Chapter 97

After the captain retreated for medical treatment, Teiro, Alan, and Phantom continued their meeting in a room that was—to put it mildly—not built for four people.

The "extra" person was the female defector. She had developed a violent allergy to the idea of being moved anywhere else, so they’d been forced to leave her be. Teiro had some reservations about the safety of the arrangement, but Phantom had assured him everything was fine. Apparently, as long as Phantom was in the room, Teiro was technically "safe" even if someone was currently pressing a loaded gun to his forehead.

"But seriously, shouldn't we tell the Empire? No matter how you slice it, this is way beyond a corporate spat—ha-fi-fu-ho-ho-ho-fun-wah."

From behind, the girl reached out and grabbed Teiro’s face. She yanked the corners of his mouth outward, forcibly converting his speech into a series of breathy "H" sounds.

"Well, you’re not wrong," Alan said, ignoring the slapstick display. "The problem is whether the Empire will actually believe us. I wish the captain of the Mary Ann had possessed the foresight to bring a shred of evidence with him."

"Even if they did know, do you honestly think the Empire would move?" Phantom countered. "We're talking about a situation the likes of which haven't been seen in centuries. I don't trust the current brass to make a quick decision to save their own lives."

"Heho-haa, hyu-hafu-heho... Okay, okay, I’m trying to talk about something important here! But look, during the Neural Network Collapse, they were actually pretty snappy about things, hihe-haha-aaan?"

"That was only because His Majesty the Emperor issued a direct imperial decree," Phantom said. "Without that, we’d probably still be knee-deep in the middle of that chaos. Honestly, I wouldn't pin my hopes on the military. What about you, Alan?"

"The military? Sorry, I can't give you an objective opinion. My unit was a bit... specialized. I wasn't exactly in a position to see the big picture like you were."

"...What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Regardless, we should probably toss a report toward the central hub. It'll be a pain in the ass later if they ask why we kept them in the dark."

"Hiha, heh? Hanhe... Yes, yes, I'll be a good boy and stay quiet. Seriously, why wouldn't the Empire move? Isn't this a massive deal for them too?"

Alan and Phantom exchanged a look and fell into a heavy silence. Finally, Phantom broke it. "Why don't you just show them?"

"I suppose that’s the only way," Alan replied.

"Big Sister Yotta. These people are talking about such boring, difficult things. Etta is getting sleepy."

The girl slumped her entire body weight against Teiro’s back. Teiro debated how to handle the situation, but since she didn't seem to have a murderous bone in her body, he decided to just let her hang there like a backpack.

"Little lady, you’ve certainly taken a shine to Teiro, haven't you? Is your name Etta?"

Phantom spoke in a voice so saccharine and gentle that Teiro did a double-take. It was impossible to reconcile this man with the demon who had just been "disciplining" the captain. Teiro could only offer a wry, helpless smile.

"Mhm. That's right. Etta is Yotta's little sister. I like Teiro. He smells the same as us."

"And what is that supposed to mean!?" Teiro barked back reflexively.

Etta giggled at his reaction and did a playful little spin on the spot.

"You really are a funny man. Hey, Teiro. Since I like you, I'll tell you a secret. I smell those black ships. They've been peeking at us this whole time. It's a muddy, gross, boring picture. They're tiny, but there are lots of them."

Etta rested her chin on Teiro’s shoulder and whispered directly into his ear. Teiro was ready to let it go as a weird kid being a weird kid, but Phantom suddenly bolted upright.

"Teiro, prep for launch. Now. If we ignore them, they might leave, but there’s no reason to give them more data than necessary."

Teiro blinked up at the standing Phantom, his brain stalling.

"She’s a Sonarman," Phantom explained rapidly. "Her analysis is more accurate than any high-end scanner on the market. Didn't you say you were dealing with a Stealth Ship? They probably followed you. They’re right on top of us."

Teiro and his crew scrambled for an emergency launch, pulling the station's defense ships along with them. Just as Phantom predicted, an Enzio Stealth Ship was sitting right there in the not-so-distant void. However, the enemy must have realized the jig was up the moment the fleet moved; as soon as Teiro’s ships cleared the bay, the intruder vanished into the black.

"A cautious bunch," Phantom mused, watching the scanners. "Or maybe just cowards. Either way, they're going to be a nuisance."

Teiro nodded, his previous encounter with them flashing through his mind. He realized with a sinking feeling that his fleet was severely lacking.

"Honestly, their actual combat power felt like a joke. Their armor was paper-thin and they weren't even that fast. But that ECM and jamming? That was legitimate magic. My Beams were bending like they were in a funhouse mirror."

Alan nodded in agreement. They had tried sweeping the area with the station's directional scanners, but with no enemy ships left in the sector, they had retreated back to the Katsushika office. Currently, the Battle School ships were handling the patrol, manned by students whose eyes were turning bloodshot from the sheer stress of the situation.

"They’re Electronic Warfare Battleships," Alan said. "If you didn't have that Railgun, you'd have been dead in the water. Still, Enzio having an Electronic Warfare Craft is a nasty surprise."

"Indeed," Phantom added. "Those things require high-end tech to produce and cost an absolute fortune. It’s a bit... disproportionate for them. If they’re willing to use one just for scouting or as a watchdog, we have to assume they have a whole lot more where that came from."

"If we run into a swarm of those, aren't we screwed?" Teiro asked. "Even just having one of those mixed into a standard fleet would be a nightmare."

"Quite. And when you factor in the amplification from Linked Radiation, they won't just bring one. It's going to be a headache and a half."

"Linked... what now?"

Teiro cupped his ear, looking lost. The floating orb known as Koume chimed in to save him.

"Linked Radiation, Mr. Teiro! Because of the way Drive Particles behave, it is most efficient to use multiple ECM Generators simultaneously at specific distances."

"A-ha," Teiro said. "So it’s like a 'combo move.' If everyone does the move together, the power level goes over nine thousand?"

"I don't know about 'nine thousand,' but sure," Marl said, looking at Teiro with an expression that sat somewhere between pity and exhaustion. "Think of it like that. Drive Particles like to clump together. They aren't supposed to have mass, but they have a property that mimics gravity."

Teiro let the science lecture slide right out of his brain and focused on the problem at hand. If things stayed the way they were, they were going to get shredded.

"Man, I guess we need an electronic warfare ship of our own... but how? Those things are stupidly expensive to run, right?"

"The dedicated crafts? Yes," Alan admitted. "Honestly, they're probably out of our league. But if we just focus on anti-electronic warfare gear, we might be able to scrap something together."

"Like stabilizers? Ugh, we're basically out of room as it is. Our whole strategy is 'Safety First,' right? So the Overdrive stabilizers already eat up almost all our free internal space."

"Speaking for the staff, I'd prefer you didn't change that," Marl interjected. "The employees joined on the premise of not dying. A sudden shift in policy will cause a mutiny."

"Yeah, true... there’s gotta be a better way."

Teiro crossed his arms and let out a long, low groan. The room went silent as everyone fell into their own private brainstorm.

"Hey, Mr. President. Can we head out now? I don't mind talking tactics, but 'strategy' makes my head hurt. I'll leave the big thinking to you lot."

Gon, who had been curled up in a chair looking like he was about to die of boredom, finally spoke up. Teiro gave a distracted "Yeah, sure," before his eyes suddenly lit up. He slapped his palm.

"Wait! I’ve got it!"

The room froze. Teiro lunged over to Gon—who was in the middle of trying to leave—and scooped the creature up by his armpits, hoisting him to chest height. Gon’s lower body dangled like an overcooked noodle, his face contorting into a mask of feline annoyance.

"Ship-borne Craft! We’ll do what the Imperial Military does! We'll make the Ship-borne Craft the electronic warfare units!"

Alan rubbed his chin. "Ship-borne Craft, huh...?"

"You mean creating Carrier-based Craft for the other fleets besides the First Fleet?" Alan asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

"Exactly!" Teiro chirped. "We've already got the know-how from running Plum, right? Might as well lean into it. The only problem is finding pilots..."

Teiro spun the dangling Gon around to face him.

"Gon, buddy! Do you know any ace pilots?"

Gon let out a strangled gufh sound.

"I do, and I'll introduce you... but put me down first. You're choking me. I’m not proud of it, but I’m fat. I've got a lot of neck."

Gon struggled as his excess skin and fur bunched up around his throat. Teiro panicked and set him back on the floor, hurriedly smoothing out the creature's ruffled coat.

"Good grief. Being fat is only good for looking dignified in a chair... Listen, Mr. President. I’m an outsider here, but let me give you a tip. A tiny radar on a Ship-borne Craft isn't going to catch a Stealth Ship. Anti-electronic gear is fine and dandy, but you need to actually see the bastards first."

Teiro nodded. Gon was right. He started thinking about how to cram massive scanners onto tiny ships, but Gon wasn't finished.

"The other fleets might need fancy gadgets, but you’ve got a little lady right here with a very interesting power. And she just proved she can do the job better than your computers. I don't know how you feel about using her, but shouldn't she be an option?"

Gon gave a "well, what do you think?" shrug. Every pair of eyes in the room slowly turned to lock onto a single young girl.