Chapter 54: Winds of War Between the Federation and the Klein

The Battle of Jupiter sharply closed the gap between the opposing fleets.

What was once over 700 warships against more than 2,800 instantly became just over 600 facing a little over 1,000.

The numerical disadvantage, which had been four-to-one, was painfully squeezed down to just one and a half times.

Of course, this refers only to mainline warships. For example, after the battle, the Solar System Defense Command still had around a thousand ships left.

But—

It doesn’t really matter.

Because if those thousand ships went up against one Klein warship…

They wouldn’t stand a chance. Even a thousand to one couldn’t guarantee a win.

Their weapons just can’t break through Klein defenses, unless maybe they rammed straight into them.

But now that the numbers are closer and the standoff is holding along the Asteroid Belt, the Federation is free to focus on other priorities.

One such project? Upgrading the patrol warships of the Solar System Defense Command.

After all, once you strip off the armor and the weapons—

These ships weren’t so bad. In fact, many of them were once Federation warships, now retired and converted by removing their heavy armor and arms.

Sure, they can’t match modern frontline ships.

But toss on some basic weapons, just enough firepower, and they’re combat-worthy again. That’s not such a tall order.

Even if each ship only mounts a few railguns, line up over a thousand of them and let loose, and you’ll still see real results.

The key is—

This kind of retrofit saves both time and effort, right?

With the Federation’s current production capabilities, ship-grade railguns are no sweat—

Rolling out several hundred sets a day wouldn’t even be a challenge.

So, it’s not just these patrol ships. The Federation Fleet is even planning to requisition another ten thousand civilian spacecraft over the next two years.

The small ones? Just mount one railgun.

The bigger ones? Fit them with a few more.

No need to throw these ships onto the front lines anyway.

They can just hang back—hundreds of thousands, even millions of kilometers away—pounding out waves of railgun fire from a distance.

In short, the Federation’s two-year goal is clear: 800 mainline warships, 1,000 armed patrol ships, and a fleet of retrofitted gunboats.

Of course, all of this depends on one thing—

Whether the Federation Fleet can keep the Klein bottled up beyond the Asteroid Belt for at least two more years.

And whether they’re strong enough to protect collection fleets entering the Belt, hauling resources back without being picked off.

Otherwise, no matter how solid the plan is, without resources, it’s all just talk.

——

Mars orbit.

Half a year has passed since the Battle of Jupiter.

Aside from the Fifth Fleet’s temporary base here, three of the four giant civilian spaceports have also been requisitioned by the Federation as emergency fleet stations.

They now serve as temporary homes for other fleets.

During this time, the main fight between both sides shifted from seizing planets—

To fighting over resources.

Humanity needs time to recover. The Klein do too.

Jupiter wounded them deep—it wasn’t just a scratch.

So now, the Klein need to rebuild their warships.

Equipment? Their colonization fleet has plenty.

Expertise and labor? They’ve got that too.

As for the primary material used in Klein ship hulls…

They can get it right here.

For the Klein, the Asteroid Belt is basically the best possible source for warship hulls.

So it wasn’t just the Federation; even the Klein have been sending in fleets to the Asteroid Belt to claim whatever they need.

Naturally, after three months, skirmishes between the two have piled up—

Far too many to count.

Sometimes their collection fleets even run straight into each other head-on.

So, while there hasn’t been another all-out war since Jupiter,

Small-scale battles break out constantly.

Right now, the Fifth Fleet’s special operations unit—the Fourth—has wrapped up its repairs and left port, forming up in space.

Not far away, a convoy of over a hundred resource collection ships assembles. This time, the Fourth Special Operations Unit is escorting them.

To be clear, collection ships aren’t what most people imagine.

They’re more like celestial tow ships than anything else.

Their job is to dive into the Asteroid Belt, use onboard scanners to survey celestial bodies, and hunt for the right resources.

Maybe searching for an asteroid rich in iron, or—

Chasing down one loaded with copper.

And so on—whatever materials they need.

Once they’ve found the target, they use reinforced cables to latch on and haul it home.

How those minerals get processed later isn’t their problem.

Of course, if an asteroid is too big, they’re out of luck.

In those cases, they’ll drill, plant explosives, and blast it apart first. Then drag the chunks back separately.

“Captain on the bridge!”

As Luo Lan stepped onto the bridge, George stood up from the captain’s chair and announced loudly.

Lin Yu walked up to the captain’s chair and sat down.

“Are we ready?”

“All set. We can depart whenever you say!”

“Tell the collection fleet to follow behind us, on course C7.”

“Understood!”

George nodded and went about his duties.

They’d done missions like this four times over the past three months.

Lin Yu’s special operations unit is still the only escort fleet to have completed each run with zero losses—

No collection ships lost, and not a single warship lost either.

But that’s not even the most impressive part.

In their four escort missions, the special operations unit destroyed a total of fifteen Klein warships.

Considering that the Klein have lost just twenty-five ships in the past three months—it’s a hefty chunk.

In other words, Lin Yu’s team is responsible for more than half the Klein’s losses.

Of course, the Zhulong’s blazing firepower at close range, and the exceptional performance of the 101st Mech Regiment, played a big part.

Don’t let the fact that they only have a little over a hundred Bai Ze mechs fool you—their combined power easily rivals a thousand fighters.

These stellar results convinced Federation brass.

They’re ready to pour in more resources and ramp up production of the Bai Ze mechs.

——

Meanwhile—

On the far side of the Asteroid Belt.

“Shivana, your job is simple—”

“Find that human squad for me. Then wipe them out!”

Tumelo sat in his throne as, below, a Klein woman stood at attention.

It was a rare sight; Klein women are born much weaker than the men—by a long shot.

That’s just biology, and there’s no changing it.

Which is why you never find female warriors among the Klein.

But Shivana is the one exception—because—

She’s Tumelo’s daughter.

Her body still can’t match the strength of the men, but when it comes to fleet tactics, even Omar and Alum have had to step aside.

Tumelo has always said that if Shivana had been born male, she’d be the greatest Klein commander in history.

But fate had other ideas…

Originally, Shivana would never have made it to command.

No matter how talented, Klein tradition isn’t so easy to overturn.

But now, everything’s changed.

Omar was killed in action at Jupiter.

Alum apologized to Tumelo after the war and ended it all himself.

With their only two senior commanders gone,

Tumelo had no choice but to promote several young officers.

Among them—his own daughter, Shivana.

Still, Tumelo gave her a test. If she succeeds, she’ll become the first high-ranking female commander in Klein history.

But if she fails—

Then…

She goes back to having children.

Such talent can’t be wasted.

Pass it on to the next generation—let her child take her place as the Klein’s great commander.

So, for Shivana, this mission—

It means everything.