151 Imperial Civil War Arc 9 Akira

Tonight, two episodes are being updated. A little chat from the previous episode.

side: Lorenzo

"Check the damage status!"

Lorenzo (the 7th Prince) hurls a command from the command room, and reports rise from each department.

"Fortress Cannon is inoperable!"

"Anti-annihilation reactor output is normal. No issues."

"Dimensional jump (warp) drive is severely damaged!"

"Defensive railguns and particle beam cannons are both operational."

"Approximately twenty percent of the onboard hangar space is destroyed. About five thousand operational vessels remain on this fortress ship."

"Dimensional radar and dimensional communication system are intact. Enemy jamming continues."

Lorenzo (the 7th Prince), after hearing his subordinates' reports, hardens his expression and shouts with resolve.

"We can no longer flee from this place.

If this is the end, I’m taking Leonardo (5th Prince) down with me!

All搭载 ships launch! Intercept the enemy fleet heading toward the fortress ship!

By no means let them attach the Niahyūmu to the fortress ship!

Attack—pump every weapon into the fortress ship’s full arsenal!

Dimensional Radar system activated. Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device deployed!

Counterattack operation—commencing!»

Lorenzo (7th Prince) threw everything into the Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device Akira had left behind.

Under Lorenzo’s command, the three fortress ships—amidst electronic jamming—coordinated perfectly with the搭载 ships, launching them in unison.

The five regular military fortress ships were already possessed and eroded by the Niahyūmu, motionless.

A total fleet of twenty thousand ships now bared their fangs at Leonardo (5th Prince).

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ｓｉｄｅ：レオナルド

"Enemy unmanned ships—can't establish control!"

The fleet Leonardo had seized from the Imperial forces, under the powerful signal from Lorenzo's (7th Prince) fortress ship, broke free from his command.

Two hundred and fifty thousand ships. Still a terrifying number. If the Empire reasserted control, they’d be a disaster.

"Lorenzo (7th Prince), you bastard! You’re dead meat! Concentrate all fortress cannons on his fortress ship!"

"That’s… the Niahyūmu's control isn't stable either. Our fortress ship can't fire its fortress cannons!"

"Damn it! You son of a—Lorenzo, you piece of filth! Kill him with my personal guard!"

And get the Black Knight to whip Nyahyūmu’s ass! Get those Fortress Cannons online, damn it!

Leonardo (Fifth Prince)'s available forces had dwindled to about 110,000 ships, while Lorenzo (Seventh Prince)'s side barely held 20,000.

Lorenzo’s Fortress Ship was in pieces.

“Enemy Fortress Ship infested by Nyahyūmu—eliminated, back in the line of battle!”

“Are you insane?! What in the hell is this?!”

There, on screen, showed Imperial warships breaking out of the Fortress Ship’s hangar bay, destroying Nyahyūmu’s core.

They’d reached out with tendrils—only to find the core exposed, right there, alongside the ship.

At that moment, a piece of good news reached Leonardo (Fifth Prince).

“Friendly Fortress Ship—Fortress Cannon ready to fire!”

"What?! Fine—target is Lorenzo, the bastard. Take him down!"

Five Fortress Cannons converged on Lorenzo (Seventh Prince)'s Fortress Ship.

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s i d e: Akira

"Another white room."

I (Akira) seem to have been abducted again.

"No, your body has exceeded the limits of mental retention.

This is a mental accumulation field. If we continue like this, your individual consciousness will dissolve into the collective consciousness (hive mind)."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Following the genetic code of the mind, I will activate the ritual: bodily resurrection, mental transfer, reboot."

"Huh?"

I wake up. Must’ve been dreaming.

"Unknown ceiling."

Just wanted to say it out loud. Wasn’t the ceiling that was unknown—was the cockpit.

Not my Personal Ship. I was squeezed into a cockpit with a far more refined aura.

"Where is this?"

My question, and the cyberspace answers.

Personal Ship's main body CIC

"Main body?"

It's the Personal Ship under construction, stored in the Dimensional Storage Vault. What was sticking out externally was just a portion of it.

So, was it transferred, then?

...You can think that if you like.

Huh. Dream’s bugging me… but whatever.

In any case, they must’ve survived. Good—update me on the current situation.

Yes. We were attacked by a Fortress Cannon from the enemy fortress ship. External units have been eliminated.

Confirmed near-hyume reaction on enemy fortress ship.

Ah, so that’s how they used the fortress ship—niahyūmed it. A blind spot. My mistake.

"Leonardo (Fifth Prince), what's the status?"

"Four fortress ships under Lorenzo (Seventh Prince)'s command took direct hits from the nemesis-empowered fortress cannon.

Currently, they're continuing combat, protected by their escort vessels.

Five imperial regular fleet fortress ships have been overrun by the nemesis-erosion."

"What about Leonardo (Fifth Prince)?"

"Thanks to the Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device, the two-and-a-half thousand seized regular fleet ships have broken away. The nemesis fortress cannon appears to be non-functional."

"What about the fortress ships' self-destruct mechanisms?"

"Seems they were deactivated upon nemesis-erosion."

Worst case. Can't even use the last resort. Should've just blown them up—hesitated because they were imperial assets. Mistake.

But Leonardo (Fifth Prince) doesn't seem to be in good shape either.

"Can you still move?"

Please wait ten minutes until final adjustments are complete.

Can I get away? No... can I win?

Leave it to me. I'll show you how we wipe out the enemy with our current forces.

"Hey. We’re inside the Dimensional Storage Vault now?"

Yes. After my ship emerges into normal space, I'll stow the Dimensional Storage Vault.

How is it supposed to make sense that what’s inside is storing the container?

I waited for final adjustments to finish while being briefed on the specs of my new Personal Ship from the neural net.

Prepared. The Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device belonging to His Highness Lorenzo, the Seventh Prince, appears to have been destroyed.

The Fortress Cannon aboard the Neahyūm Fortress Ship is entering firing readiness. Firing.

Emergency launch! As soon as we clear the Dimensional Storage Vault, activate the Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device—forcefully break the enemy’s control—and ram them at maximum speed!

Can you protect Lorenzo, the Seventh Prince’s fortress ship?

Leave it to me. Initiating countdown. Three... two... one... liftoff.

The Personal Ship that burst from the Dimensional Storage Vault was a 2km-class battleship. Specifications as follows.

'Akira: New'

Ship Class Fleet Command Ship (Flagship)

Ship hull: 2 km long, fast battleship class, two arms, Dimensional Storage Vault S-type (new-model cruiser 18,000, dummy ship 11, multiple spare parts)

Main Unit Degeneration Furnace Auxiliary Unit Annihilation Reaction Furnace Model S 2 Model E 4 High-Speed Propulsion Unit Model S 2

Armament: Main Cannon, Antimatter Particle Cannon, 4 Units, 4 Guns

Secondary Gun Fortress Cannon (Basic Model) 1 Unit 1 Piece

Eight railguns, each with a long barrel of 40 cm, mounted individually—eight total.

Four 40cm Particle Beam Cannons, twin-mounted, eight total

Anti-Space Cannon, 10cm Laser Dual-mount, 20 units, 40 barrels

Long Barrel 5cm Railgun Single Mount 10 Units, 10 Barrels Standard Ammo: 100,000 (Remaining) / ∞ (Max) Special Ammo (G-Bullet): 50,000 (Remaining) / ∞ (Max) Special Ammo (Erosion Bullet): 50,000 (Remaining) / ∞ (Max) Special Ammo (Leap Bullet): 50,000 (Remaining) / ∞ (Max)

Missile Launcher Pod Type A Anti-Space 20-Tube Pod 10 Units, 200 Barrels Max Ammunition: 50 × 200 Missile Remaining: 10,000

Anti-Ship Blade Type S 1

Defense: Beam-Resistant Coating, Multi-Composite Special Steel Armor Plate (Impact-Resistant)

Beam Canceller (Anti-Beam Barrier)

Type A Impact-Resistant Beam-Resistant Shield 1

Stasis Field (Anti-Physical Barrier) Type S

Phase Transition Field (Universal Barrier)

Electronic Equipment: Dimensional Radar, Anti-Ship Radar Type S, Wide-Area Communication Device Type S, Tactical Weapon Integration Control System SS Type, Sub-Computer Type S 2

Empty Energy Slot 60

Status: Good

Emerging from the Dimensional Storage Vault with a new Personal Ship, I activate the Anti-Dominance Signal Countermeasure Device to issue a forced stop command to the unmanned vessel.

Simultaneously, I seize control of the unmanned ship on Leonardo’s (Fifth Prince’s) side.

“Phase Transition Field deployed—Degeneration Furnace ‘Black Hole Engine’ limiter released! Go—Maximum speed (V-MAX)!”

Five beams from the enemy Fortress Cannon are aimed at Lorenzo’s (Seventh Prince’s) fortress ship—I ram my Personal Ship directly into them.

Just before the beams pierce Lorenzo’s fortress ship, my Personal Ship slices in front of it.

The Fortress Cannon’s beam, struck by the Phase Transition Field, loses its thermal energy and is converted into field hardness.

The kinetic energy of the beam transforms into thermal energy due to the field’s hardness.

That thermal energy further increases the field’s hardness.

So the enemy’s attack ends up reinforcing the barrier—deflecting their own assault.

After blocking the Fortress Cannon’s fire, I deploy the Anti-Ship Blade at the bow and charge straight into the Fortress Ship on Leonardo’s (Fifth Prince’s) side, thrown off balance by the sudden appearance of the capital warship.

Supraluminal maneuvering traces a blue line across the void.

My target: the Naihyūm core infested into Leonardo’s (Fifth Prince’s) Fortress Ship.

Supraluminal dash. Close in. Pierced through with the Anti-Ship Blade—shallow. Fire the Railgun.

Punch through the core. Dodge the incoming fire lines. Move on to the next target.

The core’s position is tracked by the Dimensional Radar.

The target appears as a graphic on the virtual screen.

There are five Naihyūm infiltrating the fortress ship.

One by one, they’re destroyed.

The Naihyūm that had infested the regular military’s fortress ship seem to have been dealt with by the regular military’s escort vessels.

In this world, capital ships don’t move much faster than Mach 1,000—unless they’re using dimensional jump (warp).

Even at top speed, that’s about Mach 1,000.

Cruising speed is even slower. During fleet combat, going too fast means collision risk, so they slow down even more.

Light speed is over Mach 880,000. Even if you call it sub-light, the difference in scale is laughable.

Once all the fortress ship’s core is destroyed, the Dimensional Radar locks onto the Naihyūm attacking our allies, initiating multi-lock-on.

Ten Long Barrel 5cm Railguns fire G-bullets into the Naihyūm vessel.

The enemy ship. The Railgun rounds. Everything frozen in place. My thoughts feel like they’re accelerating too.

Ram the obstructing Naihyūm vessel on course with my Personal Ship.

Drag the Naihyūm ship. But thanks to the Phase Transition Field, my Personal Ship takes no damage.

And finally—no more Naihyūm clinging to the allied Fortress Ship.

"Where are you, Leonardo (Fifth Prince)?"

Thanks for the feedback and typo reports.

I’m planning to reply to each one gradually, going back through.

The fact that the core is inside the Dimensional Storage Vault was foreshadowed in 097.

Added corrections and expanded on Akira’s overpowered behavior and lack of proper expression.

Added explanation for why the Fortress Ship’s self-destruct wasn’t used—and couldn’t be.