Episode 126

"Central front, Ship E3 heavily damaged... Wait, correction. Firing has ceased. Sinking Assessment confirmed!"

At Koume’s report, Teiro pumped his fist like he’d just hit the jackpot.

"The guys from EAP 4 must be losing their collective minds right about now. That was a big fish!"

Both the Enzio Expeditionary Force and the EAP Fleet only hauled a few Kilometer-class Battleships around. The enemy vessel they’d just sent to the scrap heap was one of those rare prizes—a major achievement for the record books.

"The pressure in the center is fading," Marl noted. "Look, Teiro. The enemy is tucking tail and running."

Sure enough, the Radar Screen showed the enemy fleet high-tailing it away from the front lines in a state of sheer panic. Teiro let out a celebratory huff, but that nagging feeling in his gut hadn't quite packed its bags yet.

"...Hey, Koume. That mystery squad—the one hovering way out in the boonies—are they still multiplying?"

Teiro couldn't take his eyes off those strange markers. They were warping into positions well beyond firing range and their numbers were ballooning. Nearly sixty of them were already scattered across the void.

"Affirmative, Mr. Teiro. However, it appears the show is over."

"Over? Why?"

"Yes, Mr. Teiro. The random Overdrive Space Reservations we were tracking have completely ceased."

"You’re right... I mean, I appreciate the peace and quiet, but what the hell is this? It’s giving me the creeps."

Teiro stared at the monitor with eyes the size of dinner plates, trying to make sense of the nonsense. The mystery unit was positioning itself as if to surround them, but there were far too few ships for a proper encirclement. If they wanted to break through, they could do it without breaking a sweat.

"Maybe they’re observation ships?" Marl suggested. "You know, for boosting their targeting accuracy?"

"I won't say no, but do they really need this many? Five high-speed boats would do the trick."

"Is there not a possibility they intend to rendezvous and attempt a pincer attack, Mr. Teiro?" Koume asked.

"Logically, that’s the best fit... but they’re way too far out. We’d be back home for dinner before they even closed the trap, wouldn't we?"

"Well, true... but honestly, they’re lined up so perfectly. Maybe they’re planning a naval parade?"

Teiro’s jaw hit the floor at Marl’s joke. She waved her hands dismissively. "It was a joke, okay?"

But Teiro wasn't laughing. Something clicked.

Lined up perfectly? What? Why does that give me the heebie-jeebies?

He squinted at the Radar Screen, studying the marked enemies. They were deployed three-dimensionally, so it looked like a mess at first glance, but now that she’d mentioned it... they were spaced at perfectly equal intervals.

Think. Think... This happened before. Not that long ago. I know this...

His brain spun like a hamster on caffeine until a memory of Alan’s voice surfaced.

"Well, I suppose so. Considering the amplification effect from linked copying, the idea that there's only one ship—"

Teiro bolted upright, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"............Oh, crap."

Cold sweat drenched his back. His hands began to twitch.

"Crap! This is bad! Really bad!"

Teiro let out a scream of pure terror, his fingers dancing across the BISHOP interface while his eyes stayed glued to the screen. He slammed the activation sequence for the Plum’s Faster-Than-Light Communication System, forcing a link to every allied ship in the sector. Only the Plum’s specialized gear and Teiro’s frantic multitasking could pull off a feat like this.

"RS1 to all ships! The enemy is about to drop a Large-scale ECM Attack! Deploy Anti-Electronic Warfare Drones immediately! I repeat—"

As he broadcast the warning, he simultaneously jammed the emergency launch signal for the Cats. He didn't even wait for a "roger" before blowing the Drone Bay doors open.

[DRONE SYSTEM CONTROL: SCRAMBLE LAUNCH]

"—A Large-scale ECM Attack is... Dammit! Here it comes!"

From the ring of enemy ships he’d been tracking, a synchronized pulse of blue energy erupted. It looked like a ripple in space, perfectly timed down to the microsecond. Like overlapping waves in a storm, the pulses interfered with and amplified one another, swelling into a literal tsunami of electronic death.

"Plum to Anti-Electronic Warfare Mode! Mr. Gon, I’m counting on you for the ECCM!"

"Got it! Leave it to me!"

The wave swallowed every allied ship in the sector, expanding further and further. Teiro couldn't tell if the drones had made it out in time, but he could see allied ships erupting into spectacular plasma fireworks as the blue wall slammed into their hulls.

"Koume, disconnect! Marl, protect the Overdrive Device!"

Koume didn't hesitate. She yanked her cables and dove into a protective cocoon of insulating sheets, burying herself until she was completely hidden.

"Overdrive Module disconnected! Teiro, hang on!"

The wave hit.

"Ugh!" "Kyaaa!"

The ship bucked like a bronco. Teiro and Marl white-knuckled their seat rests. The Drive Particles were throwing a party with the ship's electronics, causing every light and screen to go haywire. The vibrations felt like the engine was trying to eat itself.

"D-dammit! Marl, damage report! And Koume, you still in there!?"

"Not yet, Teiro! There's more!"

The hull groaned again. The particle waves, fired from every direction, were hitting in staggered intervals. Each time a pulse passed through them, the Plum flickered like a dying lightbulb, and sparks showered from the consoles.

"Son of a—! How are those all Electronic Warfare Craft!?"

"Fifteen percent of electronic systems are toast... Sending the damage list now!"

Nursing a fresh set of bruises, Teiro skimmed the report. When he saw the Overdrive Device wasn't on the casualty list, he finally let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Minimal damage, considering the power of that ECM... Thank god for the drones."

After the last time Koume had been fried by an electronic attack, Teiro had learned his lesson. He’d swapped half the drones on the Plum—and every other drone-capable EAP Ship—to Electronic Warfare Specifications. They couldn't fire back with their own ECM, but they acted like a localized lightning rod against incoming pulses.

"Looks like we survived the worst of it. You guys okay over there?" Gon’s voice crackled over the comms.

"Yeah, we barely made it by the skin of our teeth. Those drones saved our lives."

"Just doing enough to earn my paycheck. Heading back to the barn."

"Roger that... Marl, what’s up?"

Teiro noticed Marl staring at her BISHOP terminal with a look of grim intensity. She held up a hand to silence him, frozen in place.

"The Check Program is acting weird... Teiro! Get your respirator on! Right now!"

Teiro didn't ask "Why?" He just reached down, yanked the lever on the Life Box, and slammed the mask over his face.

"The sensors aren't flagging it, but something in the Life Support System cracked. Oxygen levels are plummeting... I’m going to check the hardware."

"You’re kidding... fine. Go! Koume, backup! Oh, and you can come out of the blankets now!"

Marl vanished out the door with a Life Box in hand. Koume emerged from her pile of insulation, wiggling like a caterpillar.

"I am on it. But first..."

"First what?"

"Does it not seem unusually quiet, Mr. Teiro?"

Teiro blinked. He strained his ears. He could hear the low hum of the engines and the faint whistle of the vents.

"No, seems normal to... me..."

He trailed off. The realization hit him like a physical blow.

"Wait... why is it so quiet?"

He frantically pulled up the ship's status on BISHOP.

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: OPERATING NORMALLY]

"The Plum’s comms are fine... which means—"

Teiro turned pale as he looked at the Radar Screen. The allied fleet was a mess, their formations shattered into chaotic clusters. Meanwhile, the enemy was already regrouping with terrifying efficiency.

"It is highly probable that the communication network has been pulverized," Koume explained. "The Data Link is severed, and the local frequencies are flooded with noise. One moment... I will attempt to filter the transmissions."

As soon as she finished, the speakers exploded with a cacophony of panicked voices.

"—This is CS4! HQ, do you co— respond! This is CS4!" "—It’s no use... Hey, try another frequency—" "—Th... report... s. The situation is—" "—Oh god!! ...elp us!!" "—The target is unkn— !! Someone, give me coordinates—" "—Look out!! We’re gonna coll—!!"

Screams, confusion, and raw fury. Teiro’s hands shook as he dug through the logs for anything from EAP 1.

"What a nightmare... Rin... Hey, Rin!! Come in!! Give me something!"

"...ro-san? Is that you, Mr. Teiro!? Oh, thank goodness! Wait, one second!!"

Teiro stared at the console, dumbfounded. He hadn't actually expected an answer.

"Rin? Wait, Koume? How is she getting through? Why is the Plum the only one not deaf and blind?"

"It is not quite like that," Koume replied. "A direct ECM attack that targets only specific parts of a ship's hardware does not exist, Mr. Teiro. This is a sector-wide blanket of communication jamming. We can still hear them because of the boosted communication system we installed for this operation. It is 'almost' identical to the hardware used in a Neural Net."

She emphasized "almost" with a tone that made Teiro’s face twitch. "I see."

"Total blackout... this is bad. This is really, really bad..."

He stared at the Radar Screen. The enemy fleet had already recovered and was now picking off the confused EAP ships like fish in a barrel.

"What do I do... how do I fix this..."

If the Plum were a genuine Neural Net liaison ship, he could have rebuilt the entire network in a heartbeat. But he only had the "light" version. He could link ten ships, maybe a few more, but that was it. There were two hundred allied ships out there floating in the dark.

"At this rate... wait. Neural Net?"

Teiro looked up at the ceiling, his expression vacant for a long moment. Then, his eyes sharpened. He steeled his resolve.

"Alright. Let's do this. I’m not letting these bastards win that easily!"

---

Editor’s Note: All previous mentions of "EMP" have been standardized to "ECM." Since it’s debatable whether these are electromagnetic pulses, and "ECM" covers jamming and direct electronic attacks in the Galactic Empire's terminology, please interpret it as such.