146 Imperial Civil War Arc 4: Poison Against Poison

side: Akira

‘Hey, Prince Lorenzo. It’s Akira. I’ve got a letter from General Kyle, commander of the Anti-Niahyūm Task Force and the Leonardo Extermination Fleet.

I’m about to warp out into your sector. Don’t shoot, okay?’

I sent a dimensional comm just one light-year short of where Lorenzo (Seventh Prince) had his fleet on patrol.

No point popping out of warp in the middle of a combat-ready fleet without warning—wouldn’t be surprised if they blew me to bits.

Yeah, I’ve done that before—warping out right behind the Emperor—and learned my lesson.

Using the dimensional radar, I did a detailed scan, then warped my Personal Ship out directly in front of Lorenzo’s (Seventh Prince’s) fortress ship.

"Hello. Prince Akira, Sixth Prince. I’m here as assistant commander for the Nearhyume countermeasures and also as assistant commander of the Leonardo extermination force."

I kept it as friendly as possible, then straightened up into proper assistant commander posture and delivered the order.

"Command from Prince Kyle, commander of the Nearhyume countermeasures and commander of the Leonardo extermination force.

Deploy the Nearhyume against Leonardo—Prince Leonardo, the Fifth Prince—who’s occupying the Rasty system.

Eliminate the surviving Lorenzo—Prince Lorenzo, the Seventh Prince—as instructed.

This is Prince Kyle’s order. Refusal is not permitted."

I met up with Lorenzo—the Seventh Prince—and handed him the order document, delivered in the form of an electronic command scroll.

I didn’t want to make it look like Kyle and I had chosen this plan—attacking Leonardo (the Fifth Prince) head-on in our own star system—ourselves.

It was necessary to establish the official record: this was Kyle’s command.

"Understood. Please convey my gratitude to Commander Kyle."

Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince) acknowledged Kyle’s will with a polite bow.

Inside, he was itching to head straight for the Rasty system—but he stayed put, committed to the mission against Neahyume.

Now, he understood and accepted that Neahyume’s invasion of their own system was required by the plan.

He’d been pinned down by Kyle’s orders, like a man unable to stand still.

And being able to thank him for that? That was something.

"I’ll lend a hand, however small."

The nickname "One Million Killer" — you’ve got that title, so helping me out isn’t exactly a token gesture, is it?

I’m counting on you, Akira.

When did I even get that moniker…? "Killer" — could you please stop using that? "Killer" — it’s not…

Lorenzo (Seventh Prince)'s Nearhyme Extermination Fleet: 4 fortress ships, 25,000搭载 ships, plus reinforcements — 5 fortress ships and 40,000搭载 ships.

Opposing them: Nearhyme has 13 medium-sized vessels and 110,000搭载 ships.

We're throwing Nearhyme headfirst into Leonardo (Fifth Prince)'s fleet — 1 orbital fortress and 70,000 warships.

Alongside Lorenzo’s Nearhyme Extermination Fleet, I’m moving to a position one light-year from the Rasty system.

All vessels are housed within the nine fortress ships, waiting in standby — ready to warp back to the Rasty system at any moment.

We’re keeping a minute-by-minute watch on the Rasty system via the Dimensional Radar.

Our plan is to swoop in and finish off Leo and Nyahyume once they’ve worn each other down.

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side: Akira

We had the Rasty system mapped out in detail using the Dimensional Radar.

If we were to narrate this in real time, it’d go something like this:

The Nyahyume’s light fleet carriers jump out of dimension (warp).

At the same instant, the Fortress Cannon fires from Leonardo (Fifth Prince)'s fortress satellite—something we’d already tracked on the Dimensional Radar.

Nyahyume had seen it coming—every light fleet carrier jumps out of dimension (warp) simultaneously.

While the first light carrier was destroyed by the Fortress Cannon, eleven thousand more launched from the remaining light carriers.

Eleven thousand ships.

Seems like the light carriers in vulnerable positions didn’t carry any launch vessels.

Leonardo (Fifth Prince) had been outmaneuvered by Nyahyume.

The chaos erupted—eleven thousand against seven thousand—just before the Fortress Cannon could fire again.

Everyone thought the Cannon was done.

But it fired anyway.

To Leonardo (Fifth Prince), expendable drones were just tools—any sacrifice was acceptable if they could bury the enemy.

The numbers dwindled—Nyahyume’s and Leonardo’s drones, locked in a grueling, mud-filled battle.

Nyahyume saw the fortress satellite as the greatest threat and ordered her light carriers into a single-file line, charging straight in.

One frigate, then another—light carriers fell one by one to the Fortress Cannon, yet somehow, the last of them reached the fortress satellite.

At that instant, the light carriers detonated.

When the smoke cleared, the Fortress Cannon was dead.

But Nyahyume’s fleet had taken heavy losses.

After a long, chaotic struggle, Leonardo (the Fifth Prince) finally drove Nyahyume back.

Leonardo (the Fifth Prince) was left with barely twenty thousand ships.

This was the battle of the Rasty system, as we’d reconstructed it from the Dimensional Radar data.

Nyahyume had been defeated by Leonardo (the Fifth Prince), and Leonardo’s fleet had been severely crippled in the process.

‘Now’s our chance! We’ll reclaim this star system!’

Under Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince)'s command, we jump into the Rasty system via dimensional warp.

This should finish off both Nahyuum and Leonardo (the Fifth Prince).

I warp out into the Rasty system.

The superior performance of my warp drive leaves me ahead of the others.

"Shit— it's a trap!"

Before me, Leonardo (the Fifth Prince)'s fleet and Nahyuum's fleet are lined up side by side, guns trained right at us.

Right. All the data we’d been seeing on the Dimensional Radar was a lie.

Someone had jammed the Dimensional Radar, feeding back fake readings as if they were real scans.

At the front of Leonardo’s fleet, two Personal Ships in black paint floated ominously.

One looked like a combat specialist. The other, an electronic warfare specialist.

"Is this the one? This is the one feeding us false intel all along!"

I felt a chill run through me at the performance of that Personal Ship.

I considered pulling a series of Dimensional Warps to retreat—but then I thought of Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince) and the extermination fleet still locked in the fight. Couldn’t do it.

Fortress Ships can’t Dimensional Warp.

I didn’t hesitate. I armed the antimatter particle cannon, locked onto the enemy’s center, and fired.

We can’t afford to lose any more. They’ve got 180,000 ships—110,000 plus 70,000.

Our forces? Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince), 65,000 regular troops, and my Personal Ship’s 20,000 drones stored in the Dimensional Storage Vault.

But those drones could be hijacked by Leonardo (the Fifth Prince). Might not even be usable.

Accelerated antimatter particles heading toward the enemy fleet—yet a small vessel dives straight into the beam.

Antimatter particles detonating mid-way between the enemy fleet and us.

Ah. So they’re triggering the explosion beforehand, at a safe distance.

I didn’t think there was a countermeasure to an antimatter particle cannon like this…

Now that the antimatter cannon’s been neutralized and I’m stuck with a cooldown on dimensional jump (warp), I’m in a real bind.

Thanks for the rating, thanks for the bookmark.

Means a lot.

Added and revised edits to compensate for shortcomings.