156 Imperial Civil War Arc 14: Conclusion

side: Akira

"Thanks, everyone. So, Akira and Kaei—how should we lead the charge?"

Formation A was definitely the setup from the debut song's opening dance move.

Back when there were only three members before I joined, the choreography changed when we grew to five.

That new positioning after the change is Formation A.

"Actually, I thought it looked cool—guess the meaning was nonexistent."

Saya blurts it out.

But the positioning works out nicely: two front-line attackers—battleship and cruiser—lead the front, while the rear holds a light carrier and an anti-aircraft vessel, with an electronic warfare and sniping ship tucked in.

"Still, it's just luck. But the setup's pretty good. We can fight, right?"

Akira and Ayame both look away at those words.

"Miyou? Saya too?"

"...Over capacity. Zero carrier craft..."

"Can still keep orbit defense, but Phase Transition Field’s shut down, I guess?"

Miyou had stowed the Naho Ship, Saya Ship, and Ayame Ship in the Dimensional Storage Vault, leaving no room for carrier craft—so no attack options, apparently.

Saya’s originally a defense specialist, but the Phase Transition Field’s apparently unusable after one use.

Yeah, we’re not gonna stand a chance against Leonardo (Fifth Prince)'s fleet.

Leonardo’s fleet—roughly five thousand ships, not counting the Nihyum and the drones.

The fortress ship should be useless now that the Nihyum core and the Fortress Cannon have been destroyed—but we can't afford to underestimate it. The method used to forcibly reactivate the Fortress Cannon remains unknown.

Facing five ships of the Brush Lips fleet? Impossible.

Even if one plus one plus one plus one plus one equals one hundred, you still can't beat five thousand.

『So it's just posturing? No real fighting power after all, huh?』

『Mm』『Heh』『Heh heh』

『Got it. I'll go in with Kaei. The rest of you stay here.』

『Miyu and Sayaka, protect Naho.』

『Naho, jam all electronic, quantum, and dimensional communication and detection systems. Neutralize the Nihyum.』

『And pick off any enemy that gets too close. Keep them from closing in.』

『When Ayame comes back online, send her as reinforcement.』

『Mm』『Got it』『Copy』

『Kae, I’ll annihilate the enemy with the antimatter particle cannon.

Kae, cover my back. Scatter any enemies that get too close.』

Kae shook her head.

『I can shoot too? Antimatter particle cannon?』

『Seriously? Then let’s split the targets. The two fortress ships coming in from the right—Kae, you take those. The remaining three are mine.』

I assigned the targets to Kae.

『Use the lowest power setting—just one particle. Warp directly above the midpoint of the target fortress ship. Fire before they can react.

They’ll use their ships as shields. Position yourself so you don’t get caught in the blast if it detonates mid-flight.』

『Yeah.』

『Alright, let’s go!』

We warped—via dimensional jump—directly above the fortress ships.

Firing the antimatter particle cannon at the fortress ships at the same time.

One shot. Two shots. Three shots. Kaede fires one, then two.

Leonardo’s fleet didn’t even notice our ship materializing out of a sudden dimensional jump.

That’s because Nahoko was jamming all detection systems—electronic, quantum, dimensional—along with every form of communication.

Antimatter particles sucked into the fortress ship trigger annihilation, releasing immense energy.

Never thought I’d be the one to destroy a fortress ship built in our own system. Gotta beef up boarding defenses from now on.

Before I even finish thinking that, the fortress ship vanishes.

The personal escort fleet that was guarding it gets caught in the explosion.

Leonardo’s Personal Ship hadn’t even launched yet.

So he was in command aboard that fortress ship.

If that fortress ship exploded and vanished, then Leonardo—(the Fifth Prince)—must’ve been caught in it too.

The five fortress ships detonated almost simultaneously. No matter where Leonardo was, he’d have shared their fate.

Let Lorenzo—(the Seventh Prince)—handle the destruction of the remaining vessels.

Just need to deal with Niahyūmu now.

Once I’ve heard the truth about Niahyūmu’s control from the Prince and my sister, I’ll know how to respond.

"Huh? Wait—where are the Prince’s ship and Carrie’s ship?"

I’d just left them disabled by the Erosion Bullets’ corrosion, assuming they were out of commission... but no way!

I check the Dimensional Radar for signs of the most recent dimensional jump—(warp).

"Ah, damn it—Naho’s jamming is blocking everything!"

The friendly comms were back online because Naho was toggling the jamming to allow only our side to communicate.

Switching the jamming-free zones at the same moment.

You can't communicate without knowing the right zone and timing.

But the Dimensional Radar was completely jammed.

"Jane, enemy主力's been wiped out. Cut the jamming on the Dimensional Radar."

"Got it."

The Dimensional Radar comes back online.

Where did the most recent dimensional jump—(warp)—happen?

This is me and Kae's trail.

Three other trails. Two jumped consecutively from the same spot—untraceable.

That's the Prince and my sister. They got away.

How the hell did the Prince and my sister even escape the erosion?

The other one’s doing a dimensional jump—warp—from inside the fortress ship!

That’s Leonardo, the Fifth Prince. He’s headed toward the Leonardo System.

"War’s over, I suppose. But the mastermind got away.

Can we just leave Leonardo’s fate to Kyle now?"

『Ayame, let’s head back to the others』

Me and Ayame, keeping an eye on our surroundings, returned to the group.

8,000 pts achieved.

And passed the first round of the HJ Award 2018.

All thanks to your support.

Thank you.