Mob No.143: [Better to keep things as they are than to greedily reach for more—seems like they’ll work harder that way.]
 
☆☆☆
 

 
[Side: Kaiese-Dowin]
 

 
“Your Excellency. The [Gungnir] is ready to fire.”
 
“Good! Begin charging! Target the enemy fleet ahead!”
 
“But, Your Excellency! Our allies are still in the line of fire!”
 
“I’ve already accepted some losses as inevitable. Besides, those on the frontlines right now are expendable.”
 
On the bridge of the super-massive combat vessel [Gungnir], I was moments away from seizing a glorious future.
 
This strike would be … Read the rest

Mob No.142: “[Gungnir], fall back! All other units, advance! The entire army will intercept! Buy time until [Gungnir] can fire!”
 
Thirty-six hours had passed since the planet Itotakia was reduced to cosmic dust by the beam fired from the ancient weapon bearing the name of the divine spear.
 
To neutralize this superweapon, the Imperial Army devised a strategy.
 
The plan was to deploy a portion of their own fleet as decoys to face the superweapon head-on while the remaining forces launched a flanking attack from beyond radar detection range.
 
The decoy unit was ordered to evade … Read the rest

Mob No.141: “Just make sure no one else gets hurt… I’m begging you…”
 
Twelve hours after the planet Itotakia was reduced to cosmic dust.
 
The long-distance war between the Empire and the Star Kingdom had reached a complete stalemate.
 
Despite the overwhelming firepower displayed by the Star Kingdom’s superweapon, for some reason, it showed no signs of moving further.
 
The prevailing theory was that it required time to recharge its energy—but the possibility of it being a trap also left the Empire hesitant to act recklessly.
 
Amid this tension, Kaiese Dowin, the Star Kingdom’s Prime … Read the rest

Mob No.140: [Well… if you absolutely insist on staying in the Nekirelma Star Kingdom, I’ll send you back properly—so just behave yourself for a little while.]
 

That was close.
 
When the Platinum Owl got on my tail, I panicked and messed up the direction of my attitude-control thrusters while trying to shake them off.
 
But luckily, that mistake ended up saving me—it threw off their attack just enough for me to evade.
 
I quickly regained control, counterattacked, and narrowly escaped death.
 
The Platinum Owl pilot must’ve been caught off guard by my unexpected maneuver.
 … Read the rest

Mob No. 139: “No luck……”
 

Thanks to Karalema-san and Rosweise-san, who charged ahead after taking the enemy’s provocation,
 
the battle shifted—moreover, in our favor.
 
[“All ships, advance while firing! We’re breaking through!”]
 
Following Vice Admiral Vescolés’ orders, the combat crafts pulled back to avoid obstructing the fleet’s barrage as the warships pressed forward, guns blazing.
 
Thanks to that, we managed to whittle down a portion of the enemy fleet.
 
Whether that was the reason or not, parts of the enemy fleet began retreating.
 
It might have been the catalyst—soon, other fleets followed suit.… Read the rest

Mob No. 138: [“But I don’t hate it. Changing the tide of battle has always been the job of big damn fools (heroes) anyway!”]
 

The battle in the Neott sector, ignited by the enemy commander’s rage, could only be described as brutal and chaotic.
 
Our mercenary guild’s Yttz branch, operating under the command of the 4th Fleet, initially found itself in a tangled mess of allied and enemy fighters—so dense that even with functioning IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) systems, it was impossible to tell who was who at a glance.
 
But as fleet fire whittled down … Read the rest

Mob No. 137: “If you ever end up in the same situation again, you absolutely must refuse and call me instead! Understood?!”
 

 
25 hours after the battle in the Sorel Sector.
 
After making a stop at the inhabited planet Radrisco along the way to resupply fuel and ammunition—as well as replenishing and adding more unmanned artillery ships and missile vessels—we were just one hour away from reaching the next combat zone, the Neott Sector, when Tenon-Karalema-san suddenly spoke to me while I was checking my ship.
 
“Hey, you!”
 
The fact that she was talking to … Read the rest

Mob No.136: “Then, to celebrate this victory and pray for triumph in battles to come—cheers!”
 

 
Approximately six hours after witnessing the argument between the three women…
 
We arrived in the Solle Space Sector, where the battle against the Nekirelma Star Kingdom awaited.
 
The battlefield itself was still a short distance away, but tension radiated from the entire fleet.
 
The only sounds echoing through the ships were the bare minimum—maintenance checks, polishing, and hushed voices.
 
Then, the voice of Vice Admiral Roynes-Vescolés, commander of the 4th Fleet, broadcast across all ships’ comm screens:
 
“Listen … Read the rest

Mob No. 135: [“Heeey☆ Nice to meet you, mercenaries! I’m Vice Admiral Roynes-Vescolés, commander of this 4th Fleet”]
 

When I woke up, unbelievable news hit me:
 
The Nekirelma Star Kingdom had declared war on the Empire.
 
Naturally, that meant an emergency summons for me, too—with a deadline:
 
Report to the guild by 11:00 AM.
 
Luckily, it was only 9:15 now.
 
After getting ready, I sent Gonzales a message asking him to gather intel.
 
Public transport might be jammed, so I hopped on a rentable trike scooter (any resident could use one).
 
If … Read the rest