The Stellar Federation moved quickly. Before even a day had passed, they returned the captured Batarians to their fleet and used them to convey a message to the Batarians—
Considering the Batarians' acts of war against humanity, the Stellar Federation had already repaid them in kind.
Put simply: your homeworld has already been blown up—these few of you are useless now.
In truth, ever since Duanmu Huai destroyed the Batarian homeworld, the Batarians had been trapped in a state of shock and confusion. They didn't even know what had happened, nor why their homeworld had suddenly exploded in place within a single day.
It wasn't until those Batarians returned and relayed the Federation's message that the Batarians finally understood. Naturally, they were furious and immediately sent representatives to the Citadel Council to cry injustice.
After hearing the Batarians' accusations, the Citadel Council was also deeply shaken. They hadn't expected the Stellar Federation to be this bold—after the Batarians attacked a single human colony, the Federation turned around and blew up the Batarians' homeworld?!
One had to know that although spacefaring civilizations did not lack colonial worlds, a homeworld carried extraordinary and irreplaceable significance for any civilization. The Federation's destruction of the Batarian homeworld had directly pushed relations between the two sides to the brink of total annihilation.
Either you die, or I die.
Thus, the Batarian ambassador loudly cried injustice in the Citadel, demanding that the Council step in and lead all Citadel races to exterminate the Stellar Federation and wipe out humanity completely!
And then, when faced with the Batarian ambassador's proposal, the Citadel Council—unsurprisingly—
Chickened out.
Even the Turian fleets that had originally been confronting the Federation at the border all pulled back to reinforce their own territory, layering defenses around their homeworld. After all, they too had attacked Federation colonies. If the Federation finished off the Batarians, wouldn't they be next?
The Batarians were furious to the point of madness, but the other civilizations certainly weren't insane. After learning the truth, their first reaction was disbelief, and their second reaction was—
How did the Stellar Federation pull this off?
Destroying a planet sounded unbelievable even to the Citadel Council, but strictly speaking, as long as one possessed sufficient technology, it wasn't theoretically impossible. From a scientific and technical standpoint, the Federation did have the potential to do it—after all, humanity was now a spacefaring civilization, and any such civilization had a few trump cards hidden away. That part alone didn't shock the Council.
What truly terrified them was—
How did the Stellar Federation do it?
The Batarian homeworld lay deep within the core of Batarian territory. Under normal circumstances, if a human fleet launched a large-scale attack, it would be impossible for the Batarians not to notice.
Yet the reality was that the Federation had appeared silently in front of the Batarian homeworld, blown it up, and then vanished just as silently.
That was terrifying.
Which meant that today they could destroy the Batarian homeworld, and tomorrow they might just as well appear outside the Turian, Salarian, or Asari homeworlds!
Even the once-aggressive Turian fleet quietly withdrew the patrol ships lingering near the Federation border and strengthened defenses around their own homeworld.
They had no choice but to be afraid.
This was the classic case of you can run, but your temple can't. If someone directly burned your temple down, what were you going to do?
Thus, in response to the Batarian ambassador's demands, all three major Citadel races fell into silence and began playing hot potato.
"Yes, this matter is indeed extremely serious. We must study it carefully…"
"At present, it is not yet certain that humans were responsible. It could also have been some kind of cosmic disaster. We must have evidence…"
"This matter does not fall under our jurisdiction. Please go to the registration office and fill out the appropriate forms…"
Regarding the Batarian ambassador's requests, the other races made all kinds of excuses. On the one hand, they were genuinely frightened by the Federation's ruthless strike; on the other, Batarians had never been popular within the Citadel to begin with.
In fact, the Batarians had long sponsored criminals to sabotage other civilizations' territories. Even when others suffered losses, they couldn't catch the Batarians red-handed, leaving them furious but helpless.
Now that they heard the Batarian homeworld had been blown up by the Federation, many civilizations practically wanted to pop champagne and celebrate, wearing expressions that clearly said, "So you bastards finally got what you deserved."
Help them? No chance.
More likely, they'd shed a few crocodile tears while the ambassador was still present, then throw a party the moment he left.
Unable to obtain any assistance from the Citadel Council, the Batarians finally gave up. They announced the withdrawal of their embassy from the Citadel, reorganized their military, and launched a full-scale war against the Stellar Federation.
On the Federation's side, announcements had already been made to the public. Although most Federation citizens still couldn't distinguish between Batarians and Turians, they did know that their colonies had been attacked multiple times by aliens. Now that the Federation had taken revenge by destroying the enemy's homeworld, most citizens applauded loudly.
Of course, some worried that this would provoke a frenzied counterattack.
After all, attacking a colony was one thing—destroying a homeworld was another entirely. If Earth were destroyed, humanity would also seek revenge with bloodshot eyes.
There were even people in society who voiced opinions that the Batarian homeworld might have been destroyed by some natural disaster or accident. Their reasoning was that the Federation simply didn't possess the power to instantly annihilate a planet, and that this announcement was merely propaganda by the new regime to consolidate its authority and prestige.
Strangely enough, that idea actually had quite a market.
Li Longcheng was not surprised by this at all. Although he had purged most of the pro-peace faction after taking office with thunderous measures, some had inevitably slipped through the cracks.
However, he didn't need to care about those idiots at all.
Because next, reality would prove everything.
As the Batarians launched their massive offensive, the Stellar Federation had already completed its war preparations.
For the Federation, this war had to be fought—and this battle would completely determine humanity's status among the spacefaring civilizations of the galaxy!
Thus, in October of Federation year 2151, in the border system of Bross, the war between the Stellar Federation fleet and the Batarian fleet officially began.
This time, the Batarians came in full force. Not only did they deploy their main fleet, they also incorporated the ships of pirates and slave traders they had previously funded, forming an enormous armada. The Batarian commander leading the fleet spoke arrogantly, declaring that they would slaughter their way into Federation territory and completely destroy humanity's homeworld, leaving humans with no burial place!
Yet compared to the Batarians' ferocious momentum, the Federation seemed oddly unconcerned. Aside from the Seventh Fleet defending the system, only the First and Third Fleets joined the battle.
The Batarian fleet numbered around three thousand ships, while the Federation's three fleets combined had only about one thousand. The rest of the Federation fleets remained stationed in their original sectors, giving the impression that they had no intention of fighting the Batarians to the death.
In fact, the same doubts existed within the Federation fleet itself.
"Kislev, what exactly is High Command thinking? With only these fleets, stopping the Batarian revenge force will be extremely difficult."
Staring at the dense cluster of light points on the screen, Third Fleet Commander Barok wore a grave expression. At first, they had thought the Federation intended to fight a decisive, epoch-making battle. As soldiers, they didn't oppose war—but from a fleet commander's perspective, a decisive battle against the Batarians was absurd.
The enemy was consumed by vengeance, coming with overwhelming force, clearly determined to bite off a chunk of flesh even if it meant death.
Against such an enemy, losing aside—even winning would come at a devastating cost. And afterward, how would the Federation face its other enemies?
Within the Federation military, such worries were far from rare. But orders were orders…
"There's no need to worry about that, Admiral Barok—and Admiral Sly as well."
Kislev, by contrast, appeared quite calm.
"In fact, the Federation already has a response plan. I guarantee you that once the battle begins, all you'll need to do is lock onto targets and fire."
"…Very well. I hope it really is as simple as you say."
Although the other two commanders were full of doubts, Kislev was highly respected within the Federation Navy and had an outstanding combat record. Since he said so, the others could only trust him.
At the same time, the Batarian fleet surged forward like an enraged pride of lions.
In fact, when the Batarian commander learned that only a thousand enemy ships stood before them, what welled up in his heart was boundless fury.
"These damn humans destroyed our homeworld and still dare not take us seriously! In that case, we'll completely annihilate this fleet and let them taste the might of the Batarians!!"
With the commander's order, the Batarian fleet advanced like a pack of wolves. At the forefront were the pirate and slaver fleets financed by the Batarians, while behind them came the regular Batarian forces.
If this weren't a space battle but a ground war, the scene would resemble a medieval army driving mercenaries and slaves forward as cannon fodder to drain the enemy's strength before committing its own forces.
Faced with the Batarian fleet's ferocious advance, the Federation fleet began retreating immediately upon contact, following Kislev's orders. They fired while retreating, harassing the Batarian advance as they rapidly fell back.
The Batarians paid little attention to this abnormal behavior.
Maybe it's a trap—but so what?
If these humans want to play tricks, then let them see that before absolute power, all tricks are meaningless!
"Is this really okay?"
At the same time, Seventh Fleet Commander Admiral Sly muttered softly while staring at the battlefield.
He was certain Barok shared the same doubts. Generally speaking, luring the enemy deep relied on having hidden forces—but at present, all fleets were holding their sectors. Only the First and Third Fleets were here. Even if this were a feint, Federation ships couldn't arrive in time.
And if things dragged on too long, it would backfire…
After all, they only had a thousand ships. There was no way they could block three thousand enemy vessels.
Yet Kislev's orders were extremely simple—hold to the designated point, lock targets, and attack.
That meant he was absolutely confident that something would happen to disrupt the enemy's advance…
So where exactly would the problem arise?
Thinking this, Admiral Sly looked once more at the map.
They were getting closer and closer to the retreat point.
"Keep going! Keep going! Wipe out these bastards completely!!"
At this moment, the Batarian commander's four eyes were bloodshot. He waved his arms furiously. The Federation's hit-and-run tactics infuriated him beyond measure. It felt like chasing prey that simply wouldn't stay caught.
He didn't care how many slavers or pirates died—as long as they could destroy this human fleet and annihilate it completely!
However, just as the Batarian commander roared in fury, a massive dark shadow suddenly appeared, blocking the light within the command bridge.
The commander instinctively turned to look—and was shocked to discover that, beside his flagship, a magnificently gilded, bizarrely shaped warship had appeared out of nowhere.
Its pitch-black gun barrels were aimed directly at the Batarian flagship.
"This is…?"
Before the commander could react, the black muzzles erupted in blinding flashes.
Howling macro-cannon shells and lance beams erupted in all directions in an instant. In the blink of an eye, all Batarian ships around that vessel were torn to shreds by the overwhelming firepower.
At the same time, more identical warships appeared like ghosts, materializing directly within the Batarian formation and unleashing merciless, destructive fire.
"Report, sir—we've successfully arrived at the combat zone~!"
"Very good."
Hearing Miya's report, Duanmu Huai nodded.
"All batteries open. Free fire."
"Roger~!"
What Duanmu Huai employed was, in fact, a tactic commonly used by the Eldar—emerging silently via the Webway and killing with a single strike.
The difference was that Eldar ships were fragile, so they struck and fled, never allowing themselves to be surrounded. Duanmu Huai's Inquisition fleet, however, was built like stupidly massive iron bricks. With void shields up, they feared no one.
Not to mention that the fleets here simply couldn't compare to the Inquisition's.
In this region of space, the strongest warships of local civilizations were dreadnoughts of around 1,000 meters. Meanwhile, Duanmu Huai's Inquisition fleet included Emperor-class battleships over 12,000 meters long, with standard Lunar-class cruisers at 5,000 meters.
The local civilizations' prized dreadnoughts were smaller than even the Inquisition's Cobra-class destroyers—which were still 1,500 meters long.
Size, tonnage, firepower—completely different tiers.
It was like a herd of elephants charging into a swarm of mice. Even if there were three thousand mice, they were no match.
For secrecy, Duanmu Huai didn't bring the massive Pink Bunny battleship refitted from the Garment of Manifestation. Instead, he deployed a detachment consisting of one Emperor-class battleship and ten Lunar-class cruisers.
For Duanmu Huai, that was already more than enough to deal with three thousand Batarian ships.
He withdrew his gaze and coldly issued the order.
"Continue firing."
"———————!!!!"
As the massive cannons along the battleship's broadsides erupted in blazing flashes, Batarian ships in every direction were effortlessly pierced and annihilated. From afar, each salvo caused ships on both sides of the battleship to shatter, explode, and be flung outward as drifting debris.
The same scene unfolded throughout the Batarian fleet, instantly paralyzing their command structure.
Soon, the Batarians realized something was terribly wrong—but by then, the collapse of command and spreading chaos plunged the fleet into total disorder.
Some ships detected attacks from the rear and turned back to assist. Others, near the Inquisition vessels, panicked at the terrifying firepower and tried to flee. Their retreat only confused ships farther away, who had no idea what was happening.
Only the cannon-fodder fleet of slavers and pirates at the very front remained unaffected, charging forward relentlessly—
Unfortunately, with their numbers, they were clearly incapable of inflicting any real damage on the Federation fleet.
"What is… going on?"
Watching the scene, both Federation fleet commanders were completely baffled. They didn't know what had happened—only that the previously advancing Batarian fleet had suddenly fallen into chaos, while the forward units had completely detached from the rear, charging ahead without looking back.
What the hell…?
But no matter what, this was undeniably a golden opportunity for the Federation!
"I don't know what Admiral Kislev did, but it looks like he was absolutely right…"
Staring at the feast before them, the commanders' eyes lit up. This battle posed almost no difficulty—the chaotic rear fleet couldn't recover in time, and the forward assault group, cut off from support fire, was nothing more than a shooting gallery.
That's right.
Just as Admiral Kislev said—
Lock targets.
Then fire.
So—
Attack!
(End of Chapter)