Chapter 469
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 469
On some level, Nicodemo wished Anton was present on Rutera right now. On another, he was glad Anton and the others had returned to their home planet. Rutera could certainly benefit from the combat prowess of the cultivators from Ceretos, but that was not the best way to maintain a strong, independent Rutera.
Trusting the motives of six individuals he knew for a year was already difficult. A reasonable facade could be maintained for such a time. And even they had admitted that not all of Ceretos would share their same helpfulness.
But damn if Nicodemo couldnt use that old archer to shoot down some ships right now. Anton was a thinking, mobile artillery station. Nicodemo didnt care if he drew power from their star if he could take out a few enemy ships. But General Nicodemo wasnt the only one making decisions. He had all of the war council to appease, as well as the president and other influential figures.
At least nobody was saying they should try to talk things out. The Azothian invaders hadnt exchanged a single word, nor remained still long enough for Rutera to make the attempt to communicate. And realistically, they couldnt afford to not immediately shoot the enemy ships out of the sky.
But here Nicodemo was, grounded. An arrow thunked into a target a hundred meters away. It wasnt a bullseye, but he was getting more used to archery. He had to admit the strain of drawing an arrow was much more cathartic than shooting a gun. In an actual combat situation he would opt for the latter- he wasnt skilled enough to use a bow in actual combat. But he was also never supposed to be in actual combat.
If he needed to give commands to the fleet, he could do so from any full communications station. Around the planet there wasnt even a concern about speed of light delay, and aside from a few scouting ships Rutera hadnt gotten much further than their immediate surroundings. It was difficult, commanding an army with no first-hand combat experience. Yet he didnt think anyone else was more qualified either.
After the initial attack training from the cultivators had opened up more options, but the skills were still being explored. They were effective man-to-man, but nobody was strong enough to do anything in ship combat. Though previously the very thought of it was preposterous, so it wasnt a terrible concern.
Upon exhausting his stores of natural energy, Nicodemo returned to his room to review recordings of battle. Rutera had achieved some success, and while the initial probing attack had taught them something about the invaders from Azoth, the enemy hadnt probed their defenses from nothing.
Nicodemo watched the video of a station and fighters against a small fleet of enemy ships- most were smaller than the first ones they had seen, but all shared a similar rotationally symmetric multi-sail design. He saw beam weaponry striking the smaller ships and eventually breaking through their defenses- but it took concerted effort. The larger ships, meanwhile, almost seemed to ignore their attacks. After the initial attack he had thought that simply diversifying their weapons would be sufficient, but that wasnt the case. When the enemy next showed up, their barriers resisted everything Rutera had already thrown at them- and they quickly adapted to anything new.
It wasnt perfect, though. Nicodemo watched swarming fighters rake a target with beams and pepper it with conventional ammunition. The latter wasnt something they preferred to use in space, but it was necessary. The enemy quickly adapted to a few different types of attacks at once but the baseline against their weapons wasnt as good. Nothing would ever beat the initial volleys, but as far as anyone could tell the more permanent adaptation was a far cry from being invincible. But half invincible was still a problem.
They could of course specifically adapt to even things theyd experience previously, making them nearly ineffective- but that still counted against the small number of things they could attune to at once. If there were more types of consistent attacks they either didnt adapt or all forms of defense were weaker. Changing up the frequency of their beams and lasers helped very slightly, but Nicodemo was really waiting for the next wave of refitted ships. Even outdated technology that was half effective was still better than the most modern weapons that were completely resisted.
Nicodemo frowned at the recording. He wasnt sure what he wanted to find. Maybe some type of weaponry that the enemy was more vulnerable to, though he and others had already gone over their recordings dozens of times by now. He knew every kill shot by heart- there were unfortunately few of those, but it seemed the Azoth forces were limited, and incapable of completely overwhelming them. The planetary shields were an important part of that. Damned expensive to run, but they had to be kept semi-active so they could be switched on at a moments notice.
Nicodemo really hoped the enemys ships were monumentally costly. They had to be or they were just toying with Rutera. Then Nicodemo saw something. One of their fighters took out an enemy ship, all on its own. Sure, it was one of the enemys smallest ships but why hadnt it been recorded? Ah, that was it. Technically, it wasnt an enemy casualty. At least, not a kill. Instead, the ship limped away with three sails, skirting past some of its larger cousins as the fighter focused on other active targets.
He reversed the recording, watching it again. Yes, there it was. Conventional ammunition splattering harmlessly against the ships barriers. It adapted, yet the same fighter came back for another round and neatly sliced off its sail. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. It kind of hacked it apart, but it still broke through the barrier. Then he saw that the sail wasnt completely dislocated until the fighter clipped it with a wing.
The ship that had moments before been one of the flagship vessels of Enterprise Starfield Shipping was now loosely fluttering towards the atmosphere below. The structure of the ship wasnt worth much, but some components were. Skyships needed special formations and crystals to fly, and space ships even more so. Traveling between systems wasnt cheap or easy.
Keeping the vessel intact would have been worth the most if anyone had been inclined to have more vessels or attempt a sale. Individual parts were easier to transport.
Please dont kill us! the captain repeated. We can pay you!
Chikere shoved a gag in his mouth. You cant pay us, but someone else can. Dont worry, youll be properly ransomed. Unless they were used for an ambush, or a reverse ambush or whatever. The Harmonious Citadel was really trying to crack down on them hard. But at the moment, they were hopping between locations with some regularity. None of the actual saints were coming for them, but there were a couple annoyingly strong archers and spearmen and stuff. Nobody worth fighting though. If they sent some swordsmen well, maybe there was a reason they werent doing that.
Looking through the swords down below, there were a few that might be able to replace something. Number fifty, sixty-three, maybe one hundred and seventy-two- but really, the last one was a backup anyway. They were better used as bait or handed to one of the more deserving members of their gang.
Oh, did you hear? Chikere said to Rahayu. Some of my friends took over an entire planet.
So? Rahayu shrugged, gesturing around them. There are lots of planets.
Its one of the good ones, though, Chikere said. Used to be Everhearts Tomb.
That guy? Remind me to go stab him later.
Uh, sorry, Chikere shook her head. Apparently he was there, recovering from wounds or whatever, but now hes retreated to the lower realms or something.
Ah, whatever, Rahayu shrugged. Think theyll let us use it as a base? Is it safe?
Brimming with formations, Chikere said. Kind of out of the way for our current work, though. Ill ask if they need any guests. We could trade with the Dark Ring, maybe.
Maybe. Hear anything from Ceretos?
Hmm, lets see. I remember them making contact with another system in the lower realms. Seemed like they were going to war or something?
Sounds great, Rahayu said. Gotta keep sharp.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 469
On some level, Nicodemo wished Anton was present on Rutera right now. On another, he was glad Anton and the others had returned to their home planet. Rutera could certainly benefit from the combat prowess of the cultivators from Ceretos, but that was not the best way to maintain a strong, independent Rutera.
Trusting the motives of six individuals he knew for a year was already difficult. A reasonable facade could be maintained for such a time. And even they had admitted that not all of Ceretos would share their same helpfulness.
But damn if Nicodemo couldnt use that old archer to shoot down some ships right now. Anton was a thinking, mobile artillery station. Nicodemo didnt care if he drew power from their star if he could take out a few enemy ships. But General Nicodemo wasnt the only one making decisions. He had all of the war council to appease, as well as the president and other influential figures.
At least nobody was saying they should try to talk things out. The Azothian invaders hadnt exchanged a single word, nor remained still long enough for Rutera to make the attempt to communicate. And realistically, they couldnt afford to not immediately shoot the enemy ships out of the sky.
But here Nicodemo was, grounded. An arrow thunked into a target a hundred meters away. It wasnt a bullseye, but he was getting more used to archery. He had to admit the strain of drawing an arrow was much more cathartic than shooting a gun. In an actual combat situation he would opt for the latter- he wasnt skilled enough to use a bow in actual combat. But he was also never supposed to be in actual combat.
If he needed to give commands to the fleet, he could do so from any full communications station. Around the planet there wasnt even a concern about speed of light delay, and aside from a few scouting ships Rutera hadnt gotten much further than their immediate surroundings. It was difficult, commanding an army with no first-hand combat experience. Yet he didnt think anyone else was more qualified either.
After the initial attack training from the cultivators had opened up more options, but the skills were still being explored. They were effective man-to-man, but nobody was strong enough to do anything in ship combat. Though previously the very thought of it was preposterous, so it wasnt a terrible concern.
Upon exhausting his stores of natural energy, Nicodemo returned to his room to review recordings of battle. Rutera had achieved some success, and while the initial probing attack had taught them something about the invaders from Azoth, the enemy hadnt probed their defenses from nothing.
Nicodemo watched the video of a station and fighters against a small fleet of enemy ships- most were smaller than the first ones they had seen, but all shared a similar rotationally symmetric multi-sail design. He saw beam weaponry striking the smaller ships and eventually breaking through their defenses- but it took concerted effort. The larger ships, meanwhile, almost seemed to ignore their attacks. After the initial attack he had thought that simply diversifying their weapons would be sufficient, but that wasnt the case. When the enemy next showed up, their barriers resisted everything Rutera had already thrown at them- and they quickly adapted to anything new.
It wasnt perfect, though. Nicodemo watched swarming fighters rake a target with beams and pepper it with conventional ammunition. The latter wasnt something they preferred to use in space, but it was necessary. The enemy quickly adapted to a few different types of attacks at once but the baseline against their weapons wasnt as good. Nothing would ever beat the initial volleys, but as far as anyone could tell the more permanent adaptation was a far cry from being invincible. But half invincible was still a problem.
They could of course specifically adapt to even things theyd experience previously, making them nearly ineffective- but that still counted against the small number of things they could attune to at once. If there were more types of consistent attacks they either didnt adapt or all forms of defense were weaker. Changing up the frequency of their beams and lasers helped very slightly, but Nicodemo was really waiting for the next wave of refitted ships. Even outdated technology that was half effective was still better than the most modern weapons that were completely resisted.
Nicodemo frowned at the recording. He wasnt sure what he wanted to find. Maybe some type of weaponry that the enemy was more vulnerable to, though he and others had already gone over their recordings dozens of times by now. He knew every kill shot by heart- there were unfortunately few of those, but it seemed the Azoth forces were limited, and incapable of completely overwhelming them. The planetary shields were an important part of that. Damned expensive to run, but they had to be kept semi-active so they could be switched on at a moments notice.
Nicodemo really hoped the enemys ships were monumentally costly. They had to be or they were just toying with Rutera. Then Nicodemo saw something. One of their fighters took out an enemy ship, all on its own. Sure, it was one of the enemys smallest ships but why hadnt it been recorded? Ah, that was it. Technically, it wasnt an enemy casualty. At least, not a kill. Instead, the ship limped away with three sails, skirting past some of its larger cousins as the fighter focused on other active targets.
He reversed the recording, watching it again. Yes, there it was. Conventional ammunition splattering harmlessly against the ships barriers. It adapted, yet the same fighter came back for another round and neatly sliced off its sail. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. It kind of hacked it apart, but it still broke through the barrier. Then he saw that the sail wasnt completely dislocated until the fighter clipped it with a wing.
The ship that had moments before been one of the flagship vessels of Enterprise Starfield Shipping was now loosely fluttering towards the atmosphere below. The structure of the ship wasnt worth much, but some components were. Skyships needed special formations and crystals to fly, and space ships even more so. Traveling between systems wasnt cheap or easy.
Keeping the vessel intact would have been worth the most if anyone had been inclined to have more vessels or attempt a sale. Individual parts were easier to transport.
Please dont kill us! the captain repeated. We can pay you!
Chikere shoved a gag in his mouth. You cant pay us, but someone else can. Dont worry, youll be properly ransomed. Unless they were used for an ambush, or a reverse ambush or whatever. The Harmonious Citadel was really trying to crack down on them hard. But at the moment, they were hopping between locations with some regularity. None of the actual saints were coming for them, but there were a couple annoyingly strong archers and spearmen and stuff. Nobody worth fighting though. If they sent some swordsmen well, maybe there was a reason they werent doing that.
Looking through the swords down below, there were a few that might be able to replace something. Number fifty, sixty-three, maybe one hundred and seventy-two- but really, the last one was a backup anyway. They were better used as bait or handed to one of the more deserving members of their gang.
Oh, did you hear? Chikere said to Rahayu. Some of my friends took over an entire planet.
So? Rahayu shrugged, gesturing around them. There are lots of planets.
Its one of the good ones, though, Chikere said. Used to be Everhearts Tomb.
That guy? Remind me to go stab him later.
Uh, sorry, Chikere shook her head. Apparently he was there, recovering from wounds or whatever, but now hes retreated to the lower realms or something.
Ah, whatever, Rahayu shrugged. Think theyll let us use it as a base? Is it safe?
Brimming with formations, Chikere said. Kind of out of the way for our current work, though. Ill ask if they need any guests. We could trade with the Dark Ring, maybe.
Maybe. Hear anything from Ceretos?
Hmm, lets see. I remember them making contact with another system in the lower realms. Seemed like they were going to war or something?
Sounds great, Rahayu said. Gotta keep sharp.
Chapter 469On some level, Nicodemo wished Anton was present on Rutera right now. On another, he was glad Anton and the others had returned to their home planet. Rutera could certainly benefit from the combat prowess of the cultivators from Ceretos, but that was not the best way to maintain a strong, independent Rutera. Trusting the motives of six individuals he knew for a year was already difficult. A reasonable facade could be maintained for such a time. And even they had admitted that not all of Ceretos would share their same helpfulness. But damn if Nicodemo couldnt use that old archer to shoot down some ships right now. Anton was a thinking, mobile artillery station. Nicodemo didnt care if he drew power from their star if he could take out a few enemy ships. But General Nicodemo wasnt the only one making decisions. He had all of the war council to appease, as well as the president and other influential figures.At least nobody was saying they should try to talk things out. The Azothian invaders hadnt exchanged a single word, nor remained still long enough for Rutera to make the attempt to communicate. And realistically, they couldnt afford to not immediately shoot the enemy ships out of the sky.But here Nicodemo was, grounded. An arrow thunked into a target a hundred meters away. It wasnt a bullseye, but he was getting more used to archery. He had to admit the strain of drawing an arrow was much more cathartic than shooting a gun. In an actual combat situation he would opt for the latter- he wasnt skilled enough to use a bow in actual combat. But he was also never supposed to be in actual combat.If he needed to give commands to the fleet, he could do so from any full communications station. Around the planet there wasnt even a concern about speed of light delay, and aside from a few scouting ships Rutera hadnt gotten much further than their immediate surroundings. It was difficult, commanding an army with no first-hand combat experience. Yet he didnt think anyone else was more qualified either.After the initial attack training from the cultivators had opened up more options, but the skills were still being explored. They were effective man-to-man, but nobody was strong enough to do anything in ship combat. Though previously the very thought of it was preposterous, so it wasnt a terrible concern.Upon exhausting his stores of natural energy, Nicodemo returned to his room to review recordings of battle. Rutera had achieved some success, and while the initial probing attack had taught them something about the invaders from Azoth, the enemy hadnt probed their defenses from nothing.Nicodemo watched the video of a station and fighters against a small fleet of enemy ships- most were smaller than the first ones they had seen, but all shared a similar rotationally symmetric multi-sail design. He saw beam weaponry striking the smaller ships and eventually breaking through their defenses- but it took concerted effort. The larger ships, meanwhile, almost seemed to ignore their attacks. After the initial attack he had thought that simply diversifying their weapons would be sufficient, but that wasnt the case. When the enemy next showed up, their barriers resisted everything Rutera had already thrown at them- and they quickly adapted to anything new.It wasnt perfect, though. Nicodemo watched swarming fighters rake a target with beams and pepper it with conventional ammunition. The latter wasnt something they preferred to use in space, but it was necessary. The enemy quickly adapted to a few different types of attacks at once but the baseline against their weapons wasnt as good. Nothing would ever beat the initial volleys, but as far as anyone could tell the more permanent adaptation was a far cry from being invincible. But half invincible was still a problem.They could of course specifically adapt to even things theyd experience previously, making them nearly ineffective- but that still counted against the small number of things they could attune to at once. If there were more types of consistent attacks they either didnt adapt or all forms of defense were weaker. Changing up the frequency of their beams and lasers helped very slightly, but Nicodemo was really waiting for the next wave of refitted ships. Even outdated technology that was half effective was still better than the most modern weapons that were completely resisted. Nicodemo frowned at the recording. He wasnt sure what he wanted to find. Maybe some type of weaponry that the enemy was more vulnerable to, though he and others had already gone over their recordings dozens of times by now. He knew every kill shot by heart- there were unfortunately few of those, but it seemed the Azoth forces were limited, and incapable of completely overwhelming them. The planetary shields were an important part of that. Damned expensive to run, but they had to be kept semi-active so they could be switched on at a moments notice.Nicodemo really hoped the enemys ships were monumentally costly. They had to be or they were just toying with Rutera. Then Nicodemo saw something. One of their fighters took out an enemy ship, all on its own. Sure, it was one of the enemys smallest ships but why hadnt it been recorded? Ah, that was it. Technically, it wasnt an enemy casualty. At least, not a kill. Instead, the ship limped away with three sails, skirting past some of its larger cousins as the fighter focused on other active targets.He reversed the recording, watching it again. Yes, there it was. Conventional ammunition splattering harmlessly against the ships barriers. It adapted, yet the same fighter came back for another round and neatly sliced off its sail. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. It kind of hacked it apart, but it still broke through the barrier. Then he saw that the sail wasnt completely dislocated until the fighter clipped it with a wing.The ship that had moments before been one of the flagship vessels of Enterprise Starfield Shipping was now loosely fluttering towards the atmosphere below. The structure of the ship wasnt worth much, but some components were. Skyships needed special formations and crystals to fly, and space ships even more so. Traveling between systems wasnt cheap or easy.Keeping the vessel intact would have been worth the most if anyone had been inclined to have more vessels or attempt a sale. Individual parts were easier to transport.Please dont kill us! the captain repeated. We can pay you! Chikere shoved a gag in his mouth. You cant pay us, but someone else can. Dont worry, youll be properly ransomed. Unless they were used for an ambush, or a reverse ambush or whatever. The Harmonious Citadel was really trying to crack down on them hard. But at the moment, they were hopping between locations with some regularity. None of the actual saints were coming for them, but there were a couple annoyingly strong archers and spearmen and stuff. Nobody worth fighting though. If they sent some swordsmen well, maybe there was a reason they werent doing that.Looking through the swords down below, there were a few that might be able to replace something. Number fifty, sixty-three, maybe one hundred and seventy-two- but really, the last one was a backup anyway. They were better used as bait or handed to one of the more deserving members of their gang. Oh, did you hear? Chikere said to Rahayu. Some of my friends took over an entire planet.So? Rahayu shrugged, gesturing around them. There are lots of planets.Its one of the good ones, though, Chikere said. Used to be Everhearts Tomb.That guy? Remind me to go stab him later.Uh, sorry, Chikere shook her head. Apparently he was there, recovering from wounds or whatever, but now hes retreated to the lower realms or something.Ah, whatever, Rahayu shrugged. Think theyll let us use it as a base? Is it safe?Brimming with formations, Chikere said. Kind of out of the way for our current work, though. Ill ask if they need any guests. We could trade with the Dark Ring, maybe.Maybe. Hear anything from Ceretos?Hmm, lets see. I remember them making contact with another system in the lower realms. Seemed like they were going to war or something?Sounds great, Rahayu said. Gotta keep sharp.
