Episode 7

While this work has a very different flavor from my previous projects, it’s a personal favorite. To those who have provided ratings and reviews: I couldn't be more blessed as an author. Thank you so very much! m( )m

"Combat maneuvers? W-wait just a second! What, is the Empire at war or something?"

In the darkness, Taro thrust his face toward a flickering status lamp.

"Negative, Mr. Teiro. Since no clearly hostile forces exist within the Empire, the concept of 'war' itself is a non-starter."

"Ugh, then what is it? Some kind of back-alley brawl? Is that the new normal in this era? People just blast cannons at each other instead of throwing hands?"

"I wonder, Mr. Teiro. While there may be individuals of that persuasion, such 'common sense' is not recorded in Koume’s data bank. Perhaps it is a conflict between internal factions?"

"Oh, so like a space-yakuza thing? Either way, what are we supposed to do? Won't we be in deep crap if we get caught in the crossfire?"

"Most likely. This ship’s only armament is a laser meant for incinerating space debris. I calculate that if we enter a genuine engagement, we will undoubtedly be sunk."

"Sunk?! H-h-h-h-hey, what do we do?! What do we do?!"

"What shall we do indeed, Mr. Teiro? On an unrelated note, we are at our scheduled arrival time. I recommend holding onto something."

The moment the words left Koume’s speakers, a fresh wave of vibrations violently rocked the hull. Taro crawled across the floor, clinging to a refrigeration unit for dear life. He scrambled to activate BISHOP, desperately searching for any means of self-defense.

"I-I-I-IT’S NO GOOOOOD! THE A-A-A-ARMAMENT FUUUUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN DEEE-TAAAA-CHED!"

Taro’s voice vibrated in a ghoulish tremolo. Before his eyes, his HUD displayed several self-defense Armament Functions marked as [OFFLINE]. He figured they must have been jettisoned along with the engines during the initial accident.

Then, much like the start of the jump, silence arrived without so much as a polite knock.

[OVERDRIVE: TERMINATED]

[BATTERY CIRCUIT BYPASS: TERMINATED]

[PROGRAM NOAH: TERMINATED]

A series of green messages scrolled across his vision. The battery power previously rerouted to the Overdrive device flooded back into the Living Quarters. With a few fitful flickers, the overhead lights hummed to life.

"Are they… back on?"

Taro strained his ears, listening for the sounds of battle. He realized a second later how stupid that was; sound didn't travel through a vacuum. There was no way he’d hear a space battle from inside a sealed hull.

"Koume, what’s the status? Don't we have, like, a viewscreen or something?"

"We do, Mr. Teiro. Let us relocate to your room. There are very few displays on this ship capable of free video output."

Koume began rolling her wheels toward the exit. Impatient, Taro scooped her up like a bowling ball and sprinted toward the private crew cabin he’d called home for the past year.

"Wide-area scan results: four nearby vessels. All are at a distance of approximately forty-five kilometers. Oh, it appears one has just been sunk. Its signature has vanished."

"Gah, this is the opposite of peaceful! Dammit, get out of the way!"

Taro swept a mess of cups and meal trays off his desk with a single motion, clattering them onto the floor, and set Koume down. The AI extended a cable like a metallic tentacle from her spherical body, plugging it into the jack beneath the display.

"…Whoa, wait. What is that? Is that supposed to be a ship?"

Taro’s voice was thick with skepticism. The object on the screen looked less like a spaceship and more like a compacted ball of industrial waste. There were iron rods that looked like they’d been ripped off a skyscraper, jagged steel plates, tangled cables, and weird glass domes—all crushed together into a single, massive lump. Terrifyingly, the thing seemed to work. He watched as it vented gas from attitude control jets and fired blue beams from a series of pipes.

"How do you even design something that ugly? That’s not just 'bad,' it’s insane. Or what, are they recycling geniuses?"

"No, Mr. Teiro. Humans did not construct that. This has become quite the problematic situation. Of the three remaining ships, two appear to be WIND."

"WIND?"

"Yes, Mr. Teiro. Wild Instructure Nude Drones. To put it simply: feral AI. They utilize any nearby structures to strengthen, augment, and replicate themselves."

"Ugh, I don't really get it, but so it’s like a space virus?"

"A reasonable interpretation, Mr. Teiro. Depending on the definition, they are classified as an Intelligent Machine Lifeform and the natural enemy of humanity."

"Oops. So, basically, if that jalopy over there fighting them loses, we’re toast? …Go for it! Give 'em hell, you magnificent piece of junk!"

Taro cheered for the underdog—a ship that clearly wasn't built for war. It looked like a glorified work vessel, covered in crane arms and cargo containers, currently locked in a fierce exchange of beams with the WIND. Every time the blue light hit, a shimmer surrounded the work ship’s hull. Taro guessed its shields were holding on by a thread.

"Can't we help? Can't we focus the debris laser or something? …Wait, is it just me, or is the enemy getting closer?"

"Negative. And negative, Mr. Teiro. No matter how much you tickle their shields with a debris-incinerating laser, their recharge rate will outpace our damage. Furthermore, the enemy is not approaching us. We are approaching them."

The display showed the WIND growing larger at a terrifying speed. On the radar, it was just a blinking dot, but it was clear they were on a collision course.

"Hey, hey, hey! What do we do?! If we get that close, they’re totally gonna jump us, right?!"

"Indeed, Mr. Teiro. Natural logic dictates that a target is easier to hit at close range. Ah, it appears they have ceased their fire on the other ship."

Taro peered at the screen in horror. The optical zoom showed the grotesque mass of scrap shifting. A part of its body—a muzzle that had been hammering the work ship—was slowly, ominously rotating toward them.

"S-Shields up! Revert attitude! Don't let them get a clean shot at the bridge!"

Taro’s eyes went wide as he dove into BISHOP. He saw the Shield Control Function Group glowing with a red border, signifying that Koume was already mid-calculation. A 'Do Not Touch' warning flashed over the area.

"Attitude Control Device, engage! Rapid—wait, no, that’ll turn me into mincemeat. Dammit, template modification! Pivot the ship around this point!"

Taro pulled up the Attitude Control Function Group and began frantically re-coding. Normally, the ship rotated around its center of mass, but Taro moved the pivot point to the Living Quarters where they were currently standing. If he didn't, the centrifugal force of a rapid turn would likely smear him against the wall.

The command was written and executed in seconds. The ship began to pivot in a jagged, awkward arc.

"Eek! They fired!"

A blue flash washed over the display. The camera tracking the WIND switched to an external hull-cam, capturing a massive bolt of energy screaming toward them.

"Heaven help me!"

Taro curled into a ball, gripping the desk like a life raft. Through squinted eyes, he saw the beam slam into their hull, only to diffuse into a shower of harmless sparks as it hit the shield.

"Huh? That didn't shake as much as I expected."

"Correct, Mr. Teiro. This ship possesses significant mass, and the shields are performing admirably. Unless we are subjected to sustained fire for a prolonged period, we should be fine."

Taro exhaled in relief, but the flip side was obvious: if they did stay under fire, they were dead. And their survival was still currently tied to that jalopy of a work ship, which had just had its shields pierced and was now spewing fire into the void.

"Heeeeeey! That ship is getting absolutely wrecked!"

Unable to sit still, Taro jumped back into BISHOP. He racked his brain, looking for any way—any way at all—to tip the scales.

"…Hey, Koume. You said this ship’s mass is huge, right?"

"Affirmative, Mr. Teiro. While its original purpose is unknown, its scale is equivalent to a cruiser. Even at half its original size, it remains a massive object."

Well, four thousand cryo-pods would add some serious heft, Taro thought, his fingers flying through the BISHOP interface. He watched the Shield Control programs flickering as Koume updated them at superhuman speeds.

"…Alright! Let’s give this a shot, you bastards!"

Taro fine-tuned the attitude control program, nudging the ship’s course. Without an engine, he couldn't pull off any grand maneuvers, but he could managed a very slow, very heavy drift.

"I don't care if you're a WIND or a breeze or whatever, being in our way was your first mis—G-GHA-BLARGH!?"

Before Taro could finish his heroic taunt, the hull slammed into the WIND. The entire ship groaned and buckled. Taro was launched sideways as if he’d been punched by a giant, slamming pathetically into the forward-facing wall. The laws of physics had decided that since the ship had lost velocity in the crash, Taro needed to make up the difference.

"Aguh… uugh…"

With his head spinning and his vision hazy, Taro desperately checked the flickering BISHOP interface.

"No… damage to vital systems. Hehe. Suck on that."

After confirming the ship was still in one piece, Taro stayed slumped against the wall, enduring his aching body while wearing the smuggest, most self-satisfied grin he could muster.

I’m a bit worried if there are any technical terms I haven't explained well enough. I’ll try my best to keep things clear going forward!