Chapter 19 – An ace pilot’s determination
「SHOOT! SHOOT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!! NO NEED TO AIM!! YOU’RE BOUND TO HIT IF YOU JUST SHOOT!!」
「ARGHHHH!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!! I DON’T WANT TO DIEEEEEEEEE!!!」
「THE CANNON’S BODY HAS DISINTEGRATED!! IT’S NO LONGER ABLE TO SHOOT!!」
「HURRY UP AND DIVERT MORE ENERGY INTO THE MAIN CANNON!! QUICKLY, SOMEONE!!」
「WE DON’T HAVE ANY MORE MISSILES!! GOD DAMMIT! FUCK! FUUUCKKKKKKK!!!」
「SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING LATE!! WHAT THE HECK IS THE SUPPORT UNIT DOING?!」
「USE THE RESERVES!! OR ELSE THE FRONTLINES WILL COLLAPSE!!」
「WE DID THAT AGES AGO!! THERE AREN’T ANY MORE RESERVES!!」
Many of the federation’s battleships had gone missing about one hour after the red belt appeared. The previous battle seemed like a lie with the amount of forces the Earthen army was sending in. Not a single one of their fired shots could even put a dent in their opponents’ battleships. Meanwhile, just one attack from the Earthen ships caused several of their battleships to explode. Power, defence, speed, efficiency—all of it far surpassed Earth’s previous fleet. Moreover, their formation could be said to be perfect, with not a single opening to take advantage of.
Federation battleships could be seen falling one after another as the front lines fell into disarray. Their central command struggled to devise a new plan to strike back, and there was a deficiency of ammunition at the front lines. Tormented shrieks could be heard coming from inside their headquarters.
「Go! Have the rear supply ships advance to replenish their supply!!」
「Don’t ask for the impossible!! We can’t afford to spare a single ship to escort the supplies!」
「We’ve just received a message from a friendly! ＜WE’VE LOST ALL BATTLE PROWESS! PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW!＞ FUCK!! IT’S ALL THE SAME!!」
「30% of the fleet has been lost! It’s impossible to continue maintaining the formation!!」
Despite the officers’ faces paling faces, they still continued to hand out orders, fulfilling their basic duty. They struggled to gather the remaining fleet together into one area in order to rearrange their formations. Consequentially, the Planetary Federation that once besieged the Solar System had instead now been surrounded by the Earthen Army. The only path of retreat left to them was straight behind, but their supply fleets had been deployed there. Due to their mobility limits, the supply fleet would only act as an even bigger bottleneck to their movement, essentially locking the remaining assault fleet within the enemy’s encirclement. Therefore the federation no longer had the option of pulling back. Neither a path to retreat nor to advance. Yet, even under these dire conditions, they continued to fight.
***
「FUCK!! This is the first time I’ve seen such a dense barrage of bullets!!」
One robot unit charged through the fusillade despite the hellscape that surrounded it.
The slightly rounded robot, which had once gleamed with a flawless blue coat of paint, danced under the man’s deft handling, manoeuvring past the fierce rain of bullets and beams coming from all sides. A few more similar units continued after it, as though they were in pursuit of the first.
＜Captain!! Any further would be too dangerous!!＞
「It’s fine already! Stop following me!! You guys should withdraw!!」
＜But… For captain to advance by yourself…＞
「I can make it if it’s only me!! We’ll show those bastards the obstinacy of our Federation!! Hurry up and retreat you guys!!」
＜Un- Understood! We shall retrea-…＞
The next instant, the many signals from the rear disappeared, leaving behind a static buzzing noise. Hearing this sound, the man who had been called Captain gritted his teeth.
「Shit!! You guys!! Hold on! I’ll be there soon!」
This man was a well-known, unrivalled ace pilot within the Planetary Federation. Accordingly, the robot he was in was a specialised unit. Its output capacity, defensive ability and offensive power were all several times higher than those of a normal unit. On the other hand, due to the unit’s high capabilities, it would place an immense amount of pressure on the human body, causing it to be known as a monster that would devour its user if they weren’t strong enough. Whilst navigating the unit, he charged straight into the Earthen army.
Like a shining beacon of hope in the centre of a dark universe, he manoeuvred past what seemed like an unending barrage of missiles and beams, grazing by them at the last possible moment to avoid detonating them, as he pushed forward. He was searching. Searching for the head of the Earthen Army.
The federation no longer had a chance of victory. The man understood that there was no longer any way to overturn the tides. Still, he refused to give up on the desires of his ancestors, the wishes of oppressed residents of the universe, his own pride… He wanted to let the leader of his enemy know of everyone’s conviction.
With this determination, he had stripped his unit of all its armaments. Anything that could weigh him down on the battlefield was removed, all to coax out the limits of his machine’s survivability and speed. The man discarded his missiles, beams and even his sword, lightening his unit as he dashed across the battlefield.
He had a sure-fire plan. In order to carry out his plan, it was necessary to know where the enemy leader, the enemy flagship, was located.
The radar served no purpose anymore. Red dots representing the enemy buried the screen as it shone a bright red. He strained his own eyes to search for the flagship as he kept dodging numerous incoming attacks. He seemed almost an immortal god as he weaved through the enemy fleet.
And finally, he found it. An Earthen ship that was obviously much larger than those around it – the flagship.
「Fleet Command! Reporting in! I’ve discovered the enemy’s flagship!!」
To the man’s message the fleet replied:
＜Understood! Dammit!! The radar’s useless! Please maintain visuals on the target, we’ll start the bombardment!!＞
「We don’t have that kind of leeway!! Don’t worry! You know my location right?」
＜Of course we know your…Don’t tell me!?＞
「Relay this to the fleet commander! The target is me! Aim all of the main cannons at me! I’ll make sure we hit the enemy flagship!」
＜No! If you do something that reckless, you’ll…＞
「These may well be our final moments anyway. At least me become a beautiful firework at the end! I’ll relay the signal to attack once I’m in position! Please prepare the weapons!」
＜Arghhhhhh!Fine then, understood! All preparations are ready! We’re ready anytime!＞
「Thanks! I’m almost there! Just a tiny bit more!」
The man glared at the huge battleship as he raised a battle cry, as tears of blood flowed out from his eyes, and his clenched teeth ground against each other. Even his hair seemed to have lost all colour after the numerous near-death experiences he’d had on his way here.
Still, the man refused to pull back.
With the engine maintaining its maximum output, the monster machine roared out. Vibrations ran across the unit’s framework, and it wouldn’t have been strange if it collapsed on the spot under the immense stress it had been under for so long.
But he still pushed forwards.
And finally, with the enemy’s flagship right in front of him, he let out a yell into the comms.
「NOW! ATTAAAAAACK!!」
All the remaining battleships simultaneously fired all of the ammunition they had left toward him upon his signal. The man let out a smirk as he felt the approaching beams and missiles from his allies.
In his final moments, he whispered an exclamation of pride and joy.
The very next moment, the man was wrapped in an explosion of light and, along with his unit, vanished from the world. Immediately after that, the explosion struck the huge battleship.