Chapter 27: Trump Card (1/2)

The Vereverem Federation military’s response was faster than expected. They most likely received crucial intel from the recon unit even before I managed to shoot them down.

I don’t know what exactly was recorded in those black boxes and data caches, so I don’t have a grasp on how much the Graccan Empire managed to glean regarding the Federations’ plans.

Thanks to that, I wasn’t able to formulate any concrete countermeasures on my end. I would’ve liked to have more intel just to be safe, but that’s just how it is. It’ll be troublesome if they did an on-the-spot inspection after all.

Anyway, because of the actions of the enemy forces, we were summoned to the military base for a briefing as part of the imperial mercenary squadron that was hastily organized.

It would be a face-to-face briefing instead of a remote conference this time, apparently. Is it a sort of countermeasure against spies? I don’t really get how the folks from the military think.

I was guided by an imperial soldier who kept giving us quick glances until we reached the briefing room.

It should be a briefing room specifically built to seat a large number of people. It was quite spacious. It might be because the furnishings in the room consisted of mostly chairs, but it did feel somewhat bland.

The bland-looking room already had a number of mercenaries waiting inside. Their gazes all turned towards us the moment we entered the briefing room.

“Oi, would ya just look at that guy?”

“He got women with him… And two cuties to boot…!?”

“Hey, ain’t that Elma? She’s a Silver Rank, right? Why’s she with him?”

“She got into an accident in the last pirate subjugation mission, remember? I’m guessin it has somethin to do with that.”

“Explode… Just f*cking explode……”

The mercenaries who got here before us started murmuring to themselves as soon as we entered. Hey, the guy who keeps muttering *explode over there. Could you stop that. It might come true y’know.

Looks like there wasn’t any particular seating arrangement so we just sat at the nearest vacant seats.

“Sit in the middle, Mimi.”

“Ah, okay.”

Elma should be fine, but I bet Mimi wouldn’t be able to settle down if she was sitting beside a grumpy-looking mercenary uncle. It seems Elma thought the same, so she didn’t make a fuss and let Mimi sit between us.

All the participating mercenaries eventually came and filled the seats before long, and the time for the briefing to begin came. Lieutenant Serena and several other military officers entered the briefing room exactly on the dot.

“Attention!”

The atmosphere inside the briefing room tensed up after the military officers entered.

“Now then, let us start the briefing for the Termaine star system defense operations. I am Lieutenant Serena Holz. This newly organized provisional imperial army mercenary corps shall be assigned under my command. It may be temporary, but I shall be your direct commanding officer for the duration of this conflict. So address me as Lieutenant Serena from now on.”

“””Yes, ma’am!”””

“Very well. Let us start with an overview of the general situation. Georg.”

“Ma’am!”

The officer named Georg operated the console installed on the wall and the lights of the room dimmed. A large holo screen turned on behind Lieutenant Serena. The entire star map of the Termaine star system was projected on the holo screen.

“Currently, the main fleet of the Vereverem Federation is on its way towards the Termaine star system. Their exact composition is currently unknown due to the fleet already in the middle of Hyperdrive. However, based on the intel we just obtained and the readings of the hyperspace sensor, they are most likely made up of eight battleships, twenty-four heavy cruisers, thirty-two light cruisers, sixty-four destroyers, and 128 corvettes.”

The mercenaries became restless after hearing the size of the enemy force. I was also a bit surprised. The number of enemies was greater than I expected. This wasn’t on a level of a regular skirmish anymore, but an out-and-out military campaign.

“Frankly speaking, the military might of the enemy fleet is greater than the current imperial forces garrisoned in the Termaine star system. Fortunately, a request for reinforcements has already been sent out due to us discovering their plans early. The reinforcements should arrive a day after the enemy warps out near the borders. In other words, as long as we hold out for a day, our reinforcements will arrive, and we will be able to mount a counteroffensive. Therefore, our overall strategy is to make sure to hold our ground for one day no matter what.”

That’s a solid plan, assuming that reinforcements really were coming. Looks like the data caches and black boxes we recovered really were useful. Their selling price was actually really high, so I already kinda expected it.

“Your mercenary corps’ mission is to lurk inside the asteroid belt and mount guerilla warfare against Federation ships attempting to breakthrough. Your main targets would be the destroyers and corvettes. There will be a hefty bonus waiting for those who will manage to take down cruisers and battleships.”

Lieutenant Serena gave us a daring smile. The mercenaries gave her bitter grins in response. Well, most mercenary ships are small and medium-sized models after all.

Military ships larger than cruisers would be equipped with correspondingly larger generators with considerably higher power output. The shields powered by such generators would sport defensive strength incomparable with your average pirate ship.

In other words, even if the firepower of the mercenaries are sufficient to engage small and medium-sized pirate warships, taking on military warships larger than cruisers would prove to be impossible because of the defensive strength of their energy shields.

But my Krishna could, though. I also have my handy trump card on hand.

“If they have any other strategies under their sleeves, we shall endeavor to adopt corresponding countermeasures on the fly. We shall make use of every means available to us, no matter what they may be.”

Hou, any means necessary, huh. So that means that little something I prepared earlier could be officially approved as well…… Nah, on second thought, I don’t really think so. That thing is classified as a highly dangerous, illegal contraband after all. I’m glad I stashed it inside the scan-proof secret cargo compartment.

But well, un… I’ll just go for it anyway. I’ll make it a last resort if the situation gets nasty enough.

“Permission to speak, Lieutenant Serena.”

“You are… Yes, permission granted.”

I kinda felt like Lieutenant Serena’s gaze turned sharper after seeing Mimi and Elma with me though. I wonder why? Oh well. I’ll just ignore it.

“I sort of have a plan for giving the Federation fleet a heavy blow… Uh, it’s more like a scheme, actually. I would like to take this opportunity to get permission to execute said scheme.”

“A scheme, is it? Could I get the exact details?”

“Yes. It’s a pretty straightforward strategy. We’ll head straight for the heart of the enemy fleet as soon as they warp out, destroy the enemy flagship and withdraw immediately afterward.”

Lieutenant Serena’s expression froze after she heard my proposal. The other mercs made a huge fuss. Mimi gave me a worried look while Elma opened her mouth wide in surprise.

“Are you serious?”

Lieutenant Serena gave me a doubtful gaze. That expression she’s making has『I can’t think of that strategy as anything but a suicide mission, y’know?』written all over her face.

“Yeah, very serious. Just take it as just one stupid idiot dying if we fail. This strategy won’t pose any disadvantage to the imperial military as well.”

“You are an excellent individual who managed to make major contributions in the pirate subjugation mission. You have also effectively hunted lots of outlier pirate groups recently. I do not wish to lose such a talent due to such a reckless plan.”

“There’s no need to worry. We’ll definitely pull it off.”

I don’t have any intention of doing it the straightforward way after all. I’ll just keep that thought to myself though.

It looks like Lieutenant Serena noticed something in my expression, so it seemed she would eventually approve of the plan even if she was still holding some doubts.

Lieutenant Serena gave me a long, hard look for a while. She then shrugged her shoulders and audibly sighed. It’s like she was saying she won’t be taking responsibility for whatever happens.

“……Very well. If you insist on doing it that much, then I expect you to do it well. You will be rewarded greatly if you manage to succeed.”

“Thank you very much.”

After hearing the answer I was hoping for, I contentedly sat back down on my seat. I’m probably smiling from ear to ear right now.

I heard someone in the room mutter ‘He’s f*cking crazy.’ under their breath. Hey! Who’re you callin crazy? How rude. I’m just using every card in my hand to get the maximum benefits man.

“Stupid! Stupid! You’re totally, utterly stupid! You can’t actually be screwed in the head, can’t you!?”

“Mimi, Elma’s saying some really cruel things.”

“You’ve said too much, Elma-san. That’s a no-no.”

“Whaddya mean ‘no-no’!? He’s saying something stupid like charging into the Federation fleet alone y’know! Can’t you see that it’s the height of utter recklessness!?”

Elma raved like a madwoman. I’ve never seen her so angry before. Her voice echoed all throughout the cargo room.

Elma’s kept this state up ever since we left the briefing room. Well, I do understand where she’s coming from. If I was suddenly told we were going straight to the heart of an over 200-ship strong enemy fleet willy-nilly, I’d probably react the same.

“Calm down, will you. It’s not like I’m doing this without a proper plan. I have everything laid out already, so chill.”

“Let’s hear what this ‘plan’ of yours is then.”

I took out the military-grade duct tape from the toolbox and showed it to Elma. Stop glaring at me like that already. I’m gonna explain now, kay.

“The plan’s pretty simple. Once we detect the enemy fleet’s warp-out signature, we’re going to charge right through using the Hyperspeed Drive. We’re going to adjust it so we arrive at the enemy fleet’s warp-out coordinates at the exact same time as when the Hyperspeed Drive gets deactivated. We probably would be able to avoid being detected right away using this method.”

“Hm. I see the point so far. And then what?”

“Once the hyperspeed drive gets cut, we’ll immediately activate the rapid cooling system and enter the thermal stealth state. We’ll hide and pretend to be normal space debris.”

“Wouldn’t they suspect us? And what are we gonna do if they decided to get rid of the space debris in their way?”

“Even in the worst-case scenario, this ship’s energy shields and armoring would allow us to withstand their attacks, so no problems there. Once we get into range, we’ll let them eat two rounds of anti-ship reactive torpedoes. That’ll rock their socks off, and then some.”

“Anti-ship reactive torpedoes…… You really have those dangerous things? In this ship?”

“Yeah, I do. They’re hella expensive though, so I really don’t want to use them unless I really have to.”

“Um… What exactly are anti-ship reactive torpedoes?”

Mimi tilted her head in puzzlement after hearing Elma and my discussion. Ah, Elma’s familiar with them, but Mimi I guess wouldn’t have any idea huh.