14 The Day of Decision 1

And then, it arrives.

"Overlight complete."

The Harold Fleet completes its final Overlight.

The long-sought cradle of humanity finally comes into view.

On the bridge of the Trishula, the home planet is magnified. Its form is laid bare.

Even Mio, who had wandered onto the bridge on a whim, stares at it.

"That is Earth..."

The term "green planet" had been used.

She had assumed, vaguely, that it would appear that color.

But now, seen from above, it is a planet of blue and rust-colored earth.

Not a single trace of green remains.

Ah, Mio feels a strange sorrow.

This planet is already dead.

The ether it once held has been drained. No fertile soil remains to birth new life.

She suspects the ASID did this—though she cannot believe it reached such a point.

Normally, the ASID consumes only a planet's ecosystem.

The star itself is not significantly altered.

They proceed to the next planet.

In other words, the extent of the devastation suggests humanity resisted the ASID for a prolonged period.

And ultimately overcame it, launching beyond the edge of Sol.

A conclusion that makes humanity seem strong.

"Considering the scale of the cosmos, 150 years is but a blink—but verify the star charts anyway. The possibility is low, but a new ASID might be approaching."

Mio, intrigued despite the redundant instruction, begins counting familiar satellites.

"This is Europa, Jupiter’s moon. That one is Phobos, Mars’s moon. And Earth’s satellite—the Moon."

The object visible in the direction of travel appears merely as a lump of rock.

A size that would have tempted a resource-poor colony fleet to dismantle and extract its minerals.

"...hmm?"

Suddenly.

A stain-like mark appeared in the image.

A black stain.

It was growing gradually.

A malfunction in the external camera? Or a system failure in this pseudo-biological construct?

Mio, pondering such possibilities, was pulled back to reality by the observer’s voice.

"Multiple reactor signatures approaching!"

"ASID?"

It was bad enough to be attacked twice, but the observer’s words contradicted that assumption.

"No... identification signal confirmed!"

Doubt filled the bridge.

Could it be that some defense system abandoned 150 years ago was still operational?

"Matching... Third Fleet designation... Longinus-class Mobile Battleship 'Gay Volk'!"

"Impossible!"

The captain of 'Trishula' slammed a fist onto the armrest.

"The Third Fleet, which was ahead of us, has not only caught up—but overtaken us!?"

A reaction of disbelief rippled through the crew. The situation defied all common sense.

Among them, Harold alone paused, then spoke to the observer.

“Any other readings? Beyond the Third Fleet’s fleet—any high reactor output?”

“Wait… yes. Waveform match… humanoid ASID, Black Knight!”

The response deepened the surrounding doubt, yet Harold’s expression settled into quiet understanding.

“So that’s it. They’ve allied with the humanoid ASID.”

A faint murmur.

“Impossible!”

“Not impossible. Mio Tohgo here is proof enough. We’re doing the same.”

A reluctant, quiet agreement.

“Especially since the Third Fleet seeks to stop the Laitera Project. The humanoid ASID likely wants to reclaim Mio Tohgo. Their interests align. An alliance isn’t unthinkable.”

“But still… how could the ones we’ve fought directly now be allied with an ASID…?”

The technical capabilities of humanoid ASIDs remain unclear. Reports did indicate superior performance in Overlight technology—but…

Harold lets out a faint smile, as if to say that’s all.

The one most shaken by those words—no one else—was Mio.

“W-why…”

Could they really be allies?

Were ASIDs not enemies?

Was their relationship never truly irreconcilable?

If that were the case, why was she here now?

It couldn’t be real. She wanted to believe it was a mistake.

But the scene before her did not change.

She steadies a body on the verge of collapse.

—Temporary. Just temporary.

Mio repeats this to herself.

As Harold said. A temporary alignment of interests.

Enemies of enemies are allies—something like that.

Once the common enemy is gone, the conflict will resume.

No. It must resume.

Otherwise, what was she doing here at all?

Losing part of its meaning.

Holding her trembling body close, Mio struggled to conceal her agitation.

“...Mio Tohgo. Could your voice repel them?”

Shaking her head at Harold’s question, Mio replied.

“It’s impossible. What’s over there—will be my flock someday, but not now. I can appeal, but I cannot enforce.”

Even if they became her flock, she would have almost no coercive power over beings with full cognition.

At best, she might suppress revolt.

“Ah. That would have made things easier.”

Harold spoke with little expectation.

The Third Fleet, emerging from the moon’s shadow, and the combined fleet of humanoid ASID—Terminans—spread their wings across Harold’s fleet’s path.

“F-fufu… I never expected we’d end up on the breakthrough side.”

The original operation plan must be discarded entirely.

Having not anticipated being outmaneuvered at all, a complete reorganization of the strategy was necessary.

“Six hours remaining.”

The time left until the Laitera Project’s completion.

The project would be finalized upon the entity’s approach to Earth after this duration.

It was not a matter of defense—breaking through that defensive line was required.

“Assign Umbrella II to defend the ‘Rare’ position. They will target that area. Release all captured units.”

Harold directed the deployment of special forces.

Captured units, in particular, could only be used to target specific objectives.

Therefore, their utility would be limited to surrounding high-priority enemy threats.

Naturally, the primary target remained—

"Jin, don't engage him directly. Even with tactical simulations factored in, he broke through our encirclement. The chance of victory in frontal combat is negligible."

At last, Harold's fleet conceded direct confrontation with Jin.

The previous battle had been fought with full preparation.

And yet, Jin had surpassed even predictive modeling.

There was no choice but to admit it.

To shoot Jin, within Harold's fleet, would be impossible without pure chance.

Thus, they refused engagement.

All captured units were directed at him.

He was, after all, just a single individual.

He could not erase hundreds of enemies in an instant.

They would immobilize him completely by launching wave attacks.

"...There are other aces, but what of them?"

"Yes... they're there. But their overall capability falls far short. Fight them in their weakest range—thoroughly."

Calmly, Harold assessed it.

The individual possessed exceptional abilities.

Yet overall capability fell far short of Shōgō Jin—and would even be outmatched by the Cyborg Squadron.

Even in their specialized domains, a fair fight would have been possible only if engaged at their weakest range.

"It comes down to how well they can suppress humanoid forms..."

In simulations, the Cyborg Squadron had achieved parity or better.

But assuming they possessed intelligence comparable to humans, simulation results would be meaningless.

The entity was formidable in every respect.

"...Antares maintenance..."

"Approximately four hours remaining."

"Tch. Too long."

Antares, a completely one-of-a-kind unit, suffered significant drawbacks in maintainability.

As a combat asset, undeniably powerful. But as a pilot, it seemed impractical for mass production. From the technician's perspective, scalability was unfeasible.

A fleeting regret, as a commander, that Chi’s pursuit might have been unnecessary—just a moment.

“Mio. You will board the Rea. I will follow shortly.”

…Understood.”

To transfer to the Rea, a Lombardia-class battleship under construction within the Laitera core, meant initiating a temporal jump immediately after system completion.

Harold likely anticipated a race against the wire-thin margin of survival.

Breaking through the fleet and delivering the Rea to Earth.

That was the contest he foresaw.

And for Mio, the situation was favorable.

The more time compressed, the harder normal judgment became.

The more chance she would have, amid the chaos, to transmit information to Rei.

The earlier disturbance was forgotten.

Now, she advanced, resolute in her original intent.

Driven by a solemn, almost desperate sense of duty, Mio broke into a run.