Chapter 160: The Radiant Explosion
Upon hearing the term "the starting point of the so-called 'Path of Glory,'" Alicia scoffed dismissively.
She appeared rather disdainful, unwilling to engage with Gu Hang, and turned her head away to continue working.
She constantly issued commands, listening intently to the reports from various departments, making appropriate judgments, and passing down her orders accordingly.
Alicia seemed a bit tense, striving to stay focused.
She was, indeed, not an experienced naval veteran and had no formal combat experience, but her stellar performance at the Naval Academy was no fraud.
Had she not excelled academically, no matter her family background, how could she have become a captain? The Fofana family didn’t lack other capable young talents.
Her mind was filled with the tactical doctrines she had learned at the Naval Academy, and she applied these by assessing real-time battlefield situations, responding and issuing orders according to standard procedures.
It may have appeared somewhat rigid, but this approach minimized mistakes.
In her younger years at the Academy, Alicia had thought of all sorts of eccentric naval battle tactics, only to realize, after gaining some practical experience, that her youthful ideas had been mostly wishful thinking.
Some of her ideas might even seem effective in the current battle scenario.
But she dared not use them.
Who could tell whether untested tactics would produce unexpected results or lead to disastrous failures?
Under the current circumstances, her priority was to avoid mistakes, leveraging the Quintet’s cruiser firepower and formidable defenses to proceed steadily.
She preferred to err on the side of caution.
Watching Alicia’s focused expression, Gu Hang allowed himself a slight smile, feeling somewhat reassured.
How to mend his relationship with this female commodore was a matter for later; for now, they needed to get through this predicament first.
A conflict had nearly erupted between them just moments before.
After Gu Hang led approximately twenty thousand soldiers onto the starship, the *Quintet* headed to the warp point of Fury Owl System Tunnel One.
Prior to this, Alicia had attempted to have the ship’s Psyker communicate with the *Beautiful Maiden* to alert Wu Jiarong to prepare in advance.
The message failed to send, likely because the other ship was traversing the warp tunnel.
In such a state, it was difficult for a Psyker to locate and deliver a message to the target accurately.
At this point, they gave up trying to send any message and had the starship wait silently in the void.
All communication signals were muted, and, aside from essential energy supply, most of the engine power was shut down.
The starship drifted silently in the void, and on the observation scale of tens or hundreds of thousands of kilometers, it was like a speck of dust.
Even if an enemy emerged from the warp tunnel and immediately scanned the surrounding environment, they’d have trouble detecting it.
Alicia strictly followed her previous plan, lying in wait for the right moment.
Fight if possible, flee if not.
However, when she saw the Greenskin fleet emerging in pursuit of the *Beautiful Maiden* merchant convoy, she found herself in a bit of a dilemma.
Those frigates were negligible; their smaller-scale weaponry would struggle to penetrate the main cruiser’s defensive system.
But the four destroyers were another matter, equipped with medium-range weaponry that could pose a real threat.
That said, their odds weren’t hopeless.
With the *Beautiful Maiden* convoy’s four ships joining them, the chances of victory were actually high—perhaps sixty, even seventy percent.
However, a sixty or seventy percent success rate wasn’t enough for Alicia to gamble on.
Losing meant losing everything; it was better to retreat, regroup, and summon reinforcements to eliminate the Greenskins with the full Pegasus Fleet.
As for Fury Owl Planet’s safety?
Forget it; a planet with an annual tax quota of five million tax coins wasn’t worth saving.
A single frigate cost at least five billion; Fury Owl Planet would have to pay a hundred years’ worth of taxes to afford one frigate.
For Gu Hang, however, the concept was entirely different.
Alicia’s retreat would mean the end for Fury Owl Planet.
He was adamant that Alicia engage in the battle.
And thus, a conflict arose between the two.
Alicia was reluctant; in the heat of the argument, Gu Hang subtly hinted, without directly saying it, that his twenty thousand soldiers were onboard the starship.
Alicia’s face darkened instantly.
Even if he hadn’t said it explicitly, this was undoubtedly a threat.
Earlier, she had encouraged Gu Hang to bring his troops aboard to guard against the Greenskins, as the Greenskins favored boarding tactics in space battles—something taught in naval protocols.
While the ship’s Marine Squad was on board, an additional twenty thousand troops provided greater security.
But who would have expected Gu Hang to use this as leverage?
Should an internal conflict break out on the starship, whether her Marines could subdue Gu Hang’s twenty thousand soldiers was uncertain, but undoubtedly, such a fight would last some time.
And internal discord aboard the *Quintet* would be a fatal threat to its safety.
Gu Hang could see that Alicia was cornered.
He didn’t press further.
A true all-out fight would only leave the Greenskins laughing.
He then softened his tone, speaking of defending the Empire, protecting the convoy, and defeating the alien enemies, while subtly promising that if they succeeded in annihilating the Greenskin fleet, Alicia would achieve an undeniable victory.
A lone cruiser taking down an entire Greenskin fleet of four destroyers and eight frigates would be a stellar accomplishment, renowned not only within the Pegasus Fleet but throughout the entire Imperial Navy.
With such a record, coupled with her family background, her rank could potentially rise quickly.
The rank of commodore and that of rear admiral had a massive gap.
Generally, a commodore wasn’t even called a general, while a rear admiral was undoubtedly a proper general.
If successful, she would be the youngest general in the history of the Pegasus Sector, with no one questioning her promotion due to family ties.
Her name would resonate far beyond the Pegasus Sector, throughout the Dragon Hawk System, and even the Eastern Galaxy.
Alicia Fofana would be celebrated, a new rising star in the Imperial Navy.
These words made Alicia’s heart race.
She had thought about it herself, but having someone articulate it directly stirred her even more.
Considering everything, Alicia finally gritted her teeth, ordered the ship to exit stealth mode, prepared for full engagement, and established contact with the *Beautiful Maiden*.
The situation developed from there.
Gu Hang had brought about the current situation, but from this point, his influence was limited.
Commanding the starship was not his area of expertise.
For now, he could only play the observer.
It was quite a show.
Across this vast starlit expanse, over a dozen massive space warships on both sides hurled ferocious firepower at each other.
Beams of colored lights, flashes from shield impacts, energy explosions, and flares from direct hits on ships lit up the void.
From the *Quintet*’s bridge, Gu Hang could see the results and the battle visuals transmitted by the contemplator array clearly.
The lonely starscape had grown lively.
However, these colorful lights held terrifying power and lethal impact.
Yet, as he watched, Gu Hang wasn’t merely there for the spectacle.
He observed Alicia closely, taking in the battlefield conditions, her commands, and absorbing every bit of knowledge about space naval warfare.
Many situations and responses made little sense to him, but he memorized them.
Later, with theoretical study, he might understand and improve.
Although such knowledge was of little use to him now, Gu Hang had come to realize the crucial role of space forces in this interstellar age.
They were decisive forces.
In the future, if conditions permitted, he, too, would form his own navy.
Who knows, he might even draw some naval technology soon?
Then again, best not; even if he did, he couldn’t afford it.
Starships were a pinnacle of industry, accessible only when a planet’s productivity was highly advanced.
Lost in thought, he noticed the intensity between the two fleets had reached a fever pitch.
Not long after, a Greenskin frigate, already shield-overloaded from the *Quintet*’s cannon strikes, exploded in mid-air.
The *Beautiful Maiden* and two other frigates had combined their fire to finish it off.
An experienced commander in the *Beautiful Maiden* convoy had seized upon the advantage created by the *Quintet* and dealt the fatal blow.
This was the second ship destroyed since the start of the battle.
With two fewer ships, the Greenskin fleet’s firepower had dropped by nearly a quarter.
The *Quintet*’s ambush had shifted the scales another ten percent in their favor.
If the Greenskin fleet had a rational human commander, they might choose to retreat at this point.
But, unfortunately, this was not the Greenskin way.
They continued charging under human fire.
At the cost of another destroyer and two more frigates, they managed to take down one of the merchant convoy’s frigates and board two others.