Episode 143

Sorry for the delay, everyone.

Real life has been keeping me incredibly busy lately, and I just can't seem to find the time...

Also, what exactly is this "Golden Week" thing I keep hearing about?

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"You’ve certainly developed quite the devious streak lately. The Frontier Development Department looked like they were attending a funeral. Are you sure you don’t have a future in politics?"

Dean’s tone was purely teasing. Taro simply shook his head, silently pleading for the man to give him a break.

"I just took what was rightfully mine. Sure, from their perspective, the profits are going to be a lot thinner than they planned, but it’s not like I’m running a charity here... Wait. Dean, you knew exactly how this would play out when you leaked that info to me, didn't you?"

Taro leveled a flat, deadpan stare at the man. Dean merely offered a look of feigned, wounded innocence. Oh, my, his face seemed to say. He reached out and moved a piece on the Tritt board—a game similar to chess—that sat in the Plum’s parlor.

"I am a man of the Imperial Military, you know. I try my best to refrain from any actions that might be detrimental to the Empire. It is a mere coincidence that this expansion plan was spearheaded by the Cornelius Faction and that I happen to belong to the Reinhardt Faction."

Faced with Dean’s typical high-level deflection, Taro could only brush it off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"I have to wonder if this is really the time for internal power struggles, though... Oh, wait! Hold on a second. I think I’m checkmated."

"I'm afraid not, my friend. How many times does this make? Honestly, you’re about two years too early to dream of beating me at Tritt. I am an honorary member of the All-Galaxy Tritt Association, after all."

Dean looked mildly amused, while Taro wore a face of pure bitterness. Ugh, for real? He had been using his parallel thinking to run a brute-force, exhaustive search of every possible move—a strategy that had made him undefeated against everyone else he knew—but against Dean, he was hopelessly outmatched. I guess there’s always a bigger fish, he sighed inwardly.

"Actually, the fact that you might be able to overtake me in only two years makes you quite the threat in my eyes..." Dean waved a hand, clearing the holographic Tritt board before swirling the liquid in his glass. "More importantly, is the Frontier Development proceeding on schedule?"

"Up until a little while ago, it was going so smoothly it was actually scary. But I guess nothing stays easy forever. Pirates are starting to sniff around, and everyone is still mostly fumbling in the dark... But the real problem is this."

Taro pulled a mobile terminal from his pocket with a grimace.

"There’s an absurd number of WIND out there. The Research Fleet is basically dead in the water because of them."

Taro tapped a few commands into his terminal, transferring the data over to Dean’s device. Dean studied the readout for a moment, then let out a sharp grunt.

"This is certainly an abnormal concentration. Nearly five times the standard density... Is there something out there? They seem to be converging toward the Ancient Area."

"We’ve got people investigating, but frankly, we've got no leads. It's not like they're human; we can't just bag one and interrogate it. I don't even know if 'ecology' is the right word, but their behavior patterns are a total mystery."

"Central is dealing with the same headache. We can estimate their age based on the scrap metal that makes up a WIND unit, but some of those components are over a thousand years old. It’s staggering to think they’ve been drifting through the void for centuries just to get here."

Dean let out a heavy sigh, standing up with his empty glass. He began to head toward the drink bar against the wall to refill, but he stopped mid-stride.

"My, what a rare pair of conspirators. Planning some sort of wicked scheme, are we?"

Riza appeared in the doorway, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips. Dean gave a casual shrug. "Something like that," he replied, holding his glass out to her.

"Why don't you do it yourself, Brother? No matter how many stars you add to your rank, your laziness never changes."

Despite her grumbling, Riza took the glass. She poured drinks for both of them and made her way to the table with a graceful, composed stride.

"I’m still not used to a life without servants. Though I suppose making my younger sister do it is a step in some direction."

Dean took his glass back, but as Riza moved to sit beside him, he held out a hand to stop her. She looked at her brother with a puzzled expression, only for him to gesture toward Taro with his chin.

"Think about who you should be currying favor with. He’s the one you need to win over."

"Hey now, what kind of talk is that right in front of the target?" Taro interjected, shooting a look at the magnanimous Imperial Navy Colonel.

Riza, however, didn't miss a beat. "You’re absolutely right," she said airily. She sat down, pressing herself flush against Taro’s side with exaggerated intent.

"Uh, Riza? Your brother is right there."

"Oh? Does that mean you wouldn't mind if he weren't here?"

"...Riza."

Dean’s voice sounded stern. Taro shot him a look as if to say, See what I have to deal with? but the Colonel’s response was entirely unexpected.

"Your hand placement is amateurish. If you’re going to rest it on his thigh, you should move it closer to the base. That’s where the nerve clusters are most dense. It’s a basic technique for distracting an opponent during negotiations."

"That is definitely not something you should be saying in front of the opponent!" Taro barked.

"You should learn these tactics as well, Taro. You need to build up an immunity. Though, in your case, you'll be the one they’re being used on... Is Alan not teaching you any of this? He’s supposed to be in charge of your intelligence department."

Dean looked genuinely concerned. Taro tried to find a comeback, but his voice died in his throat. The man has a point. I am painfully easy to rattle.

"I’ll... I’ll get used to it eventually. But don't expect anything from Alan. He’s as much of a vir—ahem, a late bloomer as I am. Wait, ah, hey! Stop! That’s way too fast! Riza, that’s too much! Not there!"

Taro scrambled across the sofa, trying to escape Riza’s hand as it slid dangerously high up his thigh. Riza let out a delighted laugh, and even Dean managed a suppressed chuckle.

"You guys are just doing this to mess with me, aren't you...?"

"An action can have more than one objective, Taro. Everything I said was factually sound. But let’s get back to business... Wait, what on earth are you doing?"

"Don't mind me. Just continue. I’ve decided this is my 'serious thinking' pose."

Taro was currently sitting with his legs clamped tightly together, his hips pushed back while his upper body leaned as far forward as possible. It was a bizarre, almost creepy posture, but it was a tactical necessity. If he didn't do it, his "representative" was going to start lobbying for independence right then and there.

Dean stared for a beat, then shrugged. "I see."

"To get to the point, there isn't a single corporation that holds the rights to the planet in question. You won't need to ask permission from anyone to conduct your investigation."

"Yes!" Taro pumped his fist.

Riza tilted her head. "The planet in question?"

"This one," Taro said, bringing up a planetary profile on his terminal.

"RPM95355. Commonly known as 'Nuke.' It was supposedly a habitable world once, but now it’s just a desert wasteland. Also, the radiation levels are off the charts."

Taro and Riza looked at the terminal together. On one side was an old photo of a beautiful blue marble that could have been Earth’s twin. On the other was the current reality: a dead, brownish-gray sphere choked by thick clouds.

"A habitable planet... C-Could this really be it?" Riza asked, her voice a mix of excitement and lingering disappointment as she leaned closer to the screen.

"That’s what we’re going to find out... though honestly, I’m hoping it’s a dud."

"I see... But how did it end up like this? The old data shows it was a textbook habitable world."

"The answer to that is..."

Taro looked over at Dean. The Colonel was staring at the terminal with a look of profound contemplation. Eventually, he murmured a soft "I see" before continuing.

"It might sound ridiculous, but I can't say it's impossible. Looking at the way people behave these days, I’m starting to think it might actually be the truth."

Dean spoke as if to himself. He fell silent for a moment before noticing Taro’s gaze and looking up.

"Nuke was a planet that was thoroughly scorched by the Imperial Navy about six hundred years ago. Because energy beams attenuate in an atmosphere, they opted for a different solution: they fired over a hundred million nuclear warheads into the crust. The surface is likely nothing but vitrified sand and miles of ash. I suspect the nuclear winter is still going on down there."

Dean recounted the horrific history as if he were discussing a boring weather report. Taro had heard of a nuclear winter—a phenomenon where the dust from explosions blocks out the sun and plunges a world into a deep freeze.

"But why? Why would they do that?"

Dean turned to Taro, letting out a soft "Hmph."

"Everything regarding Nuke is classified as top-secret by the Empire. It requires a security clearance of Colonel or higher just to see the file headers... Therefore, what I am about to say is merely a monologue to myself."

Dean set his glass on the table and stood up slowly.

"Nuke was a planet occupied by the WIND. They landed on the surface, multiplied, and began to systematically wipe out the human population. Every record of how it started has been expunged. It was likely some wretched reason—an experiment gone wrong, or a planet full of anti-Imperial groups that the government wanted to 'cleanse.' If a corporation had its entire infrastructure concentrated on that one world, it would have been a death sentence. But again, that’s just speculation."

Taro swallowed hard. Dean continued, glancing at him sideways.

"By the time the nuclear attack was authorized, there was still a massive human population on the surface. But it was only a matter of time. Unlike the vacuum of space, everything on a planet is packed together. The speed at which the WIND can multiply on the ground is incomparable to space. It is explosive."

Space was vast and empty, with distances so great they were almost comical. But on a planet, continents and oceans were measured in mere kilometers. Not light-years.

"I get it... So they decided to hit them before they could use humanity’s own resources to finish their expansion."

Taro tried to visualize the desperation of that era. But Riza shook her head.

"No, that doesn't feel right. If they just wanted to scorch the surface, they could have done that at any time—even after humanity was gone. I understand the mercy of a quick end, but would that really lead to nuking your own people? From the perspective of the ones pulling the trigger, wouldn't you at least wait until the humans were all dead?"

"Precisely," Dean agreed. "They could have used old-fashioned chemical rockets for an evacuation or sent down relief landers. But they didn't. They skipped straight to the nuclear option. And the reason for that is..."

Dean stopped at the exit, looking back at Taro.

"It’s their evolution speed, Master Teiro. The Empire was terrified. They feared the WIND would find a way to escape the planet’s gravity... You said earlier that the WIND are appearing in massive numbers in the Ancient Area, didn't you?"

Dean’s mouth twisted into a grim smile.

"I truly hope it is a mere coincidence."