Chapter 448: Ch
They had been caught completely off guard by the Celestial Void Empire.
But before they could even react, reorganize their formations, or put any countermeasures into place...
Another equally devastating barrage tore through space.
The coordinated salvo slammed directly into the armada’s inner defensive layer, where the majority of the Tier 2 cruisers, Tier 2 battleships, and other core warships were positioned.
And once again...
The exact same fate that had befallen the Tier 2 destroyers repeated itself.
Energy shields shattered almost instantly.
Hulls were torn apart under the overwhelming kinetic force and unimaginable energy.
Warships fragmented into countless burning pieces before erupting into catastrophic explosions, while the surviving vessels found themselves engulfed in expanding infernos and storms of debris with no chance whatsoever to regain control of the battlefield.
The Dominion Shield (6th Defense Command) forces didn’t stop there.
They continued firing, one devastating salvo after another, not even waiting for the previous barrage to fully disperse before launching the next.
And this relentless hammering continued for tens of minutes without the slightest pause.
Wave after wave of overwhelming firepower crashed into the mighty Star Association Alliance Armada, dealing severe blow after severe blow to the massive fleet that had been assembled and sent here to destroy the Celestial Void Empire and completely wipe out the Void Humans.
Yet those very same forces never even had the opportunity to fire a single return shot. Much less inflict any meaningful damage upon the Celestial Void Empire.
As for their dream of obliterating it. Oh, Well it could only remain a dream.
Within those agonizing, confusion-filled, and utterly chaotic moments, the countless warriors and crew members of the various races that made up the Star Association Alliance Armada were systematically annihilated.
By the time the barrage finally came to an end, nothing remained of the once-mighty invasion force.
Only shattered wreckage drifted silently through the vacuum of space. Fragments of molten metal and destroyed hull and keel strucure drifting along with twisted debris of many of ships parts.
The battlefield had become nothing more than a graveyard of spaceships wreckage, replacing what had once been a powerful armadas ever assembled.
And not only that, even the star system itself suffered tremendous damage.
While it was an undeveloped asteroid star system with no planets or celestial bodies capable of being terraformed into habitable worlds, the countless asteroids themselves contained enormous quantities of valuable resources.
Yet more than thirty percent of those resources were completely obliterated by the Dominion Shield (6th Defense Command) forces’ annihilation bombardment.
The sheer destructive force of the attack even shattered the spatial barriers surrounding the star system.
Mind you...
Those spatial barriers were still recovering.
Something that would normally happen almost instantly was instead progressing at an unusually slow pace, clearly demonstrating just how terrifying the destructive capabilities of more than forty thousand Peak Tier 4 warships truly were.
In fact, had there been planets within this star system, they would have been completely erased from existence, leaving behind not even dust.
That was the sheer level of destruction unleashed by the Dominion Shield’s opening assault.
And just like that...
The mighty Star Association Alliance Armada, which had arrived filled with confidence, hope, and grand ambitions of conquest, was completely annihilated by the forces of the 6th Defense Command before it could even launch a meaningful counterattack.
The video continued to play, and soon its focus once again shifted toward the formidable Grand Commander Alex, who was overseeing the entire operation.
This time, however, the psychological impact of his figure was far greater upon the many leaders of the powerful factions and states seated around the table alongside Kallus.
So much so that many subconsciously gulped their non-existent saliva, hissing quietly under their breaths.
Simply witnessing someone who stood among the higher-ups of the Celestial Void Empire wield such overwhelming military power filled every one of them with an indescribable sense of dread.
And they had already heard that there were seven more individuals of similar standing.
Then there were the Grand Admirals, collectively known as the Spears of the Celestial Void Empire.
And beyond them still were the countless Star System Defense Forces they themselves had encountered while traveling here.
All of it made them once again realize just how vastly they had underestimated both the military strength of the Celestial Void Empire and the true extent of its power.
Even Valoria, Tharx, and the rulers of the other Tier 3 powers felt an overwhelming sense of despair at this moment.
The video unfolding before their eyes made one fact painfully clear.
Standing against the Void Fleet alone...
...was simply impossible.
After all, the invading force shown in the recording might not have been a complete Tier 3 armada, yet its sheer numbers were overwhelming enough that even their own imperial fleets would struggle to destroy it.
And even if they somehow succeeded, it would come at an immense cost.
Their fleets would suffer catastrophic losses in warships, personnel, strategic assets, and, above all, their economies.
Then they imagined themselves being in the Celestial Void Empire’s position.
Suppose they had managed to lure the Star Association Alliance Armada into exactly the same kind of ambush.
Could they have achieved a similar outcome?
Every single one of them immediately knew the answer.
They could only dream of accomplishing such a feat.
At best, they estimated they might inflict losses of five to ten percent upon the invading armada before the enemy reorganized itself.
That would be the absolute limit.
After that, they would be forced to face the overwhelming pressure of an armada consisting of well over one hundred thousand warships.
It was a level of military force they simply could not hope to withstand.
And not only them.
Even the strongest Tier 3 powers—excluding the quasi-Tier 4 civilizations, also known as Tier 3 Super States—would struggle to achieve such a result.
It wasn’t because those Super States were individually as powerful as the Celestial Void Fleet.
Rather, they possessed an unimaginable level of accumulation.
Some commanded military forces numbering well over a million warships.
By comparison, the combined military strength of the tier 3 state rulers seated around this table generally ranged from only two hundred thousand to, at most, five hundred thousand warships of t3 grade.
The difference in military reserves and long-term accumulation was simply too vast.
Don’t think that just because there are so many Tier 3 powers, Tier 3 warships are actually common, or that their production is easy.
No. They are still very, very rare. Well... not that rare.
They do exist in considerable numbers, but the true limitation lies in the resources.
Mind you, producing a Tier 3 warship requires various kinds of Tier 3 resources. The higher-quality Tier 3 warships even require a certain amount of Tier 4 materials for their propulsion engines, power generators, warp engines, and several other critical systems.
What makes matters even worse is the classification of this fairly mid-sized galaxy itself.
The galaxy barely qualifies as a Tier 4 galaxy, and even then, it only produces lower-grade Tier 4 resources and that too in low quantities. As for Tier 3 resources, they are far from abundant, making it increasingly difficult for Tier 3 powers to gather enough materials to construct powerful fleets.
As the saying goes, demand and supply determine the cost.
The demand was enormous. The supply, however, was severely lacking.
That imbalance made it even harder for the Tier 3 powers to economically produce larger numbers of Tier 3 warships and rapidly strengthen themselves over the short term.
Because of that, those Tier 3 powers had little choice but to proceed through slow, steady, and economically sustainable accumulation of military strength rather than explosive expansion.
And so, throughout the galaxy, every powerful faction could only slowly accumulate strength while hoping to stay far away from major conflicts and, more importantly, away from the eyes of the Seven Super States of the galaxy, who never allowed any potential competitor to rise through the ranks and challenge them for valuable Tier 4 resources.
Previously, every Tier 3 power seated at this table—as well as countless others scattered throughout the galaxy—had always held doubts whenever a Peak Tier 3 power was on the verge of advancing into the ranks of the Super Tier 3 States.
Almost without exception, such powers would suddenly be declared traitors by the Galactic Federation, with accusations and fabricated evidence presented by the seven ruling factions.
Immediately afterward, a joint military operation would be launched by the Federal Fleet under the command of those seven factions, completely eliminating the targeted power. Only a small number of survivors would be left behind, while every valuable asset, resource, technology, and territory worth taking would be divided among those same ruling factions.
Back then, many had chosen to remain silent.
First, because they simply didn’t possess the strength to speak out.
Second, because they had no desire to attract unnecessary attention and disappear from the face of the galaxy just like those before them.
