We finally exited the multicolored hyperspace tunnel that was bad for the eyes. Black Lotus transitioned into normal space. I wonder when it was that I began to feel an inexplicable sense of security whenever I saw the twinkling sea of stars from beyond the ship’s canopy. It looks like I’ve gradually adapted myself to this dimension already.
“Yosh, let’s go.”
“Opening the hangar hatch. Go ahead.”
“Launch!”
After a short round of charging, Krishna was launched out of the Black Lotus’ hangar by the electromagnetic catapult into outer space. The sense of release and freedom you get the instant you jump out into the sea of stars was, for me, incomparable.
“Just like what we discussed, our next destination is the Refill Prime colony.”
『Roger. I will now set the course to Refill Prime colony.』
“Requesting FTL Drive synchronization.”
『Synchronization accepted. FTL Drive, charging start.』
“Set the radar’s range to the maximum. If you spot something suspicious, notify me immediately.”
『「Aye, aye, sir!」』
Mimi and Mei replied simultaneously. Meanwhile, Elma seems to be calmly performing a subsystems check next. As for me, I didn’t have anything to do at the moment. That’s because it’s my crew members who handle the ship’s navigation, communication, and control of the subsystems. My role is to take command during emergencies and pilot the ship in order to deal with said emergencies.
『Countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…… FTL Drive, activate.』
A roaring sound echoed throughout the cockpit, and Black Lotus and Krishna broke off into the void while leaving behind light trails.
“I sure hope nothing bad happens this time.”
“That’s right…… But–”
“Our bad luck levels are seriously just too hardcore after all. I’d find it weirder if we didn’t find ourselves neck-deep in trouble, honestly.”
“Ahaha…… Ah–”
Mimi, who smiled bitterly, suddenly noticed something. She operated her console and put up the image she was looking at on the main screen. It looks like she picked up a ship signature on the subspace radar while we were using FTL navigation…… But that signature is–
“They use that to tag criminals, right……?”
“Wasn’t there some news about a ship that went at it with the imperial military recently?”
“Yeah, there was.”
While listening to Mimi and Elma’s exchange, I quickly operated my console and canceled the FTL synchronization with the Black Lotus. I then nudged the flight stick to change course in order to follow after the ship with the criminal tag.
“Make sure to catch up with us later, Black Lotus.”
『Understood. Good luck, Master.』
While navigating via FTL, a ship would be more difficult to handle, but even so, a small combat ship like Krishna was still far more agile and responsive than Black Lotus. If we’re gonna tail a ship using FTL, it would be better for Krishna to act solo.
“The other party’s movements are quite sluggish. A medium-class, maybe? Or perhaps a large-class?”
“Anyway, let’s stick to them. Have the interdictor on stand-by.”
“This is gonna be our first time to interdict another ship ourselves huh.”
Interdiction is the act of forcibly stopping a ship while it’s using FTL navigation. I’m not clear about the detailed processes behind it, but interdiction is performed by grabbing the behind of a target ship via the use of a jamming device called an interdictor which makes use of gravity control technology.
In other words, it’s like performing a dogfight at faster than light speeds.
“Hahaha, and where do you think you’re going, buddy?”
Of course, the side on the receiving end of interdiction would try their hardest to escape being interdicted.
In order to throw my aim off, they started speeding up and zigzagging around, but I’m not the kind of pilot those kinds of tricks will work on. By the way, we’d be able to interdict them successfully the moment they reduce speed to a certain level, so if they get careless using those erratic maneuvers, it’ll be an instant game over.
“It looks like we were right on the money.”
“No need to hold back against a ship with a criminal tag. We’re engaging them in combat as soon as we catch them.”
“”Aye, aye, sir!”
Shortly after Elma and Mimi’s reply, we finally interdicted the opponent, and both Krishna and the enemy ship were thrown back into normal space. And right after a successful interdiction, the target would then be put into a terrible situation.
“Ah, what a tragedy.”
I activated our weapon systems as I watched the large-class starship that looked decidedly like a pirate ship spin around in space uncontrollably.
A ship forcibly yanked out from subspace while navigating via FTL would usually experience violent multi-axis rotations just like what’s happening here. They say it’s caused by the leftover kinetic energy after an interrupted FTL navigation, but I’m not sure about the detailed theory.
And of course, when a ship is like that, they’d be wide open to attacks by their opponents. So if there wasn’t a chance of getting away or if you didn’t intend to run in the first place, it would be better to just purposely drop your speed and accept the interdiction to avoid such a situation.
Since I came to this dimension, there have been a couple of times where I was on the receiving end of interdiction, and I slowed down to accept the interdiction every time. And this is the reason why.
“I’m gonna punch right through their shields straight away.”
“That would be best.”
There’s no need to grant mercy onto a ship with a criminal tag. I fired a volley from all four heavy-caliber laser cannons at the pirate ship that was still spinning about wildly. In that situation, other than the cockpit that’s protected by an inertial control system, the other sections of the ship should be in an absolute mess.
“Enemy ship’s shields are down.”
“Let’s aim for the thrusters next.”
After peeling off their shields, I’m gonna crush their thrusters next. Once that’s done, the large-class ship will be stripped of its mobility. Afterward, I’ll just have to destroy their defensive turrets from a blind spot and they’ll be completely naked.
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