DE: Chapter 1 Part 13 – Self-contained

The ships of the Elven fleet are superior to those made by companies or militaries. And it’s not just the ships. Of course, AWs, presumably some technology or weapons aside, their armaments are head and shoulders above the rest. As a result, they are capable of launching unfairly powerful attacks, with beam ranges comparable to battleship-class weaponry and cruiser-level ship cannons that can still reach distant targets.

『Trigger Squad, hurry up and prepare for sortie.』

“Please let me use the B equipment. Once that’s ready, we can deploy at any time.”

『Understood.』

I equipped the Zargan with B equipment. After the aircraft check was also completed, all that’s left was to wait for the deployment order.

“Nero, this is your first real battle with me. You don’t have time to freeze.”

“Understood.”

『Trigger-5. The B equipment installation is complete. Deployment will begin shortly.』

“This is Trigger-5, roger that. Now it’s time to get to work.”

The aircraft moved to the second catapult. I conducted a final check of the unit.

“May I ask something?”

“What do you think, Nero? Do you think I will be shot down?”

“I haven’t been inputted with the Master’s combat ability.”

“Then I can input it now. No, wait, now it’s time to deploy.”

“I have a question.”

『Trigger-5, deploy. I look forward to your achievements.』

“Leave it to me. Trigger-5, Sergeant Shu Kisaragi, Zargan is launching.”

After that, the aircraft was pushed out from the catapult. With the tremendous G-force hitting my body, I headed out into space.

“This is Trigger-5, deployment is complete. Now, waiting for others.”

The fleet’s cannons, centered around Albireo, fired endlessly toward the enemy base. The blue beams mercilessly crushed the Sectorial space base.

Of course, the people from Sectorial weren’t just sitting there taking hits. The beam cannons and missiles installed on the space base put up a desperate resistance, and the destroyers and cruisers somehow managed to launch an attack, trying to close the distance between us.

【The 28th, 32nd, and 45th beam cannons have gone silent. The base has also sustained significant damage.】

【Launch all the aircraft in the hangar! That’s right, all of them! There’s no need to hold anything back!】

【This is the destroyer Top, we are launching now. Requesting for cover.】

【This is bad. The fuel has ignited! Has everyone evacuated!?】

【Don’t let them do whatever they want anymore. Hurry up and launch the interceptor aircrafts.】

【Damn it, they’re Elves. I guess we might have to consider abandoning the base as the worst-case scenario. Hey, call the people from that fallen country. Those guys should be able to do more than just hold them off.】

The Sectorial space base and fleet desperately tried to intercept. However, the Elf fleet only had one battleship and six cruisers. Even though they were high-performance, the number of their ship guns was not large.

This was good news for Sectorial.

【Roger, launching the interceptors one by one. Encircle the enemy fleet from both sides. After that, send out the fighter planes and attack planes.】

【I don’t care if they are Elves or whatever, I’ll make them regret for ever defying Sectorial.】

【Let’s do it! Let’s close the distance at once! A race that rebels against humans deserves to be destroyed!】

That was good news for the mercenaries.

“It’s time to make some money!”

【What! The enemy aircraft—Gwaa!?】

A 250mm cannon shot was fired from the Zargan of Trigger-5. The shell directly hit the enemy Zargan, causing it to explode. The enemy AW unit’s movements stopped as a result of the explosion of their ally.

『Good job, Trigger-5. Now it’s my time.』

『Nice shot. Trigger 1, engage.』

“All thanks to Nero’s shooting correction. He made the adjustments pretty quickly. Definitely a good purchase.”

『I can’t afford to lose either. Trigger-2, commencing sniping.』

『Trigger-4, beginning attack.』

The Trigger Squad of mercenaries charged forward without hesitation, launching an attack on the enemy AW unit. Of course, the enemy AW unit also tried to prepare themselves to counterattack.

“Stopping right in the middle of space? Is he a so-called “youth” or younger generation? I’m also from that generation, you know.”

The enemy Madoc locked onto my Zargan with a multi-lock and fired multi-purpose missiles from the twelve-barrel missile pod. A few hit directly, but they were blocked by the shield, preventing a single damage. In response, a 45mm assault rifle was used to precisely target the enemy, obliterating one of their aircraft in an explosion.

“That’s pretty good accuracy, Nero. The multi-lock was especially impressive. Thanks to that, the enemy’s movements were completely halted.”

“No problem. Now, regarding the first question, is it alright if I ask it?”

“A question? What’s that—whoa, that was close. Watch out! If you’re going to hit something, make sure you hit it properly!”

“Yes, a question. Is that okay if I ask it now?”

“Can’t we do it later?”

“……That’s fine.”

With that settled, I focused back on the battle. Trigger-1 and 3 destroyed enemy units with almost perfect coordination. Trigger-2 and 4 continued to overwhelm the enemy with a solid fighting style without leaving any openings.

“I can’t afford to lose this time. I have no intention of letting the top score slip away from me either.”

I launched an attack on the enemy AW unit, directing my macha toward them. Of course, the enemy counterattacked, but it was no problem for me because I could see it coming. I narrowly dodged by a hair’s breadth, closed the distance, and delivered a gift of 45mm rounds.

【What’s with this guy! My attacks aren’t doing any hits!】

【How did he avoid that? Did he read my attack pattern? 】

【This guy definitely has a Gift! Dammit, I have never expected such a big difference even though we’re using the same mecha.】

【Why are you siding with the Elves? You’re all mercenaries, aren’t you? How dare you fawn over people who look down on everyone and belittle others as if it was natural. Do you have no pride! 】

Pride? Of course I do. Although, I’m pretty sure it’s lower than an average person.

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh. What’s wrong with fawning over people who are paying 10 million credits up front so casually? It’s weird for you guys to belong to a poor organization like Sectorial with no future. The smart move is to get a lot of money and enjoy life.”

Although, it was more like picking a fight at every chance than fawning over, but it can’t be helped. After all, that’s just collateral damage.

【What would a war maniac like you know? Our ideals are-】

“If you can live on ideals and pride, then be my guest. I’m a civilized pig. I’ll enjoy the comfort of siding with stronger power in the long-run. And I’ll use you all as stepping stones!”

【I can’t let someone like you live! Prepare yourself to die!】

Immediately afterwards, he is torn to pieces by Trigger-1’s plasma saber.

“You should be grateful. I’m at least using you guys as a stepping stone. Your death won’t be in vain now.”

『Trigger-5, stop communicating with the enemy.』

“It can’t be helped. They’re openly communicating with me.”

『Even so. And soon, the enemy’s attack aircraft and AW will be here. Don’t let a single one of them reach the fleet.』

“Understood. We have to protect our employer.”

Saying that, I began checking the radar for other units. Captain Christina and the others on the right wing, opposite from us, seemed to be doing fine. Still, the battleships and cruisers’ naval guns showed no sign of stopping.

“Alternate firing, huh. And they’re also launching missiles to take down the AWs. Looks like this time, the battleships and cruisers will have more kills than us.”

If that’s the case, then I couldn’t afford to lose to the others. That’s the kind of person I am now.

One may ask why I chose to become a mercenary. I have no convictions, no resolve for fighting. There’s probably no reason at all. If I had to say one reason, it’s just because I wanted to pilot an AW.

(The Gift was perfect for combat as well. There’s no way I wouldn’t get in an AW with all the favourable conditions.)

Also, when I ride an AW, the sense of reality fades. It feels like I’m jumping right into a science fiction world.

“Well, it’s just the feeling, though. Anyway, the others will probably handle the remaining enemies. The real battle starts after the enemy’s second wave of attacks. Let’s get pumped and go for it.”

I accelerated my macha and raced through the battlefield. When you’re in a battlefield, you would understand that this is the way to survive.

And as expected, a large number of attack aircraft and AWs launched a forced assault from the space base towards our fleet. However, looking at the radar, it was quite a substantial force.

【Marie-1 to all units. We will now carry out a direct attack on the enemy fleet. There’s no time like the present, while our allied frigates and destroyers are still operational.】

【Let’s do this. If we allow beings like them, sources of all disaster, to exist, the universe will perish.】

【This is the escort aircraft Sora-1. We will take care of anything that poses a hindrance to Marie Squad. We won’t let even one of them be shot down】

【We hope for peace to come to the world. That is the purpose of our existence as Sectorials.】

As usual, the enemy conversed on an open channel so that we could hear them. To be honest, they had an atmosphere similar to an extremist religion, so I really didn’t want to get anywhere near them.

“Ah, but I agree with peace in the world. If I eliminate the scums in front of me, I’ll do little good for the world, for people, and for myself.”

Mostly, it’s about the temporary bonus, though.

Enemy aircrafts appeared from ahead. At the same time, I accelerated my machine, but I felt a slight delay in the controls.

“Is it malfunctioning? Nero, please check the unit. It’s urgent.”

“……”

“Nero, what’s wrong? No response… Tch, did it freeze? Guess it’s just a cheap defective product after all.”

I glanced at Nero, the red sensor was flashing, but there was no response. With no other choice, I tried to disconnect the combat support system linked to Nero. However, when I tried to operate it from the panel, there was no response either.

“Seriously? I can’t even lock onto targets, and the auto-balancer isn’t working properly either. At least it’s a small blessing in disguise that I can still identify friend from foe. Ha, guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

I manually disconnected the combat support system and the code linked to Nero. The macha shook slightly, but now it was at least functional for combat.

When I moved it lightly, the slight delay disappeared. However, this means that I have to do most of my actions manually.

“So basically, I have to fight without the lock-on function and most of the assistance systems, huh? The communication is still up, and I can still identify targets, so it’s not that big of a problem.”

Normally, you lock onto the enemy → apply adjustments using the weapons → predict the enemy’s movements → and then attack.

But right now, I was in a situation where I couldn’t do the first two steps. In other words, I have to aim and attack at a distance where I could hit the target for sure. Even so, in a dogfight, there’s no time for that kind of leisurely approach. So what did I do? The answer is simple.

“Just fire at a distance where I can hit the target. It’s simple.”

I accelerated my Zargan. Of course, the balance was bad and stable maneuvering was impossible. But I have no choice but to do it.

(Come to think of it, something similar happened during my first AW space combat training.)

Of course, the auto-balancer was working, and the support systems were functioning, so there were no problems. However, during training, there was a scenario where a system shutdown occurred, and we had to operate manually. It was part of the training session to prepare for such situations.

Needless to say, the shitty instructor didn’t go easy on us beginner AW pilots and made sure we had the ‘valuable’ training. I remember us all talking about it afterward, calling it the shitty instructor’s way of taking out his frustration.

The probability of the battle system going down is almost nonexistent. Nowadays, EMP countermeasures are the default. Most aircraft are equipped with them. I thought that the training we received for such situations was unnecessary in this day and age.

But in reality, I’ve ended up in a similar situation.

(Instructor, your teachings are coming into play now. I will make it through, I will…..)

I thought I would at least thank the shitty instructor in my heart, but when I remembered all the things that happened during training, anger started to well up inside me.

“I’ll definitely pay you back next time we meet!! I won’t let you off the hook so easily!!”

Before I knew it, all my feelings of gratitude had completely disappeared.

“Damn it. This is all the shitty instructor’s fault! If you want to hate someone, hate that shitty instructor!”

And in the end, I found myself back to cursing that shitty instructor. What a self-contained person I am. I concentrated on the battle while thinking about pointless things.

I locked onto the enemy attack squadron displayed on the monitor and took aim.

At the same time, the lock alarm blared, so I rotated the aircraft to the right to evade the missiles coming at me. Leading the way, a squadron of UA-10 Thunderbolts came charging in from the front.

With my futuristic vision, I could see myself being hit by the Thunderbolt’s 30mm Vulcan cannons and rockets, so I barely managed to evade just in time and counterattacked. The 45mm bullets hit near the cockpit as if they were drawn in.

I continued to approach the other Thunderbolt. Then, gripping the saber in my left hand, I slashed through the Thunderbolt head on. The Thunderbolt was split in half vertically and then exploded.

(This is harder than I thought! The hardest part is getting close enough to hit!)

If they just came straight at me, I could just about manage. The distance would be relatively short. After that, it’s all about guts, determination, and using the Gift to attack.

But if they slip through, that’s no good. If I couldn’t lock onto the enemy, I wouldn’t be able to predict their movements.

(Let’s leave the person who slipped away to others. Yeah, let’s do that.)

“Well, I’ll do my best.”

Even so, I gripped the control lever tightly and pressed the pedals carefully to maneuver the mecha. Focusing on the monitor, I evaded attacks while counterattacking. Even if I couldn’t use various systems, I was still able to fight.