Chapter 60: Standoff in the Asteroid Belt
by xennovel“What? Eighty-seven warships surrounded and about to be wiped out?”
“And the enemy only has fifteen ships? Are you kidding me?”
“Is this some kind of joke?”
“Didn’t I tell them not to act rashly and just wait for my arrival?”
Shivana stared at the message she just received, her mood souring instantly.
“Lady Shivana, what should we do now?”
“What can we do? Even if we rush over there, it’ll take us three and a half days at best. There’s no way we’ll make it in time!”
“That’s nearly ten percent of our forces, Lady Shivana. Can’t you think of something?”
“Hmph. The only way is for them to stay put in the tunnel and not make a move. As long as they remain inside, the enemy can’t do anything to them.”
Shivana snapped, clearly frustrated.
Of course, there was one thing she didn’t say aloud…
If she were the human commander, she’d have a way to wipe them out even if they stayed hidden in the tunnels.
“By the way, have we confirmed the identity of that human fleet? Is it our target?”
“Confirmed. It’s that fleet. Both the insignia on the outer hull and the warship models match perfectly!”
Hearing this, Shivana’s eyes lit up.
“Tell those two idiots to stay put in the passage and absolutely do not try anything fancy!”
“Whoever’s out there isn’t someone those two fools can handle!”
——
Shivana’s words quickly reached the ears of the two trapped commanders.
Furious, they roared inside their respective warships.
“She called us trash to our faces. I say we just storm out of here!”
“I’d rather die fighting than keep taking insults from that woman!”
One of the commanders bellowed.
“Tak, calm down!”
“No, I can’t calm down!”
“Look, if you charge out like this, you’ll be lucky to take even one human ship down.”
“So what?”
“So what? You’ll be remembered forever by the entire clan, but only for your disgrace!”
“I…”
Hearing that, the commander named Tak managed to cool off a little.
Dying in battle was one thing, but dying in disgrace—leaving behind an everlasting stain—was unacceptable.
After all…
If that really happened, his descendants might be demoted to third-class citizens, treated like slaves for generations.
No. That, above all else, had to be avoided.
“Fine. I’ll hold back!”
After a long pause, Tak gritted his teeth and spat out those words.
Meanwhile, somewhere else—
Roughly fifty thousand kilometers away—
Sheltered among the asteroids, over a hundred of the Federation’s asteroid tug ships—known as resource-gathering ships—were hidden here.
But it wasn’t just simple hiding—
Not quite.
Right now, the place felt more like a buzzing construction site.
Dozens of crew members, clad in exosuits equipped with small thrusters and life-support systems, were busy fastening high-tech nano-cables to an asteroid about seven hundred meters in diameter, working in sync with the tug ship machinery.
Not just one, but twelve tug ships worked together in perfect coordination.
“The fleet has trapped the Klein ships. We’re just waiting on you all—hurry up!”
On the bridge of one such tug, Jiang Kai shouted through the comms.
“Major, we’re going as fast as we can!”
“I know, I know! But—”
“Don’t worry. Zhulong just sent word: The Klein fleet is cornered in the passage and doesn’t dare make a move. Even if reinforcements get dispatched, the nearest will take a full day to arrive. We have plenty of time!”
Hearing that, Jiang Kai nodded.
He finally felt a little more at ease.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but admire Lin Yu.
Coming up with a tactic like this—after all, they were facing eighty-seven of Klein’s main warships.
If this succeeded…
He’d return with the kind of merit that meant a guaranteed promotion to Colonel.
That would make him a Colonel at eighteen—just shy of a general’s star.
And with Lin Yu’s abilities, he might really hit Brigadier General before twenty, becoming the youngest general in Federation history.
As for himself, this mission would pay off too.
After all, he was deeply involved in the entire plan, wasn’t he?
As for Chu Wei…
He was just a fool!
Originally, after this mission, Chu Wei could have been up for promotion. But now…
Forget the promotion; who knows if he’ll even keep wearing that uniform.
His family might have influence—especially his grandfather, the former commander of the Third Fleet.
During peacetime, this might have been swept under the rug. But now that it’s wartime…
Defying orders on the battlefield—even his grandfather won’t be able to fix things so easily.
“By the way, what’s Chu Wei up to now?”
“Locked up in the brig. I heard he’s been yelling non-stop, even threatening the guards outside. The man doesn’t have an off switch.”
“Ha! Threaten us? He’s got no leverage left whatsoever!”
Jiang Kai scoffed at this.
Truth was, no one in the resource fleet had ever liked Chu Wei anyway.
——
Time raced by.
The Klein fleet’s remaining eighty-three ships huddled together in a single-file formation, refusing to budge from the narrow passage.
Outside the channel, Lin Yu’s special operations unit kept their blockade, alert and ready for anything.
The moment any Klein ship tried to break out, they’d be hit by a barrage of close-range crossfire and wiped out instantly.
The wreckage of three Klein ships outside served as proof enough.
“Lin Yu, Jiang Kai’s team has finished up. We’re locked on the right course and accelerating. ETA, thirty-seven minutes. We’ll hit 178 kilometers per second on arrival.”
“Good. Last thing—confirm all the detonation devices are armed and operational.”
“Understood!”
George nodded and set things in motion right away.
Those thirty-seven minutes ticked by quickly.
Finally—
The twelve asteroid tugs, under Jiang Kai’s command, emerged in front of the passage entrance, dragging behind them an asteroid more than seven hundred meters wide.
“All tugs, on my mark—cut the nano-cables, all at once!”
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
“Cut!”
In the next instant, every cable was severed at exactly the same time.
Even without the tugs pulling it, the massive asteroid hurtled forward at 178 kilometers per second, aiming squarely for the mouth of the passage.
Not even thirty seconds passed.
It shot straight into the relatively small channel entrance with pinpoint accuracy.
This was the fatal blow.
The Klein fleet inside the passage had no idea disaster was about to strike…
Their doom was barreling right toward them.