Chapter 227: First War of the Coxcomb (1/2)
Chapter 227: First War of the Coxcomb
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The armor of the warship had that particular metallic glow which convinced Ye Chong the identity of the voyage made out of black gold. Unlike the warship of MPA which was all graceful and sophisticated, the Black Covers made their ship in the toughest, and most efficient way they could possibly imagine. Those tubes of the cannons bold as their soul, those rampant amount of gates across the ride where the mechs seemed to be swarming out from soon… there were even thorns over the body, giving the warship an appearance of a porcupine. Ye Chong was foreseeing the also decent capability of warship on performing a close-ranged attack while firing off cannons.
The two approaching warships from the Black Coves were rather surprised seeing the fleet accelerating out of sudden. Are we busted? No way. Privateers should not have the technology to detect us beforehand.
Within the boundless space and the broadening milky way, the size of the Coxcomb was pronounced as he travelled in slothful tranquility.
The two warships approached very quickly after they discovered that the over-sized spaceship was heading towards them. It was no shocker, a Zika-graded spaceship was merely a sailing ornament, one with only the outside. Privateers were still privately owned ships after all, compared to the warships, it would feel like an arm against a firearm. The remaining 5 ships from the Black Coves were highly confident of the capabilities of 2 leaving warships, so they sailed off to the warping point.
It was a relief when Ye Chong saw the other mates of the Black Coves forfeited the fight. They were going to be in contact soon. A one-on-two would be still better than a one-on-seven. The stress would be quite different.
The figure displaying their distance was ticking on the screen, getting lower each time.
Ye Chong deployed Han Jia, the issue of being busted was no longer his concern. The survivability was something more important. He did not hop into the cabin immediately, as he knew Han Jia could wield only the fists and the legs, going off now when both parties remained distant would be pointless.
Well, then, we will do something first. Ye Chong did not intend to hold back. Shang would probably think the same, as nasty-minded as he was.
Beep. The board covering the 52 electromagnetic cannons was lifted. The tubes were glowing in threatening darkness towards the approaching dark force. The sudden change of the Coxcomb startled the incoming foes.
ZZzzzzzzt!! Energy started being charged at the muzzles! Due to angle issues, only 33 electromagnetic cannons were pointing within the proximity of two of the foes. The accumulating electromagnetism was glaring in the black void. Some said it was brighter than the nova, the morning star. The naked eyes seemed to be deceived as they saw a constellation of a tiny fish formed by the 32 glows in the dark.
The hologram on the projector was showing the otherwise. The densely conglomerated glows were a major horror to the crew. The pale blue glow flooding the muzzle was a brutal warning.
”Battle station! All warring units take off now!” The leaders made a prompt command in their throaty shriek. The gates were opened one after another, as the units swarmed out of their nests. Like hornets they took off smoothly despite the emergency, the outcome of their systematic training was justifiable. The cannons of both warships also started glowing.
Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep Beep beep. Beep beep Beep beep Beep beep.
Within twinkling of eyes, the screen was overflowed by countless red spots.
A massive energy-based weaponry like the electromagnetic cannons would require a moment of charging-up, or the unit would explode as the abrupt surge of energy jammed the system.
The electromagnetic cannons of the Coxcomb were charging, as about hundred of Beauty’s Secretion slid into the space quietly. Both Ye Chong and Shang knew, the key to the war might not be the energy-based weaponry they had built, rather it could be the deadly corrosion in the dark. Although they were unsure of the capabilities of Beauty’s Secretion as it lacked actual experience in wars, its participation would have direct influence to the outcome of the war. And that launch Shang made had already consumed about half of the secretion in their storage.
The two warships were performing their evasion. It might appear to be ridiculous to Ye Chong as he would never believe a warship being capable of performing an evasion this agile, but it just happened before his eyes. The coxcomb literally looked like a retarded sloth before the two Black Coves’ crafts. And that was when Ye Chong made up his mind, swearing to strive on giving the Coxcomb another overhaul, if they ever made it out alive that is. The Coxcomb was nothing but a walking bullseye. Ye Chong prayed to have eliminated the foes before the Coxcomb got hit.
Then, considering the possibility of the foes requesting immediate backups from the other 5 warships after this, Ye Chong would be obliged to perform a space-jump before the backups arrived. The acceleration before the actual space-warp would put them under the greatest risk, as any form of interruption could lead to a horrible outcome - they could jump to another dimension, while also having the possibility to warp to the deserted area beyond the 5 major galaxies. Any imaginable outcome would be mortal. So, that last straw to the crumbling, it must be avoided at any cost.
The flowing blue glow at the muzzles were getting brighter. Zoom! 33 beams of light in pale blue rifted the void. The two warships could have looked all deceitful in their evasion, but they were no match for the master sniper called Shang.
The electromagnetism oozed over the darkest space formed a shining bridge between the Coxcomb and the foes.
The beams were obviously most effective penetrating the armor of the warship. Penetration itself was nothing to be afraid of, since unlike the spaceships or the mechs, most warships were programmed to perform a rather facilitated self-repair mechanism immediately. The armor was not the issue, the energy units, however… Assuming the beam landed on the batteries or the charging pipes of the foes, the collision of energy would initiate an explosion which would cause casualty as well as the destruction of the warship itself.
The first wave of attack was fully aimed at one of the inching warship. The thumb rule to fight a one-on-two was always to knock down one partner with maximum force before the other.
The outcome, was grand. Under the attack of charged energy blast, the warship was crippled, probably damaged beyond repair. The Black Coves might have fought the mightier foe like the MPA, but the MPA only had about 20 electromagnetic cannons on their corvettes, unlike the Coxcomb, where Shang launched 32 cannons at once. The power would be beyond overwhelming, especially with the aid of the tubes made out of black gold which further enhanced the effect. Given that they were facing the MPA instead today, their warship could have taken at least two to three waves of high density energy blast like this. Too bad, they were not.
Zzzzzt Zzzzzzt! Boom. The explosion happened one after another. The beam probably had in fact landed on their batteries. The consecutive explosion made Ye Chong unable to imagine the remnants of the ship, he could end up seeing nothing in the void. The crew on that warship? The explosion was a horror itself, the men on that warship would have ended up the specks among the asteroids. No way they could have survived that.
And that was the first war between warships Ye Chong had witnessed, where death could be determined in one moment. Contrary to the fights between mechs, the body of a warship was too hefty to make real agility, so the first wave of firing would have determined the outcome.
Ye Chong tumbled into the cabin of Han Jia. He got to put on something, he was still a human and he would be diving into the void.
The Coxcomb took a drastic turn as the 19 electromagnetic cannons at the other side were about to finish charging.
Oh no.
Ye Chong’s eyes were then blinded by the light. He felt his eyes almost burning. Boom! The explosion created a quake within the ship, carrying inertia, flipping Hanjia violently. Ye Chong could feel himself tumbling uncontrollably. Wham! Han Jia was slammed upon the wall. Luckily he was able to get inside Han Jia and gained protection from the built-in liquid buffering system, or he would have transformed into a splat of flesh on the wall.
The Coxcomb was hit! The Coxcomb was hit! It was fortunate that the Coxcomb was making a turn, that the light beams slightly missed as they slid through the Coxcomb at minimum contact. They carried on zooming beyond the Coxcomb, going through the fleet accelerating behind.
Ye Chong by then had learned the fact that any individual, in spite of the mighty strength they might wield, would be minuscule in a massive war like this. No one could guarantee he or she could be the last one standing in the war.
The armor of the Coxcomb was papery compared to the warships. At least the cannons of the foes were not as great as the electromagnetic cannons on the Coxcomb or the slightest touch like that just now would have torn the Coxcomb apart.
Everything happened according to Ye Chong’s imagination. The Coxcomb was too sluggish to make the necessary movements at occasions. Shang had tried his best to predict the timing and perform the evasion beforehand, yet they were struck by most of the incoming beams. The yellowish white glow sliced through the dark void from the Black Coves, leaving openings on the fragile body of the Coxcomb. And one beam had contacted a charging cannon at one spot, which caused the explosion that flipped Han Jia like a whirlwind.
Well, the Coxcomb was alright, except for the fleet. A beam could easily penetrate two to three spaceships and the fleet was traveling at their closest, like the group of ducklings with their mother. No way the beam could have missed.
Explosion, a few explosion illuminated the space. The queueing fleet was then disorderly. They might be able to face the pirates’ strike with courage, but towards the brutality of the firing, they had surrendered with the loss of hope. They could only watch the explosion happening with their eyes enlarging, while their leaders struggled to speed up, striving to crawl to that warping point and leave this dangerous war field. The situation had already gone beyond control, while the leading spaceships of the fleet had already performed their space jumps and scurried from the scene safely.
The spaceships of different colors and shapes crashed into each other. Ye Chong could no longer distinguish the one which Grandpa Qian boarded within that one panicked glance. He prayed, that they would be the luckier ones than the others and not part of the explosion.
The Coxcomb was not the real warship in the end, one blow and the body of the Coxcomb was full of openings. The saving grace was that the Coxcomb was not damaged at its main component so it was still under Shang’s control.
”Ha! Ha! Ha! The spaceship was crawling slower than a tortoise. One more blow and we could smash it! We would not have to call for backups if we knew it was made out of jellies!” stated the living warship of the Black Coves proudly.
”Right.” The even-tempered cannoneer was finding it strange as well, ”What a weird warship. Both slow and frail. The armor was their fatality. Tsk, although I must admit that they have great firepower. Warship Number 7 took the blow and bloody hell, it became goner, scaring the crap out of me. Freaking hell. I think the MPA’s cannons are no as good!”