Episode 18: Supply Convoy Raid Operation

The day after the banquet with Heavy Hammer.

Dawson arrived at the Star Arm Nebula (Main Route) alone in the Heavy Jaw.

This mission was reconnaissance, not to inflict damage on merchant vessels or SU ships.

"The information I bought from that old man was accurate. The drawback is the lack of data on SU (Space Union) naval vessels."

"Due to the economic instability caused by Dawson's actions, the SU government implemented various measures, including strict information control within the space navy."

"So the government put the screws on the military. Still, given that, the information leakage feels excessive."

"People say you can't shut the mouth of a person. And there's no guarantee the pirate's accomplice isn't within the SU Space Navy."

"An accomplice inside the pirates? Is that what you're suggesting?"

"Only a hypothesis. Otherwise, there's no explanation for why commercial vessel data—and SU warship operational data—would be entering Hamano Onna's main server."

"Still, what benefit would a collaborator gain by aiding the pirates?"

"In the SU, the disparity based on birth family and origin is greater than between Amato Imperial Japan's nobility and commoners. This flaw manifests within military personnel as well."

"It's not just me who can't tolerate the fact that incompetents are getting ahead."

Few people, I imagine, are as resolute as Dawson. The informant likely believes they are merely releasing minor information—enough to satisfy grievances and earn a small profit—without causing significant issues.

"Privateers gather bits of information, piece by piece, to construct a larger pattern."

Dawson and Oine continued their conversation as they jumped through several sectors of the Star Arm Nebula, maintaining their reconnaissance.

"Still, I was surprised."

"Surprised by what?"

"That the Heavy Hammer was considering attacking supply ships in the Star Arm Nebula."

Dawson nodded. He understood.

There is nothing surprising about that. If pirates seek greater profit, targeting ships in the Star Arm Nebula is a natural progression. If they believe they have the means, they would attempt it.

What are those means?

In the past, the Heavy Hammer was precisely suited for such operations. Many ships traveled without alert, allowing the use of high-impact attacks to force surrender and seize supplies.

Is the situation different now?

Now, many merchant ships gather together, escorted by SU vessels or hired mercenaries, forming convoys. When such formations are in place, pirates must employ not only high-impact weapons but also tactical planning to launch attacks. To devise tactics, clear operational guidance is essential. Should they target a single ship, or all ships? Should they separate the escorts, or destroy them? How should they seize and transport supplies after an attack? There are countless considerations.

'That much complexity in thought seems unlikely from a pirate.'

'Which is why I waited for a new pirate to make contact. One experienced in attacking merchant ships with a large group of allies.'

'And that is precisely what the Heavy Hammer faction turned out to be. Did they meet Dawson’s standards?'

"Passable. Not suitable for complex operations, but effective enough for simple tactics. It will perform better than the incompetent allies provided in the virtual military simulations."

"I’m defending the artificial intelligence embedded in the simulation. It only plays the role of an incompetent ally, but the person behind it is undoubtedly skilled."

"I know that. The opponents in the simulation were consistently strong."

Dawson and Oine collected data from multiple sectors and returned to Hamano Onna.

Based on the information Dawson gathered, a plan was formulated to attack a merchant convoy, including supply ships.

The plan was developed by Dawson, refined through consultation with the captain of the Heavy Hammer, and polished with light pre-training exercises.

The day to execute the ambush arrived.

"Alright, you lot. You know the drill. Don't screw up."

"『『Yes, sir!』』"

The morale of the Heavy Hammer faction was high.

Dawson felt optimistic. The operation should succeed. He remained cautious.

Dawson looked at the clock displayed on the physical monitor.

Five minutes remaining until operation start time.

Dawson examined the merchant convoy designated as today’s target through the long-range targeting system.

Two massive cargo vessels. Five large freighters. Thirty escort units, all mercenaries.

A substantial force. Dawson had the intelligence.

Mercenary demand had risen sharply in recent months. Personnel shortages were acute.

This does not mean there are not enough mercenaries. It means there are few with the skill to protect a freighter convoy.

In other words, mercenaries are available in quantity if quality is not a concern.

Given this context, freighter convoys unable to secure skilled mercenaries have no choice but to hire large numbers of unskilled mercenaries, creating a hollow deterrent. From the outside, there is no way to distinguish the strength of a mercenary unit. They assume even a hollow deterrent may suffice to deter pirates.

In fact, when Dawson reported that a convoy was being escorted by numerous units, criticism arose—led by the rat-faced man from Heavy Hammer. Too many escorts, they said, made the situation too dangerous.

This reaction from a veteran pirate's subordinate. For ordinary pirates, the idea of attacking such a convoy would be unthinkable.

Dawson and the captain of the Heavy Hammer were different.

Once the intelligence confirmed the escort's combat capability and the ship's armament quality were poor, they saw only opportunity.

A large number of incompetent escorts would only cause chaos. They would become a burden that slowed the merchant convoy. The chance to strike would increase. There was no reason not to attack such a target.

"Even after explaining this, the rat-faced man and his crew refused to accept it unless we added an extra move to the plan. That was the miscalculation."

"Everyone here risks their lives. If a safer method exists, shouldn't we use it?"

"That extra move was deliberately removed. I assumed pirates would reject anything costly."

"Captain of the Heavy Hammer, you readily agreed when I said your life and your crew's safety could be bought with money."

A good example of how operational planning should account for the personality of the commanding officer. We’ll keep him alive afterward.

Dawson enjoyed conversation with Oine when the bridge of the Heavy Hammer emitted a warning tone—‘beep’.

Dawson had never heard the sound before, though he recognized it from data.

"Distress signal. Type sent to S-class vessels from a ship under pirate attack."

"Yes, confirmed. Signal originates from near the habitable planet, ahead of our current sector. As per Dawson’s strategy."

"Seems the other pirates we hired did their job properly. Simple task—deliver the filled turret, purchased from Hamano Onna, to the designated location. If they hadn’t, we’d have gone to kill them. The Heavy Hammer or their subordinates would have."

『The turret was equipped with a targeting system and a processor, ordered to fire at five or more merchant convoys passing through the vicinity at a specific time.』

『Since it was disposable, they used cheap targeting systems and processors. But now that a distress signal is being transmitted, it should have fulfilled its purpose and detonated.』

There was a reason Dawson and Oine were casually conversing like this.

The distress signal triggered a warning tone across all vessels within the surrounding space — a mandatory alert.

The same sound heard aboard the *Mandible* had also sounded on the pirate ships of the *Heavy Hammer* faction, and on the merchant convoy that had hired mercenaries for protection.

The *Heavy Hammer* faction had known the signal would sound, so there was no confusion. But what of the merchant convoy?

The convoy had two possible responses.

One option is to turn back and move away from the signal source.

The other is to remain in place until the situation stabilizes.

Dawson and his team targeted the second response—the convoy that chose to halt its movement.

Immediately upon observing this reaction, Dawson transmitted to the Heavy Hammer.

"They are fools. Not even a single mercenary deployed around them. Perfect prey. Attack now."

"Target the two massive transport vessels. The rest are incidental. The Heavy Jaw will pierce their forward hulls."

"Understood. They're stopped. Crushing insects in the mess hall is simpler."

"Confirmed. As soon as you fire, we will initiate the translocation assault. The estimate still holds—thirty minutes until the S.U. ships arrive. Is that still accurate?"

Many ships would have been drawn to the distress signal, so the estimate remains unchanged. Still, the sooner you complete your work, the better.

Understood. Then let us begin our tasks.

The moment communication from Heavy Hammer ended, Dawson fired the first shot at one of the cargo vessels. The charged particle beam, focused at maximum efficiency, penetrated the bridge of the vessel, which had halted its operation, eliminating the crew and control systems.

Immediately afterward, the second shot struck another cargo vessel’s bridge—then, Heavy Hammer’s fleet jumped from near the Big Jaw, appearing near the merchant convoy.

Watching the formation, Dawson sent a recorded video warning via full-bandwidth broadcast (open channel) to the two cargo vessels whose bridges had been destroyed.

This is Captain Dawson of the pirate vessel <>. To those aboard the cargo transport: evacuate the ship immediately using the escape pods. We will not interfere with the escape pods. However, should we seize the vessel, we will not guarantee the rights of those remaining aboard. Repeat—

Dawson is not issuing this warning because of a sudden awakening to human rights awareness.

Leaving people aboard a supply transport creates a risk of disturbance during the haul after looting. To eliminate that risk.

Creating a situation where escape pods float around the ship forces mercenaries to fight away from the vessel, preventing damage to the escape pods from attacks by pirates.

Action aimed at achieving those two effects.

Dawson’s plan succeeded. Escape pods launched one after another from the supply ships, drifting into position around the vessel. Mercenaries, reluctantly, maneuvered forward and engaged the pirates in combat.

What will the mercenaries do now? Continue fighting the pirates, or shift focus to protecting the surviving freighters?

Thirty mercenaries remained. Five were lost during the initial pirate assault. Three more were lost in subsequent combat. Twenty-two remained. The force was still sufficient to continue fighting the Heavy Hammer.

Yet, as Dawson had anticipated, these twenty-two ships were a disorganized assembly. One by one, they fell to the coordinated attacks of the Heavy Hammer faction.

"Come on, come on! Our target is those two supply ships! Stay out of the way and we’ll let you go, got it!"

‘Hyaah! Anyone want to die? I’ll turn you into a sieve!’

On the open channel, the pirate’s roar and the steady loss of comrades cause the mercenary pilot to hesitate.

When the number of mercenary vessels drops to fifteen, five large freighters begin retreating from the combat zone.

As declared by the Heavy Hammer faction during their roar, they do not pursue the large freighters but continue fighting the mercenaries.

The mercenaries, having either judged it more important to protect the remaining freighters or decided that retreat under the pretense of escorting them was their best chance to survive, abruptly end their engagement with the pirates and flee.

The Heavy Hammer faction maintains suppression fire until the mercenaries and large freighters are completely clear of the combat zone. Once clear, they cease all attacks.

The mercenary escort has been eliminated. The SU vessels have been lured away from the nearby sector as decoys.

Only the leisurely return of two cargo ships, their bridges destroyed, remains.

"Previously, only one cargo ship was captured—too few to enable deception during jump. But with two, a false jump signature can be generated."

Tracking devices improve accuracy based on the mass of the jumping vessel.

If two high-mass ships jump simultaneously from nearly identical coordinates to separate regions, how does the tracking device respond?

The result will either be undetermined destination data, or two locations displayed.

"Undetermined is unavoidable. But if two locations appear, we can follow one of them."

Everyone thinks that way, but for a SU vessel, undetermined results are preferable. Two locations mean complications.

It is not sufficient to dispatch ships to the two confirmed locations. The destination of the stolen transport vessels must be traced. If the stolen vessel is visible, that is manageable. If not, it must be determined whether it is moving through normal space or has jumped again. If a second jump is confirmed, tracking devices must be reactivated, and the new transfer point must be identified. The same process must be repeated, and if necessary, again and again.

Tracking devices are not infallible. They reliably detect a vessel immediately after a jump. But the longer the time since the jump, the more difficult tracking becomes. After twelve hours, even a vessel of large mass will produce a result marked as undetectable.

Thus, if the deception of pirates causes repeated delays in investigation, the time limit will be exceeded, rendering further tracking impossible.

In short, if two vessels of large mass perform separate jumps from the same coordinate, the SU ship will likely be unable to pursue both.

"Very well. We must transport one of the cargo ships. Let us jump immediately."

"Energy fill level is at maximum. Continuous jumps are now possible, Dawson."

"Understood. Oine will need to hack into the cargo ship's systems again. I rely on you."

"Leave it to me. I have already studied the system used in cargo ships. This time, I will seize control faster than before!"

As promised, when the *Mandibular* docked alongside a cargo transport vessel, Oine seized control of the transport's entire system in moments.

Dawson praised Oine, then initiated communication with the *Heavy Hammer*.

"Preparations are complete here. How about you?"

"Special transport vessel has just finished external docking. Jump is possible."

Dawson verified via physical monitor. Two large transport vessels belonging to the *Heavy Hammer* were attached to the cargo ship, one on each side.

According to the *Heavy Hammer* captain, both large vessels would simultaneously activate their jump systems, dragging the cargo ship into spatial transit. An extremely forceful method.

"Good. Then, as prearranged,"

"Right. From here on, we go our separate ways. You can assign subordinates to guard your side, no problem?"

"You're worried I'll run off with it. That rodent-faced man."

"Haha. Caught me. Well, he's just cautious. Not a bad sort. Don't take it personally."

"As long as I get my share, I don't care. I don't expect a pirate like Heavy Hammer to deliver two cargo ships and then haggle over payment."

"Count on it. For future operations, I'll make sure the Heavy Jaw gets a generous cut."

After the Heavy Hammer's captain's confident words, both sides signaled each other and executed long-range jumps in opposite directions.

After executing two more long-range jumps to complicate tracking, the Heavy Jaw, along with the supply transport and several vessels from the Heavy Hammer faction that had been assigned as escort and oversight, performed a long-range jump toward Hamano Onna.