Hi guys. It’s your dashing hero, Captain Hiro here.
After ruthlessly destroying the combat robots that fell on the beach, we finally managed to make it back to the lodge, but the situation was worse than what we imagined. The glass panes on the windows were shattered due to the shockwaves when the combat robots fell, and the lodge was riddled with scorch and bullet marks from the ensuing firefight. Some sections were already destroyed.
Well, the lodge was mostly done for, but there were still plenty of large objects in the area we could use as cover, so we went ahead and did just that.
Eh? Why weren’t heading for Krishna, you ask? Well, y’see… We would really like to… if we could, that is.
“It looks like it’s impossible to get through that huh…”
“We’ll probably die.”
“It’s as good as suicide.”
“Yes. It’s extremely dangerous.”
We were hiding behind a large rock near the lodge, and further in front of us were several fully transformed combat robots, as well as robots that served as part of this island’s defense systems.
The enemy robots transformed from their spherical shape to ones that walked on three legs. Their upper bodies also transformed, revealing four deadly-looking laser turrets. They’re sporting quite the firepower.
As for the island’s defense robots… they were quite unique-looking. There was a robot that looked like a crab made of rock, one that looked like a real gorilla covered in fur, mechanical dogs, as well as laser emplacements that arose from the ground and laser gun-toting maid robots…… Whoah. The gorilla just ripped an enemy robot apart. As expected of a gorilla. I shall now dub you Death Gorilla.
“But do you think Chris’s uncle can get away with doing something this blatant…?”
“I wonder. Maybe he’s confident in covering his tracks. Maybe he didn’t use Enel to hire the pirates and just used rare metals as payment instead. He might have also used a middleman to purchase those combat robots. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t procure reactive torpedoes.”
After hearing my question, Elma made some conjectures.
“What do you mean, Elma-san?”
“If they fired off a reactive torpedo on a resort planet, I imagine the empire wouldn’t be able to stay quiet. They would surely launch a thorough investigation, and there’s a high chance the perpetrators would be caught. That’s why they just made do with what was barely allowable.”
“Does the empire really place such a large importance on reactive torpedoes? I actually find their management rather lax though.”
I did use some reactive torpedoes when we fought the Vereverem Federation fleet a while back, and I wasn’t really questioned all that much. I also properly received my rewards.
“That’s because there aren’t a lot of mercenaries who have them. I bet you’ve already been marked, actually.”
“Really…? Hm. Oh well.”
I bet that doesn’t just apply to reactive torpedoes, but to combat starships that have enough firepower to seriously damage or destroy space colonies and stations as well. It sure makes you wonder how the heck our mercenary predecessors managed to get properly recognized to the point of founding the Mercenary Guild. It kinda makes me curious.
“Hiro-sama, is the Krishna still safe?”
Mimi asked me with a worried look on her face. Well, of course, she’s worried.
“Yeah. I managed to deploy the energy shields using my terminal earlier, so it’s probably okay. But, now that I think about it, it might have been better if Elma or I were on standby inside the ship. Then we wouldn’t be in such a pinch.”
“No use for regrets. In any case, we didn’t really expect the enemies to break through the defense net and execute a pinpoint attack.”
“We are very sorry that we are unable to ensure the safety of our guests.”
May, who was hiding behind a nearby hedge, turned toward us and bowed her head in apology.
“It’s alright. Or rather, we’re the ones who are sorry for wrapping you up in our troubles……”
Oh, man. They won’t slap the bill for all the destroyed facilities to us, won’t they? That’d really suck.
“Anyway, shall we provide some covering fire? Don’t raise your head too far, everyone.”
I broke cover, got into a firing stance, and held my breath. When I did so, it seemed as if the surroundings slowed down to a crawl. While I was in that peculiar state, I matched my timing with the defense robots and fired consecutive bursts from my laser gun.
Even if the objects in the surroundings seemed to have slowed down from my perspective, the laser shots still went off at lightspeed. One, two, three, four, five… After I landed five shots in quick succession, the enemy combat robot turned its laser turrets my way.
“Khh!”
I quickly aimed at one of the turrets, and before it managed to fire, I was able to land some shots. The laser shots went straight through the barrel, and the turret’s entire front portion was blown off.
I see? So the insides of the barrels were the weak points. I was unable to keep holding my breath any longer, so I hurriedly crouched down and took some deep breaths.
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