First Strike Never Ends Well

"Well… isn't it possible the ships that came from the causality lock are being held back at the base as their main fleet?"

"Hmm. That's a fair point, but…"

Among the gacha ships that players typically fielded as their main force, not a single one was visible — save for the Overseer-class already mentioned. Everything else was nothing but basic production vessels.

Pierre himself had three ships of S-grade or higher from the gacha alone. Even his flagship, a Balthazar-class light cruiser, sat comfortably in the upper ranks of SS-grade. The enemy force looked so pitiful without the Overseer that it almost made him more wary, not less.

But after blowing up roughly three patrol ships and continuing to scout the surrounding sector, Pierre finally arrived at a conclusion.

"That guy, for whatever reason, just hasn't built enough fleet docks. That's why his fleet's so small."

"Is that so, Commander?"

"Yeah. And the reason there's nothing from the gacha… it's not that he's holding his main force in reserve. He just got unlucky. I'm sure of it."

"Commander, even so, that last part might be a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"…I-Is it?"

When his adjutant Maya pushed back on the more dubious half of his reasoning, Pierre faltered for a moment. But only for a moment. After searching the gallery for information on Icarus just to be sure, he turned back to the still-anxious Maya and bellowed that she had nothing to worry about.

"No problem! That guy's ship gacha completely tanked, and even the Overseer-class was something he got off someone else!"

"Is that so."

The moment his gut feeling checked out, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the terrified, trembling wreck of a man vanished without a trace. Swelling with pride, a revitalized Pierre immediately started barking orders at Maya.

"Maya! Mobilize the fleet and everyone else right now!"

"Yes, Commander."

"The gap in fleet size between me and him is massive right now — this is our chance! Looks like he prioritized base development over securing a fleet!"

"Understood, Commander."

"LET'S GOOOO!!!"

Of course, for all that big talk, Pierre's own fleet was scattered across the sector protecting resource zones. He'd also dispatched his Supers for training. Gathering the dispersed ships and Supers, then making sure every last preparation was airtight, meant that Pierre's fleet only finally invaded Icarus's territory three full days later.

And right now, inside Icarus's base command center…

"Ah, damn it."

"What should we do, Commander?"

I'd been smoothly clearing daily quests, running base upgrades, and steadily stockpiling gacha currency — only for some player to just roll up and attack with zero declaration of war. Internally cursing how cheap a move that was, I scrambled into response mode.

"Jessica! Get Ignis, Belial, and Pashtura assigned to the fleet right now!"

"On it."

"And before that, send out a vanguard of about five destroyers and twenty frigates first — buy time until the main force can deploy!"

"Understood!"

Cry "first strike wins," and it never ends well. (2)

Pierre's fleet tore through Icarus's territory like a living embodiment of the phrase "unstoppable advance," charging forward without the slightest hesitation.

"The resource zones! Hit the resource zones first!"

"Yes, Commander!"

And while Pierre liked to call himself a newbie, he wasn't quite a complete fresh-faced beginner. Unlike Icarus, who'd quit the game and come back only to get possessed, Pierre had been deep into the so-called trash game Astral Lagrange when he got dropped into it. He at least had a rough idea of the most efficient way to run a fight.

So, aiming to cut off Icarus's livelihood first, he peeled off a portion of his fleet from the main force and tried to ambush the resource zones. Unfortunately for him, that was the exact moment Belial — under Icarus's orders — was withdrawing alongside the resource fleet. The patrol squadron that had come to raid the resource zones was reduced to cosmic dust on the spot.

Taking a loss right out of the gate left Pierre's mental state wobbling like a moody teenager. But right after that—

"Commander, an enemy fleet has appeared ahead."

"What?"

"There's not a single cruiser among them, though. Five destroyers and twenty frigates."

Looking at a fleet so small it couldn't even be compared to his own main force on the command display, Pierre decided it had to be a support force rushing to reinforce the resource-zone raid.

— Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!

"Warning signal detected from the enemy fleet. They're entering combat posture."

"Can't run, so they're going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stand and fight us here?"

— "What are your orders, Commander?"

The moment he saw that fleet lock tracking radar onto his main force and swing their turrets around, Pierre didn't waste a single second of thought. He ordered them intercepted immediately.

Within just a few minutes of the battle starting, he'd scored a major victory — more than half the enemy ships destroyed. The moment half their number went down, the remaining ships spun about and fled, and Pierre ordered a pursuit. Then he opened the gallery to check how the current situation was playing out.

Naturally, if his present actions caused the players belonging to the Space Kaiju faction to rise up as a group, the Earth Federation — with its larger numbers but below-average individual strength — might well decide to offer Pierre up as a sacrificial lamb just to weather the crisis. So if Ranker Icarus had already posted something and set the gallery on fire over this, Pierre was fully prepared to yank his fleet back on a dime, drop a groveling apology on the gallery, and personally apologize to Icarus while handing over minerals to boot.

But the moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he actually opened the gallery, Pierre found himself thinking that, contrary to his expectations, he might not stand out much at all in the current climate.

Scattered and not particularly large in scale, but still—