Chapter 127

While Teiro was busy psyching himself up, the bridge of the Battleship Inferno was a full-blown party, with the crew high on the absolute devastation their latest stunt had caused.

"Enemy comms are ninety-nine percent toast, sir!"

"Sunflower Squad reports ECM output is stable. We can keep this electronic blackout going for about a hundred and thirty minutes!"

"We won’t need nearly that long. This’ll be wrapped up in an hour tops," Lorenzo replied with a smug grin, finally letting out a long-overdue sigh of relief. "They’ve got nowhere to run, after all."

The drive particles whipped into a frenzy by Operation Drive Storm were currently dancing to a very chaotic, very unpredictable beat. In this technobabble hellscape, calculating the [SPACE RESERVATION] required for an Overdrive—which, obviously, relied on those very particles—was effectively impossible. Attempting a warp was essentially a one-way ticket to nowhere.

"I’d almost love for that fleet hanging back to try and play hero, though that’s probably wishful thinking," Lorenzo mused.

"But it could happen, right?" a subordinate asked.

"Who knows? Unless they’re total morons, they’ll send a scout first. And since that scout will get tangled in our web and go silent, they’ll just be left back there, shivering and confused."

Lorenzo leaned back, watching the tactical screen as enemy ships were picked off one by one like sitting ducks. The enemy was already showing the classic signs of a panicked rout; organized resistance was practically nonexistent. A fleet that couldn't talk to itself was just a bunch of fancy WIND.

"Enemy Battleship Frumpfil—confirmed sunk!!"

The bridge erupted into cheers at the news of the EAP Fourth Fleet flagship's demise.

"Littorio’s debt is paid in full... Alright, keep pushing! Total annihilation!"

Lorenzo sank into his chair, feeling a massive weight lift off his shoulders.

"All that’s left is EAP 1’s Horn and EAP 2’s Cherry Blossom. We can harvest the Horn right here and now... Victory is in the bag."

Lorenzo stared blankly into space as he took another swig of his victory liquor. He’d dealt with everything from rogue food stations to refinery Factory Fortresses, but it looked like he was finally going to win this absurd war. He still didn’t trust that creepy old guy who’d lent him the Electronic Warfare Craft, but he supposed he owed him a thank-you note.

"Alright, it’s practically over. You, take over the—"

Just as Lorenzo was about to hand over the reins, thinking his work was done, a subordinate shouted a report that made no sense.

"Drive particle surge detected from the enemy fleet!"

"Wait, what? A desperate final struggle? Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks?"

"Haha, probably... wait... CORRECTION!" The subordinate spun around, eyes bulging and voice several octaves higher than normal. "SPACE RESERVATION LOCKED IN! TARGET: THE KATSUSHIKA STAR SYSTEM!"

---

Back on the silent bridge of the Plum, Teiro had his eyes clamped shut as he wrestled with the communication controls. His hands were twitching in the air as if playing an invisible piano, and his face was twisted in a grimace every time a fresh spike of pain shot through his skull.

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: NO MATCH]

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: FIXED: NO. 02]

"Alright... let’s spread this... to the whole fleet..."

[BISHOP: FUNCTION REPLICATION: COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: QUANTITY 256]

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: FIXED: NO. 03]

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: FIXED: NO. 04]

[COMMUNICATION CONTROL MECHANISM: FIXED: NO. 05]

Replicate... replicate... ugh... more replication...

Teiro was pouring every ounce of his focus into duplicating and overriding the communication functions for specific ships. In seconds, the BISHOP display was a flickering mess of data. The sheer volume of info was making his vision strobe, and his eyelids were twitching like they were trying to escape his face.

"I shouldn't have... ripped out the [AUTOMATIC RELAY FUNCTION]... but I never thought I’d use it like this... Koume, link up with EAP 1."

Teiro muttered through the waves of nausea. Koume turned silently, her digital avatar spinning as she began working in the BISHOP workspace Teiro was currently melting.

"Data link with EAP 1 established."

"Goooood... you know the drill, right?"

"Indeed," Koume replied. "I’ve already got Mr. Alan on the line, Mr. Teiro. He says he’ll have his end finished in five minutes. Also, Mr. Rin sent over the [MASTER KEY]."

"That’s a relief... but this is hurting way more than I expected, so tell 'em to step on it."

Teiro wasn't just trying to talk to the local ships. He was hijacking the Plum's massive comms array to link with a relay vessel currently deep in Enzio territory. By dumping the actual processing onto that distant ship and using the Plum as a glorified router, he was cobbling together a janky, localized [LIMITED NEURAL NETWORK] right in the middle of a war zone.

"The Resistance guys might be a little spooked by the mystery signals, but they’ll just have to deal."

Since it was an open network rather than a direct line, anyone could technically eavesdrop. Fortunately, the only people listening were the Anti-Enzio Resistance, so it didn't really matter. At worst, the enemy would figure out where they were jumping a bit faster, but they had enough Electronic Warfare Craft to do that anyway.

"Keep it up, Mr. Teiro! Simultaneously calculating Overdrive coordinates and comms relays for two hundred ships is a nightmare, but you’re the man for the job!"

Teiro managed a weak shrug at Koume, who was doing digital pirouettes on the console.

Calculating jump coordinates for two hundred ships in a particle storm was a task that should have required a supercomputer the size of a moon, but for Teiro, it was just a matter of scale. As long as each individual calculation was simple, doing two hundred at once was just... annoying.

"Yo Teiro! Sounds like a real circus over there. Hang tight, almost got it... Alright, I’ve hacked the whole fleet. Overdrive Devices are mine. It’s a cakewalk when you’ve got a Master Key."

Teiro sighed at Alan’s ridiculously casual tone. Still, the man’s deep, reliable voice gave him a much-needed boost of confidence.

"The fleet must be losing their minds right now," Koume giggled. "Since we can't actually tell them what’s happening."

Teiro let out a wicked little "Heheh" in response.

"In five minutes, they’ll be building statues of me. Alright then... two hundred-ship [FORCED LINKAGE OVERDRIVE]... Bang."

Teiro shaped his hand into a gun and pointed it at the flagship on the [RADAR SCREEN].

The moment he pulled the imaginary trigger, the entire fleet was swallowed by a blinding blue light.

---

"FIND THEM! Where did they go?! Get the Electronic Warfare Craft to trace those wakes!"

Lorenzo was officially panicking. His "decisive" victory had just evaporated. He knew his opponents were slippery, but he’d let himself get cocky. Ever since he’d formed the Expeditionary Force, he’d forgotten what losing felt like.

"J-Just a moment, sir... Got it! The neighboring system! They jumped out near Katsushika IV!"

"Katsushika? That’s the Rising Sun’s backyard, isn't it? Are there orbital defenses?"

"No, sir. They’re nowhere near the actual headquarters. Katsushika IV is just a massive gas giant. There’s no sign of any civilization in the area."

"So they’re just catching their breath... Do they plan to jump to their base from there?"

"Most likely. With that distance, it’ll take them at least fifteen minutes to spool up their drives again."

Lorenzo snorted. The enemy base would have beacons, making the next set of calculations a breeze. If they didn't move now, the enemy would be gone in a quarter-hour.

"We’re going in. All ships, Overdrive as soon as you’ve got your formation back!"

Lorenzo barked the order and plopped back into his chair.

"No more tricks. It’s a straight-up slugfest now... I wanted to keep my losses down, but fine."

He wasn't worried about winning, but he wanted to keep his numbers high for the inevitable post-war political mess. Enzio was one big happy family for now, but once the fighting stopped, every Alliance would be grabbing for power. He needed an army to make sure he was the one holding the leash.

"Sir, we still outnumber them nearly two-to-one," his adjutant pointed out. "In a head-on fight, the math is entirely on our side."

"Is it?" Lorenzo muttered. "History is full of idiots who lost with double the numbers. Tell the men again: this isn't like the other fights. Don't blink."

Lorenzo wasn't just talking to the adjutant; he was trying to convince himself.

---

"EAP 4 is in. The whole gang’s here."

Teiro nodded silently at Koume’s report. He looked at the [RADAR SCREEN], watching the allied fleet stumble into a semi-coherent formation.

"Hey, Teiro... do you think we can actually win this?"

Marl had made it back to the bridge after patching the [LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM]. Teiro looked at her, then back at the massive gas giant looming outside.

"Depends on our trump card, I guess... even if we’re basically testing it in production."

A secret weapon was currently orbiting Planet Katsushika IV. The entire war rested on its shoulders—and by extension, on Teiro, the man who had to pull the trigger. He looked calm, but he was currently fighting a losing battle against the urge to throw up.

"Enemy arrival in three... two... one..."

"Alright!" Teiro yelled, psyching himself up. "Let's do this!"

Win or lose, this was the grand finale.