UGT: 29th Terrana 280 a.G.A. / 04:19 p.m.

  Location: ASF Aurora, outer edges of the Arakh-S?l System (black hole, 215x the Sol star mas), Inner-Noran sector, Ruidan Raider Association, Milky Way

  The jumps throughout the Aetherian outer trade corridor had been anything but smooth and had taken way longer than expected. Turbulences, residual interferences, gravitational anomalies... It was quite the surprise that the entire fleet, even the Frigates, had managed it. To be fair, they had nearly lost ships on multiple occasions, but in the end everyone had sucessfully pulled through. And now they had reached it.

  Arakh-S?l. The second black hole of the Association in the Inner-Noran sector. Their local main hub for antimatter production as well. And best of all, they believed it impossible to access from any vector other than their own local capital system, Karesh-Ti’Varn. A glaring weakness easily abusable.

  The ASF Aurora emerged first, hull resonating softly under the subtle pull of the singularity. "Full passive. No emissions. Lock the sensor cone. Begin broadfield scan at minimum pulse strength," I ordered calmly. The commands passed down the ship like an instinct through muscle. Fen didn’t need confirmation. We’d done this before.

  Seconds later the Federation fleet fell out of hyperspace behind me as well, somwhat worse in shape but still entirely combat ready. I would certainly still hear from Admiral Thorrison about how "reckless" my decision to take that route had been, but for now that could wait. First, the FSF Defiance appeared. Then came the four Cruisers in staggered formation, moving quietly, holding their power signatures low. The two Destroyers followed, sleek, tense, ready for interception. And finally, the two Frigates. Small, fast, eyes and knives both.

  Ten ships. That was all. And still, it would be enough. It had to be enough.

  [ Local space is active. Multiple energy signatures detected. Orbital platforms, station clusters, and a small defensive fleet. The expected setup for their primary antimatter production hub, I'd say. ]

  "Any more details?" I asked.

  [ Three major stations in orbit around the black hole, likely their antimatter refinement facilities. Two smaller outposts as well, probably for everything else that could come up. Defense fleet consists of one Cruiser, two Destroyers, and three Frigates. They're on standard patrol routes, not expecting trouble. ]

  I nodded. "They think this system is secure. Let's prove them wrong. First things first, get the fleet into the gravitational interferences of the black hole. We don't want to be spottet. Than ramp up our sensors, we need more details before acting. Tell Admiral Thorrison to follow suit."

  [ Understood. Commands are relayed and the fleet's on the move again. ]

  It didn't take all that long for us to reach the shadow of the black hole were we took on a stationary position. Then, we waited for our sensors to do their job. And soon we got results. The stations were heavily automated, with minimal crew presence. The defense fleet's patrol patterns were predictable, their sensors not calibrated for stealth incursions. Right now, this still looked quite easy

  “All ships,” I said calmly, “initiate combat, our target is the defense fleet. The enemy Destroyers and Frigates are our priority. Do not let them coordinate. Do not let them flee.”

  “Acknowledged,” came Admiral Thorrison’s voice. His tone was clipped, ready. Than the fleet exploded into motion.

  The ASF Aurora surged forward like a predator off its leash. Her silhouette cut through the darkness, a cathedral of fire and power. The FSF Defiance kept close to our port side, her weapon bays already glowing with the charge of long-range plasma lances. Flanking us, the four Cruisers spread out in a wide arc, their sides bristling with turrets and missile hatches, while the two Destroyers drove in low and fast, ready to harass and intercept. The Frigates hung back, scattered and shadowed, cycling through electronic warfare routines and flooding the local space with jamming noise.

  The Association vessels began to react. The Cruiser, two Destroyers, and trio of Frigates scrambled into a defense formation. But they were too slow. The ASF Aurora’s opening salvo came not with a roar, but with a sudden lurch of gravity as gamma particle lasers and railguns fired in near-perfect synchronicity. The lead Association Destroyer never even got its shields up, four antimatter shells from the Gauss cannons punched straight through its center mass. It folded in on itself, breaking apart like paper in a storm.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  Only slightly later, the FSF Defiance struck with their lasers as well, shearing off parts of one of the enemy Frigates. The rest of the Federation fleet opened fire within seconds. Coordinated, precise, merciless. One of the Cruisers locked onto the second Destroyer and crippled its propulsion with a swarm of intelligent missiles, forcing it to drift helplessly in open space. The Aurora followed with a disintegration beam that carved straight through its spinal structure, leaving only molten wreckage tumbling end over end.

  The enemy Cruiser attempted a counterattack, launching a full spread of kinetic shells and torpedoes at our formation. But the Frigates were ready, one projected a hard-counter ECM veil, while another deployed a directed plasma smokescreen that interfered with target locking. Fen tracked the entire volley in real time.

  [ Minor trajectory deviation. No hits incoming. ]

  “Return fire. Focus fire on their Cruiser,” I replied. The ASF Aurora’s long-range matter desintegrators fired again, cutting across the void like glowing razors. They carved a line across the enemy Cruiser’s armor, stripping entire segments of hull plating. Before it could adjust course, the FSF Defiance’s main battery hammered home, blowing out the reactor shielding. The ship convulsed and then bloomed into flame.

  The final two enemy Frigates tried to run. One of the Admiral's Destroyers surged after them, engines spiking dangerously as it chased through the upper orbital plane. Railgun bursts lashed out, one after the other, until one Frigate’s drive section disintegrated into spinning slag. The last tried to cut hard into the gravitational fringe of the black hole itself. Clever, in theory, but it left a perfect opening.

  The ASF Aurora rotated forty-five degrees. Missile silos opened like petals. The Whirlwind system launched, seventeen antimatter warheads, guided, evasive, hungry. They struck with precision, detonating in a single synchronized burst that scattered the Frigate into glowing vapor. I exhaled once, slowly. “Status?” I asked.

  [ Enemy fleet eliminated. No distress signals transmitted. Confirmed complete communication blackout. Debris field expanding. Enemy formation wiped out. All Federation units nominal. ]

  Good. But that was only the first part. “All ships, begin phase two. Move boarding units into position. Prioritize the three major orbital platforms. We take the stations intact.”

  The Cruisers repositioned to form a partial blockade over the planet’s orbit. One Destroyer and both Frigates took up overwatch, their jammers still active, suppressing any residual broadcast capability. We launched the boarding teams. Dropships swarmed toward the three massive stations clustered in orbit around the black hole. Resistance was light, as predicted. What few guards they had were poorly equipped, caught entirely by surprise. They didn’t even organize into a proper defense. Fen read the situation as it unfolded.

  [ Outer sections cleared. Central core locked. Minimal resistance. Engineering sections secured. We now hold Station One. Boarding progressing on Two and Three. Minimal casualties on our side. No enemy messages left the system. ]

  Within half an hour, it was done.

  [ Stations secured. All key personnel has been detained. The antimatter supply line is ours. ]

  The Association’s black jewel of a system, hidden behind their prideful local capital and wrapped in the shadow of a black hole, had fallen in under an hour.No distress signal. No survivors from the fleet. No alarm. Exactly as intended.

  [ We have a ping from the FSF Defiance, most likely Admiral Thorrison. ]

  "Patch him through," I replied and Fen complied instantly. On the holoscreen in front of me, Admiral Thorrison appeared.

  "Captain Lunaris," he said without any pleasantry. "Our sweep is complete. We found no more threats or local transmissions. You were right ...again."

  "Naturally," I replied. "The system has been written off as harmless by the Association. They assume the only access is from Karesh-Ti’Varn itself. No one expects an approach from behind." The Admiral looked tired. Sharp-eyed, but tired. Like a man who knew just how thin the line was between a daring victory and catastrophic overreach. “How long before you're ready to move?" I asked.

  Admiral Thorrison hesitated only for a moment "Probably three days. We complete the jamming net, isolate the system entirely, finalize our scans of Karesh's inner hyperspace wake and then we move."

  I nodded. “Then let's do this. Im sure we'll manage.”

  The Admiral didn’t answer. He just signed off. I stayed on the Bridge a while longer, watching the latest mapping data from Fen’s hyperspace sweeps. Karesh-Ti’Varn had a lot of defenses. Static batteries, orbital defense platforms, layered cruiser patrols. Attacking would be suicide. We obviously knew all that. But all of that was aimed at their other two hyperspace entry points. No one would expect our vector.

  Soon, Karesh-Ti’Varn would burn. And the Association would finally loose this sector for good, opening up our way into the Kingdom of Ferron.