Chapter 151: All-Out Battle — Final

Emerging from behind the linked sphere, Dawson’s pirate fleet charges forward.

The sudden breakout, despite being partially encircled, caught the SU Space Force off guard. Their response is delayed.

Seizing the moment, Dawson urges his pirate fleet to close the distance.

At this point, a report comes in from Oine.

"Numerous pirate vessels are not emerging from behind the sphere."

"How many!?"

"Approximately two thousand."

One-tenth of the pirate fleet failed to breakout, paralyzed by fear.

There is no turning back now.

Dawson makes the decision: one-tenth of the fleet is lost.

"Concentrate on the front. Advance, forward, forward!"

With the SU Space Force launching a full-scale assault, the need for every available ally is urgent. Yet the fleet loses one-tenth of its strength.

Dawson felt a headache building, compounded by the strain of thinking ahead to the next phase of the operation.

There was no time to focus on the pain.

The SU Space Force had broken free from confusion and was now launching an attack against the pirate fleet.

"Counterattack, but push forward with full force. Focus solely on penetrating their formation—nothing else matters!"

The pirate fleet maintained fire on the Space Force while diverting all available energy from the generators to the propulsion systems, sustaining maximum speed.

Having sacrificed the linked orbs and two super-heavy battleships to close the distance, the fleets now stood mere moments apart on a cosmic scale. If the current trajectory continued, the pirate fleet would successfully insert itself into the interior of the Space Force's formation.

The Space Force responded in turn. It altered its formation from a semi-encircling arc that had been holding the linked orbs, now shifting to disengage its fleet from the point where Dawson’s pirate fleet was advancing.

Speed of response was expected. Yet here, the weakness of a large force became evident.

With numerous allies nearby, movement required constant avoidance of collisions. The fleet could not shift with agility.

Even from the pirate fleet, the difficulty was visible. The command to change formation abruptly had already caused significant strain just to initiate movement.

"Enemy is disoriented! Once we penetrate their formation, the Space Force will lose coordinated attack capability! We can win this battle!"

Dawson advanced toward the Space Force’s line, rallying the pirates as he moved.

Artillery fire comes from the entire Space Force, trying to prevent infiltration into the formation.

Attack from the front of the pirate fleet can be deflected by the <>’s barrier system.

Attack from other directions can only be met by advancing forward, hoping to avoid impact.

“Pirate ships are being hit and destroyed one every ten seconds.”

“That level of loss is unavoidable. If we stop now, a hundred ships would be destroyed in an instant.”

Dawson urges the pirates forward, shouting that stopping means death, pushing the fleet ahead.

At that moment, as if fate answers Dawson’s effort, the situation shifts.

Two thousand pirates, hidden behind the linked sphere, finally emerged from its shadow. They moved in the exact opposite direction from Dawson’s pirate fleet.

This was not what Dawson had planned, but it suited his purpose.

“Caught. Now the Imperial Navy must divide its focus. Reduced pressure means greater chance of penetrating their formation.”

Dawson accelerated his fleet, maintaining maximum speed.

Meanwhile, the two thousand pirates moving away from Dawson came under attack from the Imperial Navy.

These two thousand had no leader like Dawson. They were a gathering of cowards who had failed to launch when they should have.

When attacked by the Imperial Navy, they began plotting to survive alone, abandoning formation and scattering in panic.

It was a viable method for at least one ship to escape, but it had the opposite effect—intensifying the Imperial Navy’s focus on preventing any pirates from fleeing.

The Imperial Navy’s fire shifted toward the fleeing pirates, as if to say that dealing with those attempting to flee took priority over those charging forward.

While the scattered pirates were being eliminated, Dawson’s pirate fleet successfully cut into the enemy formation.

Dawson’s fleet had overcome the initial obstacle and penetrated into the inner ranks of the Imperial Navy’s line.

“Surviving allied forces!”

“All Amato Imperial Japan personnel are accounted for. Pirate fleet has been reduced to twelve thousand ships.”

"More than half remains? That is sufficient. The rest is just close-range combat!"

Dawson issued orders to the pirates.

"Every direction is enemy territory! Keep firing until their weapons are destroyed! The prey is ours for the taking!"

Sparrow Hawk opened fire, destroying a nearby Imperial Navy destroyer with a single hit.

The attack triggered a chain reaction. Pirate ships and Imperial Navy vessels turned toward each other and began firing.

"Then let's go all in! Keep firing!"

"Drive them out from within the formation! Counterattack!"

Thus, the chaotic melee began, with friend and foe intermingled.

The primary concern in this situation was fratricide.

But this is the space age. Identification signals distinguish friend from foe. Fratricide is therefore reliably avoided.

But that only meant friendlies could be avoided. It was still possible to mistakenly target a friendly unit.

Evidence of this came through the communication feeds—both pirate and naval forces appeared disoriented during the attack phase.

‘Is this a friendly too!? Damn it, this is getting complicated! Switch to scatter fire mode. Rotate the gun mounts and turrets continuously! If they’re aimed at an enemy, they’ll fire automatically!’

‘Can’t lock a target! Confirm radar surveillance is functioning!’

While enemy and ally alike were in disarray, the Amato Imperial Japan personnel—including Dawson—remained outside the chaos.

This was because Dawson and his group remained in a tight formation, and from the Amato Imperial Japan perspective, neither the SU Navy nor the pirates were allies.

Thus, there was no situation in which they could not fire at a target pointed at.

Move through the formation of the SU Navy with the Katsuo as the lead vessel, and fire cannons and missiles. Thrash about like a parasite that has burrowed into the belly!

"Dawson. Comparing us to parasites—those beings eradicated in the space age—doesn't quite land."

"…Just move. Thrash about!"

At this point, Dawson’s objective is to inflict maximum damage on the Navy while ensuring their own survival. The pirates are not included in that survival.

Thus, the Amato Imperial Japan vessels—including the Sparrow Hawk—target Navy ships whenever possible, but deliver fire indiscriminately, without regard for friend or foe.

This unrelenting attack, lacking hesitation in targeting, is more intense than attacks from other Navy forces or pirate groups.

The pressure of the attack sinks Navy vessels one after another. At the same time, a rare misfire sinks a pirate ship.

The mutual slaughter is clearly orchestrated by Dawson and his group. The pirates misinterpret the sinking of their own vessel as a Navy attack. They believe this because they assume mutual identification systems prevent fratricide.

"Dawson will not win! Fire! Fire!"

"The Navy is hesitating! Strike now!"

"Damn pirates. Suddenly gaining momentum—"

As time passes, casualties accumulate on both sides.

Despite the chaos, the Navy suffers more casualties than the pirates, despite a tenfold disparity in force.

The Navy suffered more casualties despite the overwhelming force, partly due to the fact that the presence of friendly units around them caused frequent defensive lockouts to prevent friendly fire, ultimately reducing opportunities to eliminate the pirates.

As the melee continued, a communication arrived from the Katsuo.

‘Captain Dawson. There are no enemy vessels ahead, slightly ahead of our course.’

‘No? We haven’t reached the edge of their formation yet.’

‘There are no vessels there, regardless of what you say.’

‘…Kiwaka. What do you think?’

‘Adjusting the radar deflection to extend visibility forward—just as Ida reported, there are no enemy vessels in range.’

Dawson clenched his teeth at the reports from both men.

‘They cut the line. The Navy severed the formation and evacuated the unharmed fleet before we reached the middle of their line.’

Dawson could deduce the intent.

Once the formation broke and close combat began, the Navy would sever allied units. Isolating a portion of the fleet would contain the damage.

The pirates had dwindled to twelve thousand ships. Assume twenty thousand were designated as casualty units.

The Navy maintained two hundred thousand ships. Even after losing twenty thousand, eighteen thousand remained.

The pirates, by contrast, would be fortunate to retain five thousand after the chaos.

Eighteen thousand versus five thousand. And the pirate fleet had lost the linked cluster. They had no means to force another close combat scenario.

The Navy’s victory was now assured.

To win this battle, severing allied units to reorganize the formation was a sound strategy.

"But the SU Navy misjudged the precondition for victory."

Dawson smiled with deliberate ambiguity. He reviewed the combat footage being broadcast across the Orion Arm.

The linked core was heavily damaged, but its communication systems had been consolidated into the final module, allowing transmission to continue until the very end. The SU Navy had failed to destroy the linked core completely, as they had not anticipated the pirates emerging from concealment.

Thus, the scene of the battle had been broadcast live through cameras on the surviving linked core and pirate vessels. Corry, whose expertise lay in visual media, had handled the transmission.

Dawson reviewed the broadcast again. He confirmed the SU Navy’s actions—separating allied units and reorganizing the fleet—were clearly visible.

He judged the material complete. Dawson began his speech.

To all people across the universe: the SU Navy is not a force of numbers, but a band of weak soldiers. They are not allies who aid others in peril, but cowards who abandon comrades to save only themselves.

As Dawson speaks, Corry edits and streams the footage. After showing the SU Navy being destroyed by pirate attack, she overlays the recorded image of the "cutting off the tail" maneuver captured by the linked unit.

The footage is edited, but the combat situation was live-streamed. There is no need to verify the scene—it is undeniably real.

Can peace in the cosmos be maintained by men who abandon comrades so easily? No, I do not believe so. Such people fawn on the strong and oppress the weak. They steal from merchants and enrich themselves. They surely pay off evil deeds with money.

This is the kind of speech a pirate would deliver. Dawson treats it as a necessary tool—let the people's doubt toward the SU Navy take root.

The battle is ongoing. There is no more room for speech. But consider this: can you truly live in peace under the current SU Navy and SU government? I do not believe you can. That is why I have taken up arms.

Dawson ends the speech transmission. The feed switches to live footage only.

Now, the minimum condition for this battle has been met. The choice is either to retreat or continue fighting...

The chaotic engagement is progressing favorably. But once the chaos ends, the remaining forces of the reorganized SU Space Navy will attack. In that case, the pirates have no chance of victory.

Then, retreat is the only option.

Fortunately, the current situation involves enemy and allied forces mixed together.

By not fully destroying the current Space Navy forces and retreating, the survivors will serve as a shield for the reorganized fleet, allowing a relatively safe withdrawal.

Dawson has the duty to safely evacuate the Amato Imperial Japan fleet. There was no other way to accomplish this retreat.

Retreat. The direction of withdrawal will be along the extension of the straight line connecting this battlefield and the reorganized Space Navy.

Dawson issues orders to the pirates and begins the retreat.

Extraction from chaotic combat conditions is high difficulty. Yet, as expected from pirates renowned for speed, once given a direction, they retreat smoothly from the battlefield.

Dawson watches in silent admiration as the retreat begins. The formation places the <> at the front, <> at the rear, advancing backward like a frontal assault.

As the pirates begin their withdrawal, the space navy forces that had been engaged directly take a moment to regroup their remaining units. This movement disrupts the reorganized navy, preventing them from firing on the pirates.

Still, the reorganized fleet advances, unwilling to let the pirates escape.

Yet, if combat has ended, there is no need for the pirates to remain grouped together.

The pirate fleet, with nearly eight thousand vessels surviving, dispersed immediately after the battle ended, each vessel jumping to a separate destination.

Tracking devices were activated promptly. However, with nearly eight thousand jump coordinates to process, the fleet command could not assign priority to any single target and abandoned pursuit.