When it comes to surprise attacks, the Katon Fleet truly excels.
Regardless of which Star Region they operate in, Katon Fleets love to concentrate their forces and launch sneak attacks on selected targets. Unfortunately, successful examples are rare, as most Pioneers prioritize defense. Even if their strength is lacking, they can usually hold out until reinforcements arrive.
The mention of surprise attacks always irritates Xue Renli. His Xue Family has suffered the most Katon Fleet ambushes.
Since the discovery of the Stardust Star Region, over a hundred large and small surprise attacks have occurred in the past decade, along with nearly a thousand ambushes on their Patrol Fleets.
If not for the large number of Pioneer Fleets gathered here—and the later arrival of several veteran Pioneers—providing enough ships to patrol the surrounding areas, this number would have skyrocketed.
"For now, we just need to maintain our defenses in the Star Region. This plan will come down to who strikes first. The early bird catches the worm, while the latecomer suffers—the ancients spoke no lies."
As a veteran commander and the Xue Family's representative in Pioneer affairs, Xue Renli's decision was quickly endorsed by the other Pioneers, who agreed to immediately execute the decoy plan.
With Xue Renli's proactive stance, Liu Hai breathed a sigh of relief. Most Pioneers in the Stardust Star Region highly valued the Xue Family's opinions, and this time, it was the Xue Family's own people acting as bait. One misstep could mean instant death.
Once the meeting concluded, Xue Renli promptly notified Xue Jiye's Patrol Fleet to set out.
Meanwhile, Xue Jiye, who had been waiting for the order, straightened his expression upon receiving the message. Seated in the command chair, he ordered the fleet to begin self-checks and prepare for departure.
Not far from Xue Jiye's Patrol Fleet, another Patrol Fleet of equal size remained stationed, led by the Li Family's Li Xiuxian.
His mission was the same as Xue Jiye's, but he lacked the same allure to Katon Creatures. Thus, the Li Family had essentially assigned him as a supporting player.
After Xue Jiye's 15th Patrol Fleet launched, Li Xiuxian's 16th Patrol Fleet followed suit. Their patrol routes intersected, starting from opposite ends of Star Region 106 and meeting in the middle, passing each other in the 106th Star System.
The two Patrol Fleets departed one after another, warping away in opposite directions.
In the operations command room, the group chatted casually while monitoring the movements of the two Patrol Fleets. To successfully lure the Katon Fleet, the Xue Family even deliberately leaked Xue Jiye's whereabouts via electromagnetic waves.
Time passed minute by minute, and before they knew it, another half-month had gone by.
The two Patrol Fleets had completed most of their patrols and were nearing the end. Yet, within a range of over a dozen light-years, there was still no sign of the Katon Fleet.
This was expected. Liu Hai and the others hadn't pinned their hopes on succeeding in a single attempt—the plan was scheduled to last half a year.
Just as they were about to write off this attempt as a failure, the detection system picked up two Katon Fleets crossing the border line. They were making short-range warps toward Sector 106.
However, to everyone's confusion, their trajectory suggested they were heading straight for Li Xiuxian's Patrol Fleet—a stark deviation from expectations.
"Why are they going after Li Xiuxian?" Deng Pinghua remarked, puzzled.
Wang Yuchun, chewing on a cigarette, blinked and said, "Could we have gotten the wrong target?"
For a moment, everyone nearly laughed. Though the target was wrong, at least the fish had taken the bait.
"Check other sectors for anomalies," Xue Renli commanded, his tone now fully restored to that of a cautious commander.
"No activity. Could there really only be these two fleets?" Du Jia sounded surprised. This didn't align with the Katon Fleet's usual tactic of coordinated cover operations.
"A mere two thousand warships in total—how little must they think of our Patrol Fleet to be this bold!" Xue Renli's mood soured further. Though rationality dominated his thoughts, his irritation remained. Since they were here, the plan would proceed as intended: surround and strike first.
"Dispatch three fleets. Follow standard anomaly response protocols."
As the operation's overall commander, Xue Renli had the authority to mobilize planned fleets. This time, however, he only deployed the Xue family's Anomaly Response Fleet, deliberately excluding the Pioneer Fleet involved in the operation.
This was a calculated misdirection. After years of conflict, both sides had developed comprehensive behavioral and cognitive models of each other's tactics.
This familiarity was precisely why prolonged warfare often devolved into attrition. With both sides so well-acquainted, achieving surprise without external interference had become nearly impossible tactically.
The reason this ambush plan was approved lay in Liu Hai's proposal and the majority participation of the Pioneer Fleet. The Katon Civilization lacked a cognitive model for Liu Hai's thinking, putting them at a disadvantage in anticipation.
Within the Stardust Star Region, three Anomaly Response Fleets set out simultaneously, heading toward the designated anomaly zones as planned.
Just as the two Katon Fleets entered Sector 106, the three Xue family fleets appeared in adjacent sectors, positioning themselves precisely at the edge of each other's detection range.
Alarms blared across both sides' fleets. After a brief confirmation of enemy presence, the two forces swiftly adjusted their formations—one preparing to retreat, the other to pursue.
Meanwhile, the originally patrolling 16th Patrol Fleet warped to a position one light-hour behind the Katon Fleet, effectively cutting off their escape route.
Though the blockade infuriated the Katon creatures, it was an expected outcome. With such an extensive border, fleet detection was commonplace. They called for reinforcements while readying for battle.
The Xue family fleets activated space anchors to disrupt the surrounding sectors, preventing warp escape. Then, unhurriedly, they converged from all directions, forming a loose encirclement around the Katon Fleets at the center.
The Katon Fleets fired first, concentrating their barrage not on the three Anomaly Response Fleets but on Li Xiuxian's 16th Patrol Fleet at full power.
The moment the barrage hit, Li Xiuxian understood Xue Jiye's frustration—being blindsided the moment you stepped out was enough to infuriate anyone.
Under Li Xiuxian's command, the Patrol Fleet returned fire in alternating volleys. Though their firepower wasn't as dense as the Katon Fleets', it was relentless. The three Anomaly Response Fleets didn't idle either.
Upon reaching the optimal firing range of three light-seconds, they unleashed every weapon at their disposal, aiming to annihilate the two Katon Fleets outright.
Crimson laser beams crisscrossed through the void, striking against the Katon Warships and colliding violently with their azure Shields. Under this relentless assault, the Energy Shields of warships were shattered one after another.
Following closely, volleys of Sublight Missiles were intercepted and detonated in batches by Katon's Close-in Weapon Systems, creating Energy Storms that obscured entire sectors of space.
-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!