The Beginning [II]

The ancestor of Goran Besman was the first prime minister of the Golden Empire. He was known as the Iron-Blooded Besman. Some people said that the former Prime Minister orchestrated the conquering of three different empires in succession when he followed the founding emperor, Leon the Great to conquer the galaxy.

Any conquered planet that was willing to obey emperor Leon, would be supported by the Prime Minister, but he would severely punish those who dare to disobey emperor Leon's orders, whether they were military men, civilians or nobles.

For Prime Minister Besman, as long as he could complete the task, it didn't matter if two more people died in the process. In some ways, Goran was still very much like his ancestors. They were all the same type who didn't care about how many would die in order to complete their mission.

Therefore, Goran's enemies were scared of him, even his colleagues were afraid of him. However, because of his acts, Goran was promoted to rear admiral in his early 30s and independently commanded a formation of cruiser fleet.

According to reliable information provided by the intelligence department, Goran planned a annihilation attack, specifically targeting the Phantom pirate gang. For this reason, he did not hesitate to deliberately ask for the navigation route of a particular interstellar spacecraft's flight from Mureta to Yugo 2 to be changed, so that they could go to the star field near the suspected secret base of the Phantom pirates provided by the intelligence department, and set up a deployment in this star field in advance. Many spy satellites were set up to get the latest intelligence.

Goran was determined to capture the Phantom crews. Even if there were hundreds of passengers on his interstellar spaceship, Goran could decide to capture Phantom pirates and sacrifice the lives of hundreds of civilians. So, determined to capture Phantom, Goran's fleet had been wandering in this star field for almost three days now, but he wasn't concerned.

Hence today, when Phantom's flagship just came out for a cruise, the spy satellite arranged by Goran in advance had already discovered him.

After receiving the notification from the spy satellite, Goran immediately asked the interstellar flight to change its course again and urged them to take the initiative to lure in Phantom, while Goran's fleet quietly lurked not far from the interstellar flight.

Phantom did not make Goran wait for long. His pirate flagship transformed into a battleship was indeed heading straight for the interstellar flight. What surprised Goran even more was that Phantom only came with one flagship and no other frigates. Goran lamented God's unkindness towards him.

"Cross Star destroyers 1 and 2, circle back to the target flank from both sides. Be careful not to let the target discover you in advance. Please be invisible!" Looking at the Phantom spaceship appearing on the screen in the command room, Goran issued an order.

"All carrier-based fighters, get ready for combat. The entire fleet is now at level two combat alert!" Along with Goran's order, the piercing voice of the computer's communicator sounded throughout the entire cruiser fleet, and everyone started preparing for war in an orderly manner according to their respective responsibilities.

One minute later, the two destroyers entered the designated position, and all combat units were in battle mode. Goran stared intently at the screen in the control room, only to see Phantom's flagship fire a shot at the interstellar flight as a warning, asking the interstellar flight to stop for boarding.

At first, the Starliner ignored Phantom's warning and continued to move forward. Then, the pirate ship launched a missile, which hit the Starliner's power module and forced the spacecraft to slow down. The tail of the interstellar flight began to smoke, and occasionally some ejection windows were launched.

Despite the state of the Starliner, Goran did not order an attack on the pirates. He was still waiting for the perfect moment.

The pirate ship approached the interstellar flight. From the surveillance screen, they watched as a hanging ladder of the pirate ship docked with the interstellar flight, and firelight shot out from the pirate ship to the Starliner from time to time. It was obvious that the pirates were sporadically attacking those who wanted to escape through the ejection pods. Soon, more hanging ladders successfully docked the pirate ship with the interstellar flight.

Goran turned on the monitor installed on the interstellar flight. From the monitor, it was obvious that groups of pirates in strange combat armours had broken into the interstellar flight and began killing and looting.

"Order the fighter group to move in. Order the Marines to go forth. Remember, we have to capture those pirates alive this time!" Goran finally issued the attack order.

Waves of carrier-based amphibious assault aircraft began to appear in space. They swooped and launched torpedoes and missiles at the Phantom flagship. Under the barrage of assault, the pirate ship's protective shield cracked and smoke started to emit in some places. The pirate ship's hanging ladders began to be retract, and several brave pirates piloted fighter planes to face the assault aircrafts.

Goran's pilots casually dodged these pirate pilots, and soon the comrades behind them turned the pirate fighter planes into balls of fireworks in the universe.

A Marine Corps landing craft successfully broke into the interstellar flight. The Marines rushed out and entered the interstellar flight. They held their firelights, weapons made of contracting solid flame, high and slashed at the retreating pirates. They could see the surviving passengers of the flight, laying on the ground, shivering, and sent them to the waiting rescue ships.

Another landing craft flew directly towards the pirate ship, but unfortunately it failed. The ship-based cannon of the Phantom was finally charged, and a huge energy beam shot towards the landing craft, turning it into a huge fire ball in the starry sky.

In just such a short time, the pirate ship disconnected all the hanging ladders and desperately retreated. Two destroyers appeared on both sides of the pirate ship, and they stationed themselves diagonally on the pirate ship's retreat route. If the Phantom flagship continued to follow this route, the three warships would definitely collide together. If the Phantom moved forward, it would find the interstellar craft blocking its way, and Goran's battle cruiser was already heading towards the pirate ship from below.

Seeing that he had no way to retreat, Phantom used its trump card. The pirate ship suddenly made a parallel ninety-degree turn, then increased its power and rushed out before the three-sided siege was completely formed. He knew they would never see that one coming.

When Goran saw the pirate ship protruding out of the encirclement, he angrily threw the cup in his hand to the ground. "These damn pirates actually modified the power system of the battleship, making such a heavy battleship as capable as a fighter jet and turning around at any time! The bunch of trash from the Academy of Sciences have been researching this for so many years without success, but they have allowed the pirates to achieve this technology!"

However, Goran did not give up. "Landing craft one, stay on the interstellar flight and wait for the backup troops to take over. The remaining flights, come with me to chase the pirates. This time, you're allowed to destroy the spaceship. I repeat, shoot to kill."

After Goran's new order was issued, the cruiser fleet clung to the tail of the pirate ship.

During the pursuit, the pirate ship continously fired back lasers, and sometimes, torpedoes. Goran's fleet wasted a little time trying to avoid these attacks, but took them head-on. Soon, the distance between the imperial fleet and the pirate ship gradually narrowed.

"Sir, there's an unknown spacecraft that suddenly appeared in front of the enemy ship." Goran's adjutant reported to him.

"Unidentified spaceship? It can't be Phantom's reinforcements, can it?" Hearing this news, Goran suddenly had a bad feeling. "Order the crew of the spacecraft to immediately identity themselves." After a pause, Goran asked the adjutant: "Are the spy and jamming satellites we placed in this star field still working?"

"Yes, sir, our satellites are still functioning normally." the adjutant replied affirmatively.

"Sir, according to our detection radar, the unknown spacecraft is not a military ship." At this time, someone from the monitoring department also provided the latest intelligence report. "It's a civilian transport spacecraft."

"An unharmed spacecraft? " After hearing these piece of information, Goran finally felt relieved. "That's one unfortunate spacecraft. The course remains unchanged, and complete the charging of the main guns of each ship. The shooting target is the Pirate ship. The unidentified spacecraft is a collateral damage."