Chapter 292: Turn off the engine!
The ten beacons were shaped like huge spheres and were spread out in all directions, each marking the spot where the wars.h.i.+ps should be parked. There were also bright-red laser beacons a good distance away, reminding the partic.i.p.ants of the boundaries for this event. If anyone inadvertently strayed outside the designated area, it would be seen as a violation of the stipulated rules and they would subsequently be disqualified from the tournament.
Up on the command deck, Xia Fei had given off a series of commands as the various functional systems of his frigate quickly began operation. The missile launcher hidden beneath the deck rose, while the black launch tubes pointed outward to s.p.a.ce.
The number on the screen was counting down at a steady rate. Xia Fei found some time to lit himself a Hongtashan. The moment the round started, he would first have to avoid getting ensnared in the chaotic free-for-all battle that would surely break out, cruising along the boundaries to search for the best opportunity to engage in combat, eliminating the opponents without a hint of hesitation on his end.
This series of combat concepts sounded simple on paper but was anything simple in practice. The combat area was roughly two thousand kilometers long and wide, and while that would certainly be large if this was on Earth, Xia Fei was not driving around any car but a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in the expanse of s.p.a.ce. Anyone would be able to reach end to end in such a small and confined s.p.a.ce with a light push of the accelerator, maybe even leaving the designated area if they were not careful. Besides, he would need to accomplish locking on, attacking, defending, and all other combat maneuvers; there was simply no way for anyone to emerge victorious without possessing superior foundational skills.
In all the Golden Finger Cup events thus far, only the battles.h.i.+p and search events tested the partic.i.p.ants’ ability to control their wars.h.i.+ps, while everything else in the tournament only sought to pose only technical issues for the partic.i.p.ants to resolve.
Actually, the a.s.sociation of Machinists would often be asked about this. This was evidently a tournament for mechanists, so why was there a need to test the partic.i.p.ants’ control of wars.h.i.+ps? What did it have anything to do with machinists, whose main job would be that of repair and maintenance?
The a.s.sociation of Machinists would answer as such: “A machinist who does not fully comprehend what a wars.h.i.+p pilot would truly feel while in flight is not qualified to call themselves a machinist, not to mention an exceptional machinist.”
Xia Fei felt that this sentiment made a lot of sense. It would simply be a stark departure from a machinist’s fundamental existence if a machinist only knew how to repair and modify s.h.i.+ps, never asking whether the retrofications made were reasonable or if the pilot felt comfortable while operating the s.h.i.+p.
No matter how great a wars.h.i.+p was, it still needed someone to pilot it, and a machinist’s responsibility was to make wars.h.i.+ps operate more efficiently. They should do all they could to maximize a s.h.i.+p’s combat effectiveness rather than leave the pilot confused, constantly referring to the operation manual to check how they could make the s.h.i.+p move.
Fortunately, Xia Fei was both an outstanding pilot and a pa.s.sable wars.h.i.+p retrofitter. Worries of adaptability simply did not exist since he had installed all the key operational configurations the way he was most accustomed to, well-integrated and within reach as per his preference.
“Five… four… three… two… one…”
As the screen reached the end of countdown, the command deck flashed green to indicate that this round had begun.
“Fire control system, lock onto all targets.
“Keep the target painters at the ready.
“Activate the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster and be on standby to replenish the s.h.i.+elds at any time.
“Begin sweeping for enemy lock-on signals with the tracking radar.
“Monitor the enemy’s engine power with the ion deflection radars.”
Xia Fei gave out a series of orders in the first instant, all of them instructions to primarily keep track of the enemy and in preparation of an attack, rather than making the first move.
In a free-for-all battle where friend or foe could hardly be distinguished, a good wars.h.i.+p commander must maintain a clear head, a.n.a.lyze their situation and calculate the most logical plan of attack.
From a command perspective, the first thing that Xia Fei had done was to pull out from the battlefield and observe the overall situation. After all, this was to be a messy fight with no distinction between friend or foe.
“Attention: Enemy has locked onto this s.h.i.+p.”
Xia Fei was a little surprised. He glanced over to the anti-monitoring screen and saw nine s.h.i.+ps seemingly locking onto himself at the same time, all the while not targeting each other.
“B*st*rdṣ, they plan to gang up on you and deal with you!” Phantom anxiously yelped.
Xia Fei did not say a word, quicking steering the s.h.i.+p to the left as his right hand reached out to the speed control lever and throttled it. A blue plume appeared behind the wars.h.i.+p as it roared away in an attempt to put some distance between himself and the enemies.
The truth was plain to see and even the most pessimistic viewers would not have believed that an insane nine-versus-one situation right at the start of this round could happen. It was far too unbelievable, and it was very obvious that these men had already discussed this before the round started.
“Shots fired! Nine Kestrel-cla.s.s frigates open-fired at Xia Fei simultaneously. a.s.suming that there are four missile launchers per s.h.i.+p, that means that a total of thirty-six missiles are making their way toward their target at the same time. The speed of a Kestrel-cla.s.s frigate isn’t enough to engage in evasive maneuvers against such a simultaneous attack. There’s no doubt that all these thirty-six missiles will all hit their target; can Xia Fei survive this?” the commentator anxiously blurted out.
“Absolutely not! Right now, the only option he has left is to get into an escape pod, or else an accident might just happen! He mustn’t try and hang in there!” A bespectacled female commentator joined in.
The audience was now all standing, anxiously staring at the screen. The thirty-six missiles seemed to be flying out at a uniform speed against that black s.p.a.ce. A one-thousand-kilometer distance only needed approximately ten seconds of flight time for these missiles to cover. The good-hearted people prayed for Xia Fei to escape this crisis, while a greater majority of the audience was hoping to see brilliant fireworks bloom amid the stars.
“Aim for target no. 1 to fire.”
Xia Fei had immediately begun his counter-attack the moment the enemies’ missiles were deployed.
Unfortunately, he was only able to fire four missiles, and the difference in power between the two sides was immense.
“Quickly prepare your escape pod! There’s no way we can survive a simultaneous a.s.sault from thirty-six missiles. Even if you have the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters, there’s no way you’ll be able to take it all!” Phantom nervously yelled.
Alas, Xia Fei did not respond. His eyes were as calm as still water.
“Missiles loading complete,” prompted the cool female voice of the onboard smart computer.
“Fire.”
The second volley of missiles was sent out. Xia Fei seemed to have thrown caution to the wind, putting his life on the line as he sought to bring down several of his enemies with him.
Unfortunately, as Xia Fei was launching his attack, the enemies were also doing the very same, and the firepower they possessed far outmatched Xia Fei’s.
“Target painters active.”
A red laser beam shot forth, highlighting one of the enemy wars.h.i.+ps.
When target painters were used in conjunction with the missile system, it would be able to magnify the enemy’s signal radius by as much as fifty percent.
This was exactly what the fully automated missiles were designed to pursue; the larger their signal radius, the more accurate the missiles, thereby increasing the lethality of the missiles.
“Attention: The first wave of attacks will hit in 4.3 seconds.” The female voice rang out once more, though its tone was distinctly more urgent this time.
“Switch the medium proton bombs to manual control!” Xia Fei shouted.
Even without looking at the display screen, Xia Fei could already see the flaming trail of the missiles getting closer through the viewing window, a clear indication that the missiles were already close.
“Not even evading or getting your escape pod ready—has Xia Fei gone insane?”
“That’s it. There’s no way he’s escaping now.”
The tone of the commentators was filled with sadness as if they firmly believed that Xia Fei was doomed to die. However, in his s.h.i.+p’s control deck, Xia Fei was staring avidly at his radar system. There were circles on it, each circle indicating his combat radius, and thirty-six dots were making it past each circle as they homed in on Xia Fei.
Xia Fei slightly moved his index and middle finger and placed them on two red b.u.t.tons separately. A single tap was all he needed to release a medium proton bomb instantly.
The TV broadcast had kindly placed a countdown clock at the top right corner of the screen, indicating when the missiles would connect.
The many spectators could feel their hearts beating as they quietly counted down inwardly. Plenty of their hearts came to a stop the moment it reached zero.
*KABOOM!*
The blast from thirty-six missiles practically exploding at the same time was shockingly powerful.
All they could see on the screen was a fiery-red glare that abruptly appeared. The effect of thirty-six highly explosive missiles detonating at the same time made for a stunning sight against the starry backdrop of s.p.a.ce, making it hard for anyone to see clearly.
“They hit! Who knows if Xia Fei managed to escape with his life after such a great explosion?”
The glare disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Unexpectedly, Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p was actually still unscathed, its hull completely intact.
This was simply far too astonis.h.i.+ng. To think a frigate would be to withstand the bombardment of thirty-six missiles at the same time! Furthermore, all thirty-six of them hit the target, and such a result went well beyond anyone’s understanding toward wars.h.i.+ps.
It was still understandable for this to happen if Xia Fei was piloting a cruiser, but he was in a frigate; it was even a frigate known for its subpar defensive performance. Just how did he survive such an intensive offense?
“Don’t stop the missile launchers. Get the target painters onto the next target and keep firing relentlessly!” Xia Fei’s two eyes were slightly red as he yelled. “If you dare to plot against me, you’d best not blame me for being merciless.”
After firing two volleys, making a total of eight missiles, Xia Fei turned his cannons toward the second target.
He fired four missiles at the enemy, and due to the target painters supplementing this attack, the effect of the attack achieved spectacular results. That s.h.i.+p struck by the four missiles was effectively incapacitated as it lost its firepower and defense.
However, Xia Fei did not let him off, and his second volley of missiles was already enroute.
“The radar system has identified the signal source to be from wars.h.i.+p no. 79. Please advise,” the smart computer reported.
“That’s the enemy’s command s.h.i.+p. As long as we take this one s.h.i.+p down, I’m sure we’ll be able to throw the enemy into turmoil. Xia Fei, this is our chance!” Phantom anxiously cried.
“a.s.sign that enemy s.h.i.+p as the final target in our attack sequence; I want him to live till the very end!” Xia Fei growled out his command.
“Don’t take this risk! We now have a chance to strike the head of the hydra and sow some discord amid their ranks. Why are you letting him off?!” Phantom shouted, impatient and puzzled.
“Letting him off?” Xia Fei coldly snorted. “Not a single one of them can think of getting away.”
With that said, the second wave of enemy missiles was upon him. Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p shook violently from the impact.
“Damage report.”
“Energy s.h.i.+eld is completely depleted. Thirteen percent of hull has been damaged, and we’ve lost two percent of structural integrity.”
“Shut off the engine and divert all the energy toward the s.h.i.+eld rechargers. Charge up for another proton bomb.”
“The proton bomb requires another 4.5 seconds to be fully charged.”
Phantom’s expression went pale, nearly collapsing down on the ground, b.u.t.t first.
“Xia Fei. with your engines turned off, are you planning to stay here like a lame duck and wait for death?” Phantom asked hoa.r.s.ely.