Admiral Scott stared at the B-380 Coordinate flashing frantically on the Tactical Screen, alongside the rapidly scrolling Gravity Peak Data.
With a grave expression, he repeated his subordinate's report.
"Abnormal Gravity Value...
Spatial Structure Disturbance reaching Fleet-Level Jump standards...
A Large Mass Object is attempting a Forced Jump towards Point B-380?"
He suddenly looked up at the image of Admiral Armstrong on the communication screen, his speech quickening.
"Admiral Armstrong!
What's your take?
At a time like this, what Fleet would dare to Warp in our direction?
The Abuja Stellar Ring was just blown up, and now some fool is jumping right into the core zone?"
His subtext was clear.
Was it panicked, routed Imperial forces, or...
a brazen Surprise Attack by the Federation Fleet?
Admiral Armstrong's expression, however, was relatively calm.
After a quick glance at the shared gravity data, he issued a resolute command.
"Admiral Scott, now is not the time for speculation.
If you don't want the Imperial Starships at the B-380 Jump Point to be torn into fundamental particles...
Immediately order all our warships near Point B-380 to leave the Jump Influence Zone at maximum speed!
Now!"
Scott was taken aback.
"Leave?
If what's warping in really is the Federation Fleet, wouldn't that be letting them waltz right into our inner defenses?"
Armstrong shot him a look, his tone carrying a trace of cold, unquestionable hardness.
"So what?
Admiral Scott, use your head.
If you were a Federation Commander, knowing full well the Stargate is heavily defended, would you order an entire Fleet to jump directly into the very heart of the enemy's most fortified Jump Point?
What's the difference between that and suicide?
Fools like Jenkins are rare."
These words were like a bucket of cold water, cooling Scott's heated mind.
Indeed, any Commander with a shred of common sense wouldn't do such a thing.
Jumping directly under the nose of the enemy's main force was like voluntarily stepping into a meat grinder.
"So, you think..." Scott said hesitantly.
"The most likely scenario is one of our own Fleets, crippled or even scattered by a Federation attack.
In their flight, panicked and lost, they chose the relatively safer B-380 point for an Emergency Warp, trying to escape back to our control zone," Armstrong analyzed, his tone confident.
"They might have been pressed hard by pursuit, or their navigation is damaged, forcing them to choose such a dangerous blind jump.
We must clear the jump zone immediately. Otherwise, if the two material streams overlap at the moment of jump completion, that Fleet will be torn apart into fundamental particles by space."
Scott's doubts and vigilance were largely dispelled by Armstrong's reasoning based on common sense.
Yes, how could any enemy be insane enough to charge directly into the line of fire?
It must be our own people, and ones who have been routed and are in a sorry state!
At this thought, a surge of anger rose within him, and he began issuing orders into the communicator.
"Order all starships at the B-380 Jump Point to immediately evacuate to a safe distance! Now!"
At the same time, he gritted his teeth and said to Armstrong, "Once that fleet of deserters arrives, I swear I'll have their commander court-martialed! Imperial soldiers fight to the death—they do not flee! Escaping via warp is nothing but shameful!"
The order was swiftly executed.
Hundreds of Imperial starships of various types that had been patrolling and guarding the vicinity of the B-380 Jump Point, though filled with confusion, strictly complied with the command. With engines at full power, they rapidly moved away from the Jump Material Influence Zone around the coordinates.
Within just a few minutes, the airspace near the B-380 Jump Point was cleared, leaving only the intangible spatial coordinates and increasingly violent gravity ripples.
The gun muzzles of all Imperial Fleet vessels still faintly pointed toward that empty region. However, the expressions on the officers' faces on the bridges had shifted from high alert to a complex mix of disdain, irritation, and a hint of curiosity.
They waited, prepared to receive the Imperial allies who were said to be arriving, likely in a sorry state.
And the space, growing increasingly unstable due to the impending fleet arrival, had its point of distortion precisely at the inner edge of the Empire Star Gate Defense Perimeter—a theoretically extremely dangerous location that had been temporarily overlooked due to a mental blind spot.
B-380 Jump Point.
The oscillations of the space waves reached their peak. The starscape behind the jump point twisted and blurred completely, as if a stone had been thrown into water.
Then, an intensely dazzling dark blue glow, carrying the resonance of destructive energy, erupted at the core of the Jump Coordinate Point like a supernova explosion!
Instantly, it swallowed all the starlight in that area. The intense glare even caused observation windows on many distant Imperial bridges to automatically dim their filter layers. Many operators staring at their screens instinctively closed their eyes or turned their heads away.
The brilliance lasted several seconds before rapidly contracting and dissipating from the center outward.
When the blinding halo faded, revealing what was concealed within, every Imperial officer and soldier who witnessed this through optical sensors or with their own eyes experienced a brief mental blank.
It was not the expected battered, scattered Imperial forces in disarray.
Instead, it was a massive, unfamiliar fleet in strict formation, their hulls gleaming with a cold metallic sheen!
Even more heart-stopping were the sleek, aggressively designed silhouettes of those vessels and the unmistakable emblem on their hulls—a dark blue star ring encircling a golden star.
The Federation Fleet!
The Pluto Direct Fleet and the Tiankui Star sub-fleet!
"Enemy attack! It's the Federation Fleet!"
"How dare they?!"
Shocked screams and roars erupted simultaneously on countless Imperial bridges.
Yet, this Federation Fleet moved faster than the Imperials' shock.
The moment the jump completion was confirmed, missile launch bay covers on all ships in the fleet array slid open almost in unison, like a giant beast opening eyes all over its body.
No energy charging, no hesitation.
Ignition!
Launch!
Countless uniformly designed, medium-sized missiles were ejected, trailing short tail flames.
However, they were not aimed at the surrounding Imperial warships. Instead, radiating outward in all directions from the Federation Fleet itself, they spread rapidly in a radial pattern!
After flying distances ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of kilometers, they detonated almost simultaneously in mid-air.
There was no deafening roar, nor any shockwave powerful enough to tear apart hulls.
What the explosions produced was a massive, rapidly expanding flow of special particles—a three-colored mixture of gray, blue, and silver!
These particles were extremely fine, spreading and blending as if they possessed a life of their own.
In the Void, they formed dense, liquid-like smoke clouds that quickly merged into a continuous whole.
The speed at which the clouds expanded was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, they completely engulfed and enveloped the entire Federation Fleet, which had just completed its warp and still carried the residual glow of energy.
From the perspective of the Imperial Fleet,
the once clearly visible Federation ships vanished the next moment behind the churning, spreading three-colored mist.
All that remained were some blurred, distorted outline silhouettes and the occasional, severely scattered flicker of ship hull lights piercing through the fog.
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