After making our preparations, we made our way to the cockpit block and sat in our corresponding seats. I sat on the main pilot seat, Mimi on the operator seat, and Elma on the sub-pilot seat. Each had a newly bought high-tech juice bottle filled with our favorite drinks floating around beside us.
“Geez. We’re about to go for a one-ship blitz assault deep into enemy lines, but the atmosphere isn’t tense at all.”
“Better than being all nervous, right?”
“I trust Hiro-sama, so I don’t feel nervous at all.”
“You sure are calm, aren’t you, Mimi?”
“Of course. I believe in Hiro-sama after all.”
“Man, you’re giving me lots of pressure. Well, I’ll try my best not to let you down then.”
I smiled wryly as I reached out to my juice bottle and pulled out the straw.
“Yes! Ah, Hiro-sama, we’ve received a transmission request just now. It’s from the Imperial fleet heavy cruiser, the 『Glorious』. Should I patch it through?”
“The Imperial fleet? Sure, patch it through.”
Man, and I was just about to enjoy my non-carbonated cola… As I thought that, Lieutenant Serena’s visage appeared on the main cockpit display. Lieutenant Serena was just about to say her piece, but froze up when she caught sight of our gravity spheres ー or rather, our high-tech floating tumblers.
『I was just about to say some words of encouragement, but it seems you’re actually rather relaxed.』
“Well, we’re quite confident in our success after all.”
We’ll close in as far as we can via the hyperspeed drive, fire those torpedoes and get the hell out. It’s a pretty simple job. I’m feeling pretty confident enough to enjoy some non-carbonated cola on the side with practically no worries.
『Is that so… I was a bit concerned because we’ll be starting the operation soon, but it looks like it was unwarranted after all. I do hope you aren’t all talk, however.』
“Of course. I’m a pro, y’know.”
Lieutenant Serena froze up again after hearing my reply and displayed a daring smile a few moments before she cut the transmission.
“That princess sure looks like she has a lot of free time on her hands, doesn’t she? We’re just your average mercenaries but she still went out of her way to send a transmission to check up on us.”
“I wonder how old she is?”
“No idea. Doesn’t matter anyway. Cut the comm lines, Mimi. Initiate comm silence.”
“Yes, initiating comm silence now.”
“Elma, increase engine output to maximum. Initiate hyperspeed drive sequence.”
“Aye, aye, sir. Engine output to maximum.”
“Hyperspeed drive, charging start.”
“Charging start… Activating hyperspeed drive in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Hyperspeed drive, activate!”
Krishna’s hyperspeed drive activated with a *dooon sound echoing out akin to an explosion. The countless lights in the far distance of space visible inside the cockpit immediately turned from stationary dots into bright lines akin to shooting stars.
“Keep an eye on the radar. Don’t miss the timing for the Fed ship’s warp-out.”
“”Roger!””
We’ve already gotten a fairly accurate approximation of the Fed fleet’s warp-out coordinates. The tech known as hyperdrive uses a time-space pathway called a hyperlane that connects one spacial coordinate with another in order to achieve super-long-distance interstellar travel.
In the process of fixing the exit point coordinates of a hyperlane, a certain area with unstable space 『fluctuations』 would inevitably appear, which could then be triangulated in order to approximate the warp-out coordinates. That’s why, as long as one knows which particular star system the enemy will be warping in from, an approximate warp-out point can be narrowed down to an extent.
The plan’s basically to skim through the approximate warp-out coordinates in hyperspeed until the enemy fleet warps out.
“We’ve caught some readings on the radar. Multiple warp-out responses confirmed!”
“Alright! Begin deceleration.”
We immediately headed towards the Fed fleet’s warp-out point and deactivated our hyperspeed drive at the same time as they exited from the hyperlane.
“Activate the emergency cooling system. Cut the generator output.”
“Activating the emergency cooling system. Cutting the power.”
At the same time as Krishna’s hyperspeed drive deactivated, its generator output was reduced to the bare minimum, and the emergency cooling system was activated. We entered thermal stealth mode.
“Great. Let’s proceed to sneak up on those bastard.”
“You sure can come up with some very nasty methods…”
“Using your noggin in order to take advantage of everything at your disposal is necessary in order for you to survive in this business. If you can’t at least do that, you’ll probably die.”
“As expected of Hiro-sama.”
We turned off the flight assist mode and approached the Federation fleet using only inertial propulsion. The Federation ships continued to warp-out one after another as we approached the center of the fleet.
“That’s quite a view. It’s actually kinda cool.”
“I guess. Seeing all those military warships in formation sure is quite the sight.”
“You’re right. There’s a sense of majesty to it.”
Seeing all those battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, and corvettes neatly lined up in a tight formation really was cool. But there’s no sense in being immersed in such a spectacle.
“Looks like that’s the flagship.”
I gazed at the ship in the center of the formation. There were transmissions coming from that ship that were being sent to the rest of the fleet. There’s no mistake then. That’s the enemy flagship.
“Are we really heading straight for that?”
“Yep.”
I nodded in reply to Elma, whose face was now slightly devoid of color. C’mon. We’ve come this far, so there’s no sense in turning around anymore.
“The warp-out responses have stopped. All the Federation ships have arrived.”
“Alright. It’s about time. We’re already in effective range. Deactivate the emergency cooling system. Raise the generator output to maximum.”
“Ah geez… Emergency cooling system deactivated. Generator output set to maximum!”
“Charge!”
The emergency cooling system was deactivated, and pieces of ice started peeling off the ship’s hull. I punched the ship’s thrusters to maximum and rushed straight towards the center of the enemy fleet. My target was the battleship in the middle of the formation. It was most likely the enemy fleet’s flagship. But it’s not like we did actually confirm it was.
『…? What? There’s a response on the radar…!? Bandits, coming in fast! They’re right above us! They’ll close in soon!』
『What did you say!? Was nobody manning the radar!?』
『That ship’s heat signature is abnormally low! The bastards disguised themselves as normal debris!』
“Hahaha! They’re panicking! They’re absolutely panicking!”
The Federation ship was hastily making some evasive actions, but we were already right in their faces, so it was too late already. They can’t shoot us recklessly due to the danger of friendly fire. I weaved through the escort ships and opened the lower weapons bay.
“Gahahaha! Eat this, bastaaards!”
I fired off the two anti-ship reactive torpedoes and raced through the flagship’s flank. Moments after, a huge explosion went off right in the middle of the enemy battleship. The ship was practically torn in two.
『Battleship – Tiger Eye, shot down! The enemy fired off anti-ship reactive torpedoes!』
『Goddammit! Mercenaries!? Don’t mind friendly fire. Shoot them down with the multi-cannon turrets! But hold off on the laser cannons, ballistic cannons and seeker missiles!』
“Yahooo! Now that’s what I call giant-killing folks!!!”
“H- Hey! Don’t ‘yahoo’ me! Let’s hurry up and get out of here!”
“I gotcha!”
Lots of lock-on warnings went off one after another inside the cockpit. Looks like they were determined to shoot down the enemy even if their flagship was destroyed. They were able to reorganize their chain of command faster than I expected.
“Hey, wait a minute!? What about those crystal monsters!?”
“It’ll take about thirty seconds before they materialize!”
“Haa!? Thirty seconds!? So what the heck are we supposed to do now!?”
“We’ll evade like heck, of course! We’re in the middle of their fleet so they can’t use their more powerful weapons anyway. We’ll be just fine!”
“‘Just fine’, my foot! You damn idiooot!”
The enemy fleet’s multi-cannons released a concentrated volley at the same time as Elma’s scream. Countless numbers of bullets rushed towards Krishna, aiming to take it down.
“Release the chaff and reactivate the emergency cooling device!”
“I’ve done that already!”
“Release comm silence, Mimi! Send the data to the imperial fleet!”
“Right away!”
We activated all emergency evasion devices and systems and weaved through concentrated enemy fire by a hair’s breadth. We couldn’t avoid each and every round, of course. But Krishna’s powerful shield did its work and prevented us from taking damage.
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