Fatal Predicament

"You're not gonna scream 'No, no!' like usual, Mimi?"

I gracefully avoided the crystal lifeforms coming at us from all

directions. Er, actually, 'graceful' might not be the proper description,

since what I was doing was basically firing the main and attitude

control thrusters in short and controlled full-power bursts. So it was

more of zipping and jerking all over the place than anything.

"This is already my third time you know..."

I was concentrating on the battle, so I couldn't see what kind of

expression Mimi had on currently, but she did sound rather calm

despite our situation. Well, it's not like I was having it easy myself.

This was a crystal lifeform swarm that had enough numbers to cause

massive damage to an imperial military fleet depending on the

situation after all. If we clashed with them head-on, Krishna, which was

a small-class ship, wouldn't stand a chance. It would be game over if I

made even just one mistake since they would quickly assimilate and

absorb Krishna.

Under such circumstances, the Black Lotus and the mercenaries

escorting her finally made their escape via FTL jump earlier. I was able

to anticipate this situation before we jumped out to normal space, so

we were able to devise a plan of action beforehand. But if I hadn't, then

we would have faced the same fate as the invading Vereverem

Federation fleet back in the Termaine system.

"You're moving too much! I can't get a good lock!"

"Hahaha, you don't really need to lock on to them y'know. Just fire away

and you'd eventually hit something."

"Stop joking around and just get us out of here already! The shield cells

aren't gonna last forever!"

"I'll do my best milady."

Just like Elma said, since Black Lotus and the rest had already made

their escape, there was no need for Krishna to stick around either. If we

were facing just a small swarm of crystal lifeforms, we could choose to

try and eliminate them in order to get a reward from the military. But

since we're facing a swarm of possibly more than 500 small, medium,

and large-types, it would be an extremely tall order for Krishna to take

them all on alone. I'm not saying it's impossible, but going on a killing

marathon for five to six hours without breaking concentration even

once was just too damn tedious.

So why were we still here, you ask? It's simply because escaping while

surrounded by numerous enemies from all sides was difficult, even for

me. Right now, Krishna was akin to being stuck in the middle of a maze

of murderous – or perhaps ravenous – crystal lifeforms. Moreover, the

structure of the maze changes incessantly, making it even more difficult

to find an exit.

"Well, help will come over eventually, so it's fine if we don't rush it."

"That might be the case, but this situation is really bad for the heart you

know..."

As I listened to Mimi's anxious grumbling, I fired the shot-cannons to

crush several small-type crystal lifeforms in front of us and slid Krishna

through the small gap that opened up in order to avoid being boxed in.

As for reinforcements, I detonated a total of four anti-ship reactive

torpedo warheads, so that ought to get some attention. Also, Black

Lotus and the other mercenaries who escaped from this place will make

a report to the nearest star system garrison base, so them coming is

mostly a given. The local star system forces should be paying close

attention to hyperlane entrances as well.

[You look like you're having a hard time, big boy... You want some

help?]

As I continued avoiding the attacks of the crystal lifeforms while hoping

for reinforcements to arrive soon, I heard a familiar-sounding voice

laced with playful malice. It was undoubtedly the voice of the Crimson

Lance's leader, Captain Marie.

"I'm not sure where you're watching us from, but ever heard of the

saying 'playing with fire will get you burned'?"

[Oh? Well, this is surprising. Are you worried about little old me?]

"That's right. I'm pretty nice to beautiful women."

I'm lying through my teeth, of course. It would be really dangerous if an

attack comes flying across and agitates the crystal lifeforms after all.

Well, I won't complain if they seriously did take on at least half of this

damn swarm, even though that's just wishful thinking.

[Hahaha, you don't really mean that at all, don't you? Being treated like

this is quite refreshing, actually.]

I suddenly felt an incredibly unpleasant premonition, and I quickly

activated Krishna's side-thrusters to bump into the nearest crystal

lifeform. The inertial control system wasn't able to fully mitigate the

sudden acceleration, and as my neck was about to snap to the side, the

repulsive force caused by the ship's energy shield bumping into the

crystal lifeform caused it to snap right back. It was pretty rough and

reckless, but I confirmed that my judgment had been correct when a

bright multi-colored streak of light pierced through the spot Krishna

was located in previously.

[Oh? Sorry about that. We tried to give you some support but nearly

caused a friendly fire incident because there are just too many crystal

lifeforms.]

"This damn b*tch..."

"W-What was that just now!?"

"The power output was at least equal to a cruiser's main cannon. It

might even rival a battleship's."

That attack was probably from the large cannon protruding from the

bow of that crimson ship that somewhat resembled Krishna. I see. So

the concept was combining high mobility and firepower as well.

Slapping a weapon equal to a battleship's main cannon on a fast and

maneuverable small-class ship huh? It's basically something like that, I

guess.

I'm not sure how powerful that cannon really is, how far its range goes,

and how mobile the ship itself is, but depending on how it's handled, it

should prove to be a pretty strong ship. But since they went to the

trouble of building a fleet around it and assigning dedicated escorts to

accompany it, the ship's maneuverability and dogfighting capability

shouldn't be too high.

But even if I knew that I still had my hands tied in this situation!

Goddammit!

"How's the shield?"

"It didn't go down, but a shield cell got drained."

"Dammit!"

The shield cells were modules used to rapidly recharge a depleting

energy shield. You had to use them before the shield completely went

down, so if you miss the timing, it could really bite you in the rear. That

made them quite difficult to use properly. Naturally, they're

consumables, and the number that can be equipped onto a ship is also

limited. I checked the indicator for the remaining cells at the corner of

my field of view. There were only three left.

"Ah, but due to that earlier attack, a hole has opened up in the

encirclement!"

"We can't use it. We'd just be targeted the moment we jump into that

opening."

The lock-on alarm didn't go off. They must be sniping us manually. Sh*t.

There won't be any trace of an attack if they aim at us manually without

getting a lock-on. Even if we got sniped, they can just pass it off as 'an

accident caused by a stray shot'.

Moreover, the sensors weren't functioning properly because we're

surrounded by crystal lifeforms. Even if we can triangulate the rough

direction of the shot, we wouldn't be able to find the enemy's current

position and how far they actually were from us. Seriously, man. Sniping

us using a cannon that can penetrate a wall of murderous alien

creatures. That woman's seriously bad news.

[Nn, what should I do, I wonder? I want to perform some support fire,

but it would be bad if we accidentally hit you instead, right? Our

sensors aren't working properly either. They're being blocked by that

wall of crystal lifeforms. Dear, oh dear.]

"Just how shameless can you get!?"

[Nfufu... Alrighty then. We're gonna perform support fire again, so

make sure you dodge properly, m'kay?]

Marie's voice that no longer hid her cruelty and malice echoed out from

the comms. It caused shivers to go down my spine. This is bad. This

truly was a fatal predicament.