Free Web NovelChapter 536: Chapter 536 Assault on the Odium Syndicate (2)
Well over a hundred hidden compartments disguised as extra armor plating began to shift open as the Intrepid shifted from being a normal cargo ship, to a deadly warship.
From the surge of power within the production facility, Avery could tell that the Odium Syndicate goons running the place were in a panic.
Naturally, they never expected such a major threat to suddenly show up and get so close to them without so much as being slowed down.
"That’s not give them any time to gather themselves and mount a counterattack. Activate the weapon now." Avery ordered.
Several members of the bridge crew began furiously tapping away at their consoles as they prepared what might have been the Intrepid’s most devastating weapon.
It had four incredibly powerful pieces of equipment installed, one being the field disruptor emitter that Vi’ivando had designed, and the second was about to receive its first use in real combat.
"We’re ready to fire."
"Good. Aim at the station’s main reactor. Let’s stifle any response they’ll be able to muster."
At Avery’s command, the firing sequence was initiated.
The power drain was immediately noticeable, as the immense output of the Intrepid’s specially designed reactor that utilized a queen energy lifeforms core for amplification was drawn into the weapon.
Outside, the three protruding parts of the ship that stuck out to protect the main hangar began to light up with a light blue glow.
Soon the tips of each one grew bright enough to look like stars, and then arcs of energy that looked like thick lightning bolts shot out and connected the three forward most points of the ship.
From there, a massive sphere of energy began to expand until it was almost to the point of bursting free from the Intrepid.
When it finally reached the size where it could grow no bigger, the largest electromagnetic pulse attack anyone present had ever seen was launched.
As the blast flew, the energy began to expand now that it was no longer constrained by the limits of the Intrepid’s size.
By the time it struck the station, the electromagnetic pulse had reached around five kilometers in diameter.
The entire station shook as the attack landed, and it did not take someone with Avery’s ability to see the flow of energy to see that the station electrical systems were being disrupted.
There were some visible surges around the area that was directly hit, and fire began breaking out as some devices were overloaded.
Needless to say, if the people onboard the station were in a state of momentary panic before, they were now being driven into a frenzy.
They should have been safe in this out of the way location that was under the protection of the Odium Syndicate.
Under normal circumstances, the station could deploy its own defense systems and call for backup while they fended off any attackers.
However, as the people working the production faciality were coming to find out, their communications were not reaching any of their allies, and the electromagnetic attack they had just endured was slowing the deployment of their defenses in certain section.
Nevertheless, powerful as the Intrepid’s supreme electromagnetic cannon as it had been dubbed was, it still was not enough to fully knock out the power of a far larger station.
Laser and missel defense turrets began opposing up at equal distant intervals along the outside of the base and locked onto the enemy attacking them.
’Looks like twenty to twenty-five percent of their weapons are failing to activate. I suppose that’s a good enough outcome for our first shot.’ Avery thought as he instructed the helmsman to put some more distance between them and the station.
He wanted to fire the electromagnetic cannon again, but it needed time to cool down between each strike.
Ardesen, one of the lead designers for the weapon, had stressed that using it in quick succession would cause certain parts to overheat and breakdown.
At most it could handle two shots back-to-back, but it would require a much longer cooldown period afterwards and extensive maintenance to make sure nothing had broken down.
A third blast after that was theoretically possible, but in no uncertain terms, Avery had been told that would definitely cause certain parts to be damaged and need repairs. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
As for a fourth, Ardesen had looked against when Avery asked, and told him that the cannon would undoubtedly be broken beyond repair if he did such a thing. It would basically need to be fully replaced if he ever pushed it so recklessly far.
Of course, Avery had no intention of doing so, but he needed to know the limits of one of his carrier ship’s strongest weapons.
If there was ever a scenario where he needed to push the supreme electromagnetic cannon beyond its limits to save members of his crew, he would not hesitate to sacrifice the weapon. freewёbnoνel.com
’But it doesn’t look like I’ll need to do anything so rash this time.’
The Intrepid’s shields were easily soaking up the station’s laser fire, and its extensive point defense systems were taking care of any missiles that got close.
While the station might have had the Intrepid outgunned in terms of quantity, Avery’s carrier vessel was certainly winning out in terms of quality.
It was equipped with some of the most advanced weaponry made in the Dramid Alliance, while the station merely had average defenses.
"Oh, looks like they’re sending out some fighters." Jasmine pointed out.
This drew Avery’s attention to three hangars that had opened up and a stream of vessels flying out of them.
These were not typical small ships used by most people, but dedicated assault craft.
They did not have a hyperdrive or light speed drive equipped and lacked any living facilities at all. Including even bathrooms. It was a sad experience for anyone that needed to relive themselves while out in space
The only real thing fighter vessels had were a chair in the cockpit, thrusters, and as many weapons as could be packed onto their small frame.
Obviously, this limited their usability, and they were basically nonexistent in the Dramid Alliance. The authorities there much preferred what they considered to be fully functioning ships rather than cheap disposable fighters.
"We can’t leave our incoming guests without a proper welcome. Send Ezra and his squad out to greet them."
With permission granted, Ezra’s Specter along with eighteen other vessels flew out of the Intrepid’s main hangar.
This was far from the full force that Avery’s company could bring to bear, but he was approaching this assault in phases that had already been planned out.
While his team certainly had many advantages and had succeeded in a surprise opening attack, they were still up against an entire station.
He wanted to continue to meet their resistance with just enough power to beat them down without incurring too much risk. All the while keeping some of his cards hidden to deployed as necessary.
They had collected what information that they could on the Paradise production facility, but there were still plenty of unknowns to be wary of.
This battle was occurring in the heart of enemy territory, and though Avery and his company had taken steps to mitigate risks and secure a victory, there was no telling when something unexpected might happen.
For now, however, things were going about as well as they could.
"The cooldown period on the electromagnetic cannon has passed. Prepare to fire again. Target the section with the greatest concentration of missile turrets. We need to disable their weapons so we can board the station." Avery said, doling out instructions to the bridge crew.
Had they just wanted to destroy the station, they would not need to go through this much effort, but they had not forgotten what their main mission was.
Ultimately, they needed to gather more intel on the Odium Syndicate.
Their best opportunity to do so was to detain some of the production facilities personnel and download its database. Both of which would be far more difficult to achieve if they just blew the base up.
Once the supreme electromagnetic cannon had fully charged up again, it fired into the station that possessed no means to stop the attack.
It had some thrusters that would allow it to move very slowly if it ever needed to reposition itself, but those were certainly not going to be enough to let it dodge any attacks. For all intents and purposes, the production faciality was a stationary target that was at the complete mercy of the Intrepid.
After the second hit from a truly enormous electromagnetic pulse, another section of the station saw itself losing power.
’At this rate, it’s only matter of time now. We’ll keep whittling away at its ability to fight back until it can’t resist any longer.’
A grin was beginning to form on Avery’s lips when he received an emergency report from the crew members manning the ship’s main sensors.
Over four hundred signatures had been detected closing in on their location from all directions.
