Escort Mission 5

"Sis, target has appeared."

Through the reconnaissance vessel she was commanding, Black Rose detected Kerberos and A884, who had just exited hyperspace.

"Finally showing up, huh? Such a rude fellow to keep the lady waiting."

"Now's the chance to fire!"

"Not yet. He's got an unusually sharp instinct. We'll sink him after things get even more chaotic..."

Velvet licked her lips as she stared at Cerberus on the monitor.

Cerberus and A884, having just emerged from spatial jump, hadn't noticed Velvet and her team beyond their detection range.

"Whether enemy ships will follow us into international space is uncertain, but we should move now."

Shinonsuke pushed the throttle lever forward.

Cerberus and A884 accelerated, breaking free from the orbital zone.

The time Shinonsuke and the others gained was just a few minutes.

The slow-moving convoy would soon be caught up with.

But the same would apply to the enemy—if they intended to follow them into international space, there would be no escaping them.

"Convoy's course has been locked. Pointing out the position."

The convoy is heading straight toward the Akneria Galactic Federation, but Shinnosuke veers off in a direction different from the point indicated on the monitor.

To deceive the enemy's tracking, and naturally, not forgetting to deploy decoys to mislead their course.

A few minutes after Kerberos and A884, the enemy group emerged from a spatial jump.

Whether or not it had fallen victim to Kerberos's missiles, only ten ships emerged from the spatial jump.

Though clearly not fooled by the decoys, they were unable to track the convoy's course, and instead were pursuing the altered trajectory of Kerberos, which had veered off in a different direction.

Watching their actions, Velvet let out a sigh.

"Ah... you fools. Easily fooled like that. No matter how good your gear is, you're all just a bunch of dimwits who can't even be proper pirates. Still, I suppose even idiots like you can serve some purpose—like dodging bullets. Tell me the convoy's route!"

"Understood!"

Sighing in exasperation, Velvet set off in pursuit of Kerberos.

Kerberos and A884 were attempting to rendezvous with the convoy by maneuvering around the airspace.

"Enemy group's spatial jump departure detected. No sign of them following us. Likely heading toward the convoy."

If the enemy had been successfully lured away as planned, Velvet had considered using the opportunity to separate them from the convoy entirely, but things didn't go quite as expected.

"Guess they're not that foolish after all. We'll have to join up with the convoy ourselves."

The two ships altered their course to rendezvous with the convoy.

With the speed of Cerberus and A884, we should be able to reach the convoy before the enemy group does.

The refugee fleet continued sailing toward the Akneria Galactic Federation.

Currently, the convoy was being escorted by Dag's shield vessel, the twin Gorgons of Alex and Cynthia, and two escort ships from the Damura Star Cluster Kingdom—the Typhoon II and others.

Zanny's Pirate Killer was still undergoing refueling.

"Ten unidentified ships, rapidly approaching from behind"

The shield ship at the rear of the convoy detected enemy vessels closing in from behind.

"Is Shinnosuke's group here yet?"

"Not yet. They're heading this way, but it's barely enough time."

"Damn it, should we launch the Pirate Killer?"

The Pirate Killer was still refueling, and once combat began, it couldn't be launched easily.

"No good. If we launch with only partial refueling and end up running out of fuel mid-operation, it'll be disastrous. We won't be able to recover it during combat."

"Can't help it then."

"From the shield ship, Golgoon—fall back behind the convoy. Prepare to intercept the enemy group."

"Acknowledged."

Golgoon retreated to the rear of the convoy, then split at the central hull section into the first ship, Stenno, and the second ship, Eurylee.

The two escort vessels of the Damura Stellar Cluster Republic cannot afford to leave the convoy.

If Sinno-suke and the others don't arrive in time, the Shield Ship, Stenno, and Eurylee will have to hold them off alone.

"I sank the heavy cruiser, so only the cruisers and destroyers remain. With this ship's armament, we should be able to handle them."

Zanny reluctantly took over the Shield Ship's fire control, since he couldn't deploy the Pirate Killer.

Though specialized in defense, the Shield Ship isn't lacking in armament.

It's equipped with main guns comparable to those of a destroyer, along with numerous anti-air weapons.

Zanny prepared for attack at the fire control station.

"Can I use the missiles too?"

"Not all of them. Shinosuke and the others will arrive soon. Just slow the enemy down."

"Got it."

"From the shield ship, Sternno, Eurylea. You don't need to push yourselves too hard."

"Understood."

Zany aimed at the enemy's lead destroyer and pressed the missile launch button.

Four small missiles launched from the missile launcher, and simultaneously, Sternno and Eurylea began firing their main guns.