Outer Sector Outpost 7, Imperial Periphery
Space ignited. Delta-7's opening salvo, a coordinated barrage from its ground-based batteries and orbital platform, converged on the approaching Scorpion formation. Pulse laser beams, coherent and deadly, struck the targeted port side of the lead frigate. Simultaneously, kinetic slugs, invisible until impact, slammed into the same area moments later.
On the holographic display, the frigate's shields flared violently under the onslaught, buckling visibly. Sparks of discharged energy flickered across its hull. It shuddered, its course wavering slightly as damage alarms undoubtedly shrieked across its bridge. The outpost's precision targeting, guided by Valerius and the System, had drawn first blood.
But it was only a scratch against hardened steel.
Before the outpost batteries could fully recharge for a second volley, the Scorpion counter-attack arrived with devastating fury. The 'Crimson Fury', a vessel built for war, unleashed its main batteries. Heavy plasma cannons, particle beams, and concussion missile launchers spat raw destruction towards the outpost. Its two frigate escorts added their own fire, creating a storm of incoming energy and ordnance that dwarfed the outpost's initial attack.
"Incoming barrage! Multiple heavy energy signatures!" the sensor chief yelled, his voice cracking under the strain. "Impact in five seconds!"
"Maximum power to forward shields!" Vorlag roared. "All personnel, brace!"
Valerius stood anchored to the deck, his Spatial Sense reaching out, 'feeling' the terrifying wave of destructive energy hurtling towards them. It was a tidal wave of power, far exceeding anything the feint force had thrown at them. His own Wargod energy resonated, a low thrum of warning.
The first impacts struck the outpost's shields like titanic hammer blows. The command center shuddered violently, lights flickering, consoles sparking. The holographic display wavered, momentarily dissolving into static before stabilizing. Red damage icons flared across the outpost schematic overlay.
"Shields holding at eighty-two percent!" the shield technician reported, his knuckles white on his console. "Multiple impacts concentrated on Sector Gamma-4! Energy drain significant!"
"Modulate frequency!" Valerius snapped, overriding the standard ten-second cycle based on the System's instant analysis of the incoming weapon types. <
The technician complied instantly. The shield shimmer visible on external monitors shifted hue slightly. The next wave of plasma bolts impacted with marginally less devastating effect, the energy dissipating more effectively across the shield grid.
"Shield drain reduced! Holding at seventy-nine percent!"
It was a small victory, bought by the System's speed and Valerius's authority, but the sheer volume of fire was relentless. The 'Crimson Fury' alone possessed firepower likely exceeding the entire outpost's defensive capabilities.
"Battery Complex Beta reporting minor structural damage from near miss!"
"Platform Alpha taking heavy fire! Shields down to sixty percent!"
"Energy levels dropping! Reactor output struggling to keep pace with shield demand!"
Reports flooded the command center, painting a grim picture. They were weathering the storm, but only just. The 18% survival probability felt terrifyingly real.
Valerius moved with preternatural calm, his mind a whirlwind of System data, Spatial Sense input, and tactical calculation. He called out targeting priorities, adjusting fire patterns, shifting shield power, anticipating the enemy's next move fractions of a second before it happened.
'System, analyze 'Crimson Fury' weapon emplacements. Identify recharge cycles. Find vulnerabilities.'
<
"Weapons Control!" Valerius commanded. "Target Cruiser 'Crimson Fury', starboard ventral heat exchange vent! Concentrate fire from Batteries Epsilon and Zeta during its particle beam recharge window! Fire on my mark!"
He watched the cruiser's energy signature through his Spatial Sense, felt the build-up in its particle emitters, then the discharge. "Mark!"
Another volley lanced out from the outpost, this time aimed at the specific, obscure target identified by the System. Most shots splashed harmlessly against the cruiser's powerful shields, but a few kinetic rounds, perfectly timed, struck near the designated vent just as the shields flickered slightly during the weapon cycle. A secondary explosion, small but visible, blossomed on the cruiser's underside.
Did it work? Did it cause any real damage? Impossible to tell from sensors alone. But it was something, a blow against the giant.
The 'Crimson Fury' seemed enraged by the pinpoint strike. Its return fire intensified, focusing now on the batteries that had just fired. Explosions rocked the outpost again.
"Battery Epsilon offline! Heavy damage!"
"Battery Zeta reporting shield collapse!"
They were trading blows, but the outpost was losing ground, its resources finite against the cruiser's relentless assault. Valerius felt the strain, the immense pressure of holding the line against overwhelming odds. His Wargod power thrummed, wanting to be unleashed, but he held it in check, channeling it into perception, analysis, command.
The storm raged, the fury of the Red Scorpions unleashed upon the small, defiant outpost. How long could they hold out?