Chapter 538: Choosing to Pursuit
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the radar screen of the Godora fleet, the hundred odd light blips representing the DarkStar fleet had started to pull away, and the ion cannons’ shots had also become sparse. All this signified that the enemy was retreating.
Barette’s expression changed as he hypothesized, “DarkStar is unable to break our defense, so they’re going to retreat before our reinforcements come. They’re giving up on the attack this time!”
Observing the battle, Nagakin furrowed his brows. “Looks to be the case...”
“The distance between us and them is getting further. I’m going to pursue them; we can’t let them go so easily!” Barette bellowed.
“Don’t be careless. This could be the enemy’s ploy to lure us out. We’re better off maintaining our current position.”
Barette’s face was unpleasant as he growled, “DarkStar rarely appear. I’m not going to let the opportunity slip away! We were passively slammed a volley of shells previously, and now we’re going to just watch as the enemy saunter away? This is not my style!”
The DarkStar fleet was retreating without pause. Once they passed a certain distance, the radar would no longer be able to see through the stealth mode of the other party, and DarkStar would once again enter stealth mode and become an invisible fleet.
As he gazed at the blips moving further away, Barette was sluggish, wishing to move.
Nagakin also hesitated a little. The safest tactic was naturally to stand by their current position; however, opportunity was always fleeting. Besides, he himself was not sure if the enemy was really retreating.
If they pursued and engaged DarkStar, with their strength, they could probably destroy a few DarkStar assault ships. In addition, if they could delay the retreat of the enemy until their reinforcements came, it would allow them to hit DarkStar hard!
The first two attacks had caused a lot of losses for Godora. The entire War Bureau was holding in their anger; even Nagakin wished to obtain some accomplishments in the war.
Furthermore, Barette was currently the commander of the frigate. While Nagakin’s rank was higher, he could not directly overrule Barette’s orders.
“Nagakin, stop hesitating!” Barette said in a low voice. “Whether you come or not, I am going to make a move.”
Nagakin’s eyes sharpened as he made a decision. “Transfer a portion of them to remain on sentry.”
He no longer tried to persuade Barette, instead preparing to pursue the enemy.
“I don’t need you to remind me!” Barette’s eyes lit up, and he immediately sent down the new orders.
The next moment, the Godora frigate was divided into two teams, where eighty of them chased in pursuit of DarkStar and the remaining forty stayed in Planet Aquamarine’s orbit, awaiting further orders.
Barette had decided to pursue the enemy, but he did not put all his eggs in one basket. The enemy’s fleet numbered about one hundred and ten. Since he was the pursuer, it was sufficient for him to utilize eighty spaceships. On one hand, he could pose a threat, and on the other, he need not be afraid of retaliation from the enemy, able to hold their own on the battlefield. Furthermore, they had the Calamity Grade Super Nagakin, who could put up a fight even if the enemy had one as well.
The pursuing troops quickly caught up, and the ion guns erupted in succession. Golden lights flashed as they carried out an attack over the horizon while releasing interference rays to prevent the enemy from escaping.
Since DarkStar was retreating, Barette adjusted his strategy to maintain sufficient distance to compensate for reaction time. His objective was to harass and delay them, but at the same time, he took precautions for if the enemy were to suddenly turn back or possibly launch an ambush.
Both fleets moved in the universe, gradually distancing themselves from Planet Aquamarine.
At this moment, in the opposite direction of Barette’s departure, dozens of transition jumps appeared, stopping in outer space near Planet Aquamarine. When they revealed themselves, it was a new fleet of DarkStar spaceships, with the few dozen all being assault ships.
Nakapu’s fleet actually consisted of over two hundred battleships in total, but Godora only had one hundred and twenty battleships at hand, almost half of DarkStar’s numbers. As such, Nakapu had chosen to split his fleet into two formations, commanding the main fleet to tangle and sap away the strength of the Godoran fleet, luring the tiger away from the cave.
As for the other strike force, they would then take the opportunity to attack, piercing through the blockade created by the Godoran fleet, and complete their objective of wrecking Planet Aquamarine.
If the Godoran fleet did not separate, this strike force would still appear and launch a pincer strike.
In the command ship far away, Nakapu, who was being chased by Barette, sent out the order to the strike force.
“Attack!”
The forty battleships that were still patrolling around Planet Aquamarine immediately reacted, rushing to set up a resistance. This time, the strike force did not engage in an attack from over the horizon but instead went for a close-range shootout. Various explosions could be seen on the shields of both sides as they fought intensely.
The size of this strike force was twice the size of the remaining Godoran fleet. The troops fought a bitter battle and immediately informed Barette of the situation.
After receiving the news, Barette’s eyes flashed. “So, it turned out to be this tactic. Humph! The enemy actually had twice our number. That’s why they could carry out such a plan... All units, listen up, pick up the speed and pursue. Don’t let the enemy escape our field of vision! Tell the defending troops to give up on Planet Aquamarine and immediately rendezvous with us!”
Nagakin jumped in shock. “You’re not going to reinforce them‽”
“There’s no need, and time doesn’t allow us to do so. To turn back and reinforce now would be an act of futility. We would even allow the DarkStar command ship that we are pursuing to escape. The gains do not justify the losses. The division of the enemy is a good thing, as we can gather all our troops and completely destroy the DarkStar command ship! If we give them enough pressure, then the strike force will also have no choice but to forsake the mission and reinforce the command ship!”
Barette coldly snorted. If the target planet had been an important asset to Godora, he definitely would have abandoned it, choosing security over destroying them. However, this calamity planet, Planet Aquamarine, was insignificant to him and could be forsaken at any point.
Between protecting Planet Aquamarine or destroying the DarkStar fleet, he would unhesitatingly choose the latter!
During the first two attacks, the situation had also given Barette some suspicions. As such, he had decided to simply leave Planet Aquamarine unprotected under the salvo of gunfire from the strike team to see if DarkStar would really destroy the calamity planet. If they still did not wreck the planet in such circumstances, then at least it would reveal the intentions of the enemy.
Even if he guessed incorrectly, there would not be any problems. Losing one planet meant less pressure for the War Bureau.
Nagakin’s brows furrowed tightly. With matters as such, he had no control over Barette’s decision. He replied, “I’ll have to first inform Black Star.”
“No need, I heard it all.” From the communicator came Han Xiao’s voice. He did not say much, only calmly replying. “Leave the strike team to me.”
“You have to resist them.” Nagakin cupped his fists before turning off the communicator. Sighing loudly, he quickly went to the doorway.
At this time, the spaceship that he was in accelerated to catch up with the DarkStar command ship where Nakapu was located. Both spaceships collided into each other’s formations, and artillery fire blasted indiscriminately. Because the spaceship that he was in was the closest to the DarkStar fleet, his battle was the first to begin, leaving him no time to be concerned of the situation on Han Xiao’s side.