An electron cloud is a tool for long-range signal isolation, typically used to blockade a star city or a planet.
At most, blockading an entire star system was the limit.
An electron cloud is composed of individual centimeter-sized cube-shaped signal jamming devices, usually spaced about a meter apart.
Blockading a single star city requires over 10 quadrillion jamming units.
How many would be needed for a star system?
Even if you only blockaded an area 100 AU in diameter, you'd still need at least 2.2 octillion units.
To cover an area with a maximum diameter of 100 light-years required a number so astronomical that Giotto couldn't even fathom it. Even if each unit weighed only 10 grams, the massive electron cloud they were seeing would be equivalent to the combined mass of dozens of stars.
"It was finished in just a few decades. How?"
Giotto pondered.
He ordered the fleet to begin a flanking maneuver.
Deceleration was out of the question; they could only orbit the exterior of the electron cloud.
Roughly seven years later.
The probes reached the electron cloud.
It was, as expected, a conventional electron cloud. It wasn't aggressive; even a probe could easily smash through the tiny devices.
Its jamming relied entirely on its sheer density.
An electron cloud can even disrupt tachyon communications.
The difference between low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier star nations isn't just a matter of scale; it's a matter of technological advancement.
High-tier star nations possess technology levels approaching that of the Federation, reaching Type 2.4. Low-tier and mid-tier nations generally hover around Type 2.3.
Jamming tachyon communications isn't actually a high-end technique. tachyon communication was the first trans-dimensional technology achieved by human civilization.
It works by influencing particles from a more microscopic world to move through higher dimensions. These particles exist in spaces with at least ten dimensions. The theoretical basis for tachyon communication is a spatial theory.
Whether it's low or high dimensions, everything exists within the same space, just in a state of superposition.
The single-space theory explains how tachyons can be emitted and subsequently captured, and it gave rise to tachyon interception technology. Through constant development, the maturity of this interception technology eventually surpassed that of tachyon communication itself.
Intercepting tachyons doesn't require decoding the actual information, so it's relatively simple.
An electron cloud uses technology similar to tachyon communication devices to disrupt high-dimensional spatial particles, intercepting the information-carrying tachyons and achieving the jamming effect.
This technology is frequently used even within the Federation.
It's a highly practical tool that doesn't require cutting-edge tech to build.
Naturally, its most widespread use is on the battlefield.
The probes lost contact the moment they entered the electron cloud.
But that was fine.
A probe wouldn't stay inside the cloud for long.
Once inside, it would begin recording video and capturing images. Each probe had a different operational duration; to ensure data retrieval, the shortest mission was only ten minutes long.
...
Ten minutes later.
The probe emerged from the electron cloud.
This was one of the electron cloud's drawbacks.
But on an actual battlefield, the information these probes carry back is extremely limited.
Because they are mostly used against star cities and planets, there are other interception methods for probes entering from the outside or exiting from within. Usually, in a conflict where an electron cloud is deployed, the power gap is so large that the war is resolved within 20 years.
It's essentially a standard auxiliary tool for war; Giotto had never heard of it being scaled up to such an immense size.
Six years later, the data was transmitted back.
Giotto held a meeting with the other high-ranking fleet officers.
This was something he had learned from Luna: hold as many meetings as possible to avoid making a fatal mistake alone.
In the virtual conference room.
Dudley opened the transmitted data.
A video clip, slightly over nine minutes long, began to play.
The expressions of everyone present shifted from grave concern to sheer horror.
Because there was nothing in the video.
Not a total blackout or emptiness, that wouldn't have been as shocking; it could have just been jamming.
Instead, the video was filled with twinkling starlight, but when compared to their memorized star charts, several points of light had vanished.
Specifically, the stars that were closest to them.
Stars are suns; the disappearance of starlight meant the suns themselves were gone.
"Could there be an internal electron cloud as well, blocking the starlight?"
Advisor Yang of the Second Fleet felt his scalp tingle with anxiety. His voice was weak, proving he didn't even believe his own words.
Because it made no sense.
"This is madness. They actually used the stars to manufacture that much electronic trash."
"And the people? Where are the people of the Yanli Independence star nation?"
Advisor Abi of the Fourth Fleet's face turned grim.
A place without stars certainly couldn't support the survival of so many people.
In fact, precedents like this weren't unheard of in the star nation regions. Although most followed a moral code, it didn't mean darkness was far from human civilization.
Especially in these star nation territories, many people simply didn't value the lives of others.
Space pirates entering a star city, destroying it, and slaughtering billions of people was a common occurrence.
The events Hua'a had faced were similar.
It happened less frequently at the star nation level, but it still happened.
There's no real difference between billions, hundreds of billions, or trillions of lives in that context.
Giotto's face remained impassive.
The meeting dragged on for hours until the second batch of data arrived.
Giotto gritted his teeth as Dudley played the second video. This one was longer and included far more images.
The video was fast-forwarded; it looked no different from the first.
The images, however, provided more data, as they captured more than just visible light, they recorded invisible spectra, various radiations, and gravitational data.
In these images, there was still no trace of any suns.
The answer was now certain.
The entire Yanli Independence star nation had been annihilated, wiped out completely, every star city, every planet, every sun.
As for exactly what happened, it was impossible to know.
"The Yanli Independence star nation is gone. Should we continue the fight?"
"There's nowhere around here to refuel!"
Without stars, there was no way to replenish energy, yet the enemy had likely prepared an excess of power.
If they advanced now, they would be walking right into a trap.
Everyone looked at Giotto, hoping he would provide a definitive answer.
Encountering such a complex problem in his very first major war gave Giotto a massive headache.
In his mind, he was still analyzing the necessity of the enemy's actions.
Suddenly, he asked, "The Yanli Independence star nation disappeared 60 years ago?"
"Clarify, was the disappearance discovered 60 years ago, or was it calculated to have happened 60 years ago?"
Dudley looked at him with confusion, unsure of where Giotto was going with this, but he nodded and corrected him slightly.
"It was calculated. To be precise, it happened 73 years ago."
Upon receiving that answer, Giotto fell into deep thought.
Calculated. That meant the Yanli Independence star nation vanished after they had launched the war. This was absolutely no coincidence.
"Our fleet isn't evasion-capable. Our movements will definitely be observed."
"They wouldn't even need probes; they could just use telescopes from certain star systems to track us. We have no way to hide."
The universe is like a vast, featureless plain; true concealment is non-existent, which is why evasion-capable vessels and warships are so powerful.
"So the enemy acted only after discovering our movements. They've been preparing for our arrival here for a long time."
Giotto suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as a thought hit him.
"If an electron cloud is this massive, it can even emit fake optical data. Is it possible we flew into the electron cloud a long time ago?"
His question caused the other officers to jump in their seats.
"Is this an ambush?"
"Director, don't joke like that. The electron cloud we're seeing is already massive enough."
"But... that's over a hundred suns!"
A hundred suns had vanished.
Based on the current observations, they had likely all been converted into the electron cloud.
If the enemy observed such a massive fleet and could ambush and annihilate the entire Tier 2 fleet, it would be a devastating blow to the Rusty Star Nation.
Sacrificing the Yanli Independence star nation to create an electron cloud for this purpose would be well worth it for the enemy!
The officers immediately issued orders within the virtual conference room.
"Calculate the surrounding area immediately!"
An electron cloud, after all, is not a sophisticated, structured entity. If analyzed carefully, flaws can be found.
Given the terrifying total mass of the electron cloud, gravitational calculations would be even more precise.
Once the results were submitted, no one could remain seated.
"The gravity is abnormal."
"There are deviations and missing segments in the light."
"It's a fabrication. Everything we're seeing now is a fabrication."
"The radius of the void created by the electron cloud is roughly 170 AU."
"The enemy is already in a position to attack!"
Giotto saw the officers in the meeting room spiraling into panic, and he couldn't help but feel a tremor of fear himself.
In a situation like this, a good cry might actually feel better.
A Hell-tier difficult war, how could he possibly turn defeat into victory?
Was it even possible?
Almost certainly not!
True, he was much stronger than before, but this situation had exceeded the limits of what a normal person could handle.
"Stay calm!"
"I have to stay calm!"
"What would Luna do?"
Giotto asked himself in the silence of his mind.
However...
Teacher, this wasn't in the lesson plan!
"The enemy is still continuing their encirclement, which means they aren't aware that we've discovered them yet."
"There's still room to maneuver!"
His fleet was exposed, defenseless, right under the enemy's nose. How could he possibly turn the tables?
Was it hard?
Of course it was hard!
But Giotto had to do it. Failure meant total annihilation.
At that moment, the Strategist from the Third Fleet spoke up: "What about the enemy's speed?"
"We are currently in a high-speed transit. Could the enemy's delay in attacking be related to that?"
The enemy didn't have enough forces.
Giotto instantly grasped the core of the issue.
"Exactly. Don't panic."
"The enemy's electron cloud might be sensitive, but their warships might not be able to react to a sudden change in our course."
"What we need to do is simple. Deploy warships to the flanks, not many, just enough to reach the edge of the electron cloud. Expand the cloud as much as possible, and then we're going to pull a massive U-turn in deep space."
"If the enemy fleet can't react in time, we'll smash right into them."
At such high transit speeds, a few enemy warships might be in front of them, but the bulk of their fleet should be behind.
By applying more lateral thrust, they could tighten their turning radius. The enemy warships trailing them wouldn't be able to calculate this shift immediately. Giotto's fleet could use the discrepancy in turning angles to circle back and overtake the enemy ships that were originally behind them.
Everyone in the room immediately grasped Giotto's logic.
They rushed to take control.
The entire fleet required unified coordination.
This was precisely why having people on the ships was essential. Deep space is vast; ship-to-ship communication can sometimes take an hour.
If the fleet relied on a single server or if the warships controlled the smaller vessels remotely, there would be a fatal delay in the ships' maneuvering. Without local servers, the ships couldn't adapt to real-time changes as well as a human pilot could.
In a scenario like this, every single ship and warship had to perform perfectly.
There could be no stragglers.
They didn't know the enemy's exact numbers.
If the enemy forces were too numerous, a fragmented fleet would turn this plan into a suicide mission.
Roughly ten hours later, the orders reached every single warship and ship unit.
Dozens of warships broke formation, heading further out. This would trigger the enemy's suspicion, but only slightly.
On the battlefield, dispatching ships to scout for intel from a distance was a common tactic.
It was a bold move.
When the scout ships spent 110 hours reaching a position 100 AU away and then stopped, it would surely make the enemy breathe a sigh of relief.
However, that was the exact moment the entire fleet's massive turn began.
The turn was extremely tight, a radius of just 17 AU.
Technically, with more energy, they could have made an even sharper turn, even down to 1 AU.
But that would have meant dumping their entire energy reserve into maneuvering. If they did that, how would they fight? It would be no different from surrendering.
A turning radius of 17 AU meant they were tracing a circle roughly 106 AU in circumference.
...
41.6 hours later.
The fleet completed the full circle.
The cosmos remained eerily silent.
"Could the calculations have been wrong?"
Everyone turned to Giotto.
Giotto was tense as well; after all, this was entirely based on a hunch.
But the logic was sound, even if reality didn't always play by the rules of logic.
One hour later.
Suddenly, the signature of an enemy ship appeared to their rear.
The officers didn't cheer; instead, they roared into their comms to their respective crews:
"Battle stations!"
With a turning radius of only 17 AU, it was impossible for the enemy to have reacted in time.
This was Giotto's masterstroke.
When the vanguard of the fleet completed its circle, the view within the electron cloud appeared unchanged; it remained a fixed circle.
However, by "wasting" that 106 AU distance on the turn, and because the trailing enemy fleet hadn't followed suit, Giotto's fleet had effectively closed the gap by 106 AU.
The electron cloud's radius was roughly 130 AU.
The enemy had to be just outside its perimeter.
His original estimate was within 100 AU.
This was the only detail Giotto had misjudged.
His distance estimation was off. Had the enemy's main fleet been even 1 AU or 10 AU outside the cloud, circling back would have brought their entire force into view.
This discrepancy was likely because the enemy force wasn't composed entirely of the Glolo star nation's fleet, but rather included various client state forces.
The fatal flaw was exposed, but because the enemy was lagging, the plan had seemingly failed.
Nevertheless, the entire Tier 2 fleet completed the turn, unleashing a barrage toward their rear.
The first enemy ship to appear became a target, drawing a concentrated torrent of fire.
Despite detecting the turn immediately, it was struck and destroyed dozens of hours later.
"Only one ship. This isn't what we expected. It's highly probable the enemy anticipated our move and shifted their course; that ship was just an unlucky straggler."
Large fleets always have their share of unlucky stragglers.
"Our line of sight is blocked now; we have no idea where the enemy actually is. What's the next move?"
The officers had executed their orders, but without the desired result, those who weren't the "brains" of the fleet fell into a state of confusion.
A second major hurdle had appeared.
War rarely follows a predictable path.
The enemy was likely about to attack.
Or perhaps they already had!
They seemed trapped in yet another stalemate.
It fell upon Giotto, as the Strategos, to make the call.
The situation was dire, but Giotto's demeanor was surprisingly relaxed.
"You lot are still green; you have much to learn."
"Before we turned, I left a virus behind in space."
"It's highly likely they stumbled upon our markers."
"The virus has already begun its infection, both the electron cloud and their warships and ships."
"Flaorse might have abandoned the Ynun star nation headquarters and destroyed a massive amount of data during the final stages of that war, but what was left behind still propelled our virology research forward significantly."
"The Glolo star nation's warships might be able to resist it, but what about those client states?"
Giotto smiled confidently.
He relished this feeling of intellectual dominance.
Front-line warfare is the most brutal test of raw power.
At close quarters, there's no room for subtlety.
Giotto recalled something Luna had said:
Close-quarters combat is utterly disadvantageous for the weaker side. If you know the enemy is stronger, keep the battle at long range. Guerrilla tactics exist in deep space too; it's all in the execution.
Currently, Giotto didn't know the enemy's exact strength, but he assumed they were superior to the Tier 2 fleet.
It's always better to overestimate an enemy than to underestimate them.
Before he even formulated his turn maneuver, Giotto's first plan had been to seed the space with a virus.
However, that plan was too obvious.
The enemy would likely scan for it carefully.
But if the Tier 2 fleet made its turn, the enemy to the rear would inevitably become distracted elsewhere.
A virus requires a thorough scan to detect; if it's easily found, it's not a virus.
Giotto hadn't told the other officers because he didn't need their participation; a single warship was enough to release the virus. It was harder to detect that way and could still deliver a devastating blow.
"The virus should be erupting right about now!"
Dozens of hours later.
The distant cosmos began to blur and warp.
A massive, jagged hole appeared in the visual field, revealing the true starlight behind it.
The hole was already being patched, but through that brief gap, an enemy fleet could be observed.
[ Estimated count: 70,000 to 90,000 vessels ]
The server provided its projection.
The breach in the electron cloud wasn't huge, and many warships and ships remained hidden. However, based on the fleet's formation, it was easy to extrapolate the number of concealed vessels.
The officers were worried.
"We still can't escape this electron cloud. The units are spaced 1 meter apart and only maintain basic signal responses without transmitting complex data. The virus wasn't specifically designed for the electron cloud."
"This only lets us see the enemy, nothing more."
"A virus's greatest strength is its spread, but because this isn't a custom-built one, its transmissibility is limited."
"The electron cloud will be repaired soon. We've only achieved a temporary victory. The enemy still has so many warships, and as for the electron cloud itself, it's virtually infinite."
"Escaping the electron cloud is our primary objective."
Giotto hadn't solved the fundamental problem yet.
He looked at the officers, seeing a reflection of his younger self when he was first by Luna's side.
They only summarized the current issues without offering any solutions.
Perhaps they did have suggestions, after all, everyone has ideas, just as Giotto once had, but could those ideas be implemented?
That was the question.
They had never processed this kind of intel or made real strategic decisions; naturally, they were hesitant and lacked confidence.
But the current situation actually had a straightforward solution.
"An electron cloud can be attacked. We refrained before only because we didn't want to waste energy without a target."
"But now, we have one."
"By focusing our fire on that location, we're not just destroying the cloud; we're also continuously revealing the enemy's updated positions."
"Gentlemen, this is a military council. Any idea you have is valuable. Don't be stingy with your thoughts. This was covered in your military courses; don't make me repeat myself."
These officers wanted Giotto to provide all the answers; it was easier for them and absolved them of responsibility.
But in military matters, that's a fatal mistake.
Giotto had to establish the rules. This was his first step toward truly commanding this fleet and becoming a competent Strategos.
But it seemed there was still a long road ahead.
The officers maintained their grim expressions.
"Is that clear?"
Giotto suddenly roared, startling the assembled officers.
"CLEAR!"
The response echoed loudly through the meeting room.
"Then execute!"
The fleet opened fire toward the unpatched hole in the electron cloud.
The enemy's position was roughly 180 AU away, even after closing the distance.
This was well within effective combat range.
The hit probability was extremely high.
The enemy warships were likely preoccupied with the virus, which only increased the likelihood of landing a hit.
The first round of firing proved successful several days later, with significant results.
"Enemy units hit: 2,134 ships, 21 warships."
"Maintain the offensive!"
The rate of fire for both warships and standard ships wasn't particularly high.
A typical laser cannon might fire once per minute, while secondary batteries required about an hour for cooling and recharging. Main cannons required a rest period of 15 to 18 hours.
But on an interstellar battlefield, these were considered extremely rapid intervals.
...
On the other side.
The Ice Crystal Fleet.
A division of the Glolo star nation's Second Army.
It commanded over 70,000 ships in addition to 600 warships.
The fleet's Strategos was Dumu, who held the title Spear of Nation.
He was of the Shore Tribe, his body roughly the size of a human child, about one meter tall. His form was covered in various scars, and he was even missing some parts.
These were his honors.
He had survived a battle where his flagship was completely destroyed.
Because of this, he was also known as the Undying Dumu.
The title Spear of Nation originated from a famous conflict in the Abandnda Sector. During the period when the Glolo star nation was ascending from a mid-tier to a high-tier nation, it naturally sought expansion to control the entire Abandnda Sector.
In that campaign, Dumu had annihilated the C72-degree star nation, which had once been a major power.
While it hadn't been among the absolute strongest nations in the original Abandnda Sector, it was certainly on par with the likes of the former Kingdom of Sky or the Saintees star nation.
That campaign wasn't just a simple victory; it was a brutal extermination. Of the nation's population of over 700 billion, only 300 million remained after the war.
Dumu only ever cared about the outcome. As for the methods used during the war, he preferred to use any means necessary.
Facing this current campaign, Dumu stuck to his original plan.
He sacrificed the entire Yanli Independence star nation to create the massive electron cloud.
And it worked.
It plunged the enemy into total confusion.
Had other aspects of the operation been a bit more refined, he believed he could have completed the encirclement and annihilation of the Rusty Star Nation fleet before they even realized what was happening.
However.
There are no "what ifs."
Fuming, he leapt onto the command desk and roared at the officers in the bridge.
"Which damn idiot made me take those useless wastes with me?"
"If it weren't for those piece-of-trash warships, would we have lagged behind so much?"
He had been forced to delay his advance repeatedly, hoping to close in slowly on the Rusty Star Nation fleet. Unfortunately, the gap only widened.
He eventually realized the issue and ditched those anchors, but the damage was done. By the time he caught up, the tactical situation had shifted.
The enemy noticed the anomalies in the surrounding space and began their circular maneuver.
The moment he observed this, Dumu made the correct decision and ordered his own turn.
Up to that point, there was still no problem.
However, the client state ships in the rear failed to receive their orders, resulting in some of them drifting directly into the electron cloud.
Exposed!
The enemy's counterattacks followed immediately.
With so many ships already destroyed, Dumu's fury was understandable.
Anyone he glared at fell into a terrified silence. No one dared to meet his eyes, let alone speak.
But at that moment, one officer was about ten seconds too slow in averting their gaze.
Dumu's body blurred, moving instantly to stand before the officer.
Despite the fact that the officer was a much taller Iridescent, the sheer malice in Dumu's stare made the being tremble in fear.
A second later, the officer was engulfed in an intensely searing laser beam.
Then, he was reduced to charcoal.
An officer, dead just like that.
Everyone else in the bridge immediately averted their eyes, pretending to be busy at their stations, but inwardly they were terrified beyond measure.
Dumu felt nothing. He ordered the remains cleared and then paced back and forth in the bridge.
"The damage to the electron cloud from the enemy's fire won't be too significant because of the distance, and the only reason they hit us so easily was that we were too bunched up."
"Disperse the fleet. Form a crescent-shaped encirclement around the Rusty Star Nation fleet."
"Since the enemy has opened fire and at this range, there's no longer any need for concealment. All-out assault!"
In fact, the Ice Crystal Fleet's ships had already begun their counterattack.
The tactical situation was easy to read.
But Dumu's command for an "all-out assault" meant something specific.
It meant they were aggressively closing the gap with the Rusty Star Nation's Tier 2 fleet.
The advantage was still theirs.
The electron cloud was too dense to be cleared in a short time.
It's just that they could no longer rely on the same level of information asymmetry they had before, and their casualties would likely multiply.
While Dumu didn't care about the slaughter of others or the destruction he caused, his own fleet's casualties reflected directly on his competence. And he was a perfectionist in that regard.
Now that his perfect record was marred, his fury was justified.
"Inform all units: if there is any retreat or hesitation, no matter how many enemy warships they've destroyed, I will show them exactly what the world after death looks like!"
A policy of absolute pressure.
Every warship and ship unit had no choice but to advance at full speed.
His adjutant gritted his teeth and spoke: "The client state fleets seem to be considering breaking away."
Though he risked making a mistake, he vividly remembered his predecessor's fate.
Therefore, he had to point certain things out.
"Hmph. I won't let them have their way."
"Since the enemy's objective clearly isn't to confront us head-on, our goal will be to force them into another course change or to stop them entirely."
"That's the only way those cannon fodder units will prove useful."
He couldn't directly control the client state fleets, but he could force them into the fight.
Thinking of those warships being torn apart and the terror on the faces of those being slaughtered, Dumu let out a chilling smile.
"We'll wear them down."
"Lock onto the enemy flagships. I want to know who their Strategos is."
"I will personally add his head to my collection."
He spoke as if the victory was already his.
This was the confidence of the Spear of Nation.
Since that legendary war, he had been undefeated. Like Binom before him, he was a legendary-tier Strategos.
Everyone in the command bridge shuddered, offering a silent prayer for the enemy Strategos. Hoping their death would be a quick one.
...
Tier 2 Fleet.
Giotto detected the enemy's movements after five rounds of firing.
Since analyzing enemy movement required time, the cooldown period of the main cannons was almost unnoticeable. Each observation required a full day.
Five rounds meant five days.
The enemy's maneuvers were expected.
However, Giotto didn't have a solid follow-up plan.
Soon, the enemy's counter-barrage arrived. Because he had already ordered the fleet to raise their shields, the damage was minimal. Aside from a few unlucky ships that took direct hits from enemy main batteries.
"Is the main engagement about to start?" Dudley asked, his voice tight with nerves.
War is inherently uncertain.
There was no way to know who would die and who would survive.
Even if they won, the cost mattered. A pyrrhic victory would render their mission here meaningless.
After all, this was only the first target. The Rofas star nation, the 28783 star nation, the Oraned Federation, the Northern United star nation. Threats still loomed from all sides.
As a high-tier nation, Glolo had over a dozen client states.
It was clear that the warships gathered here didn't represent their entire force.
"Right now, we have zero advantage in a direct engagement. The enemy has spread their forces out extensively."
Giotto mapped out the incoming attacks into a diagram. It looked like a massive disc, or from the side, a giant bowl.
Based on the fleet's formation, he knew the enemy was pressing forward.
On a true front-line battlefield, with such a clear disparity in numbers, the enemy would undoubtedly choose a direct engagement.
But there was the electron cloud to consider.
"We can't destroy this cloud."
"Our only option is to concede ground and play for time."
"Moving and maintaining an electron cloud of this scale consumes a staggering amount of power, even if each individual unit's consumption is minimal."
"If we keep flying, according to my calculations, these devices will drain their power reserves in about fifteen to twenty years."
Giotto had actually studied electron clouds extensively.
It was part of Luna's curriculum.
As a common tool used for signal evasion, learning how to counter it was covered in his very first few lessons.
If it were just a Star City sized cloud, he'd have dozens of ways to neutralize it.
But facing a cloud of this magnitude, he was forced to use the most basic method.
They also had to conserve their own energy.
Evasion was the most logical course of action.
Under Giotto's command, the Tier 2 fleet began to shift its trajectory, dodging the enemy's advance.
It was frustrating, but effective.
As long as the distance didn't close, the enemy's accuracy wouldn't improve.
Giotto also ordered some ship units to intentionally lag behind to disrupt the electron cloud's spatial coverage.
At first, it worked.
A few enemy ships, caught off guard, drifted into range and were met with counterattacks.
But that only happened once.
The enemy didn't repeat such a basic mistake.
What followed was a war of attrition and pursuit.
Exerting such pressure for fifteen or twenty years is easier said than done.
Those who were faltering couldn't handle the strain.
"Strategos, I request a direct engagement!"
A few hot-headed individuals focused on the wrong objectives, stubbornly sticking to their own narrow views.
They even believed Giotto's strategy was flawed.
This was common in large fleets.
You can't expect several hundred thousand people to share the same strategic mindset as the Strategos.
Furthermore, retreating like this was taking a massive toll on morale.
Not only that, but after about three months, the Advisor from the Seventh Fleet pointed out to Giotto: "As we retreat, the enemy seems to be steering us toward a specific location."
Giotto was well aware.
"It's the client state fleets."
"There are resourceful individuals among them, trying to use us to wear themselves down."
When he said this, the panic within the fleet intensified.
If they were intercepted, they would face even heavier losses.
Would they be annihilated here before the real war even began?
Dudley was equally frantic.
He knew Giotto.
In past wars, Giotto had been relegated to the sidelines.
Dudley had served as an adjutant in the previous conflict and had seen Giotto's defeated, dejected self.
Could such a man lead an entire fleet after just a thousand years?
A massive question mark hung over him.
In Dudley's mind, and likely in the minds of everyone in the fleet, the answer to that question leaned heavily toward the negative.
Giotto had yet to demonstrate any truly convincing leadership!
Giotto was acutely aware of this.
The fleet's morale was already brittle.
If they faced a client state army and suffered heavy casualties, the fleet would surely collapse.
Even with a central server to ensure they fought until the last moment, a demoralized force in a war like this was merely a dying animal's final struggle.
"They'll fold like paper!"
"The client state armies can't match our warships and ships."
"But when pushed to the brink of death, they will fight desperately."
And desperation causes casualties.
Giotto's expression was grim. Every problem thrown his way was incredibly difficult.
However, his special training was paying off.
He emerged after just a few days of isolation.
He asked Dudley a question, though it sounded more like a confirmation.
"Is it possible the electron cloud is controlled by those client state fleets?"
Dudley dismissed the idea without a second thought.
"Of course not!"
Giotto smiled.
That was the answer he wanted.
"Then we're set."
"Fleet, disperse!"
"Right now, the client state fleets can't see us either. When we finally meet within the view of the electron cloud, what do you think they'll do when they see an assembled fleet of 70,000 ships?"
"Of course, we need to apply some camouflage!"
Dudley's eyes widened.
Naturally, the goal was to make the enemy believe they were on the same side!
"Will this actually work?"
He couldn't help but ask. It sounded like a very basic ruse.
"Of course it will."
"Judging by the way the fleet behind us abandoned the client state fleets, they aren't on good terms."
"But a client state fleet won't attack its mother country's fleet. They're just afraid of it."
"And don't forget, we have a second fleet."
"Execute the plan!"
...
Under Giotto's command.
The Tier 2 fleet split into two components.
One group of roughly 140,000 vessels was designated as the Flank Fleet, while another group of about 70,000 vessels became the Main Fleet.
The Main Fleet broke away from the Flank Fleet, gradually veering off in another direction.
This maneuver meant the Main Fleet would fall behind the Flank Fleet.
But this was exactly the effect Giotto wanted.
The Flank Fleet continued its straight advance until it encountered the enemy forces.
As predicted.
The moment the two fleets made contact, the enemy actually held a slight numerical advantage in warships. The Flank Fleet immediately turned away from the Main Fleet's original path.
At that exact moment, the Main Fleet turned as well, matching the Flank Fleet's new heading.
Because they were still relatively close, after about a few days of pursuit, the enemy client state fleet spotted the Main Fleet.
The Main Fleet likewise "discovered" the client state fleet and aggressively accelerated toward it.
"Strategos, the enemy is sending a query signal."
"Ignore it!"
This was a gamble.
If the enemy client state fleet realized something was wrong, Giotto would suffer heavy losses.
But when fighting from a position of weakness, gambling is the only rational move. If you're already weaker and refuse to take a risk, you're just waiting to be slowly consumed by the enemy.
After ten days of tense waiting, the enemy client state fleet didn't send a second query signal. Given their relative speeds, they would gradually close in over the course of a month, while the Flank Fleet continued to pull away.
Dudley was now drenched in sweat.
The Main Fleet was now only about 40 AU away from the enemy.
This was an incredibly close distance.
A range of 200 AU is considered the effective engagement zone.
What did 40 AU signify in this context?
If a sniper rifle's effective range is 1,000 meters, the enemy was now standing only 200 meters away.
"Right on top of you" would be an understatement.
Exposure could happen at any second.
"We have to attack now, Strategos!" Dudley urged Giotto.
But Giotto's eyes remained fixed on the distance display.
Only when they crossed the 40 AU mark and reached 39.99 AU did he finally issue the command.
"FIRE!"
The systems were already pre-heated. Target locks had been established long ago.
The focus was entirely on the enemy's warships.
Thousands of main cannons and over a hundred thousand secondary batteries opened fire simultaneously.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The enemy was caught completely off guard.
The client state fleet truly hadn't doubted their identity.
Had they even once glanced back and observed carefully, they would have seen the inconsistencies.
The enemy had no time to raise defenses against the coordinated volley.
No matter how reckless a commander might be, no one maintains a full 360-degree, zero-blind-spot energy shield at all times. It's too energy-intensive.
Most of their power was concentrated toward the presumed location of the enemy.
The attack from their rear was impossible to defend against.
Countless explosions bloomed in the dark.
In the blink of an eye, not a single enemy warship remained functional.
What followed was a rapid slaughter.
By the time the enemy ships managed to complete their turn, one-third of the 170,000-ship fleet had been annihilated.
The battle turned into an absolute rout.
The remaining two-thirds of the fleet collapsed, scattering in every direction. There was some retaliatory fire, but it was weak and uncoordinated.
The Ice Crystal Fleet, positioned outside the fleet's visual range, realized something was wrong even before they saw the Tier 2 fleet's attack.
However, they had no way to contact the client state fleet inside the electron cloud.
Unless they disabled the cloud.
Opening a small gap wouldn't allow for a complete Tachyon message to be transmitted. They needed a much larger opening, which would inevitably reveal their location to the enemy.
They were actually quite close now. Only about 100 AU from the Tier 2 Main Fleet.
The Ice Crystal Fleet, the Tier 2 Main Fleet, and the client state fleet were positioned like the three vertices of a wide, obtuse triangle. Almost forming a single straight line.
This meant that even if they sent a Tachyon transmission, there was a high probability it would be intercepted by the enemy.
This was Giotto's open gambit.
Even as the Spear of Nation, Dumu could only hope the client state officers weren't that incompetent.
Yet, war is often full of surprises.
The client state forces truly hadn't noticed the ruse.
Leading to the total collapse of their fleet.
...
A few days later.
Upon receiving the news, Dumu flew into a towering rage.
He had expected the client states to delay the Rusty fleet for at least a while and inflict some casualties.
Instead, the Rusty Star Nation hadn't lost a single warship or ship while completely routing a client state fleet of 170,000 vessels.
"Useless!"
"All of them, absolutely useless!"
"Complete trash!"
"You call that a fleet? It's more like a Toy Story!"
Dumu was purple with rage.
The term "pig teammate" couldn't even begin to describe the client state fleet's performance.
Now, they were left alone to face a Rusty Star Nation fleet numbering over 210,000 vessels.
While they still held the advantage of the electron cloud, both sides would suffer heavy losses to win the war.
For the Spear of Nation, this was an insult.
Dumu's gaze grew increasingly terrifying.
"Have the electron cloud units simulate our fleet and launch attacks. Accelerate the contraction of the cloud units and use light manipulation to create dynamic strike zones."
"I want to create a massive simulation field. I'll show them the meaning of terror."
"All units are to disperse with single warships as their core. Divide into 300 squads and flank them. Spread the front as wide as possible, then launch dynamic strikes against the Rusty fleet."
The goal was to prevent the enemy from counterattacking.
Dumu chose this method to keep the Rusty fleet from pinning down their exact location. Although it would take longer to destroy them, it would slowly grind them down.
It allowed him to minimize his own losses while achieving his goal of toys with his prey.
...
The Tier 2 fleet gradually regrouped.
They continued to fly at extremely high speeds.
However, the electron cloud units were lightweight and numerous, allowing them to easily accelerate to near the speed of light. Over 280,000 km/s.
The Tier 2 fleet had no hope of outrunning them.
"What a headache!"
Inside his warship, Giotto racked his brain for a solution, but the more he thought about it, the more a war of attrition seemed like the only way.
Dudley was constantly monitoring fleet communications for Giotto.
He suddenly pulled up an image and said to Giotto: "Strategos, the electron cloud is contracting."
Everyone in the command bridge heard him.
Excitement rippled through the room.
"Is the consumption too high? Is the enemy scaling back because they can't sustain it?"
That was usually the signal that an electron cloud was failing.
But Giotto didn't look excited. He didn't believe the cloud would fail so soon. Not enough time had passed.
It had only been about six months since they were trapped. His original estimate was fifteen to twenty years.
"Stay sharp!"
"Keep your focus. The enemy is likely making their next move."
He was unsure of the enemy's specific goal, but a change on the battlefield always meant a change in tactics.
The entire fleet, including the central servers, entered a state of high alert.
Then, they saw countless points of light appearing from all directions in the distance.
As each point of light was magnified, it appeared to be...
A ship!