164 Free-floating Planet Arc 6: Cleansing

side: Viscount Cascade

"Akira-sama rose through the ranks by earning glory on the battlefield."

Thinking that scoring a victory here would boost the imperial succession prospects of the 12th Prince Miguel, under whose protection he stood, Viscount Cascade launched missiles toward the free-floating planet alongside his fleet.

Cascade had inherited the viscount’s title at only eighteen—barely out of boyhood—after his father, the previous viscount, died in battle against the Naihyūm.

The 12th Prince’s guardian was a role inherited from the previous generation; in normal circumstances, Cascade himself would be the one needing a guardian.

Naturally naive, he hadn’t even considered the bigger picture.

"Who’d have thought no one would strike during such a perfect first-attack opportunity? The imperial regulars aren’t worth much, are they?"

Akira, raised as the heir in luxury and never having known anything but pampering, had no grasp of the gravity of his own actions.

“Break through the breach and penetrate inside! Follow me!”

With a flourish, Viscount Cascade plunged his Personal Ship into the heart of the free-floating planet.

At that moment, a railgun round struck the right side of his ornate Personal Ship.

The impact exceeded even that of a 40cm Long Barrel railgun, the main battery of a capital warship.

His Personal Ship was split clean down the middle, its core torn open.

One after another, the enemy ships in his descent formation were struck directly.

The fleet attempting to descend upon the free-floating planet—except for those that had stopped for some reason—was obliterated in an instant.

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side: Akira

"What the hell did you do?!"

Kyle’s roar echoed through the command center.

I’d frozen for a split second too, caught off guard by Count Cascade’s reckless move.

No good, this guy (Cascade)... gotta do something fast...

"Kyle. Order the others not to attack the free-floating planet under any circumstances!

I’ll deal with that idiot myself.

At the very least, we need to show good faith by acting first.

Right?"

I decided to act—trying to prevent the war from spiraling out of control by eliminating Count Cascade in a way that would look like a gradual escalation.

Kyle had already issued a stand-down order, but he hadn’t expected someone would be so eager to rush into battle.

Got it. All ships—no attacks. No retaliation, even if fired upon. If attacked, run. Run like hell!

Lord Cascade—war incitement against the Empire. House extinguished. Death sentence.

Sorry, Akira. You’re up.

"Understood."

I ran toward my Personal Ship’s hangar before things got irreparable.

The hangar was pressurized, but artificial gravity was off.

Makes boarding the cockpit easier.

My Personal Ship—cruiser-class external unit—was too small for the docking arms designed for capital ships. Couldn’t reach the access hatch.

I trusted the green light on the pressurized door and stepped in bare-handed.

No time to suit up. Not even time to change.

I trusted that if the pressure were gone, my Personal Ship’s AI would warn me.

I hurled myself into space, and the cockpit hatch auto-opened. The AI had responded.

I dove into the hatch as planned and sprinted down the corridor toward the CIC, slumping into the pilot’s seat.

At once, my brain connected directly to my Personal Ship’s AI.

“Emergency launch! Warp straight ahead! Target: right flank of the Cascade Viscount Fleet, just before the Free-floating Planet!”

As my Personal Ship activated its dimensional field, it burst through the Imperial Capital’s barrier and warped to the target location.

The view in front of me shifted—into open space.

There, ahead: a fleet of a thousand ships, the Cascade Viscount Fleet. To my right: the Free-floating Planet.

"Designate Cascade Viscount Fleet as hostile in enemy-identification system. Railgun armed. Projectile type G-Bullet.

Target the Cascade Viscount's Personal Ship. Fire!"

The G-Bullet was sucked into the opulent Personal Ship of the Cascade Viscount.

The projectile, releasing gravitational energy, slammed into it with a synergistic blast of kinetic force.

The Cascade Viscount's Personal Ship took a hit at its central starboard side, losing its core—sank with only fragments of bow and stern left.

"Good. Pick up ships that participated in missile attack. Issue immediate stop command to the rest!"

My Personal Ship's neural interface sent high-speed communication to the neural systems of the Cascade Viscount Fleet's warships.

Unmanned vessels should halt now.

But the ships that attacked the Free-floating Planet? Can't let those off the hook.

That’s why I chose this specific ship for the high-speed transmission.

The fleet advancing straight ahead numbered about three hundred ships.

From the Dimensional Storage Vault, I deployed one hundred new unmanned vessels equipped with G-bullets.

"Full fleet, railgun activation. Ammunition: G-bullet. Target: Multi-lock-on."

A targeting reticle appears before my eyes, locking onto the enemy fleet.

Each of these unmanned ships is aiming at a specific target.

Why send out unmanned vessels? Because some ships would be in blind spots from my position.

The unmanned ships reposition themselves, adjusting their aim to cover every enemy vessel.

Once every ship is locked on, I give the order.

"Full fleet, fire G-bullets!"

G-bullets launch from the unmanned vessels spread around me.

Each ship fires three rounds, slightly adjusting the angle—three targets per vessel.

The projectiles streak toward their targets like a meteor shower.

The rain struck the starships—buckling sections, then whole vessels, collapsing into endless debris.

"All vessels destroyed. Stationary unmanned ships remain in place. Leave their fate to the free-floating planet."

"If any manned ships survived, bring them to the garrison!"

Well then. If the free-floating planet (over there) is civilized, they should understand our intentions by now.

Wonder how they'll show up... Guess we just wait and see.

『Seems we’ve finally reached someone who speaks our language.』

A call came through—on the true Imperial-exclusive encrypted channel. Of all things.

『We’ve been trying to reach you for ages. No response made things… difficult.』

I just stared at this goddamn mess—this absurd, infuriating, utterly predictable situation—and had nothing left but to rub my temples.