Episode 21: Bad Omen

The pirate operation led by the *Mandible* and the *Heavy Hammer* faction was finalized to conclude with one final mission.

Upon completion, the *Mandible* would relocate to another pirate mothership. The *Heavy Hammer* would take only its younger members and gather new recruits, returning to the Interstellar Side Route as its operational base.

The other ships of the *Heavy Hammer* faction were to regroup under the command of the rat-faced man and continue their attacks in the Star Arm Nebula.

With this future arrangement in place, the final mission would be led by the rat-faced man’s vessel as flagship.

"Hey, *Mandible*! Don’t pull any stunts at the very end!"

The rat-faced man, playing the role of pirate leader.

Dawson looked down from behind his mask, his eyes fixed on the man’s face displayed on the physical monitor.

I am not your subordinate. Watch your tone.

'You're saying that, are you! Can't you hear my orders, you scum!'

I will follow the pre-established operation. But I have no intention of obeying orders. There is no reason to do so.

You’ve got some nerve, surrounded by my men like this!

The man with the mouse face erupted in anger. Dawson maintained a cool response.

Point the weapon here, and I will destroy you without question. Think carefully before making threats—know that you are prepared to be destroyed.

You should think before speaking lies. The Heavy Jaw's bombardment is powerful, but it fires one shot at a time. We've increased our forces with money taken during raids until we now have thirty ships. Even a child can tell who will win.

Dawson's reply to the words relying on numbers was a冷笑.

If you think thirty ships are enough to defeat us, you're welcome to try. I'll show you how to fight. Come on, then.

That's it! I've disliked you since before, but today you're especially unbearable!

Tension pulses through the air, but only the rat-faced man is heated. The response from the pirate ship under his command is sluggish.

The reason might be a sense that now, just before pirate operations, is not the time for internal conflict, coupled with a strong awareness that opposing the *Mandible* would only result in loss.

The ship's captain, Heavy Hammer, transmitted a communication to the mouse-faced man, who had no allies.

Keep the arguing to a minimum! A final flaw at the end would ruin everything!

The man with the rat-like face lowered his expression under the scolding fire.

"Hehe, sorry about that, boss. That bastard <Pronounced: Great Jaw> has been getting bold lately."

Dawson maintained his cold demeanor.

"I do my job. There is no basis for complaint about anything else."

"Is that so, ! You're ignoring the fact I've gone out of my way to smooth things over!"

"I've said it before. I am neither a member nor a subordinate of the faction. I am a fellow pirate. Whether or not I follow orders is my decision."

The captain gave in to Dawson's unyielding stance.

". That's enough. Just do the job. I won't ask for more."

"That suits me. Keep the comms off until the time. I can't afford another pointless objection."

"Pointless objection—"

Dawson terminated the transmission and removed the mask from his face. His expression showed irritation.

"Dawson, what's wrong? You seem tense today. Is something bothering you?"

Dawson took one deep breath before replying to Oine's concerned words.

"Phew. I have a bad feeling. Honestly, if this weren't joint work, I'd go back to Hamano Onna and take the whole day off."

"Uncharacteristically hesitant of you. Are you unwell?"

"I ran a health check. My body is perfectly healthy. It's precisely because I'm healthy that this bad feeling is driving me mad."

"Artificial intelligence cannot experience premonitions, but I detect no factors that would cause concern in you. The plan involving the mouse-faced man is proceeding as expected. SU vessel operations are under control. The type of merchant convoy and number of mercenaries have been identified."

The operation cannot fail, I agree. But there’s a bad feeling—something’s being overlooked.

Dawson himself was unsettled by his own intuition.

Yet intuition alone, without proof, made calling off the mission difficult.

That was precisely why Dawson recognized he was in an untenable situation, and felt frustration toward it.

And it is common in human affairs to later regret not having followed one’s intuition.

The merchant convoy Dawson and the Heavy Hammer faction are targeting consists of three super-large cargo vessels and twenty escort mercenary ships.

That was the pre-operational intelligence. And the image captured by the Long-Range Targeting System on the Jawbreaker also showed the same configuration.

The sight of the target intensified Dawson’s unease.

“What is it? What am I sensing as wrong?”

Dawson questioned himself while carefully observing the merchant convoy.

Observing, thinking—eventually, he recognized the anomaly in the convoy.

Not the presence of only three supply vessels, with no others. No, convoys composed solely of supply vessels existed.

The threat posed by the mercenary ships? No. All vessels were equipped with standard armaments. Twenty mercenaries would be insignificant.

He continued searching for other causes until he finally understood the source of the anomaly: the formation of the convoy and the shape of the supply vessel.

“The formation is too precise. And that supply vessel—its shape… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Dawson noticed the formation of the merchant convoy.

Three cargo vessels lined up in a straight sequence, maintaining safe distance between them, guarded by twenty mercenaries positioned at equal intervals around the formation.

At first glance, the arrangement appeared unremarkable. Yet the absence of any irregularity within the formation was remarkable.

Spacecraft propulsion is determined by generator output and thruster settings. Even when advancing at minimal speed, individual vessels maintain slightly different velocities.

Speedometers are installed on all spacecraft. However, their units are calibrated based on interplanetary and interstellar travel. Thus, even when vessels aim to maintain the same speed, minor discrepancies still arise.

On planetary surfaces, if a pilot maintains a vehicle at fifty kilometers per hour, it will not remain precisely fifty kilometers per hour. Human operation introduces fluctuations of up to one kilometer per hour in either direction. Furthermore, values below one meter per second do not register on the speedometer. Thus, even if two vehicles appear to maintain the same speed, indicated as fifty kilometers per hour, slight variations accumulate over time, causing them to gradually approach or drift apart.

If standard production vehicles exhibit such inconsistencies, it follows that modified mercenary vessels would face even greater difficulty maintaining uniform speed.

In practice, standard mercenary vessels escorting a merchant convoy will repeatedly close in on or fall behind other ships. Formation spacing remains uneven.

Yet the mercenary vessels displayed on the monitor now moved through space, maintaining a fixed distance from one another, as if pinned in place.

This seemed impossible to Dawson.

"Maintaining such even spacing. Either these are exceptionally skilled mercenaries, or there is a systemic mechanism at work."

"Artificial intelligence could be controlling them. If the ships belong to Amato Imperial Japan, such formation maintenance would be trivial for an AI."

"AI is prohibited in the S.U. Mercenaries wouldn't possess it."

"Then perhaps not AI, but a neural system. A neural system capable of executing simple commands—maintain equal spacing—would suffice."

If it's a neural system piloting it, then that would make it an unmanned vessel. But a neural system wouldn't be able to handle complex actions like combat, surely.

"Yes. It can follow simple commands, but adapting to changing circumstances is difficult."

"In any case, whether it's a skilled mercenary, a system-based mechanism, or a neural unmanned craft, it's clear this opponent is unlike any we've faced before."

Dawson also felt unease regarding the cargo transport vessel.

"Oine. Has that cargo transport vessel been modified?"

"Upon closer inspection, yes—it has been altered. The most obvious change, visible at a glance, is the propulsion unit."

Oine displayed comparative images. The propulsion unit was clearly larger.

That cargo vessel is exceptionally large. There aren’t many types of propulsion units that can be swapped in, I’d think?

— We identify the type from its appearance—no good. The exterior has been modified. The propulsion unit is disguised to look like the standard one fitted on cargo vessels.

The propulsion unit is enlarged, yet the appearance is normal.

That single fact made Dawson’s unease grow uncontrollable.

— Hey. Surely not. That isn’t a伪装 fleet from the SU Navy, is it? A vessel of that size as a cargo ship must be a class higher than an Orbit Patrol Cruiser.

— You share that concern, Dawson?

— There’s nothing to concern oneself with. Given the evidence we have now, it’s the most likely possibility.

A伪装 fleet—ships disguised as a merchant convoy to ambush and destroy pirates that attack them.

Disguised as a civilian vessel, the ship's offensive capability is typically inferior to a properly constructed warship, but it still possesses sufficient firepower to eliminate pirates.

Even the Charged Particle Beam mounted on the Heavy Jaw-class destroyer—considered high-output among pirate vessels—is classified as the lowest-tier turret in a decoy fleet. One can imagine the extent of its destructive potential.

If that merchant convoy is indeed a decoy fleet, it would be certain defeat to attack it directly.

Dawson considers it necessary to issue a warning. He dons the mask, prepares a transmission to the rat-faced man, then halts his hand mid-motion. He does not believe the rat-faced man will understand. He reroutes the transmission to the Heavy Hammer's captain.

"Can I have your attention? There is a possibility that the merchant convoy is a decoy fleet. It would be better to halt today's operation."

The captain of the Heavy Hammer rejected Dawson's proposal with a grim expression.

'If it's only a possibility, the operation cannot be halted. Besides, today's command is assigned elsewhere.'

'You know that. That's why I'm contacting you. You understand the reason, don't you?'

'Warning messages may be sent, but persuasion is beyond me. There is no evidence.'

'Yes, just the warning. Relay it.'

Dawson pressed the request. The captain sent the warning message to the mouse-faced man. The reply was unfavorable.

'Reply to the Jaws. "If you're so unwilling to do this job, you may return." What now?'

Dawson hesitated slightly before responding.

He was not afraid of fleeing and losing face here.

A successful engagement against the decoy fleet would inflict greater economic disruption on SU than an attack on the merchant convoy. If a military fleet were defeated by pirates, SU’s naval credibility would collapse, and the coercive power derived from military strength would diminish. Under such circumstances, a second resistance movement, following TR, could emerge.

For Dawson, such a chance to achieve a major victory was impossible to ignore.

Yet, after careful consideration, he concluded that cooperation with the Heavy Hammer faction offered no chance of defeating the decoy fleet.

...Damn. I can't work with this. If you're letting me go, then let me go."

"Fair enough. Do it."

The Heavy Hammer captain reached for the comm cut switch, but paused just before disconnection to speak.

Tell the Hamano woman. The Heavy Hammer may have attacked the decoy fleet.

The transmission ended abruptly.

Dawson exhaled. He set the destination of the Big Jaw to Hamano Woman.

"You're going to follow her orders?"

"It might be the Heavy Hammer's final request. That's what human decency requires."

Dawson considered that if the merchant convoy had not been a decoy fleet, the rat-faced man would now be berating the Big Jaw severely. The Big Jaw detached from the sector alone.