On the forward monitor, the Deathcallion tore through the starfield like a shadow, its black hull bristling with silent gun batteries. Its massive frame seemed to swallow the void itself, radiating pressure that could be felt even in vacuum.
Naomi snapped the control stick, yanking the Grim Reaper out from cover in Debris Field #3. She pushed toward the debris she needed for the chain combo. The Reaper, built for speed and agility over armor, darted between tumbling fragments, weaving through the chaos while dodging incoming fire from the looming dreadnought.
But every time an enemy volley struck, their fragile defenses showed. The Deathcallion's cannons tore straight through their shields, shredding armor with ease.
The Grim Reaper slipped like a fish through the wreckage—tiny shards and massive boulders spinning in wild orbits—while the Deathcallion spat dense particle fire in relentless pursuit.
Boom!
The asteroid that shielded them sheared apart under the dreadnought's guns, fragments scattering.
"Alright! Next's Asteroid Seventeen... damn, it's far. Cutting across that monster's bow's gonna be hell, but no choice."
She slammed the pedal, throwing the Reaper into a burst of speed. The Deathcallion's main batteries roared back, its secondary firepower equal to the Reaper's primaries. Beams of death crisscrossed the field, forcing Naomi into desperate feints—hard turns, sudden halts, sharp bursts.
"Concentrate shields starboard! Ugh—too late! Brace for impact!"
Another thundering hit, another blaring alarm.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you!" Naomi snapped, silencing it with a slap. She could've dodged—but then the debris she needed would have shifted, ruining the setup. Better to let the Reaper's hull take the hit.
"Osaka! Damage status?"
"Third main gun's gone," he reported flatly. "That knocks about thirty percent off our fightin' power."
"Tch. No repair parts, either. But at least the engines are fine—if we lose those, it's over. Whoa—close one!"
Even while speaking, Naomi danced the Reaper through blinding beams at near light-speed, surviving on instinct, skill, and sheer nerve.
"At last! Asteroid Seventeen! Nose out, twelve degrees elevation—and back!"
The moment the Reaper peeked out, the dreadnought's blast smashed the asteroid, sending it drifting exactly as planned. The enemy gunners were frighteningly accurate.
"Whoo—damn close. Nearly shaved the prow clean off. But Seventeen's moving now. Time for the finale. This'll be the hardest part."
The Reaper slipped into its final maneuver, setting up the cascade.
"Front shields! Come on, big boy—eyes on me! Don't look away now!"
Naomi angled the Reaper with its bow toward the dreadnought, pulling slightly back and up, keeping her silhouette as small as possible.
The Deathcallion answered with merciless fire, missiles streaking in from every angle.
"Three missiles overhead! Starboard cruiser Two closing! Port cruiser One closing! Three destroyers closing from aft!" Serena cried.
"We can't get boxed in! Fire three missiles at the port cruiser, plus Main Gun One! Gun Two—suppress starboard!"
The Reaper's counterfire shook the void. At the same instant, the Deathcallion's massive batteries lashed out.
CRACK—KRA-KOOM!
The ship bucked, rattled by overlapping detonations—Reaper missiles, enemy blasts, all colliding in a storm.
"Bad news," Osaka cut in. "Port side armor's shredded clean off. Lost the secondaries there too. We might not intercept enough missiles now."
"Damn it! Don't break my last scraps of armor, you bastard!" Naomi snarled, wrenching the stick sideways. She stomped the pedal, flipping the Reaper broadside and sliding under, shields flaring.
"Starboard! Gun Two and all remaining secondaries, intercept those missiles!"
Particle fire tore the incoming barrage apart, though one warhead exploded dangerously close.
"Captain," Osaka barked, "that near-hit's locked Gun Two in place—stuck at ninety starboard. Half the secondaries are dead too."
"Fine. That leaves Main Gun One and the ace—subspace torpedoes. Reset Gun One forward!"
"Naomi!" Serena's voice rang. "Port cruiser One's crippled, engines failing! But starboard cruiser Two is unharmed and closing! Destroyers still advancing! Still—Deathcallion is exactly where you wanted it!"
"Well? Do you surrender now?" Yug's cold voice crackled through the comms. "You're surrounded. Hand over the impostor, and it ends here."
Naomi ignored him. "Final stage! All missiles—target Asteroid Thirty-Two! Fire!!"
ROAR—WHOOSH!
Six warheads shrieked away, slamming into the asteroid.
"What nonsense is this? Fear made you panic?" Yug mocked.
Asteroid Thirty-Two cracked apart, its massive fragments slamming forward.
"Go! That's it—yes! Another hit! Perfect!"
Megaton boulders crashed into each other, energy compounding. Once-random rocks became a roaring chain reaction, a cosmic billiards game hurling devastation across the belt.
"Eleventh collision confirmed," Osaka shouted. "Reflection path's holdin'. Hit probability—sixty-seven percent!"
"Sixty-seven's plenty! Go, go, go!!" Naomi yelled.
The chain roared on, a cascade of stone slamming stone, momentum snowballing into a storm. Silent space seemed to thunder with their fury.
"What—!? Maximum shields! NOW!!" Yug's voice cracked, but the Deathcallion was too slow.
A massive rock smashed broadside into the dreadnought. Armor burst apart, turrets snapped, sparks sprayed into the void. Even the colossal shields buckled under the crushing weight.
"Run for it! Short-range warp—" Naomi began.
KRA-KA-BOOM!!
A desperate blast from the crippled dreadnought hammered the Reaper dead-on.
"Persistent bastard! Osaka! Damage!"
Osaka's tone dropped heavy. "Captain... it's bad. Main engines and backups are fried. We're dead in the water. No warp, no nothin'."
"...!"
"Osaka! Load the subspace torpedo! Fire four at Asteroid Thirty-Two fragments!"
It was desperate—futile—but Naomi refused to stop.
WEEE-OOO, WEEE-OOO.
"Naomi!" Serena cried. "Spatial anomaly! Something's warping in!!"
Naomi gritted her teeth. "What the hell now?! At a time like this—what else could possibly show up?!"