Chapter 286: A Different Mirage

[Lord Corbett’s live broadcast has ended.]

Corbett closed the feed as quickly as he could, his face dark with humiliation. He had meant to show off Western Beacon’s Meridian cruisers and gain a few followers for himself.

Instead, he had shown the Homeworld his own fleet being torn apart.

He had cut the broadcast quickly. It had not been quick enough.

[Why did the feed stop?]

[What happened? Everything went white. I couldn’t see anything.]

[I think the Crown fleet just hit them back. Hard.]

[How? Meridian cruisers can phase through space. They’re supposed to counter spatial concealment.]

[In Sector 632, Western Beacon once used a Meridian to carry a Peacebringer into Ashenreach Province. An entire Provincial Capital was leveled in an instant.]

[Is nobody going to ask where the Crown got that much firepower?]

Spectators flooded back into the Homeworld Channel. Across the thirteen Crown Provinces, Lords were cheering.

[Divine Province! Beautifully done!]

[Keep the invaders out at sea!]

Those who understood naval tactics were just as impressed.

[Mirage space and ships that can dive. They’re using the whole depth of the sea for their firing formation. What a way to concentrate firepower.]

[Lana Whitmere: I’d heard Divine Province had an invincible fleet. It’s even stronger than the rumors.]

——

Among the coalition’s commanders, no one was more shaken than Garran and the other Black Banner Lords.

The guns were terrifying. The concealment troubled them even more.

Combining a Mirage Ship with warships was a standard tactic. They knew it well. This Mirage space, however, performed far beyond anything they had expected.

"The Meridian cruisers couldn’t pierce it."

"Did you see how quickly it opened and closed? There was no delay at all."

"And there were no seams. Even when it opened, I couldn’t see a single join in the boundary. That entire space may belong to one ship."

The same impossible answer occurred to them all.

Garran could barely say it.

"A Legendary... Legendary Mirage Ship?"

The commanders stiffened.

Tavian struck the table and rose. Sword-bright light leapt a yard from his eyes.

"Mirage Ships are a treasure the Vaust Emperor left to the Black Banner. Where did the Crown get a Legendary one?"

"I don’t know!" Garran’s face twisted. "The ships they captured were definitely Epic. And you know Legendary warships can’t be brought into a newcomer sector through the Homeworld."

Another Black Banner newcomer suddenly spoke up.

"Half a month ago, a Lord reported seeing a mirage in the deep sea, tens of thousands of kilometers out. Perhaps the report was true."

Tavian turned a cold stare on him.

"You’re saying they killed a Legendary Mirage Beast and used it to advance their captured ship? Is that meant to be a joke?"

A Legendary Mirage Beast’s heart core was an essential material for advancing an Epic Mirage Ship to Legendary. Finding one was another matter.

Mirage Beasts were exotic creatures. Many Lords went their whole lives without seeing one. Their race ranked above Humanity, and their illusions and spatial concealment made them extraordinarily difficult to kill even when found.

Cassian had obtained his ship another way. During the preparations, he had traded the sealed Epic vessel and paid the difference for its Legendary counterpart through the Exchange. He had then unsealed it and paid for the growth needed to put it into service.

Garran hurried to shift the blame.

"Our intelligence service missed something this important. Useless fools! If we’d known, we could have asked General Veylan to descend. His squad of Faerie Dragons could break that space open in an instant."

"Exactly," Corbett said. "I could have asked headquarters to send some of our Legendary Meridian cruisers to Divine Province. One Legendary Mirage Ship wouldn’t be making a mockery of us then."

The alarms interrupted him.

"Major Energy surge detected!"

"Again?" Garran snapped around. "All ships, shields up! Evasive movement, zigzag freely. Return fire!"

The Mirage space opened.

Thousands of Energy beams swept into the coalition fleet. This time the defenders were ready, but more than a thousand ships were still pierced, explosions rolling across the water.

The dozen or so beams twenty meters wide were the worst of all. Even Epic vessels with their shields raised could not stop them.

The coalition reacted quickly. Some rapid-fire guns began shooting the instant the boundary opened.

It made no difference.

The Ghost fleet completed its volley, and the Mirage space closed again. From opening to closure, only a second had passed.

Return fire hammered the water hard enough to fill the air with steam and drive great waves across the fleet. None of it threatened the hidden space. The ships had spent their Energy for nothing.

The commanders’ faces darkened.

They had prepared for many things. A Legendary Mirage Ship in Crown hands had never entered their calculations.

And judging by that firepower, it concealed dozens of Epic Battleships. Perhaps close to a hundred.

A new message appeared in the Homeworld Channel.

[Cassian Vale: People forget quickly. It’s only been a few months. Have you already forgotten why you called me the Ocean Overlord?]

The name had spread after the battle at the Fortune Temple.

The coalition had certainly remembered his navy when planning this crossing. They had brought enormous stocks of torpedoes and depth charges, along with a large submarine force. Since leaving port, their ships had maintained a tight formation to avoid being picked off.

None of that preparation had accounted for this fleet. With a Legendary Mirage Ship supporting it, the threat seemed to have increased tenfold.

Garran answered through clenched teeth.

[Garran Ravenscar: Don’t get carried away, Cassian. We have a million warships.]

[Cassian Vale: And you’re still a hundred thousand kilometers from Divine Province. I’m curious how many will be left when you arrive.]

Garran could do nothing about the frustration burning in his chest. He raised his voice and issued another order.

"Disperse! Leave at least a kilometer between ships. If the Mirage Ship targets you, abandon your vessel immediately."

It was the only answer he could find. If they could not stop the attacks, they could at least make each volley claim fewer ships and save their people.

The coalition fleet began spreading out.

Inside the Mirage space, Liora watched with a light laugh.

"Splitting up with my fleet right beside you? How generous."

She gave her orders at once.

"Mirage Ship, compress the pocket space and follow their main force. Ghost fleet, divide into twelve groups. Attack from below."

"Assign one Crystal Maiden to each group. Keep them supplied with the positions of the enemy ships above."

The mist contracted. A thousand meters beneath the surface, the Ghost warships reappeared in open water.

They separated into twelve groups, each with one Carrier, one Heavy Battleship, and four Light Battleships. Then the groups spread out toward the scattered enemy fleet.

The coalition’s sonar soon detected them.

"There they are!" Garran’s face brightened. "All submarines, attack! Sink those ships!"

He could not reach them inside the Mirage space. Now they had been foolish enough to come out.

Garran watched eagerly. Then the battle unfolded, and his eyes went wide with disbelief.