Chapter 19

'Just so you know, the Sagittarius Cantilever is within the Star River Empire's sphere of influence." Edward said, putting down the book he was holding.

'I know, but by that time we had control of the Starbridge we could have walked there." Elina said excitedly.

'We'll see." Edward's tone was perfunctory.

'See? You promise me or I'll apply to go on this mission." Elina said, her small face starting to redden, she hadn't expected Edward to be so perfunctory.

'I'm the commander in chief, I'll just forbid you to participate." Edward said without raising his eyes.

'Then I'll withdraw from the operation, and you'll find someone else for the control command of the orbital thrusters!" Elina said unforgivingly.

'Hey, hey, hey, okay, I promise you'll go!" Edward ran out of ideas and had to agree.

He then said, 'What the hell are we going there for? What's so great about visiting a relic?"

'To see if I can get some inspiration to mess with my gadgets, of course." Elina said.

'Come on, those ruins have been there for hundreds of thousands of years as well.

The Star River Empire has also sent specialized research teams to study them hundreds of times, and even if there were any

has been applied long ago, what enlightenment can we give you by going now." Edward tried to dissuade her from this risky and useless behavior.

'The Empire has conducted scientific research over a hundred times, but they haven't even researched where the door is." Elina spoke up.

'Then what makes you think we'll get anything out of going there?" Edward rolled his eyes, he thought Elina was daydreaming.

'Because I've studied all the scientific records of the Imperial researchers, and I think there are a few methods that haven't been tried yet."

Elina continued, 'Current physics hasn't made any progress in centuries, don't you want to try something special that's possible?"

Edward didn't answer anything, it suddenly occurred to him that it would be nice to get something done, centuries of technological stagnation had gradually deactivated the Star River Empire, something he didn't want to have happen within the Federation.

A week later, on the bridge of the Gunslinger, Admiral General Walter spoke to Edward, 'I'll leave everything to you! Edward."

When he boarded the ship at the starport he realized that the Gun Rider was not your average battleship, she was more slender than a normal starship, with a streaming hull, and the Nova-class main guns were of a hidden design, with the turrets all retracted into the ship when there was no battle.

This starship also adopts the rare design of two islands in the front and rear, the front island is responsible for commanding the ship's navigation and combat, while the rear island is responsible for commanding the entire fleet, where the command and control equipment and intelligence systems are centralized.

The Rifleman's power system is also unique.

Using six Imperial Star Circle 4 controlled fusion reactors, symmetrically distributed in the rear half of the ship, the abundant energy supply can not only provide three times the power than the average large-scale ship, but also allows the energy weapon system to have a faster rate of fire and longer continuity.

Edward saluted and walked over to the console and spoke, 'The Free Federation is now facing a life and death test.

If we can't take Andre Star Fort, then there will be no peace within the Federation's starfield, and a steady stream of Imperial starships will cross the star bridge until we are completely overwhelmed.

This battle! Only by succeeding will we be able to completely untie the noose around our necks, I hope that all commanders at all levels will go all out! All commanders listen to the order, Operation Meteor, the operation begins!"

With Edward's order, Elina spoke, 'Orbital thrusters ignite."

As she gave the order, the signal instantly reached the various propulsion units of the Menil Star through hyperspace, and those giant eye-like thrusters emitted a bright ethereal blue light, like the giant star had opened its six eyes.

Edward looked at the display screen as Menil's Star broke away from its otherwise elliptical orbital path and arced toward Andre's Star Fortress.

'Forward battle report, our main fleet is catching fire with the main Imperial fleet near the Essoda sector."

'Menil's Star orbital corrections complete, beginning acceleration, eighteen minutes until impact."

'All is well with the troop carriers, currently maintaining a distance of twenty kilometers from the Menil Star."

'As planned, have a portion of the fleet break into fortress gun range to attempt entanglement with the enemy." Edward spoke up.

'The forward breaking portion of the fleet was destroyed, the enemy activated their fortress cannons and destroyed over a dozen of our starfighters with only one strike!"

'Menil's Star was captured by Andre's Fortress radar."

'Alright, here comes the main event." The general said as he clenched his fists.

Only to see a large dust cloud suddenly rise from the front of Menil's Star on the monitor, reflecting the outline of the tens of kilometers wide laser rays of the Fortress Cannon.

'Menil's Star has been hit head-on, damage is within the expected range."

The Menil star dragged a belt of broken up dust as it continued toward its target.

Several more Fortress Cannons then hit it, and for a moment Menil's Star became hell incarnate as the Fortress Cannons' tens of kilometers wide high-energy laser rays melted a portion of its surface, followed by a violent explosion.

The melted rocks and debris on the front of the star were thrown into the cold space by the violent explosion, and then gradually slowed down and cooled down, leaving a stream of stellar material in the starry sky.

Even so it was still maintaining its acceleration, like a brute bull, accelerating regardless.

'Imperial cruiser sighted, several units."

Edward was startled and busied himself by asking, 'How big is the fleet?"

'Just a few scattered cruisers, about three."

Edward thought for a moment and said, 'Shorten the distance between all transports and Menil's Star to ten kilometers, hide behind Menil's Star's dispersed stream of matter don't be detected, and stick closer if you can!"

'Once we are discovered, five thousand special ops personnel will be living targets." Elina spoke up.

'Entering range of Fort Andre's new star-class main guns."

'Thrusters at full speed! The faster the better!" Edward spoke.

'Carrier 4 reporting, we have been locked on to enemy weapons systems and are maneuvering in a small circle to avoid them!"

Edward said, 'You need to stay close to the Menil Star, now is not the time to talk about safe maneuvers!"

'Carrier 4 reports that they didn't hit us, Menil's Star was knocked out of the stream of matter blocking the energy cannons."

Menil's Star had carried another round of attacks, the side of the star had been mostly chipped off as the planetary level main guns had joined in the strikes, the cracked and cratered star had lava flowing freely across it.

In space Menil's Star dragged a stream of material millions of kilometers long, like a furious knight, rushing steadfastly towards its target.

On the Tilapia cruiser, Alphonse was sipping coffee in the command seat, listening to the battle report coming over the comms and said, 'It's chasing them down to within range of the fortress guns, those Federation commanders are either crazy or stupid."

Jan said, 'Yeah, destroying more than ten interstellar battleships in a single strike, the firepower index of the Fortress Cannon is truly terrifying."

'What was the response in person to the orbital anomaly report from Menil's Star, Star Fort Andre?" Alphonse asked.

'The commander of Andre Starfort isn't worried, claiming that even if they hit the starfort it will just leave a modest hole" Jan said, taking a seat next to Alphonse, both hands copied together, thumbs constantly twirling around each other looking bored.

'Ugh, being too confident in your firepower can be a problem! Let's get closer and take a look." Edward said, ordering the two nearby cruisers to come closer.

'Do you think that big guy can withstand Andre's heavy fire?" Jan pointed to the planet Menil, which was out of orbit on the star chart.

'I don't know, I don't know anything about the firepower of the fortress, all I know is that if the fortress is lost, the Star River Empire's good days are over." Edward said working something on the controller.

'Don't talk nonsense Alphonse, aren't you afraid of the Guard gang?" Jan said while still looking around, seeing that there were no suspicious glances he gave up.

'Alas, the truth is, the pivot point of the Empire's battle plan is Andre Star Fort, without this strategic pivot point, there is no way to talk about trapping the Federation, long-term attacks and so on." Alphonse said.

'What's the point? The worst that can happen is that we lose Andre Star Fort, we retreat to another section of the star bridge and build another star fort." Jan said, picking up his coffee and taking a sip.

'You! Don't get into this bad habit of being comfortable, losing the Star Fortress will cause three problems."

Alphonse held up three fingers and said, 'First, once the star fort is lost, the large fleet will lose its supplies and lose its way back, it can be said that it is dead, it is only a matter of time;

Second Andre Star Fortress is different from the Federation's upcoming Essoda Star Fortress, it is a product of the former pre-imperial era, let's just say that that Fortress Cannon the Empire has long been incapable of building;

Thirdly, letting the Federation's power flow into our Empire's hinterland, aren't you afraid that they'll mess up every planet with a resistance army?" Yang scratched his head and said, 'The Star Fortress won't be lost, that big guy will probably be disintegrated halfway through the blast, Alphonse, you're too nervous."