Chapter 64

The front line was a slow, crushing grind, moving with the cold inevitability of a glacier and leaving zero room for lucky breaks.

Dingo watched the flow of the battlefield shift exactly as he’d calculated, a greasy smirk spreading across his face.

“For all that big talk they put up, they’ve got no backbone.”

Even though his forces hadn't even begun to project their full firepower, the tactical situation was already leaning heavily in his favor.

He’d been struggling to punch through the defensive wall of the Fortress and those annoying HADs, but that was just a matter of dealing with the Fortress Cannons. Once those were out of the picture, he could sit back and one-sidedly hammer them with his Battleships from long range. The enemy didn't have a single gun with that kind of reach.

“I’ve been cautious—beyond cautious. There won’t be any irregularities... Hey! Is that thing still just sitting there?!”

Dingo roared, punctuating his shout by kicking his desk. His subordinate didn't even flinch—clearly used to the tantrums—as he delivered his report.

“No, sir. The Cruiser with the four thrusters is still circling the Fortress, providing fire support with its Beams. It doesn't appear to be firing live rounds, but...”

The subordinate gestured toward the massive display. There, blurred but unmistakable, was the silhouette of the Cruiser equipped with its signature four thrusters.

“Maybe they can only use it at close range? I don't know the trick, but it’s not impossible... Stay on high alert. If it so much as twitches, let me know.”

Dingo glared at the image of the Cruiser with pure loathing, silently reminding himself to stay disciplined. If he made a sloppy charge and got sucked into a melee, the Imperial Fleet might see an opening to pounce. The war was going his way; there was no reason to gamble.

“Enemy Destroyer sunk. One Frigate heavily damaged, another moderately damaged. Two HADs destroyed... Hm?”

The subordinate, who had been droning out the combat results, let out a small, confused chirp. Dingo, his nerves already frayed, snapped.

“What now?!”

The subordinate snapped to attention, spine straight as a rod.

“Sir!! A Drive Space Reservation has been initiated from the distant front! However, since Anti-Drive Particles have already been deployed in this sector, it appears to have been automatically canceled.”

“Drive Particles? If it’s from the front, it’s not the Empire. Reinforcements? What’s the count?”

“The count is... likely one ship.”

“Likely? Can’t you be certain? Besides, what is one ship going to do?”

“I’m not sure, sir. The size of the Space Reservation is larger than a Cruiser, but it doesn't quite hit Battleship-class. The reserved space itself is small, but the number of reacting particles is incredibly high.”

Dingo shook his head. “I don't understand any of this crap,” he muttered, rubbing his chin as he sank back into his command chair.

“Damn it, ever since I got involved with that guy, nothing makes sense. I might as well just—”

Just as Dingo was about to say, settle this once and for all, a startled cry from his subordinate rang through the bridge.

“The Space Reservation! It’s been fixed!”

“What?! Impossible! How?!”

“I don’t know! Target is warping in!”

Dingo and his subordinate both whipped their heads toward the main display. On the external monitors, spheres of deep blue light were coalescing, marking the exact spot where a warp was about to terminate.

“...They got me... The one in front was a dummy! Dammit!”

Dingo roared. There, appearing right before his eyes, was the Cruiser he could never forget, its four Engine Thrusters glowing with power.

The Cruiser didn't just arrive; it burst out of warp with terrifying momentum, screaming through the void at high speed to take up a position directly behind Dingo’s fleet.

---

“Uuuugh... hwaaaaagh... hurl... spit... Dammit, I feel like my soul is trying to exit through my throat... This is the worst. Never again.”

Inside the Control Room of the Plum II, Taro sat slumped in his familiar seat, his face a ghostly shade of green as he battled a wave of nausea far worse than his usual warp-sickness.

[YOUR RETCHING STYLE CLOSELY RESEMBLES THAT OF A MIDDLE-AGED MAN IN HIS THIRTIES, MR. TEIRO. REGARDLESS, WE APPEAR TO HAVE ARRIVED IN A SOMEWHAT COMPLICATED LOCATION.]

Rude. Taro looked up, groaning, “What do you mean 'complicated'?”

His stomach did another flip as he saw the sea of enemy light points surrounding the Plum.

“Wait, holy crap! We’re right in the middle of the enemy formation?!”

“Teiro! What’s the plan?!” Marl screamed.

“I don't know! Uh—Engine full throttle! Evasive Maneuver! Take us on a detour orbit!”

Following Taro’s frantic orders, the Plum’s hull pivoted sharply. Its four thrusters flared with blinding intensity, pinning Taro and the girls into their seats with a crushing surge of G-force.

[NATURALLY, THERE IS NO RESPONSE FROM THE IDENTIFICATION SIGNALS. THE VESSELS ARE LIKELY DINGO’S FLEET, MR. TEIRO.]

“I... know... that... already!”

Taro gritted his teeth, fighting the pressure. Once he was sure they had enough momentum, he backed off the throttle just a hair.

“Open all Turrets! Load the warheads!”

The Plum’s Turret Bays slid open, sinking into the hull to make room for various weapon platforms that rose up like teeth. Right on cue, the enemy fleet opened fire. In a heartbeat, the silence of space was shattered by a frantic exchange of fire.

[ENEMY NUMBER 9 AND 10: MINOR DAMAGE. NUMBER 24: MODERATE DAMAGE. SHIELD INTEGRITY AT 94%.]

“That’s not bad for an opening volley! Wait, the shields are dropping way too fast!”

“Of course they are! Look at how many people are shooting at us!” Marl yelled back.

Blue flashes of light converged on them from every angle. It was as if the Plum had become a gravity well, pulling every Beam in the sector toward its hull.

“Marl-tan, start Jamming! Koume, pull us in tight against that big ship!”

The Plum banked into a wide, sweeping curve. It dipped its nose and charged straight toward a nearby Cruiser-class vessel.

“Eat this! You’re about to learn exactly what a guided warhead can do when the pilot is grumpy!”

At Taro’s command, the Turrets spat out their payloads. Four warheads streaked toward the Cruiser, shredding through its hull with surgical precision.

“You sniped their Turrets?!” Marl shouted, her voice full of disbelief.

Taro let out a proud little huff. “And another one!” He fired again.

[THAT IS QUITE THE EFFECTIVE SHIELD, MR. TEIRO. I AM OCCASIONALLY ASTONISHED BY THE CREATIVITY OF YOUR IDEAS.]

The Plum decelerated sharply, tucking itself into a blind spot behind the crippled ship to hide from the heavy crossfire. Taro’s second shot had vaporized the Cruiser’s Engine Thruster, effectively turning the enemy ship into a giant, shielded piece of space debris.

“Hehehe, they can't shoot their own friends, right? ...Wait, they can shoot?!”

Taro’s smug grin vanished instantly. The enemy’s fire, which had hesitated for a mere second, resumed with even more intensity.

“I mean, I get the logic, but usually people can’t actually bring themselves to do it... Dammit, they’re too well-trained!”

With the battle in full swing, there was no way to save the crew of the ship he was using as a shield. Tactically, Dingo was doing the 'right' thing by shooting through his own men to hit the intruder, but it was still a cold-blooded move.

Maybe they’re just being threatened, Taro thought. Either way, Dingo’s got a terrifying grip on his fleet.

“Alan! Hey, Alan! Do you read me?!” Taro yelled into the comms.

The familiar face of the commander flickered onto the screen. “Took you long enough, you bastard,” Alan replied with a smirk. “I got so bored I decided to start the party without you.”

“Heh, my bad. But hey, I’m thirty minutes early, aren't I?”

“Yeah, I noticed. What kind of magic did you pull to get here? You’ll have to tell me the secret later.”

“Oh, you bet. I love a good bragging session. What’s the status?”

“It’s a disaster, as you can see. 75% of the Fortress Cannons are gone. At this point, the Fortress is just a very expensive wall. We’ve lost about thirty percent of our total combat strength... Anyway, Teiro, tell your girl to concentrate output on the Beam Jammer. The enemy fire will veer off like a joke.”

“For real? ...Whoa, Marl’s losing it over here. Do these guys not carry Beam Stabilizers into a war zone?”

“Heh, who knows? I told a little lie earlier, and they seem to have swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. It won’t work a second time, but for now, we’re golden. More importantly, Teiro... I’m counting on you for 'that'.”

On the screen, Alan gave him a thumbs-up.

“I’ll tell you all about it later!” Taro shouted back, shifting his focus to the massive target Alan had indicated.

“A Battleship, huh... Man, it’s huge. It’s nearly twice as long as us, so what is that? Six times the volume?”

[CONFIRMED. TARGET NUMBER 24 IS HEAVILY DAMAGED. NUMBER 3 SUNK. MR. TEIRO, THAT IS A DOVE-CLASS BATTLESHIP. ITS MASS IS APPROXIMATELY 5.5 TIMES THAT OF THIS VESSEL.]

“Ugh, that’s a lot of mass. But...”

Taro glared at the massive light point dominating the Radar Screen.

“I’m gonna turn you into a giant pile of space-trash! Taste the Plum’s secret weapo—GWAGH!”

The two Turret Bays that had remained sealed until now slowly ground open.

“Wait, timeout. I bit my tongue.”

Two massive warheads peeked out from the Turret Bays, then launched with a violent surge of their primary thrusters.

To any human from the 21st century, they looked like standard missiles or rockets. A military buff would have identified them as long, slender, Capsule-type warheads—specifically Ballistic Missiles. Their movement was agonizingly slow compared to a Railgun or a Beam, but they continued to accelerate steadily under the roar of their rocket engines.

“...I have so many questions,” Marl said, watching the slow-moving projectiles with a deadpan expression. “But since it’s you, I’m assuming there’s a trick. I’m counting on you, Teiro.”

Taro gave her a sheepish, wry smile. He couldn't blame her; the things looked ancient and slow. Even as they picked up speed, the enemy was far away, and those bulky missiles didn't look like they could pull off any fancy maneuvers.

“Well, it’ll work out. Probably. Until then, we just have to survive with everything we’ve got.”

Taro dedicated a tiny sliver of his mind to controlling the launched Torpedoes, throwing the rest of his focus into Lock-on and fire control.

“Man... I’ve really ended up in a far-off place, haven't I?” he whispered.

“What was that?” Marl asked.

Taro pretended he hadn't said a word.