State of Emergency

"Have the men been assembled?"

"Yes. Well, most of them are just lowlife pirates, but we've managed to

assemble a force of 113 small craft, 21 medium ships, and three large

cruisers. We've also finished placing thrusters on some of the

surrounding asteroids, so we can commence orbital bombardment at

any time."

"They would serve admirably as a distraction. What about our main

attack force?"

"We've finished loading two stealth dropships with high-performance

combat robots. The preparations for hacking into the central AI once

they make planetfall has also been finished."

"I see… You've managed to pinpoint their location, correct?"

"Yes. We did have some trouble though. They sure are crafty for mere

mercenaries. We can't deal with them using halfhearted methods."

"Indeed. I find it hard to believe that they were able to turn the tables

around on our men even now... They even boasted about being able to

take out a Gold-ranked mercenary before. We've spent so much money

on those men, but they turned out to be of no use at all."

"Well, it is indeed true that our men were highly skilled, but that

mercenary had still bested them. While they may truly have been

capable of taking on a Gold rank, this just means their foe was

considerably skilled even within the Gold rankers."

"Hmph. How preposterous. In any case, even if that mercenary is skilled

in hunting ships using his own, we would just have to finish him by

preventing him from boarding his ship. There's some use for that

unusual ship of theirs, but be sure to do as planned and dispose of that

brat along with those annoying mercenaries."

"Yes. We have already placed troops at all arrival and departure points

on the planet. We will finish them off with all haste."

"There would be no way out for us if we fail to kill them here...

Christina, I have no grudge against you, but you still have to die for my

sake."

* * *

The skies today were clear as always. It's not like the sky was totally

devoid of any clouds, but it was sunny, and it didn't look like it would

rain at all. It's the perfect weather for some fishing.

Yeah. Today, we decided to go out for some fishing.

"Wa wa wah!? I-I got a bite!?"

Mimi panicked as she stood on the shallow reefs. It looks like the first

hit of the day came to Mimi.

"It's alright. Relax and turn the reel calmly. It looks like the line won't

easily snap, so just go for it."

"Yes. The fishing lines we use in our rods can withstand up to 500 kgs,

so please do not worry."

The custom maidroid backed me up and revealed the specs of the

fishing lines. I can't really tell any difference from your standard fishing

line, but it looks like these lines are absurdly tough. They're on par with

metallic wires.

"Aaah! It's here! What should I do!?"

Mimi turned the reel continuously, and before long, a fish was brought

up from the water. In any case, it doesn't have human legs and didn't

have the hindquarters of a cat. Phew.

"Please leave it to me."

The high-spec custom maidroid pulled on the line and brought the

struggling fish in front of her. She then expertly took out the hook from

its mouth and put it inside a bucket filled with seawater. I'm not that

familiar with fish, but it kinda resembles sea bream. It's quite big, so we

can probably eat it as sashimi or grill it.

"Thank you very much, May-san!"

"Yes. You're welcome."

The custom maidroid who Mimi called May bowed her head in

acknowledgment.

It's been three days since this custom maidroid appeared in our lives.

Since calling her 'custom maidroid' all the time was troublesome, I

discussed with Mimi, Elma, and Chris, and finally settled for 'May' as

her name. Since we already gave her a name, it's plain as day that we

have all become attached to her to some extent. Oh well.

I was still hesitant when I first met her, but Mimi's already quite taken

with her, so I guess this is fine. Elma and Chris were also accepting of

her. Just how did she do it…?

By the way, Chris didn't really treat her any differently from the rest of

us from the start. I guess she's already used to maidroids like her. Well,

she's a noble after all.

"Oh, I have a bite over here too."

"Go for it, Elma-san!"

Since Chris was small in stature, she wasn't able to participate in

fishing. Well, she told us she wasn't that good with live fish anyway, so

she wasn't upset even if she was the only one left out.

Me? I actually have some fishing experience. It's just that the odds

aren't in my favor today, alright?

"..."

All of a sudden, May, who was standing beside me, jerked her head up

to the sky. I followed her gaze, but couldn't spot anything but a wide,

blue sky. I wonder what's wrong?

"An emergency situation has just occurred. Please evacuate this area,

everyone."

"Eh?"

I was surprised by her sudden announcement and gave her a

questioning look. Just why? But I don't think May would joke about

something like this. I promptly made a move.

"Leave all the fishing gear here and return to Krishna."

"Eh? Y-Yes, understood."

"Okay. Hurry up, everyone."

"Understood."

Mimi, Elma, and I let go of our fishing rods. I then placed my hand on

the laser gun holstered on my hip. It was fortunate that I didn't forget to

bring my laser gun. Elma also placed her hand on her laser gun. As for

Mimi... Well, it looks like she didn't bring hers with her. Well,

considering her poor marksmanship, it might be a good thing that she

forgot.

"So what happened? What's the emergency for?"

Just in case, I pulled out my laser gun from the holster and made it so I

can release the safety anytime while I ran. May started explaining the

situation without going out of breath (She's an android, so it's not like

she needed to breathe anyway.) as we ran.

"We're under attack by a large pirate force. Their ships number over a

hundred. We've also detected several large ships among them. It seems

they have also rigged several asteroids with thrusters and have sent

them down for a collision course with the planet."

"Hey Elma, didn't you say the defense network would be able to detect

an attack using asteroids early and prevent it from happening?"

"I don't know how they did it, but the fact is they went and pulled it off.

Maybe they installed shields on them and brought them over via FTL

Drives."

"That sounds like it'll cost a whopping amount of cash."

"Well, they'll be able to pull it off if they have a rich enough patron,

right?"

A patron. I see. So it's most likely Chris's uncle.

"The pirates have started attacking the planet's defense platform. The

target of the meteor bombing seems to be an area close to the supply

base located on the equator, so it doesn't pose as much of a threat to

us… Wait… We've detected several signatures dropping down along

with them at high speed."

I moved my gaze along with May's and spotted several fiery objects

rushing toward us at high speed from the sky.

Several laser cannon emplacements came out from the sea and started

intercepting the objects, but they weren't able to bring down

everything. Even the mountain we climbed a few days ago revealed

laser cannon emplacements and started firing, but several objects still

landed successfully on the island in the end. The spot they landed on

was far from where we currently were, but the impact was strong and I

felt the resulting shockwaves under my feet. It seems it landed near the

lodge.

"It looks like it wasn't a reactive torpedo."

"Stop that! Don't say something so ominous."

Elma raised her voice in complaint. Well, if that ball of fire really did

contain reactive torpedoes, this whole island would have been

annihilated after all. I guess we were lucky that we weren't anywhere

near the lodge huh. Even if it wasn't a reactive torpedo, we would have

still died if we got hit by that fiery mass directly after all.

"So, what was that object?"

"We're confirming... We've detected several moving objects

disengaging from the crash site. They look like combat robots."

"Ugeh."

"Uwaah."

I and Elma groaned at the same time. There are several models of

combat robots, and some are more dangerous than others. But honestly,

if we came across the high-end ones, we wouldn't stand a chance if we

took them on without the appropriate equipment. They're accurate,

tough, and pack plenty of power. We could take them on with power

armors, but it would be an uphill battle without one.

It would be great if those robots were of the lightly armed variety, but

since it's Chris's uncle we're talking about here, I highly doubt it.

"They have engaged with the defense systems of the island. We should

take refuge– The next wave is coming."

"Already, huh..."

Fireballs flew in and headed for the part of the beach connected to the

reefs. Interception laser cannons were deployed again, but since there

were quite a number of fireballs, they weren't able to bring down all of

them. One fireball that got grazed by interception fire was heading in

our direction.

"Geh! It's heading our way. Everyone down!"

"Kyaaah!?"

I hugged Mimi, who was running beside me and ducked down on the

sandy beach. Chris was covered by Elma and May.

The fireball landed between the beach and the lodge and resulted in

powerful shock waves. My body got peppered by sand, pebbles, and

who knows what else.

When I raised my face as soon as the shockwaves subsided, I saw a

strange object stuck between the lodge and the beach. I haven't seen

anything like it, so I was at a loss for words. If I were to describe the

thing, it was a large stake with spherical protrusions arranged along its

surface.

However, due to the interception fire of the laser cannons, some of the

protrusions were broken or melted up.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess."

"I do not seem to be injured."

"I'm also okay, I think."

"Yosh! Let's head for Krishna–"

"That's... Hiro, incoming!"

Elma brandished her laser gun as an object fell out of the spherical

protrusion. I see. So that's one of the robots in question.

The spherical object started transforming, so I brought my laser gun up,

dropped the safety, and started unleashing shots at it. Naturally, all

shots were at full power. Elma also fired away, and we were able to

destroy it before it finished its transformation.

Eh? It's unfair to fire away without letting it transform first, you say?

The heck are you on about guys? C'mon.

"So that's one of those combat robots, right?"

"Probably. I think the other units have malfunctioned due to the rough

landing and interception fire. In any case, we're lucky we were able to

bring it down with just laser guns."

"Yeah."

We wouldn't have been able to do anything if it was able to shrug off

laser gunfire. We would have all been killed. Be that as it may, it still

took roughly twenty shots from me and Elma at maximum output in

order to bring it down. It was still absurdly tough. Oh, man. We really

can't let our guards down.

"Make sure you all aren't injured, and then we'll make a run for Krishna

again."

After saying that, I proceeded to shoot the remaining spherical

containers attached to the stake and completely destroyed them. Elma

followed suit and fired her laser gun as well. I ejected the used energy

pack and snapped a spare in.

"How many energy packs do you have left?"

"I still have two more. How about you?"

"I have four on me. Do you want one?"

"It's fine. Your gun is more powerful, so it would be best if you hold on

to those, Hiro."

Elma reloaded her gun and shook her head in refusal. Well, she does

have a point. And if I hold my breath, everything around me would start

moving slowly from my perspective for some reason.

"Okay. Let's get going, guys."

"Y-Yes!"

"Understood."

"Yes. Please stay behind me, Mimi-sama and Chris-sama."

May stood in front of Mimi and Chris, who were non-combatants, in

order to protect them. If May's body were made of the specialized

material I specified when I designed her, then it would have made

getting through this crisis much easier, but since it's not, then there's no

use thinking about it.

We started heading for Krishna while carefully watching the

surroundings.

The problem is that there seemed to be more combat robots that were

successfully deployed over there. We have no choice but to trust in this

island's defense systems.