Encounter

The 2nd Recon Fleet, composed of Major Serena's Independent Anti-Pirate

Mobile Fleet and a mercenary mixed fleet, left the Izrooks system along

with the other recon fleets and plunged into the frontier region.

The first place we scouted was the Pax system, which was directly adjacent

to the Izrooks system. The four recon fleets split up to investigate the entire

Pax system, and before long, we managed to confirm that there were no

crystal lifeforms in it.

There were a total of three hyperlane nodes in the Pax system, including the

one leading to the Izrooks system. The recon fleets then split into two pairs

and headed for each of the two other nodes to further investigate.

"It's more convenient to have two fleets working in concert in order to deal

with unexpected situations."

"I think so too. It would be ideal to have one fleet act as a vanguard and

scout in order to confirm the situation on the other side before the other

fleet exits the hyperlane."

"That's right. The other fleet can secure a path of retreat just in case things

go south. The two fleets can take turns acting as the vanguard."

"Let's go with that arrangement then."

The discussion between the commander of the 1st Recon Fleet and the 2nd

Recon Fleet helmed by Major Serena went as such, and the two fleets

proceeded with the investigation of the frontier while exercising maximum

caution.

And so, it's been a total of 36 hours since we departed from the Izrooks

system.

"Our forces in Sector C are losing ground! They're requesting

reinforcements!"

"Tell May to provide cover fire from here. And tell our friendlies to hold

out as best they can for the meantime."

"Yes!"

We closed in on the crystal lifeform swarm and destroyed the ones blocking

our way with shotgun cannon volleys. The fragments of the destroyed

crystal lifeforms kept hitting Krishna's shield and got repelled away by it.

"See! I told you guys it would turn out like this in the end!"

"It's been more than 24 hours since you said it. It's a total coincidence,

okay!"

It's been 36 hours since we left the Izrooks system. We were already four

systems away from Izrooks, in the Gagaol system, and there the 2nd Recon

fleet encountered a swarm of crystal lifeforms and immediately engaged

them in battle. It seems they set up an ambush near the exit point of the

hyperlane node.

The vanguard fleet immediately sent out a reinforcement request via

hyperspace comms to us, who were standing by on the Riximus system

adjacent to Gagaul. Fortunately, it would only take a span of approximately

15 minutes in order to reach the Gagaul system from Riximus, so the

vanguard fleet should be fine as long as they held their ground for a short

while.

As for what I and my crew were doing at this point, we were currently

serving as bait to pull the crystal lifeforms away from the large ships

composed of the cruisers, battleship, and Black Lotus, and plunged directly

into the swarm.

The crystal lifeforms instinctively attacked whichever prey was closest to

them after all. It's fairly easy to lead them on by destroying a number of

them with shot cannon and laser cannon fire while constantly moving

around the battlefield. We've already destroyed quite a number of them

while passing by even more crystal lifeforms to pull them away as well.

"Hey, the number of crystal lifeforms chasing after us has already turned

really crazy you know!?"

"It's okay. This much is no problem at all."

The number of crystal lifeforms currently chasing after us was far fewer

than what we faced when we first arrived at the Izrooks system, however,

our current forces were also far fewer than what we had back then as well.

There's a danger of our cruisers and battleships taking quite some damage if

the battle devolves into a melee. And so, we needed to do all we could in

order to prevent that situation from happening.

I switched the attitude controls from auto to manual and reversed the ship to

face the chasing crystal lifeforms while preserving our momentum.

"Ora ora ora ora!"

I then let loose with Krishna's two shotgun cannons and four heavy laser

cannons to destroy the chasing enemies. Since the chasing enemies were

packed so closely together, there wasn't even a need to aim precisely. You'd

be able to hit something even if you just fired your weapons haphazardly.

"H-Hiro-sama! I-In front! No, behind us!? The crystal lifeforms are–!?"

"It's fine, it's fine."

I used the attitude control thrusters to maneuver the ship in order to dodge

the crystal lifeforms charging after us from multiple angles while

continuing to bombard the ones we led away. I could easily tell the

positions of the enemies by paying attention to the radar, so it's a piece of

cake for me to avoid their attacks as long as I concentrate.

Eh? Don't I also need to pay attention to the front at the same time, you

ask? I'm bombarding the enemies out front to oblivion anyway, so I didn't

need to especially pay attention to them. It'll be fine as long as I have them

in the corner of my eye.

"…"

"…"

"…Uh, captain. What the heck is that?"

"…What do you mean, Lieutenant?"

Robbitson and I were stunned speechless as we witnessed 'that' ship's crazy

maneuvers.

I was already floored when his ship plunged straight into the swarm of

crystal lifeforms and drew them away, but he did something even more

absurd by actively counterattacking the swarm chasing after him while on

the run. He was right in the middle of the swarm too.

His ship was running at a terribly high speed when he suddenly made it turn

around to face the chasing enemies and bombarded them with firepower

rivaling that of a heavy cruiser. He even evaded all the other crystal

lifeforms trying to ram his ship from all directions by using weird-looking

maneuvers. He then successfully broke through the encirclement of the

crystal lifeform swarm and ended up leading even more of them away.

"It looks like the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal isn't just for show

huh."

"You can say that again… Honestly. I wonder what goes through that man's

head whenever he pulls stunts like this."

No matter how you look at it, plunging headfirst into a swarm of crystal

lifeforms with just one ship is already utterly insane, but to think that he

even had the guts to reverse his ship in the middle of that situation to mount

a counterattack… No, this isn't the time to act all stunned by his actions.

"We can't afford to waste the opening he made for us. Focus fire on Sector

A. Push the enemies back. Have the other mercenaries rush over to Sector C

to provide reinforcements."

"Aye!"

A flash of bright suddenly went off on Sector B, and a large part of the

swarm chasing after that ship was shaved off. It looks like he fired an antiship reactive torpedo at them.

"He's about to reach the vanguard recon fleet… It looks like they managed

to hold on."

The numbers of the swarm chasing after that ship has been greatly reduced

thanks to his earlier attacks, but they were still continuing their pursuit. We

still can't let our guards down, but it looks like they'll be able to manage if

it's just that much.

"That was pretty thrilling huh?"

"…Yeah."

"…Yes."

Elma and Mimi's replies sounded really drained of energy. It looks like they

still aren't used to fighting the crystal lifeforms. The small-type crystal

lifeforms don't have much when it comes to projectile attacks, so you'd be

fine as long as you pay attention to their ramming attacks. It isn't like I

would allow us to get surrounded and cut off anyway. Well, I guess it was

still plenty dangerous since one mistake under the threat of such a swarm

would probably result in us getting shot down.

Afterward, we were able to provide reinforcements to the vanguard recon

fleet in time and managed to fight off the crystal lifeform ambush. The

number of prey would decrease once the other reinforcements arrive, so I

made sure to fire off another anti-ship reactive torpedo to earn more kills.

Since the imperial military will replenish the ammo later, it would be a

waste not to take advantage of such a set-up. Black Lotus also has a

sizeable amount of spare ammunition stored in it, so I'd like to use them up

gradually during the mission in order to get as many kills as I could and

earn more.

There actually wasn't any arrangement such as a kill bonus, but I believe

they'd still offer me a sizeable reward as long as I continued to stack up

great results. Probably anyway. It might be a good idea to talk with the

major about this later.

With those thoughts in mind, I maneuvered Krishna to the lower rear part of

the Black Lotus and started the auto-docking sequence.

"I'll leave the docking to you, May."

[Yes. Opening the hatch now.]

The hatch behind Black Lotus opened, and Krishna went inside the hangar

via automated guidance. Mm. Auto-docking really is hassle-free. Just look

at how smooth and stable it was. With this, the probability of getting into an

accident… probably wasn't zero, honestly. But only in extremely rare cases.

Well, with Krishna's size, it would probably be okay, barring any strange

external factors.

"Hey, guys. We've landed already."

The two ladies with me audibly sighed. Have they managed to shake off

their nerves already?

"We're probably alright for the time being since we've successfully

eliminated the enemies here, but there might be other swarms lurking in this

star system. In any case, reinforcements from the adjacent systems are

probably coming over, so you guys should rest up while you can."

"Why the heck are you not one bit bothered after all that though…?"

"I'm already used to those kinds of chaotic battles. It was nothing more

than a warm-up. Fuhahahaha!"

I'm a bit tired, sure, but the battle only lasted for about twenty minutes or

so. I still had plenty of fight left.

"You'll get used to it too. Small-types are similar to slow-moving seeker

missiles anyway. They're not such a big deal."

"Is that really the case…?"

"Yep. You basically can't dodge laser fire, but small-type crystal lifeforms

are far, far slower than lasers, and they don't even turn as fast as seeker

missiles. You'd be fine once you conquered your initial fear."

"M-Mm…?"

It seems that Mimi was still not completely convinced though.

"Anyway, make sure to get a good rest, you two. I'll have Tina and Whisker

do a quick maintenance check and replenish our ammo."

"We'll leave that to you then…"

"Understood…"

I headed for Black Lotus's hangar and left the two ladies behind inside

Krishna's cockpit. It's probably fine since I managed to not take any hits

during the battle earlier, but it's still convenient to have easy access to

proper maintenance and ammo replenishment after such things. It was quite

expensive, but Black Lotus really was a great purchase regardless.

I mulled over such thoughts as I continued to head for the hangar.