The Planet-class Fortress finally came into view.
True to its name, it was an absolutely massive installation. A planet-sized colony stuffed with weapons, its monstrous bulk was protected by thick armor that made it pointlessly sturdy. To a station like that, we were insignificant specks. A head-on assault was out of the question.
Our plan was to infiltrate and destroy it from within, but that meant braving a swarm of gravity generators, drones, and soldiers. Furthermore, Full Armor Sato Judo—bristling with plasma gatlings and missiles—would be standing in our way. He was incredibly tough. In the game, the Sato Judo who clawed his way to the throne as Emperor possessed nightmarish strength.
This route... the creators must have really hated the players. However, the current situation differed from the "Revolution Route" in the game. Here, Sato Judo wasn't the Emperor; Veronica—my wifey—was. There was no grand justification for a revolution, Wifey was a military genius, and she was genuinely popular. Plus, the enemy lacked time and hadn't been able to squander the Empire's treasury. They looked the same, but their actual combat power shouldn't be comparable. Probably.
I aimed straight for the Planet-class Fortress. Anything in my way gets taken down!
Or so I intended, until I realized the enemy units were actively fleeing my path.
"Ahahaha! The Captain’s so strong they’re running for the hills!" Melissa cackled uproariously.
"Commencing missile support," Kevin's voice came over the comms.
"Wait, hang on—"
I’d just received a transmission from the enemy.
"Launching."
Dammit, I didn't make it in time. Missiles rained down on the retreating foes. Kevin’s Spotter ability combined with his numerical corrections was terrifyingly precise. If they braced behind their shields, they might have a sliver of a chance of survival, but...
Seriously, dodge! Dodge for your lives! I pleaded silently, but explosions blossomed without mercy.
Yeah, they were pretty much wiped out. Seriously, surrender sooner! We can't stop the missiles once they're off the rail! At least try to dodge them!
"Lord Groom, joining formation!" A unit from the Imperial Guard, fresh from their own skirmish, pulled up alongside us.
"For the Duke Army to be in this state... things are more dire than we suspected."
"Well, these guys aren't exactly frontline material," I replied.
This territory was simply too big. You couldn't monitor every last fringe world, and the Duke's military command couldn't manage it all centrally. That's why idiots who mistook themselves for "Planet Kings" were allowed to run wild. In certain routes, one of those idiots actually rose to become Emperor. It would take a miracle on the level of the Three Kingdoms or the rise of the Han Dynasty. Wait, the Sima clan were the ones who finally won the Three Kingdoms era... So Wifey would lose to that? Knowing her personally, I couldn't even picture it.
In the game, even Sato Judo eventually lost to the Revolution Army. It felt more likely that the Zork were pulling the strings.
Now, regarding this Revolution Route, there was one crucial problem: it didn't solve anything. It just ended with the text: "The battle against the Zork continues forever."
Ridiculous! People just died for no reason. In a way, it was a Zork victory—a total Bad End. That was why I was going to crush this route completely.
The Planet-class Fortress loomed larger, its visual pressure immense. It was a massive eyesore. The Planet-class Fortress was essentially a "Overnight Castle" concept—the fear of a massive base appearing out of nowhere. Or so the books said. I say "apparently" because they cost so much that there were almost no records of them actually being used; they weren't even prominent enough to be in the textbooks. Which meant no one had developed a guide on how to beat them yet.
"Lord Groom, here it comes!"
I saw a main cannon of absurd proportions. Even from this distance, I could see the energy charging. A low vibration echoed through the void. We had already cleared the line of fire, but the remaining Duke Army forces just stood there. A colossal beam swallowed them whole. Everything where the Duke Army had been was annihilated. Humanoid fighters, warships, interceptors—all gone.
That lunatic fired through his own men!
As for us, we had spent ages enduring simultaneous beam volleys from enough Linear Blazers to match our numbers. A beam of that caliber wouldn't touch us. If we did mess up a dodge, we had a secret trick: block with the shield, cut all thrusters, and let the sheer inertia of the hit bounce us away!
Thanks to that, we could survive at least the first hit of a focused Linear Blazer attack. Our attrition rate was under ten percent! (Though the guys who got Game Overs were mostly just disqualified because they got blown clean out of the operation zone.) We'd suffered some pathetic losses at the start, with guys getting slammed into the ground, though.
It sounded like a joke, but it was a legit technique from a five-century-old pilot manual. You die because you try to resist halfway!
"Going in!" Melissa dove forward. Her shooting wasn't great, so we covered her. Standard-type fighters poured out of the fortress. I fired my sniper-spec large-caliber plasma rifle, and Ren backed me up. Ren relied on precision; I didn't even look through the scope anymore. I fired on pure instinct. That was all I needed.
"Leo! I'm supporting you!"
This time, Claire was in her own unit. It was a machine based on the Massacre Night, with every bit of performance tuned for mobility and brawling. God's Fist of the Light Wings was right by my side. People assumed Melissa was the second strongest after me, but they were wrong. My Executive Officer had a custom machine for a reason!
Ren’s marksmanship plus Melissa’s close-combat ability... Wait, am I the redundant one here? I shouldn't think about it. I'll just be a good boy so they don't overthrow me.
As we carved through the fighters, humanoid fighters took their place. The sheer volume was fitting for a Last Boss.
"Lord Groom, we'll hold them! Strike the Planet-class!" The Imperial Guard stepped forward. I pushed to full throttle, weaving through the chaos.
"Fuhahahaha! Leo Kamishiro! A worthy foe! I am of the Duke Ar—gh!"
He was in the way, so I kicked him away. I didn't even look back. The guy was a moron.
"The shame! The humiliation! I shall never forgeeeeeet thiiiiiiis!"
Shut up. In reality, the idiot lacked the skill. A stray shot from the Imperial Guard blew him up instantly.
And just like that, we arrived at the Planet-class Fortress.