55. Siege

Not exactly something we'd been waiting for, but the report finally came through— the Arze Fleet had jumped out into the Solar System.

"Captain, the fleet in question has appeared at the outer edge of the Solar System. Distance from Agirakana: approximately six AU. From this moment on, we will refer to this fleet as the Arze Fleet."

"Rather close, isn’t it. Proceed as planned— dispatch our fleet into stealth mode and begin encircling it. If anything suspicious happens, move in for immediate capture. Ain, relay the orders to the Aerospace Command. Connect me with Major Amanda."

"Major Amanda, this is Yamada."

『Amanda here. The matter regarding the fleet— yes, the Arze Fleet.』

"Yes. It’s appeared just outside Agirakana. Dispatch our ships in stealth mode and position them for capture at any moment. If we do capture them, please try— though it may sound overly polite— to minimize damage to the other side as much as possible."

Understood. Launching Strike Group Four and Torpedo Group Nine from the First Fleet. The assault squadrons dispatched from all shipboard infantry units (……) have completed boarding. Replacement vessels for the missing units have been rerouted from the Second Fleet; formation is now fully staffed.

Assault squadrons? No, we’re just capturing them normally, right?

The fleet is well-prepared. What should we call the response unit? Let’s keep it simple—just call it the Response Unit.

"Let’s designate the unit responding to the Arze Fleet as the Arze Response Unit."

Understood. Your Excellency, just to be thorough—should we prepare Agirakana’s main battery?

"Agirakana’s main battery?"

"Yes, the six-axis railguns—each 13,000 kilometers long, built from Agirakana’s South Pole to its North Pole—are Agirakana’s primary batteries, designed with planet-class warships in mind. They can fire everything from simple kinetic projectiles to super-sized annihilation munitions. We’ve only test-fired them once, decades ago—why not treat it like a fireworks display and give it a try? They may not match fireworks in beauty, but the detonation of a super-sized annihilation round is quite the spectacle."

Amanda Major, her eyes gleaming with terrifying enthusiasm in the screen,

"Preparation is no issue, but let’s save the test shot for another time."

Even if she visibly pouts in disappointment, that’s not my problem.

"Captain, two small masses have separated from the Arze Fleet. Heading toward Agirakana. Mass is slightly less than the previously captured unmanned probe, but shape is nearly identical. Likely another unmanned probe of the same type—probably lacks a jump mechanism."

"Since it's an unmanned probe, destruction is acceptable. But as before, should we attempt capture?"

"Understood."

After the primary core was destroyed, the words Maria murmured at her welcome celebration lingered in memory. "In the end, Arsen never managed to fully trust us bio-oids, did they?"

The Arze Fleet's arrival came after the primary core’s destruction—presumably what saved both me and Earth. It's reassuring that we can respond without flinching at the primary core's interference.

Now, whether the Primary Core made any judgment regarding the descendants of Arsen remains unknown—but hoping for the best won’t cut it. So we judged, and destroyed the Primary Core. As a result, me, the hired captain, became the genuine captain of Agirakana. Considering duty and responsibility, I’ve finally become a proper Agirakana person.

Four hours after issuing the launch order, a call came from Major Amanda.

“Major Amanda. The Arze Response Force has completed deployment.”

The small-mass object launched by Arze turned out to be a probe, as anticipated. Its capture was successfully concluded, and the Response Force has already encircled the Arze Fleet. Furthermore, each vessel in the Response Force now has every ship in the Arze Fleet within range of its cut-in insertion pods.

This is the Inspire—starfleet flagship and flagship of the First Fleet, whose repairs were completed approximately two months ago, currently serving as the command vessel for the response force. The central command chamber.

『All cut-in squads, boarding complete in ship-to-ship assault pods.』 A report from the Inspire’s ground combat command center reaches the Inspire’s captain.

‘Remain in position until further orders.’

Each ship-to-ship assault pod carries a half-squadron—six ground combat personnel—assigned as a cut-in unit, equipped with one unmanned support unit per soldier: one for bulkhead breaching or cyber warfare, three for close-combat, and two for surveillance. Unlike drop operations, ship-to-ship assaults assume combat in confined spaces, hence the relatively limited number of accompanying unmanned support units.

The ship-to-ship assault pod is launched at high speed from the mother vessel, much like a kinetic projectile, then uses sensors to locate unarmored sections of the enemy ship’s hull. Once identified, the pod autonomously maneuvers to that spot and penetrates. A reinforced prow, coated in hull material, extends from the pod’s front, driving into the enemy vessel’s relatively soft flank to carve out an entry point for the assault team. If the initial breach proves too small, a large perforation device mounted along the prow’s side is activated, widening the opening until it is large enough for the assault unit to pass through.

The support weapons accompanying the assault team are smaller than those used in planetary descent operations, but their output has been increased due to the expected short duration of combat. In this operation, it has been confirmed that the target Arze Fleet vessels lack hulls and have minimal armor. If the anti-ship penetration pods were launched at full ejection velocity, they might simply pass straight through the ships—necessitating a controlled reduction in launch speed to adjust impact velocity.

Through the screen, the larger vessels of the Arze Fleet bore a resemblance to the reconnaissance ship captured last year—primarily spindle-shaped, encased in various appendages. Along the prow, a series of openings were arranged; elsewhere, protruding nozzles suggested these were likely the muzzle ports of axial cannons, exploiting the ship’s long axis. According to analysis of the captured vessel and data from the reconnaissance drone currently operating within the Arze Empire, the Arze Empire does not appear to possess counter-annihilation warheads—though caution remains warranted. Maneuvering to stay clear of the axial cannon’s firing arc would be advisable, if possible.