Chapter 9: Into the Kuiper Belt: Federation’s Stand

One cruiser, two destroyers and three frigates.

In total, six Federation warships.

Hundreds of electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons thundered, spewing round after round.

Their barrage was meant to intercept the massive projectiles hurtling straight at them.

Meanwhile, the railguns and the cruiser’s four ion cannons launched a full-scale counterattack.

At first, Oriole thought their enemy was only more advanced than humanity in space travel—crossing star systems to invade the Solar System proved that much.

But maybe, just maybe, their military tech wasn’t as formidable as the Federation’s.

After all, their weapons didn’t seem all that strong.

But after a few rounds of exchange, Oriole realized…

Maybe the enemy’s firepower wasn’t overwhelming, but their warship defenses, the outer hull armor—

were unbelievably tough.

Railgun slugs couldn’t punch clean through, and the particle cannons might penetrate the armor, but that was it.

Sure, they left holes, but nothing exploded on the other side.

Oriole even started to wonder if these alien ships had any electronics at all, or anything that could catch fire.

When an ion cannon hit,

it was like driving a pen through a sheet of paper.

It left a hole, sure, but nothing else happened.

It was enough to make you want to bang your head against the console.

Unwilling to give up, Oriole ordered every ion cannon to focus on that warship.

Finally, after five volleys, the Klein warship—riddled with twenty holes—was at last disabled.

But almost at the same moment…

A Federation frigate at the rear of the fleet—

finally couldn’t take it and exploded in a fireball, lost there forever.

Gritting his teeth, Oriole pressed the fleet forward.

“Hold on, everyone! We’re almost through—Ura!!”

“Ura! Ura! Ura!”

At last, two minutes later.

Having lost another frigate, Oriole was down to a cruiser, two frigates, and one destroyer.

He finally led the last four ships into a dense jumble of cosmic debris.

Chucks of ice and shattered asteroids formed a much-needed barrier, and the larger bodies could serve as cover for hiding.

From here on, all they could do was wage a hit-and-run fight, ducking and weaving through the belt.

They didn’t need to win—just hold the enemy here and buy precious time.

Until—

every last one of them fell here!

——

Three hours later.

Out beyond the Kuiper Belt, at the last known position of the Don River destroyer.

A destroyer and a frigate now stood guard at that lonely place.

Their job was to cover recovery, just in case, supporting the search and rescue fleet.

On the destroyer’s bridge, Captain Pavel sat in his chair, glancing every few seconds at the countdown on a floating hologram.

“Only an hour left until the deadline. Still no sign of them?”

“None, Captain—wait, picking up a signal! It’s the research ship Mendeleev Elements!”

“Finally, they made it out.”

Hearing this, Pavel let out a deep breath.

They’d already lost the Don River. Any more disasters would be unbearable.

Fortunately—

But before he could finish his sigh of relief—

The radar officer suddenly shouted.

“Captain! The Mendeleev Elements is broadcasting a distress call! They’re under attack—severe hull damage!”

“What?!”

The entire bridge went silent—stunned.

Under attack?

By whom?

From where?

“Move now! Full speed to rescue, battle stations! Keep the Ural on our right flank—maintain formation!”

“Aye, Captain!”

The Mendeleev Elements was in dire shape.

Her two escort frigates had vanished, and her hull was mangled in several places—even one of the three main engines at the stern was out.

Their propulsion was crippled.

With the gap already small, it only took a moment for both Federation ships to reach the Mendeleev Elements.

Once docked, the crew began to evacuate onto the Ural frigate.

The Novaya Zemlya destroyer took up a guarding position, shielding them from threats on the Kuiper Belt side.

After several minutes, the research ship’s captain, Artyom, connected with Pavel aboard the Ural.

“Artyom, what in the world happened?”

“Pavel, no time! Contact Fleet Command—now! It’s an alien civilization—they’ve invaded the Solar System!”

“What?!”

Pavel’s eyes went wide in shock!

“Don’t just sit there! Hurry up!”

“They’re right behind us—Captain Ivan is trying to hold them off, but he can’t last much longer!”

Seeing Pavel freeze, Artyom shouted at him again.

The bark snapped Pavel out of it.

“Ural, plot a course for Fleet Command—maximum speed! Transmit all reports, now. Novaya Zemlya will cover your retreat.”

“Pavel, you—”

“I’ll hold the line to buy you time. If you don’t want us to die for nothing, get moving!”

Pavel cut the connection with a roar.

“Are you afraid?”

He looked at every officer on the bridge.

“Afraid? In space, Slavs are unbeatable! There’s nothing to fear!”

“Yeah! Just a bunch of little green men like in the old movies—I could take ten, heck, a hundred!”

“Captain, let’s hurry—no need to waste time!”

“Right! We’ve got to make sure our names end up in the textbooks!”

Everyone on the bridge chimed in, the atmosphere defiant.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think they were off for a bit of looting, not a last stand.

A few officers even pulled out bottles of vodka from who-knows-where, passing them around.

In no time, every hand had a glass raised.

They burst out laughing together.

Pavel didn’t even stop them. Instead, he reached beside his chair and pulled out a bottle of his own.

He threw back a heavy swallow.

“That’s right—Slavs are unbeatable in space! Ura!”

“Ura! Ura! Ura!”

——

Half an hour later.

Federation Fleet Headquarters, Moon.

Operations meeting room.

At the head sat an old man in Federation uniform, chest covered in medals, three admiral’s stars shining on his shoulders.

This was none other than Admiral Muhaiwei, Supreme Commander of the Federation Fleet.

The more than a dozen people present were all core senior officers of the Fleet.

The lowest rank here: lieutenant general.

“Gentlemen, a report from the Fourth Fleet—the search and rescue task force that entered the Kuiper Belt to look for the Don River encountered an alien fleet.”

“The Petrov Glory cruiser, along with two destroyers and five frigates, sacrificed themselves to cover the Mendeleev Elements’ escape.”

“The Mendeleev Elements escaped the Kuiper Belt, picked up by the Novaya Zemlya and Ural, with all surviving crew transferred. The Novaya Zemlya provided their cover to break out!”

“As for the Novaya Zemlya…”

“After destroying two enemy ships, she was badly damaged and rammed another, going down with her foe!”

“Now, what you’re about to see is the final video transmission from the Novaya Zemlya…”

“Their last data.”

A moment later, the room filled with a flickering holographic projection…

The images appeared, hanging in the air.