147 Imperial Civil War Arc 5: Crisis

side: Akira

"Leonardo (Seventh Prince)! It's a trap. Run!"

My warning transmission was jammed—Leonardo (Seventh Prince) never got it.

Leonardo (Seventh Prince), who had just jumped out via dimensional warp from Fortress Ship 9, was now under fire from the fortress cannon of the fortress satellite seized by Lorenzo (Fifth Prince).

"Damn it… No choice. I’ll have to create the opening for Lorenzo (Seventh Prince) to respond."

I launched an unmanned vessel from the Dimensional Storage Vault and, alongside my support ships, fired G-Bullets.

Enemy vanguard fleet explodes.

In the split second of chaos that created, I launched a Leap Bullet at the fortress satellite’s fortress cannon.

Weak point’s already been mapped. Leap Bullet targets the energy transmission tube backflow prevention circuit—right there.

The fortress satellite trembles from the blast. The fortress cannon loses power and goes silent.

Then—my unmanned vessel fires a G-Bullet straight at my Personal Ship.

I toss my shield into the path of the G-Bullet.

The G-Bullet’s energy concentrates on the shield, but the trajectory veers off anyway.

“Seriously? Even my unmanned vessel under my control—could it really be taken by the enemy?!”

My unmanned vessel had been hijacked.

The Tactical Weapon Integration Control System link had severed. Someone else had taken control.

Before the next round fires—activate the Nerve Crack.

Wide-Area Communication Device S-type goes full online, re-establishing the link to the unmanned vessel.

"Warning! Electronic quantum dimensional communication interference detected. Link cannot be established."

A warning blares from the Personal Ship's neural interface.

"So we're stuck with contact-only comms, huh?"

I run through options in my head.

Send out a cable for contact communication... no, wait—Dimensional Storage Vault. It's within effective range!

I pull the enemy-occupied unmanned vessel into the Dimensional Storage Vault.

At that instant, the dimensional barrier dissolves the interference. The unmanned vessel's neural control reactivates.

"Neural Crack activated! Subjugate the unmanned vessel's mind!"

Should keep the others from taking control.

Likely the Tactical Weapon Integration Control System link was severed. Fake orders sent. Took over control.

But with Neural Crack's subjugation, the mind makes its own judgment. Won't fall under enemy false commands.

Can't afford to underestimate an enemy who can disable even the ECCM of a Wide-Area Communication Device S-type.

"Only that electronic warfare-specialized Personal Ship could pull off something like this.

And that other Personal Ship beside it. Different color, but wasn't that the one who rescued the Prince?"

I glared at the two black Personal Ships.

If I don’t figure out a way to neutralize that signal jamming, Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince) is in real danger.

If he launches those unmanned vessels, they’ll all turn against us.

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ｓｉｄｅ：Leonardo

A single ship that just jumped dimensions (warped out) arrived—cruiser-class, yet deployed its support vessels and fired its main guns in rapid succession.

That main gun—pathetic in caliber, barely worth looking at—still had the power to sink a battleship with just one shot.

Leonardo’s fleet was thrown into disarray.

Mid-chaos, an explosion erupted from within the fortress satellite. The command room shook.

The explosion disabled the Fortress Cannon.

"Fortress Cannon’s down! Damn it! We went through all that trouble, and we still can’t even take down one of their fortress ships!"

Leonardo (the Fifth Prince), in the fortress satellite’s command room, stamped his foot in frustration.

Using the Black Knight’s special Personal Ship ability, he’d falsified the Dimensional Radar readings, making it look like he’d barely defeated Neahyume and suffered fatal damage himself.

Should’ve been an easy win—just wipe out Lorenzo, the seventh prince’s Fortress Cannon-equipped Personal Ship, with the Fortress Satellite’s Fortress Cannon.

“That little runt’s Akira’s Personal Ship! What’re you getting in my way for?!”

Alright, contact the Black Knight—seize control of those unmanned ships!

Crush him with 180,000 vessels—no mercy!

Leonardo, the fifth prince, was declaring a 180,000-to-1 battle against Akira.

His subordinates were left gaping.

“What are you doing? He’s the ‘One Million Killer’! Don’t you dare let your guard down!”

Leonardo meant business.

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side: Akira

Leonardo, the fifth prince, and his combined force of 180,000 warships are locking onto my Personal Ship.

"Can’t wait for the dimension jump (warp) anymore… Fine. Fire the antimatter particle cannon!"

Railguns and beam cannons from the enemy’s 180,000 ships are fired—straight at my Personal Ship.

I fire the antimatter particle cannon directly into the center.

Another antimatter-sealing vessel tries to advance, but it gets caught in our fleet’s fire and explodes.

But amid the massive barrage, the antimatter projectile makes contact with a shell.

A massive energy surge erupts from annihilation.

The attack from the 180,000 enemy ships—everything—gets swallowed by that energy and vanishes.

I keep firing the antimatter particle cannon. Each blast triggers a colossal explosion, blocking every incoming strike.

Hmm, let’s throw them off their game with a surprise trap, shall we?

I kept up the barrage with the antimatter particle cannon while shifting into action.

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side: Lorenzo

"Cover Akira! Fortress Cannon, ready to fire!"

Lorenzo, the seventh prince, instantly realized he’d walked right into Leonardo, the fifth prince’s trap.

The scene before him was nothing like what the Dimensional Radar had shown.

Niahyuum, which should’ve been destroyed, was still intact. And Leonardo, the fifth prince, was still fighting alongside it.

Meaning he’d just plunged headfirst into a battlefield where he was clearly outmatched.

Before him, Akira’s Personal Ship had launched a swarm of unmanned vessels to face the enemy head-on.

Akira’s Personal Ship should’ve been able to warp away with continuous dimensional jumps—but it stayed on the battlefield.

“Sorry, Akira. You’re giving me an opening to flee, aren’t you?

But I can’t just skulk off like some coward.

This system… is mine. I have pride, after all.”

Then, Akira’s Personal Ship turned its weapons toward Akira’s unmanned vessels.

They’d been hijacked. I’d already received reports—Leonardo, the Fifth Prince, had taken control of the unmanned ships.

Which means I can’t send out my own unmanned vessels.

They could turn on us at any moment, if they’re compromised.

Comms are down—but Akira just sacrificed himself to warn us about the danger.

“Fleetmate, follow me. Preparing Fortress Cannon launch sequence.”

All nine Fortress Cannons, mounted across the nine fortress ships, were locked onto the enemy fleet, ready to fire.

In the midst of communication jamming, without any order given, every ship synchronized with Lorenzo (the Seventh Prince)’s movements.

“Akira’s in danger! Fortress Cannon, fire!”

Nine massive beams of energy streaked past Akira’s Personal Ship, heading straight for Leonardo’s (Fifth Prince) fleet.

Leonardo’s fleet was swallowed whole by the energy, vanishing without a trace.

But it was too late. Akira’s Personal Ship took direct hits from enemy railguns and beams.

The ship exploded and sank.

“Damn it! Akira!”

Only Lorenzo’s cry echoed through the void.

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