Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 21 - Chapter 7

From the World of Stars

Friday, November 19th

Two days after setting out for Planet Alaia, Ohime was finally approaching the defense system set up around its atmosphere. If they could get past that, all they’d have left would be reentry. There were two obstacles in their way, however: the laser cannons set up to handle large chunks of ice, and the surveillance put into place by the army.

The laser cannons were practically no problem whatsoever. As they identified targets approaching Alaia with radar, objects below a certain size wouldn’t be targeted. They’d known that in advance and made sure Ohime wouldn’t trip the system.

The army’s surveillance network, however, might not be such a simple matter. Koutarou and company had fashioned Ohime to look like ice and cut power to its engines and systems so as not to give it away, so if all went well, there shouldn’t be any issues. The surveillance network was set up over such a wide area that it would be difficult to detect a single small, camouflaged ship in the first place—if that was even possible. It was highly unlikely the network had that kind of advanced detection ability. Its primary purpose was as something of an early warning system for larger vessels like battleships.

But even then, Koutarou and the girls couldn’t completely relax. Obviously, there were patrol ships out and about too. In the worst case scenario, they might end up accidentally bumping right into someone that was looking for them. However unlikely that might be, the prospect still made everyone nervous.

“We’re less than three thousand kilometers away now.”

Peeking at her bracelet, Clan gave an updated report to Koutarou and the others who were currently drinking tea. Hearing it, Koutarou casually rested his hand on the table and looked up at her.

“Yeah, that doesn’t really mean anything to me.”

“Ugh, fine... Um, in another ten minutes, we’ll be entering the atmosphere.”

“That’s awfully fast.”

“It’s because we’ve been accelerating with the gravitational pull of Alaia ever since we disembarked from the Hazy Moon. And things are only going to get faster from here.”

“I guess I kind understand why no one ever mentions distance in sci-fi movies now.”

“Indeed. When travelling in space, time is easier to understand than distance.”

Fortunately, their anxious wait was almost over. Hearing that, Koutarou flashed a smile. Clan felt similarly, though her smile was somewhat stiff. Puzzled by that, Koutarou asked her about it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about what’s going to happen next...”

There, Clan forced a wry smile. Her inner scientist simply hadn’t come to terms with the plan.

“What about it?”

“Well, this isn’t the typical method of reentry.”

“How is it different?”

“Normally, we’d burn up on this kind of course.”

“What?!”

After entering orbit, a normal spaceship would slowly descend to the surface as if surfing on the atmosphere. By doing that, its speed and altitude would slowly decrease, protecting the hull from the high temperatures generated upon reentry.

However, Ohime—currently pretending to be a falling lump of ice—wasn’t taking any such precautions. Though it was still descending through the atmosphere, its angle was too steep and its speed too fast. If they continued along their current trajectory without any intervention, they would burn up as they flew across the skies of Alaia as a shooting star.

“Glasses, you mean this is like the part in anime when somebody says, ‘Don’t be reckless! Don’t you know the friction of the atmosphere will destroy you?!’”

Sanae, who was clinging to Koutarou’s back and listening to him talk to Clan, suddenly leaned forward and inserted herself into the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s just like that.”

In reality, the heat created from the air being compressed was far greater than the heat born from friction, but Clan didn’t see any reason to split hairs right now.

“This is bad! Let’s get out of here, Koutarou! At this rate, you’ll disintegrate into nothing while calling out the name of your beloved—me, of course!”

Sanae grabbed Koutarou’s shoulder and shook him violently. Thanks to anime, she’d seen plenty of failed reentry attempts before.

“S-Sanae! C-Calm down!”

“How am I supposed to calm down?! I don’t wanna be stardust! Nooooo!”

“It’s okay, Sanae-chan. Uncle will be doing his best to keep that from happening.”

“Huh? R-Really?”

“Indeed. I will slow us down and block out the heat. I’d never live it down if the Fire Dragon Emperor himself burned up, you know.”

It would fall on Alunaya to protect them all from the dangers of reentry. He would erect a sturdy barrier to shield them from the heat, and shape it in a way that would help decelerate the ship. If that wasn’t enough, he’d then use magic to directly slow their descent. It would be an incredible feat only capable with the Fire Dragon Emperor’s vast reserves of mana.

“This is going to wreck my weight... but I’d rather be heavy than dead,” grumbled Shizuka.

“Dragon Uncle, how much will Shizuka weigh after this?” asked Sanae

“Well, it’s not like I’m transforming, so I doubt she’ll go over 200 kilos.”

“And Shizuka’s prepared for that?”

“Indeed. Besides, I don’t think she’s worried about the impressions she’s going to be making here.”

“So we’re relying on magic to get through this, huh?” mused Koutarou. “I see. So that’s why you’re sulking, Clan.”

“It’s just hard for me to accept something so outrageous.”

To understate the magnificence of what they were about to attempt, they were basically using magic to jury-rig a breaking system to try and survive reentry. As a scientist and a rationalist, that was a hard pill to swallow for Clan.

“Let’s just say that we’re saving all your technological wonders for later, Clan-dono.”

“Yeah. Besides, Clan-san, if it weren’t for you, I’m not sure we even would have made it this far.”

“Hahh... You two are the only ones who would say that, Kii, Harumi.”

“You’re just a stubborn, eccentric scientist.”

“Veltlion!”

The conversation deteriorated there, which actually helped to relieve some of the tension that had been building as they neared their goal. Soon enough, their long cruise would be over.

“Emergency alert, ho! Detecting active radar, ho!”

“The enemy is approaching, ho! It’s four space fighters, ho!”

However, the coup d’etat army wasn’t going to let it happen so easily. Whether it was chance or inevitability, enemy ships were now headed right for Ohime.

“What?!”

Hearing the haniwas’ alert, Theia stood up and raced for the cockpit. Koutarou and the others followed suit. An enemy encounter just as they were about to attempt reentry was bad news.

Koutarou and company were just as surprised to see the four fighters as the four fighters were to see them.

“Captain, how did this new radar detect the enemy’s position?”

“I don’t know. It’s some new model of DKI’s, but... I can’t believe this performance.”

“Resolution-wise, this is several digits more powerful than the ones we used to have.”

“Just when did they develop something like this? DKI hasn’t been in the weapons business for that long...”

The imperial fighters they were flying came factory equipped with a multisensor that used gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation. It was meant to have noncombat applications, so it had more functions than just tracking nearby enemies, but it was still essentially just a device that examined the fighter’s surroundings. The new model of multisensor they’d had installed just today, however, had located their enemy—even with power to their ship cut—from several dozen kilometers away. That would ordinarily be unthinkable, but it seemed these new sensors had been designed to defy expectations.

“Moreover, how did we even know an unidentified ship was passing through this region?”

“Maybe it’s some other new technology too? Or maybe there are spies or something...”

That was their real surprise—that they’d managed to track down the enemy at all. The full specs of the new multisensors were top secret, so the pilots didn’t know what they were truly capable of, but their displays rendered to about a hundred kilometers out. That might seem like an extraordinarily large area—and it would be on a planet—but in space, a hundred kilometers was nothing. For comparison, the distance between Earth and its moon is roughly 380,000 kilometers, which was incidentally also the approximate distance between Alaia and its ring. Detecting an enemy craft in that area even with the new multisensor was the equivalent of trying to find a needle in a cosmic haystack. It should have been impossible without knowing their route beforehand, and unlikely even then.

“Whatever the case, I bet the military’s going nuts over this new tech.”

“Now that you mention it, I heard the fleet that went to capture Her Majesty Elfaria returned emptyhanded.”

“That’s probably what lit a fire under them.”

The real reason they’d been able to detect Koutarou and the others was because DKI—or more accurately, Elexis—had gotten his hands on spiritual energy technology and magic. The multisensor he’d created as a result was capable of detecting both spiritual energy and magical auras. And while operating in space with no other living creatures around, the spiritual energy radar in particular worked especially well.

On top of that, Darkness Rainbow used magic to divine the route Koutarou and company would be taking. As there were several potential options, a squadron of fighters—all equipped with the new multisensor—had been dispatched to monitor each one. Koutarou and the others had ended caught up in one of those webs.

“But I can’t imagine they’d offer all of this free of charge. This is some top-secret stuff, or maybe even beyond that if you can imagine.”

“I mean, DKI stands to earn more the longer this fight with Elfaria’s faction drags out. There’s a decent chance this’ll leak. Normally, you’d try and sell someone the cheapest model you can get away with making.”

“Then, captain, does mean they’ve got some other deal going on?”

“Yeah... I don’t think there’s any doubt there’s something going on at the top.”

All of the lingering question marks for the pilots were beginning to raise red flags. The military on Alaia was under Lord Vandarion and Director General Granado’s control, but the majority of the people stationed there were locals. So while they faithfully followed orders from their superiors, they couldn’t help wondering what was really going on. Those thoughts watered and nourished the already germinating seeds of doubt in their hearts.

Really, the fighter pilots were unfortunate in that they had no idea they were going up against Princess Theiamillis and Empress Elfaria personally. They’d only been given the order to attack the unidentified ship trying to enter the atmosphere, and they followed that order to a T. While the seeds of doubt were growing, they hadn’t yet blossomed into conviction. As such, they had no real reason to stop their attack.

“Your Highness, the coup d’etat fighters are jamming communications! We don’t have access to any outgoing comms other than laser communication!”

The first thing the fighters did was jam communications, which made calling for backup difficult and stymied the use of guided weapons. As Forthorthe’s guided weaponry was notoriously swift and accurate, comms jamming was often an integral part of combat.

“Curse you, Vandarion!”

Theia was standing at Ohime’s airlock when she got Ruth’s report. A dark, angry expression rose up on her face.

“What is it?”

“He’s planning on using these poor pilots as sacrifices to make us look bad! That’s why they went straight into jamming!”

While jamming was an important tactic, it wasn’t usually resorted to until missiles had actually been launched or there were signs an enemy was actually calling for reinforcements. Otherwise, if jamming was enacted too early, it would make it impossible to send and receive messages of surrender. But since these fighter pilots had gone for it right away, Theia could only assume they’d been ordered to attack on sight. And Vandarion had to have known what he was doing when he gave that order.

With their communications jammed while they were dangerously close to reentry, Theia and the others would have no choice other than to counterattack—which brought its own set of problems. The fighters were in the same position they were, so if their pilots were knocked unconscious or their engines were stopped, they would be pulled into the atmosphere and burn up in the process. Worse yet, since they were stationed here on Alaia, these pilots were most likely locals.

So in essence, Vandarion’s plan was win-win for him. Either the fighters would unknowingly take out Elfaria and Theia right here and now, or they would defend themselves and end up killing four local pilots. If that happened, Vandarion would undoubtedly make a grand show of their funeral and paint Elfaria as a heartless monster for slaughtering her own people.

“So what do we do?”

“We’ll destroy their sensors. Without them, they’ll have no way of fighting.”

With jamming in place, electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves were unusable. They’d have to fall back on optical cameras and thermal sensors—means that were more difficult to interfere with—in order to lock on to targets. The multisensor, which bundled all of these functions together, was mounted on the upper part of the airframe. If Theia could just manage to destroy those, the fighters would only have their emergency sensors left, making any further fighting all but impossible.

“So we blind them, huh?”

“Yes. But brace yourself. If we damage the airframe itself too much, then there will be nothing we can do.”

“Let’s do it.”

“...I’m sorry, Koutarou.”

Theia instinctively apologized. Aiming for just the sensors in a high-speed space battle was asking a lot. It would only increase the danger of the situation, which she felt bad about.

“Don’t worry. I’ve always been good at this kind of thing.”

However, Koutarou offered her a nonchalant smile in reply. Seeing it, Theia remembered who she was dealing with here. It was just the pick-me-up she needed in a situation like this.

“That’s right. You’re the Blue Knight... So please, my knight.”

“As you wish, my princess.”

Even in this day and age, the Blue Knight was still upheld as a model knight. That was in part because he’d earned a reputation for never having killed a man intentionally. In other words, this kind of danger was a daily occurrence to him.

As Ohime began reentry, Shizuka and Alunaya had to take over protecting the ship. So instead of using the ship to attack, their plan was to send out anyone who could move freely in space to defend it from the fighters. That team consisted of Koutarou and Theia who had space-ready gear, Sanae-chan in her astral form, and Yurika who was forced to wear an improved PAF model.

“Nooooo! I don’t want to go into space without a spacesuuuit!”

“Give it up already. You’re already outside.”

“You are wearing a spacesuit, you just can’t see it. Just believe in Glasses.”

“That’s easy for you to say when you’re not really out here, Sanae-chan!”

“Ruth, how much longer do we have?!”

“Roughly three minutes, but please factor in the time it will take to return to Ohime!”

As they were quickly hitting the atmosphere, things were already starting to heat up. Alaia’s gravity was also pulling them downward, so if they got too far away from Ohime, they wouldn’t be able to return regardless of how much time was left. These were dire circumstances to fight under—everyone understood why Yurika was crying—but the group had no other choice.

“Yurika, can you do this or not? We brought you with us because magic might be involved, but we can get Aika-san instead.”

“H-Hnngh...”

Based on the situation and what the haniwas had detected, it was almost certain that the enemy was using spiritual energy technology. That meant that Elexis was involved somehow, which in turn meant that they might even be up against magical equipment. That was the reason Koutarou had forced Yurika to come with them. He wasn’t trying to be mean.

“I-I’ll do it! That’s my job!”

A few words of encouragement was all it took for Yurika to stop wailing over the comms. He couldn’t see her face, but he knew good and well what face she was making right now.

“I’m counting on you, Yurika.”

“Right!”

“All right, men... Begin the operation!”

Once Yurika had calmed down, Theia issued the order and her three troops sprang into action. The fighters were practically upon them now.

“Sanae!”

“I got this! Special attack: Galactic Sanae-channel!”

Sanae made the opening move and used her psychic powers to connect everyone’s minds. This would allow them to communicate without the need for technology. Space was vast, and with jamming in place, they only comms they had available were short-range. As such, establishing a reliable method to communicate was their number one priority.

“And the enemies are over here!”

But Sanae also had a second important job, which was to use her psychic powers to track the enemy and report their locations to Koutarou and the others. That would allow them to fight without radars and sensors. Yet even then, there was still one more problem that needed to be resolved.

“Double Cast: Lightning Reflexes, Sharpen Senses! Modifier: Multi-Target!”

Battles in space took place at long range and at breakneck speeds. Excellent kinetic vision, sharp reflexes, and swift dexterity were all a must—doubly so since they’d be aiming for very specific, delicate targets on moving foes. But that was where Yurika’s magic came in. She should be able to get them the edge they needed.

“Then we’re all set. Theia, I’m counting on you to cover me.”

“With me here, you can fight to your heart’s content! Let’s go!”

With all of Sanae and Yurika’s cards in place, Koutarou and Theia flew off. As there was no atmospheric resistance in space, they moved quicker than normal at a speed comparable to the fighters.

“Captain, enemy units approaching! Radar is showing four, but only two... or is it three? Either way, optics isn’t picking up all of them, and they’re very small targets!”

The fighters detected Koutarou and the others approaching with their spiritual energy radar, which worked even when standard jamming was active. And when they finally got a visual, they could hardly believe what they were seeing.

“I’m getting the same reading over here! Wait... Are they mobile infantry?!”

In modern Forthorthe, power suits were considered outdated. They were still used for exploration missions when automated machines weren’t an option and for emergency retreats from battle, but those were last resorts. In almost every single practical instance, an actual robot was more useful and efficient than power suits—and it was unthinkable that someone was using them to come after trained fighters.

“Are these guys insane?!”

The fighter pilots’ first reaction was to question their enemies’ sanity. It was dark, so they couldn’t get a good look at the faces of the approaching targets... but they would’ve loved to see them.

“Captain, they might actually know what they’re doing! They’re as mobile as we are. Most of their weaponry is unknown, but one of them has a large-caliber gun for armored targets!”

“I see. So they’re riding on a flying cannon, are they?”

As the pilots gathered information on Koutarou and the others, their surprise began changing direction. Though their targets were small, they had the mobility and attack power of fighters. It appeared they’d sacrificed defense to achieve that, but they were small enough targets that they would be difficult to hit in the first place. Moreover, since Elfaria faction’s had been separated from the army, they were likely weaponizing everything they could get their hands on. Perhaps this wasn’t as crazy of a tactic as it had first seemed.

“Now’s not the time to be impressed! Assume that they’re fighters and respond accordingly!”

“Roger that!”

Even going up against odd opponents outfitted with outdated tech, the fighter pilots weren’t going to let their guard down. They initiated standard attack protocol, which opened with firing missiles at maximum range.

“All units, spread out after firing! Wait to see who wasn’t taken out by the missile barrage, then go after them individually! I’m going to attack the enemy ship!”

The captain’s plan of attack was a methodical one. First they would all attack the mobile infantrymen—Koutarou and Theia—with missiles. If that didn’t take them out, three of the fighters would challenge whoever survived to a dogfight. And while that was going down, the captain would attack the enemy’s small spaceship, Ohime. It shouldn’t be hard to destroy such a small crafter beginning reentry, so he had no concerns about leaving his men to deal with Koutarou and Theia.

It’s not just the multisensor, though... These guided missiles are strange too. How can they still work with jamming up? And why were they given to us?

All four fighters fired twice for a total of eight missiles sailing through space, each one guided by aura. While the captain didn’t know that exactly, he could tell they weren’t normal. The seeds of doubt only began to sprout more and more.

“Koutarou, focus the active barrier at twelve o’clock and push through the missiles! And don’t worry! I’ll deal with any rogue shots!”

“All right! I’ll leave that to you!”

Seeing the approaching missiles, Koutarou and Theia decided to push through. They knew they were small enough targets that it was unlikely even high-speed missiles would score a direct hit, but even if they exploded nearby, they could cause serious damage. So while Koutarou defended himself and Theia with his barrier, Theia would target any missiles that threatened to reach the danger zone. Their straightforward approach mirrored their straightforward personalities, but more than that, it was a sound strategy.

“Yurika, Sanae! One of the fighters is headed your way!”

“I’ll do my best!”

“Koutarou, it looks like the missiles are chasing after auras! I’ll try getting in their way!”

Fortunately, with Sanae around, they also had another option for dealing with the missiles. Since they were being guided by spiritual energy, she could use her spiritual powers to interfere with them.

“The number one galactic popstar, Higashihongan Sanae, is going to sing a special song for you today!”

Sanae’s chosen method of interference was to start singing in the middle of space. The song was from an anime she loved, and she—quite seriously—poured her heart and soul into it.

“So much happens every day! But smile, keep your chin up! There will be cloudy days too!”

It was the theme song from her favorite show, Magical Girl Love Love Heart. Her singing was far from stellar, but her love-filled voice reached out towards the stars nonetheless.

“But when that happens, just call for meee! And I’ll come running with my Love Love magic for yooou!”

Despite her apparent lack of singing talent, the spiritual power she poured into her voice gave it a strange power. As if they’d been charmed, the missiles started turning away from Koutarou and Theia. The fighters’ radar also temporarily seized from the high amount of spiritual energy Sanae was outputting.

“Good job, Sanae!”

Theia squeezed the trigger on her beam cannon while listening to Sanae’s singing voice in the background. Currently, she had her Combat Dress accessorized with Star Purple. It came equipped with gear meant for use in space, including several energy-based weapons and a large engine.

“Keep it up, you two!”

Theia repeatedly fired her beam cannon and shot down three missiles in quick succession. Koutarou’s barrier pushed aside the debris they scattered as he pressed ever forward. Koutarou could still tell where the enemy was thanks to Sanae, even as she continued to sing. Their enemies, however, could no longer use their radar thanks to the power of Sanae’s voice. It was like a free-for-all right now with no chance of retaliation or counterattack, so Koutarou went in swinging for the fighter right in front of him.

“Sakuraba-senpai, I’m counting on you!”

“Right! Shine, Signaltin!”

“Haaaaah!”

Koutarou swung Signaltin as he passed by the fighter. With all the momentum of his weight and increased speed behind it, the blow had more impact than usual. Cloaked in powerful mana, Signaltin’s blade shone silver as it easily shattered the enemy’s barrier.

“Theia!”

“Leave it to me!”

That was when Theia, coming in slightly behind him, fired her beam cannon with extraordinary precision and destroyed the multisensor installed on the upper part of the fighter’s frame. Now essentially blinded and deafened, the fighter turned around and swiftly departed the battlefield. Instead of giving chase, Koutarou and Theia shifted their focus to the next fighter.

“Unit 02 was damaged during radar whiteout and is exiting the combat zone.”

“Damn it! Is this the enemy’s doing?! But at this range...!”

When the captain’s ship AI updated him on the battle, he fired his remaining two missiles at Ohime. The radar wasn’t back online yet, but he was now close enough to guide the missile using optics. Ohime was practically immobile as it began the reentry process, so it was essentially a sitting duck.

“What?!”

However, the surprises weren’t over just yet for the captain. Right before the missiles hit, Ohime disappeared into thin air. The missiles then exploded in empty space, shattering only one of the nearby ice chunks.

“Phew, he fell for the decoy,” sighed Yurika.

“That was some smart thinking for you,” ribbed Koutarou.

“It was a trick I learned from Kiriha-san.”

“So the real credit goes to her, huh? Go figure.”

This unexpected turn of events was thanks to Yurika’s magic. She’d conjured an illusion of Ohime that had the same size, shape, and heat signature of the real deal, while disguising the actual ship as a lump of ice. Not knowing any better, the captain had fired on the illusory decoy.

“Damn it, I was tricked! But it’s not over yet!”

As his radar rebooted, the captain got a lock on Ohime’s real position. He was out of missiles, but he still had his beam cannon. Not ready to give up, he charged at Ohime again, intent on destroying it.

“G-Guys, he’s coming back!”

“Stop panicking and protect the ship!”

“R-Right!”

With the captain locking on to Ohime via optics and his missiles spent, Sanae gave up on singing for now. She and Yurika were going to work together to protect Ohime. She used her psychic powers to gather ice chunks to use as a shield while Yurika cast a magical force field.

“It’s just one thing after another!”

The captain rapidly fired his beam cannon as he flew by Ohime, but each shot was blocked either by the ice shield or force field. It wasn’t like the attack was useless, however. The ice shield was quickly being chipped away and the force field blinked a few times before disappearing altogether. Feeling good, the captain turned his fighter around to go back in for another run.

“Theia, I can handle things here! You go help them!”

“I’m on it!”

By now, Koutarou and Theia had destroyed the weapons and sensors on the second fighter. With only one left to go, either Koutarou or Theia should be able to take it out on their own. Since Theia had greater mobility and a longer range, however, she was a better candidate to go back up Sanae and Yurika.

“Wise choice, but I’m faster!”

But before Theia could reach them, the captain had already circled back around and was launching his next attack. Theia had her beam cannon at the ready, but it wouldn’t work well enough at this distance to stop the rapidly firing fighter.

“Kyaaah! Here he comes again!”

“But I’m not just gonna sit here and take it!”

Yurika quickly threw up her defensive spell again and Sanae gathered more ice, but this time she used it differently. Rather than making a shield, she read the captain’s intent to attack and threw chunks directly in his line of fire.

“They can do that?!”

Surprised by the sudden resistance that shouldn’t have even been possible in the midst of space, the captain decided to focus on taking out the ice chunks. If he simply dodged them and circled around to attack again, Theia would be there by then. So instead, he would press forward with his attack. He would plow through the ice and then take out Ohime. That was his plan, but unfortunately for him, it backfired.

“Oh no!”

While the beam cannon shattered the lumps of ice, it didn’t send their debris flying like the exploding missiles had. Instead, the beams just broke the large chunks of ice up into smaller pieces, which were still right in the captain’s way. He flew right into them at full speed.

The captain of the fighter squadron was only unconscious for a few seconds. The loud, blaring alarm and the violent shaking from the fighter crashing into ice quickly woke him up.

“J-Just what...”

Having just come to, his mind was still muddled. The alarm was noisy, the airframe was shaking, and a red light in the cockpit was flashing. In his daze, he could hardly understand what was going on, but the training that had been beaten into him told him that it wasn’t good.

“What a sorry state...”

The captain shook his head and tried to clear his mind as he ran through a flight check on muscle memory alone. The space distortion field was defective, half of the posture control thrusters were no longer functioning, the temperature of the airframe was rising, the angle and posture of the ship were all wrong. There was a long list of abnormalities were being reported, and those were just the major ones. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong had. It was a pilot’s worst nightmare.

“That’s right. I was on a mission... There was a suspicious ship...”

As he was going through the usual procedures, he began to process the situation he was in. Things slowly started coming back to him.

He and his team were attacking an unidentified ship suspected to belong to Elfaria’s faction. He’d misjudged the situation and run his fighter into a cluster of ice, which was how he’d ended up in this condition. He’d lost control of his ship and was headed straight into the atmosphere. That was what all the shaking and all the alarms were about.

“Looks like this is it...”

He was on a multipurpose vessel that was used for all kinds of missions. It was capable of reentry, but only at the proper speed and angle. Speed wasn’t an issue right now, but the fighter’s angle and posturing were all wrong. It was upside down and entering the atmosphere at an acute angle. The captain tried to correct his course, but with roughly only half of the posture control thrusters functioning, there was barely anything he could do. There was a chance he could use his distortion field to protect himself against the heat, but it too was nonfunctioning. It had encountered an error while rebooting and was now stuck in an endless reboot loop. So while the fighter was still in one piece, it was essentially dead in the water.

The captain knew he was about to die. No matter how hard he tried, there was no way to pull himself out of this. He was going to burn up in the atmosphere right along with his ship.

“Faluna, Eswiz, I’m sorry... I won’t be coming back home.”

Accepting his fate, the captain said farewell to his wife and child. The truth was that he was unbearably scared. He wanted to scream and cry out, but he knew the cockpit’s flight recorder would document his final moments for his wife and child to see. And when he remembered that, he choked back his fear and focused on saying goodbye to his family. If he gave in to the terror, he would never get those words out. He didn’t want his loved ones to see him go like that, so the captain fought back his emotions from exploding and recorded his last message.

“As you know, I’ve sworn my loyalty to the royal family. All I can hope now is that, in giving my life, this benefits the empress somehow... I don’t know who’s aboard that ship, but based on how they fight, it must be someone important.”

In order to make peace with what was happening, the captain told himself that all was as it should be. This mission had been suspicious from the start. The multisensor and missiles, the surprise appearance of the enemy and their incredible strength, right down to their equipment and their means of attack... All of it was strange. Putting the pieces together, it was easy to imagine that someone important from Elfaria’s faction was on that ship. And if they survived this encounter, maybe that would help Empress Elfaria out somehow. The captain was an Alaian local, so while he’d faithfully followed his orders, that didn’t mean he agreed with them. And in that sense, perhaps this was ultimately a happy resolution. He would be remembered as a loyal soldier, but he would pass without actually bringing any harm to Elfaria or the Mastir family. When he thought of it like that, he was able to come to terms with his end.

“You’re wrong!”

That was when, out of the blue, a voice came over the captain’s comms. It surprised him terribly—communication should have been impossible in his current situation. Yet that voice was coming through loud and clear. At first, he thought it was an auditory hallucination.

“Royals or not, my mother and I don’t want Forthorthe’s people to suffer!”

“A direct contact communication?! That voice couldn’t be―”

“So I’m not going to let you die! You’re going to survive, you’re going home to see your family, and you’re all going to live your lives to the fullest!”

“Princess...?! Is that Princess Theiamillis?!”

As the captain realized who the angelic voice coming over the comms belonged to, his fighter began changing inclination. As it did, he caught a glimpse of someone through the canopy of his cockpit. It was the person speaking to him, who was manually holding on to his fighter in an attempt to correct its posture.

“Yes! You can rest easy now, so just hang in there a little while longer!”

“Stop it, Your Highness! If you do that, you’ll perish!”

Seeing her, the captain’s worries turned to the life of his princess—to Theia. Deep down, he was still as loyal as could be to the Mastir family.

As capable and powerful as Theia’s Combat Dress was, it wasn’t equipped for reentry. The captain could tell that much just by looking at it. And at this rate, even if she managed to correct the fighter’s posture and save him, she would die in the process. The captain couldn’t accept that.

“I won’t die! I’m a proud descendant of the Mastir family! I’m not weak enough to lose my life over something like this!”

“But—”

“Silence! Even if what you say is true, I won’t abandon you! I won’t abandon anyone! If that were the kind of princess I was, then I never would’ve returned home!”

“Your Highness... you really are...”

Theia ignored the captain’s protests and used Star Purple’s large thrusters to forcibly adjust the fighter’s posture. Just like the fighter, Theia’s Combat Dress was giving out various warnings. There was little propellant left, the barrier against high temperatures was on the brink of collapsing, and she was now falling too fast to be able to return to Ohime. Yet even then, Theia pressed on, driven by her desire to protect her citizens no matter what.

“You don’t have to worry about me! Just live! As a subject of the Mastir family, I command you to be happy!”

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

At last Theia’s efforts paid off. Several of the alarms in the fighter’s cockpit finally quieted down. The captain was now on an acceptable course for reentry and, seeing that, hurriedly called out to Theia.

“Your Highness, the posture and angle have normalized! Please hurry up and withdraw—”

But before he could even finish his sentence, Theia was snatched up by the pressure of the atmosphere and blown away from the ship. Seeing it happen before his very eyes, all the captain could do was scream.

“Princess, nooooo!”

No matter how loudly he yelled, there was no response from Theia. But the look on her face as she drifted away shook the captain to his core.

“YOUR HIGHNESS!”

Theia was smiling. She looked happy. Even as she was overtaken by the intense heat and pressure of atmospheric reentry, there wasn’t the slightest hint of regret on her royal visage. All she had to offer was a calm, gentle, accepting smile, and it was a sight the captain would never forget for the rest of his days.

There was no doubt in his mind that Princess Theiamillis was going to die just as she’d lived—as a true royal of Forthorthe.

Theia had told the captain not to worry about her, but that was all she could have said in the situation. The truth was that she had no plans to survive.

“How troubling... At this rate, I really will die...”

Theia knew she’d done something stupid, but she regretted nothing. As Forthorthian royal, there was no way she could’ve just sat back and watched as one of her citizens died in front of her.

“I’ve got another twenty or thirty seconds, I guess...”

Theia had used up almost all of her propellant to change the fighter’s posture. Accordingly, she released Star Purple—which was now nothing more than a heap of metal—and used it as a shield to protect her from the heat of reentry. Sadly, however, it didn’t last long. Under the extreme heat and pressure, Star Purple began breaking down, starting from its weakest points. There wasn’t much time left now. If Star Purple gave out, all that was left to protect Theia was her barrier that was already on the verge of collapse. Within seconds, she’d be incinerated.

“So I’ll go out like a shooting star, huh? What an unexpectedly romantic end...”

There were millions of ways to die, and in Theia’s mind, going out like a shooting star wasn’t the worst. Her inner romantic thought it would be a beautiful end. Moreover, the view was good from here. Alaia growing bigger beneath her was bathed in a beautiful blue glow. And with little else to do as she awaited the end, Theia took in the extraordinary vista.

Thud!

“Ow!”

Suddenly, a heavy impact struck Theia on the back of the head. At first she thought her barrier had collapsed already, but that wasn’t the case.

“What are you doing over here trying to act all cool and play the hero by yourself?”

“Koutarou?!”

Before she knew it, Koutarou was beside her. She thought she was dreaming at first, but quickly realized this was very, very real. The back of her head was still throbbing, after all.

“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“That’s my line. Seriously, what are you doing?”

“Protecting the people is a royal’s duty!”

“Then you don’t mind if I step in, do you?”

“What?”

“Protecting the royals is a knight’s duty.”

With those words, Koutarou embraced Theia. Not a moment later, Star Purple gave way. The heat it had been blocking instantly assaulted Theia and Koutarou at full force, but it didn’t burn either one of them. Thanks to GoL, Koutarou’s armor could put up two types of barriers—a standard spherical one that would protect him in all directions, and a second, sturdier one that could be deployed in a direction of choice for extra protection. Between both of them, they were just barely managing to keep the heat off Theia and Koutarou.

“I do mind.”

Theia embraced Koutarou in return and frowned a little. She was rather displeased with his choice of words.

“What?”

“Why won’t you say it’s because I’m important to you?!”

“Of course a knight’s princess is important to him.”

“Ugh! You’re saying that even though you know good and well what I mean, aren’t you?!”

Theia pushed away from Koutarou a little and glared at him with her cheeks indignantly puffed out. She looked nothing like the grand, proud princess she’d been a moment ago. In fact, right now she looked more like a sulking child. Koutarou couldn’t help laughing.

“I’m just getting a little bit of revenge.”

“Stupid! How could you be so mean at an important moment like this?! This is our final goodbye!”

GoL’s barriers were keeping them safe for now, but there was no way they would outlast the atmosphere. They were already starting to give off warnings. It wouldn’t be long before they collapsed now, which was why Theia believed the two of them would die like this.

“Because it’s not really the end.”

“What?”

Theia went wide-eyed and lost all her steam upon hearing his words.

“You see, I brought someone special—Yurika.”

Koutarou let go of Theia with one arm and pointed upward. Still overcome with blank surprise, Theia slowly looked up and saw something strange flying overhead.

“Kyaaaaaaaah! Noooooooo! I’m burning, I’m burning uuuup!”

That strange something was Yurika straddling her staff. She was screaming about the heat assailing her defensive spell as she flew towards her friends. Theia couldn’t actually hear her voice, but she could tell what she was saying just by looking at her face.

“Let Yurika in the barrier.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The armor’s AI opened a hole in the upper part of the barrier just long enough for Yurika to enter. Once she was in, she immediately laid into Koutarou.

“Wh-Wh-What is with this hellish place, Satomi-san?!”

“We covered this in physics class the other day. It’s the upper layer of the atmosphere.”

“You’re lying! This is the first time I’ve heard of anything so terrible! I’m gonna die! You’re gonna die! We’re all gonna die!”

“No, we’re all going to work together to keep that from happening.”

“I see... So this is what you meant.”

Theia now understood Koutarou’s intentions. His armor alone wouldn’t be enough to safely get them through the atmosphere, but Yurika’s magic might. If they held out long enough, Theia’s barrier would recover and she could help protect the three of them as well. It would have been ideal to have Sanae’s psychic powers in the mix too, but the others had needed her to help move Ohime. They’d have to make do with the three of them somehow.

“However, Koutarou, there’s still one big problem, you know?”

“Is there? What are you talking about? Is there something wrong with your Combat Dress?”

“No. I’m still sulking.”

Theia puffed out her cheeks again. Seeing that expression, Koutarou gave in, sighing as she shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He was no match against Theia when she was like this. Besides, there was no guarantee that they would survive this even with the three of them working together.

“Theia, you’re important to me. That’s why I came to save you.”

“Then I suppose I have no reason to object. I’ll let you save me.”

“Stupid.”

“Heh heh.”

Theia happily smiled and embraced Koutarou, who had bashfully turned away. Now everything had been resolved and the only thing left for the three of them was to hold on to each other for dear life.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

They streaked through the skies of Alaia together, leaving behind a long tail like a meteor and the high-pitched sound of Yurika’s panicked screaming.

On the night that strange blue shooting star shot through the sky, a young boy living on Alaia received a letter. It was from a friend of his he hadn’t seen in some time.

“Let’s see... ‘I’m riding on a spaceship and everyone is okay.’”

The boy lay on his bed as he began reading the letter from his friend, who was also a young boy and consequently not the best letter-writer. The contents of the letter were flat and to the point, and partly because of the faltering voice reading it out, it sounded horribly tedious. Nevertheless, the boy was quite happy to have received a letter from a dear friend he missed very much.

“‘We met the Blue Knight and a state secret was flying.’ Wait, the Blue Knight?”

As the boy read the mostly dry letter, a certain something jumped out at him. It was a name that no Forthorthian boy or girl could ignore—it was the name of their national hero whose story the subject of many a movie and fairy tale.

“‘There’s a video of the Blue Knight attached. Please watch it. Sincerely, Bobban Giun.’ Hmm... Is this the video?”

The boy shook the envelope upside down and a small plastic chip came falling out. It was a common media storage device, and on it was a file labeled “Blue Knight found.”

“‘Show it to everyone else and they will be happy.’ Hmm... I still don’t get it, but let’s take a look.”

After watching it, the boy decided to upload it to the pangalactic network—Forthorthe’s internet. He had no idea what kind of consequences that would bring. All the boy who’d recorded the footage and the boy who’d uploaded it were thinking was that it would make the people who saw it happy.