The initial vanguard of probes and standard missiles were merely exploratory, a probing attack meant to test the waters.
This opening salvo would give humanity its first real look at the physics of a spatial curvature field and the defensive capabilities of the Viridian vessel!
The moment the two sides engaged, the entire command center held its breath. The monitors flooded with hundreds, then thousands, of blinding white streaks of light!
The engagement occurred at a distance of one million kilometers. While the one-way signal delay was only 3.3 seconds, a round-trip command took nearly seven seconds. The Federation's goal was simple: target the enemy's propulsion systems.
Command knew full well that even the massive tetrahydrogen bomb couldn't completely vaporize the 150-kilometer-wide Viridian dreadnought. Their objective was strictly tactical. If they could obliterate the main drive, the alien vessel would be crippled and adrift.
