuttling crew toward the 27 battered ships that had managed to rally and turn.

Right then—whether hunkered down inside a warship or packed into a bustling shuttle—

every soldier watched out the portholes as the 52 ships charged the Klein fleet. In perfect unison, they saluted in true Federation style.

——

Roughly five minutes later.

The Fourth Fleet main force fought back as Klein’s fleet pounded them with corrosive beams. Railguns, ion cannons, missiles—they fired everything they had.

Both sides lost over ten ships in the chaos.

In the end, the two fleets collided, sparking brutal, close-quarters ship duels—the kind rarely seen in interstellar warfare.

From the perspective of a space war, it was an extraordinary sight.

On another front—

The main Klein fleet had swung around the other side, bearing down fast.

They aimed to crush the Fourth Fleet between two pincers, breaking them for good.

But they didn’t spare a single ship to chasing the 27 that were fleeing at top speed.

And just as they passed Pluto’s moon, Nyx…

“It’s time—all ships, move out!”

On the bridge, Alexei swept his right hand down and shouted.

“Yes, Major General!”

“Weapons officer, are the nukes ready?”

“Eight hundred warheads ready to go. Targets are locked, assignments complete, and all strikes will be coordinated from this flagship!”

“Good, stay sharp and await my command!”

“Yes, Major General!”

Thirty warships—

burst out from Nyx’s shadow like a razor-sharp dagger, plunging straight for the heart of the Klein main fleet.

Yes, right for the heart.

That impossibly massive flagship, rivaling the Federation Warstar itself—one look and you just knew it was the Klein flagship.

Volkov gave Alexei just one order.

Do whatever it takes to destroy that ship!

If they tried it the usual way—it would be almost impossible to finish the job quickly.

Even the Federation’s weapons struggled to take out small ships in a single hit.

Simply put, their ships were too damn tough.

So you can imagine what a beast that flagship was.

If it was just railguns and ion beams—even if Alexei had a minute,

they’d probably be fine.

But clearly, they’d never get that whole minute. The moment they opened fire, the enemy would react instantly.

The first volley might do real damage, but after that…

it’d only get harder.

Taking down a full command flagship—let alone a super-battleship—was never going to be easy.

Why nukes, then?

Funny story—it’s an old complaint.

For centuries, humanity’s weapons have changed very little.

Scientists have studied why, of course.

Most say the main reason is just…

The Solar System simply doesn’t have the resources.

It’s not so different from Earth—not every nation has everything. Miss a few materials and a lot of tech just can’t be built.

Even if you work out the theory, if you don’t have the right materials—

well, you can’t actually build the thing.

So the Solar System now is kind of like some resource-poor region on Earth.

You might look like you have lots, but compared to the whole planet it’s not much at all.

Even now, hundreds of years later, humans still rely on nukes.

But everyone knew—nukes might pack a punch on a planet, but in space…

there’s no shockwave, shattered metal is less deadly, and both radius and force are limited.

Out in space, nukes are really just single-target killers, not area-of-effect weapons.

Warships space themselves at least ten to twenty kilometers apart—even in close formation.

So, odds are, a single nuke could almost never take out more than one ship.

But someone once joked:

If nukes don’t work outside a ship, why not just get the nuke inside?

Then—

the problem is solved.

That’s why, these days, when humans design nuclear arms for space warships,

it’s not about blast yield anymore but…

all about special warheads.

The real trick? Make missiles that can punch through enemy armor and get the nuke inside.

That’s been weapons designers’ top problem for the last couple centuries.

So nuclear missiles have become all about—

armor-piercing.

The Federation’s Starcruise IV and Starcruise V missiles, for instance, can pierce 6.9 and 7.5 meters of armor respectively.

And this isn’t some ordinary sheet metal—this is the Federation’s state-of-the-art warship armor.

With that kind of punch—even battleships are vulnerable, unless you’re right behind the main plating. Only a Warstar might stand up to it.

Right now, Alexei’s fleet carried every nuke the Fourth Fleet owned.

That’s right—Volkov handed over the entire Fourth Fleet’s nukes: 600 Starcruise IV tactical missiles and 200 Starcruise V tactical missiles. Over 3,000 warheads in all.

“Weapons officer, launch all nukes!”

They tore into the Klein main fleet, aiming straight for the super-flagship at the heart—striking before the enemy could react.

If Klein realized in time, stacked up their defenses, and threw warships in as shields…

then the chance would be lost.

Timing was everything. Not a moment too soon, not too late.

Now was the only chance!

On the bridge, Alexei bellowed the order.

“Yes, Major General!”