Vol 1 Chapter 8 (1/1)

Chapter EightThe Verge of DeathIIn the first month, the entire Alliance space Fleet was friendly with dazzling excitement As that friendshi+p cooled, their mood dampened, and only impatience and anxiety were left The officers asked where there were no spacemen around, and spacemen asked where there were no officers around, and all of them asked each other:– Where is the enemy?

Vice Aduard, and invaded 500 light-years into the Imperial territory More than 200 star systems fell into the hands of the Alliance Fleet, and of those, 30 were underdeveloped but populated Altogether, there were approxiraves, revenue officers, and overned them all fled, so there was little or no resistance“We are the liberation fleet”The Alliance pacification officer told the groups of miners and farmers ere left behind“We bring you the promise of freedom and equality You will not suffer the oppression of despotishts, and you will begin your new lives as free citizens”However, they were disappointed They were not welco to listen to the pacification officer’s passionate but boring speech, the farmers’ representative spoke:“Before you give us the so-called political rights, ould like to receive the right to life We do not have food There is noand left Before freedo us the promise of milk and bread instead?”“Of course”Faced with these requests that were devoid of idealism, the pacification officers felt very disappointed as they replied They were the liberation fleet after all Providing the security of life to these led under the heavy fetters of the Empire was a responsibility as important as, if not more important than, actual combatIn addition to providing the food supplies fro items from the Iserlohn General Headquarters: 180 days’ worth of food for 50‑million people, seeds for over 200 species of edible plants, 40 artificial proteinmachines, 60 hydroponic devices, and convoys in order to transport the above items“This is the minimum necessary to permanently rescue the residents of the liberated area from starvation As the liberated area expands, the amount required will consequently increase”Looking at the annotations attached to the written request, the expeditionary force’s chief of logistics staff, Rear Adroaned involuntarilySpeaking of 180 days’ worth of food for 50-rains alone would amount to 10-million tons, and would require 50 two-hundred-thousand-ton class cargo shi+ps Furthermore, this alone far surpassed the Iserlohn Fortress’s food production and storage capabilities“Even if we empty out all of the warehouses in Iserlohn, ould still only have seven-rains If we mobilize all of the artificial protein manufacturers and all of the hydroponic devices…”“I knoe do not enough”Cazerne interrupted his subordinate’s report Cazerne personally drafted the supply plan for the 30-million Alliance Fleet servicemen He was confident in the operational aspects of his planHowever, it was a different story if non-combatants twice the number of the entire fleet were included The plan must be ent Cazerne could easily i screams of each fleet’s supply department under the unbearable burden“Nevertheless, are those so-called pacification officers morons?”He thought as he read the last portion of the written request“As the liberated area expands, the amount required will consequently increase” – Did this not mean the supply burden would become heavier and heavier? This was not a situation where they could innocently and happily expand their sphere of influence Furthermore, this contained a fearsome implication…Cazerne requested to meet with the commander-in-chief, Fleet Admiral Lobos Commodore Falk, the operations staff officer, was also present in the commander’s office This hat Cazerne had expected The commander-in-chief seemed to trust Falk more than he trusted Chief-of-Staff Admiral Greenhill Falk was always on the look-out besides the superior Recently, even ossips such as this surfaced: “The commander-in-chief is only a microphone for the operations staff officer The person talking is in fact Commodore Falk”“You want to discuss the requests of the pacification officers…?”Fleet Admiral Lobos stroked his thick chin“What is it? I am really busy, so please be brief”Incompetent men could not become fleet admirals Lobos had earned deeds-of-valor on the front-lines, demonstrated his competence in administrative e forces andstaff teams At least, that was the case up until he was in his forties Nowadays, his decline was very apparent He was lethargic towards everything, but he particularly lacked energy when it cahts, and decisions That was probably why Commodore Falk was allowed to be imperious and dictatorialWhy did the ress to this state? There were a variety of theories to explain the cause: soered by the mental and physical abuse of his youth years; some said it was due to chronic heart disease; and so defeated by Fleet Admiral Sithole in the battle for the position of the chief of Joint Operations The officers and ave different narrationsWhen the wings spread too far, the theories would even suggest that it was because Lobos, as indiscriminate when it ca one of his one-night-stands with some woman There was abonus to this theory It was said that the woman who made the fleet admiral an infamous patient was an Iive an unscrupulous smile, and then shi+ver from the chills down their spines“Then, I willa crisis, and it is a serious crisis”Cazerne daringly cut directly into the issue, and waited for the opponent’s response Fleet Ad his chin, and looked at the chief-of-logistics-staff in disbelief Commodore Falk somewhat distorted his badly-colored lips, and it was not just due to his propensity“So sudden? What is it?”There was no sense of astonishht it was more due to his dulled sensibilities instead of his ability to maintain composure“I believe you already knohat the pacification unit is requesting”Cazerne said, and thought that it could possibly be considered a rude question Falk obviously thought so His lips beca He probably intended to raise an issue with this at a later date“I know I also feel the request is excessive, but in terms of our occupation policy, it may be unavoidable”“The Iserlohn General Headquarters does not have the quantity of supplies requested”“Just request it froht cause hysteria within the economic bureaucracy, they will still have to send the supplies”“Yes, they will certainly send the supplies, but e do before the supplies reach Iserlohn?”The fleet adain ‘The extra lard will not fall off no ht“What do you mean? Rear Admiral”“I y is to overburden our fleet’s supply line!”He said bluntly What he originally wanted to yell was, “Do you not understand so that is this simple?”“In other words, the eneistics convoy in an atteistics staff’s opinion?”Commodore Falk said While it was unpleasant that he interjected, Cazerne still nodded“However, the sector of space between here and the front-line is being occupied by our fleet There is no reason to worry Well, no, of course, we should attach escort units to them just in case”“I see, just in case, huh”Cazerne replied cynically with all his ht What would Falk think? Who caresYang, please come back alive – In his heart, Cazerne called out to his friend He could not help but think it would be too absurd to die for this battle

IIAt the capital of the Free Planets Alliance, Heinesen, the proponents and the opponents were having an ardent debate over the large-scale request from the expeditionary forceThe proponents argued that the original purpose of expedition was to liberate the people stricken by the Empire’s oppression Naturally, it was their huer Additionally, once they knew our military had rescued them, coupled with their repulsion for the Empire, it was inevitable that the public sentiments would tilt in favor of the Alliance Fronificance, they should respond to the expeditionary force’s request and donate food and other supplies to the residents in the occupied territory…The opponents argued that the expedition was reckless to begin with The original plan called for a necessary budget of 200-billion dinars, which was 54 of the national budget for this fiscal year, and the equivalent of et Even if that was the case, it was still a certainty that the actual financial expense would far exceed the budget In addition to that, if they also donated food to the residents in the occupied territory to maintain the territory, then their financial bankruptcy would be foreseeable Therefore, they should discontinue the expedition, abandon the occupied territory, and return to Iserlohn After all, as long as Iserlohn was secure, they would be able to prevent an invasion from the EmpireThe principles and policies were entangled with calculations and emotions, and it seeht, but:“Give our military the chance to be killed in battle If we stand idly by, then they would face the crisis of being disgracefully starved to death”The report from Iserlohn, or rather, the cry of despair from Iserlohn, finally cleaned up the situation The requested supplies were collected, the transportation was initiated, and then the addendum request for about the same amount of supplies as previously requested arrived The occupied territory expanded, so the number of residents in the occupied territory now exceeded 100-million Of course, there was no choice but to increase the amount of necessary suppliesThe proponents were daunted The opponents said, “Do you see this? Do you see an end to this? Fifty-million became one-hundred-million Eventually that one-hundred-million will become two-hundred-million The Eovernment and the military that carelessly fell for their trap will be made responsible There is no other way We must withdraw!”“The Eainst our military's invasion While that is a despicableliberation and relief as our justification, we must admit that that is an effective method We should withdra Otherwise, our le forward, and when they are exhausted, the ene up on them”The secretary of the treasury, João Rebelo, said at the High CouncilThose who supported the deploy in their disappointments The secretary of transportation and inforant face and stared into the gray screen of the coThere was no other way except to withdraw Mrs Windsor knew that well The expenditure to date could not be helped, but additional expenditure would overwhelm the economyHowever, if they withdreithout acco, it would put her, who supported the deployainst the deployment and the war proponents who currently supported her would without a doubt pursue her political responsibility The seat of the supreht since the day she aspired to become a politician, would also be out of her reachWhat are the incompetent fools in the Iserlohn Expeditionary Force General Headquarters doing? Mrs Windsor clenched her teeth in a fit of anger Her beautifully htly closed fistsThe withdraas unavoidable, but even if it was just once, could they win a ainst the Imperial Fleet? If they could, then she would be able to save face, and the future generations would not condemn this expedition as a symbol of waste and stupidityShe looked to the old Supreme Chairman The ponderous, apathetic old man that occupied the seat with the ultimate powerPeople ridiculed the head-of-state and said he was “not chosen by anyone” He was the politician who benefited froame of politics He was the one who said all that about the next election I just picked up on it – She sincerely hated the chairhtOn the other hand, Secretary of Defense Trunicht was quite pleased with his foresightHe knew that this was going to happen Based on the current financial strength and th, there was no chance that the invasion of the Empire would succeed In the near future, the expeditionary force would suffer a devastating defeat, and the current administration would lose the support of the citizens However, Trunicht was against the reckless deployht, instead of being wounded by this incident, the incident would enhance his reputation greatly After this, Rebelo and Huang would remain as competitors, but they did not have the support of the military and the defense industry At the end, Trunicht would become the supreme chairmanThat would be splendid Internally, he gave a self-satisfied smile “The one who defeated the Empire and the best head-of-state in the history of the Alliance,” a title as such should be given to him Other than him, no one would be suited for such an honorUltimately, the withdraas rejected“Before the front-line produces some results, the military's actions should not be limited”This hat the war proponents argued with soed “result” was also so Trunicht very much looked forward to However, the “result” he expected was different from what the war proponents hoped for

IIIBefore the supplies arrive from our home country, the necessary supplies shall be procured locally by each fleet at their respective locationsWhen this policy was communicated, the faces of each of the Alliance fleet commanders darkened“Procure locally!? Are they telling us to plunder?”“What is the Iserlohn Expeditionary Force General Headquarters thinking? Did they become pirate bosses?”“Supply plan failure is the first step to a strategic defeat This is common sense when it comes to the military To shove that responsibility to the front-line is distasteful”“The General Headquarters said that the supply systerand speech?”“When there is nothing to begin with, how are we supposed to procure supplies?”While Yang did not join their claht the same The General Headquarters was extremely irresponsible, but since they deployed troops based on irresponsible ement would be handled irresponsibly Cazerne was probably struggling nowNevertheless, he believed that they were already at their limit As a result of their continuous donation to the residents of the occupied areas, the 13th Fleet was already scraping the bottoe for food The dissatisfaction and anxiety of Captain Uno as in charge of supplies finally detonated“What the people seek is not ideology or justice It is just food If the I on the ground and chanting 'Long live the Kaiser' It is as if they are living just to satisfy their basic needs Do we have to starve to keep people like that fed!?”“This is so we do not become Rudolf”After hecalled in Sub-Lieutenant Frederica Greenhill, and asked her to open a direct faster-than-light (FTL) communication portal with Vice Admiral Ulanhu of the 10th Fleet“Hi, Yang Wen‑li? That's unusual What's up?”Through the communication screen, the descendant of the ancient Eurasian noroup asked“Vice Ad well”That was a lie The fearless Ulanhu's entire body seemed to be exhausted He was thrown a problee or eneral seemed to be trappedWhen asked about his food stockpiling situation, Ulanhu turned much bitterer“I only have enough for one more week If more supplies do not come in by then, ill have to forcefully requisition them from the occupied territory – No, decorative words will not mask the facts We will have no choice but to plunder The liberation fleet will be shocked to hear that, but even then, that is assus for us to plunder”“I have an opinion regarding this”Yang prefaced as such, and suggested that they abandon the occupied territory and withdraw“Withdraw!?”Ulanhu slightly raised his eyebrows“Without exchanging fire even once? Is that not a little too negative?”“We must act while we still have reserve capacity The ene for theWhy do you think that is?”“Are you saying they will take the opportunity and switch to offense?”“It will probably be an all-out attack The enee, and their supply line is shorter”“Hmm”Even the daring Ulanhu seemed to be shaken“But, if we retreated poorly then ill be inviting the enemy's offense If that happens, ill stir up a hornet's nest”“We will have to fully prepare for counterattacks That is very important While that is possible, if ait until when the space, it will be too late We have no choice but to retreat in an orderly manner before that happens”Yang urged as Ulanhu silently listened“Besides, the ene of when our ry If they interpret our retreat as a full-on rout, then ill haveis too early, it will also be good if they consider this to be a trap We may be able to retreat unscathed It is unlikely, but the chance of that happening is lowering by the day”Ulanhu carefully considered the circu“I understand Your opinion is correct We shall be ready to withdraever, hoe contact the other fleets?”“I will contact Vice Ad Iserlohn would beto convince them”“Alright, then ill both work on it and try to get this done as soon as possible”Right after the conversation with Ulanhu ended, Yang received an urgent e“The residents of the area the 7th Fleet occupied revolted It is a large scale revolt that was triggered because thefood”Frederica had a grim expression as she read the report“How is the 7th Fleet handling it?”“They used debilitating gas and the situation has been suppressed temporarily, but it seems like it will reoccur soon It is a matter of time before the military escalates its countermeasures”The situation has beco could not help but to thinkThe Alliance Fleet that self-proclaimed to be the liberation fleet and the protector fleet had turned against the public At this stage, there would no longer be a way to resolve the distrust between both sides The Empire's attempt to divide the Alliance and the public had succeeded brilliantly“Excellent work, Count Lohengramm”If it were me, I would not be able to be so drastic Even if I knew if I did it I would win, I would still not be able to do it That is the difference between ramm That is the reason I fear him–– This difference may one day prove to result in serious consequencesThe commander of the Alliance 5th Fleet, Vice Admiral Bewcock, sent an FTL communication to the Iserlohn General Headquarters The face that appeared on the coed to operations staff, Commodore Falk“I requested ato meet with you You are merely an operations staff Do not impose yourself when you are not called!”The old adnity and forcefulness, Falk was no match for himThe young staff officer was instantly shaken, but then he arrogantly replied:“Meeting requests and petitions to the Coh ?”“I do not need to talk to you”Bewcock also forgot his age and became combative“Then I cannot relay the e for you”“What?”“However highly you are ranked, you will still have to follow the rules Do you want me to end the communication?”Did you not arbitrarily ht Bewcock, but he was forced to concede in this situation“The commanders of the fleets on the front-line wish to withdraw We wish to seek the Commander-in-Chief's consent in this matter”“Withdraw?”As the old admiral expected, Commodore Falk's lips became distorted“Vice Ad aside, even the brave Vice Adht That is unexpected”“Do not speak so offensively”Mercilessly, Bewcock rebuked him“This all began because you proposed this reckless deployment plan How about you accept some responsibilities now?”“If it were hter the Imperial Fleet in one fell swoop What is there to be afraid of?”His irreverent and irresponsible reply hts burst out of the old admiral's eyes“I see Then you should be here instead of me I will return to Iserlohn, and you can replace me and come to the front-line”Falk's lips could not become more distorted“Please do not suggest things that are impossible”“You are the one that is suggesting things that are i your safe zone”“–– Are you insulting me?”“I aloat You should show us your talents with track records instead of cheap talk See if you can do as you instruct others to do Try it Let's find out”The old ad from Falk's aneination The eyes of the young staff officer lost focus, and fear and dismay spread over his entire face His nostrils flared and his mouth was distorted into a quadrilateral shape He raised both his hands to shi+eld his face from Bewcock's view, and within this roan or a screamBewcock was speechless as he watched, and froht in front of his eyes, Falk's body sank to the bottom of the communication screen The screen noed panic-stricken people running about During this time, there was no updates on the situation“What happened to him?”“Well”Bewcock's adjutant who stood next to him, Lieutenant Clemente, was not able to answer his superior's question For about two minutes, the old admiral waited in front of the screenAfter a while, athe white uniform of military doctors appeared and saluted“This is ht now, Commodore Falk is under medical treatment in the infirmary I will be happy to explain the situation”Just drop the attitude Bewcock thought“What kind of illness does he have?”“He has nerve blindness induced by conversion hysteria disorder”“Hysteria!?”“Hmm, the frustration has caused him to become unusually excited, which temporarily paralyzed his optic nerves He will be able to see again in about fifteen minutes, but in the future, these episodes ered by a mental illness, so if that cause is not removed, then”“Then what should be done?”“Do not defy hiive him a sense of frustration or defeat Have everyone follohatever he says, and do everything according to hoants them to be done”“Doctor, are you being serious?”“These sy children ere raised with an abnorrand sense of self Good and evil is not a part of their consideration To theos satisfied Therefore, Sir, if you apologize to hi rude, implement his operations plan at any cost, and praise him when you are victorious when that happens, the cause of his illness will be eliminated”“I aestion”Bewcock did not becory“Are you saying that, in order to treat his hysteria, we must send 30-ht drown in a sea of tears-of-gratitude”The doctor laughed weakly“If the goal is only to treat Commodore Falk's illness, then this is the only way If the concern is the entire fleet, then naturally there may be other solutions”“Yes, we can just fire him”The old admiral said harshly“If that happens, it will probably be uy has the sa chocolate If the Iist for over 30-million officers and men, they would probably dance with joy”“In any case, things unrelated to medicine are beyond my authority I will transfer you to the chief-of-staff”The illicit union of politicians aiy serviceman with infantile hysteria somehow mobilized 30-million officers and ht more earnestly, then he would be either a masochistic narcissist or a fanatical war lover Bewcock thought bitterly“Sir”The person that appeared on the communication screen in place of the military doctor was the expeditionary force chief-of-staff, Adentlemanly appearance was shaded with deep sorrow“Here co time out of your busy schedule”Although it was said with blatant sarcasm, people could not find him detestable It was one of the natural virtues of the old admiralGreenhill laughed the sah as the military doctor“I should be the one to apologize I ahtly scene Commodore Falk will probably be placed on leave immediately, but it has to wait for the commander-in-chief's approval”“Well, what do you think about the 13th Fleet's proposal to withdraholeheartedly agree with hiht, be it psychologically or physically”“Please give us some time This will also require the commander-in-chief's approval It is not possible for me to provide an immediate answer”Vice Admiral Bewcock's expression showed that he was fed up with bureaucratic answers“At the risk of being rude, Chief-of-Staff, I would like to meet with the commander-in-chief directly Would you please request that for me?”“The co at the moment”The old admiral's white eyebrows knotted and he quickly blinked Then, he slowly asked:“Could you please repeat that? Chief-of-Staff?”Admiral Greenhill replied rather solemnly:“The co at the moment He ordered not to wake him unless if we are under enemy attack Because of that, I will notify him of your demands after he wakes up Please wait until then”Bewcock did not attempt to respond to that It was difficult to see, but his shoulders appeared to rise and fall slightly“Very well I understand”Well over one-minute elapsed before this voice full of suppressed emotions left the old admiral's mouth“Before then, as the front-line coations towards my subordinates' lives Sorry to trouble you When the commander-in-chief wakes up, please tell hiards and wished that he had a nice dream”“Sir”The communication was cut off from Bewcock's endGreenhill somberly stared at the communication screen that became an off-white flat panel

IVAfter Reinhard finished reading the reports from the reconnaissance forces, with a nod, he called over the red-haired Vice Adned Kircheis an important mission“Iserlohn dispatched a logistics convoy to the front-line It is the eneiven to you and attack them I will leave the operational details to your discretion”“Yes, Your Excellency”“Inforanization, supplies, you can take whatever you need”Kircheis turned to leave after saluting, but Reinhard suddenly called out to him To his best friend who turned around in confusion, the young fleet admiral said:“This is for our victory, Kircheis”He knew Kircheis was critical of the harsh tactics utilized: to starve the populace of the occupied territory in order to bind the eneh Kircheis neither said it nor showed it, Reinhard knew Siegfried Kircheis was that kind of a personKircheis saluted again and left Reinhard spoke to the re admirals“As Vice Adistics convoy, ill launch an all-out attack Si that while the logistics convoy was attacked, it was fine This is to prevent the rebel fleet fro out like a cornered rat attacking a cat At the same time, this is also to make it so they are not aware of our attack – Of course, they will eventually find out, but the later the better”He glanced at thebeside him In the past, the person next to hi ray-haired man named Oberstein This was his own decision, but there was still this slight sense of incongruity“It should be noted that our supply convoy shall provide food to the residents as we recapture the occupied territory Although this was done in order to counter the invasion by the rebel fleet, forcing His Majesty's subjects to endure starvation was not our fleet's intention This is also a necessary step to show the border region residents that only the Eovern”Reinhard's real intention was to let him, rather than the “Empire,” win the hearts of the people However, there was no need for him to disclose that in a situation like thisThe logistics convoy led by Commodore Gredwin Scott was coo shi+ps and twenty-six security attachistics staff, Rear Adued that the nuh; at least one-hundred security escorts should be provided,” but his opinion was rejectedThe reason for the rejection was because it was believed that the Ie fleet just to attack the logistics convoy, and that dispatching too many shi+ps would cause the security at the Iserlohn General Headquarters to be undernable fortress far away from the front line Cazerne was now pissed offCoh Cazerne specifically told hiainst the enemy before he left, the advice came in one-ear and went out of the other He did not even step onto the bridge Instead, he played three-diainst his subordinates in his private roomWhen the convoy general staff, Commander Nikolsky, came to talk to him while pale in the face, he was just about to checkmate He asked crossly:“Did so happen at the front line? This is too noisy”“At the front line?”Commander Nikolsky was stunned as he looked at his commander“This is the front line Did you not see that? Sir?”He pointed to a se On there, a white cloud of light was expanding rapidlyInstantaneously, Commodore Scott lost his voice Even he did not think that was allies approaching Astonishi+ngly, they were surrounded by a large enemy fleet!“This I don't believe it!”Scott finally squeezed out his voice“We are e fleet Why?”As Nikolsky drove the hydrogen-powered-vehicle through the corridor leading to the bridge, the co that nificance of this mission?” Just as Nikolsky was about to say that, the operator's voice cah the speakers in the corridor“Large nu our shi+p!”A moment after the announcement, the voice itself turned into a scream“Unable to counter! There are too many!”On the Ishi+p Brünhild ––The communications officer rose from his seat, and excitedly beamed at Reinhard“Vice Adood news The eneistics convoy was annihilated Additionally, all twenty-six security escort were completely destroyed Of our fleet, only one shi+p and fourteen Walküres were daed”Cheers flooded the entire bridge Since the fall of Iserlohn, even though it was necessary strategically, the I It was a long ti of victory“Mitterer, Wahlen, and Lutz, in accordance with our existing plan, attack the rebel fleet collectively”Reinhard gave the order to his waiting admiralsAfter responding, “Yes, Your Excellency,” the admirals turned to leave for the front line, but stopped when Reinhard called out to thelass of wine It was a pre-victory celebration“Victory has already been determined From here, we just need to complete it Do not let those rebels who do not know their place go home alive We have sufficient conditions to make this happen May Odin bless you Prost!”“Prost!”The adlasses on the ground as was custohts brilliantly danced on the floorAfter the admirals departed, Reinhard stared into the screen There, he found inorganic light groups that were colder and hts on the floor However, he was fond of those lights He wanted to grasp those lights with his hands That hy he was here nowVOctober 10th, 16:00 of the standard calendarVice Admiral Ulanhu positioned his fleet on the orbital path of planet Rügen (リューゲン) Utilizing the gravity gradient method, he realized that they were under enemy attack He positioned 20,000 reconnaissance satellites in the surrounding areas Approximately 100 of the satellites in the two-o'clock direction transhts, and then ceased video transmission“They are co”Ulanhutowards his terminal nerves“Operator, how much time before enemy contact?”“Six to seven minutes”“Alright All fleet, prepare for all-out war Communications officer, contact the General Headquarters and the 13th Fleet Just say we encountered the enemy”The alarshi+p, orders and responses were being rapidly firedUlanhu told his subordinates:“Soon, the 13th Fleet will rush to our rescue It is led by 'Miracle Yang (奇蹟のヤン)' That ill be able to pincer attack the enemy There is no doubt that ill be victorious”Sometimes, the commander must convince his subordinates even if he did not believe it hi would also be under attack by a large number of ene to the 10th Fleet's rescueThe Iun its major offensive attackSub-lieutenant Frederica Greenhill was pale-faced and nervous as she looked up at her commander“Sir! Vice Admiral Ulanhu sent an FTL communication”“Enemy attack?”“Yes, Sir At 16:07 They seeed in battle with the enemy”“It finally started”The end of that sentence overlapped with the cry of the alar fire with the Imperial Fleet led by Vice Admiral Kempff“Ene from 11 o'clock!”The operator cried Flagshi+p Hyperion's (ヒューベリオン) captain, CaptainMarino (マリノ), quickly reacted “Deploy decoys in the 9 o'clock direction!”Yang was silent as he immersed himself in his own duties of the operational command of the fleet The offense and defense of the shi+p is the duty of the captain If the commander had to intervene there too, then his nerves would burn outLaser-hydrogen- like ferocious hounds Instead of utilizing nuclear fission, this weapon used super-thermal-lasers to initiate nuclear fusionThe decoy rockets to counter the an abundance of radio waves and heat, the decoys try to fool the detection systeroup of missiles made a sharp turn and pursued the decoysThe collisions of energy and energy, matters and lows“Spartanians (スパルタニアン), prepare for battle!”After the order was conveyed, a pleasant sense of nervousness filled thethe Spartanians They have strong confidence in their skills and reflexes They were the personification of the God of war, Mars The fear of death was only a subject of insult for them“Now, shall we go for a bit?”The person who shouted cheerfully abroad flagshi+p Hyperion was “ace (撃墜王)”, Lieutenant Warren Hughes (ウォーレン・ヒューズ)Hyperion has four aces In addition to Hughes, there was also LieutenantSaleh Aziz Choukri (サレ・アジズ・シェイクリ), Lieutenant Olivier Pouplin (オリビエ・ポプラン), and Lieutenant Ivan Konev (イワン・コーネフ) To flaunt their ace titles, they painted the ace of spade, diamond, heart, and club on their respective Spartanians with special paint They had the audacity to treat war as a kind of sport Perhaps, this was a major element that allowed them to survive“I will cone for me”Pouplin said to the mechanic as he hopped into his cherished Spartanian, but the response was cold“We probably don't have any I'll make sure to have water for you at least”“What an unrouy”Despite his griping, Pouplin and the three others leaped into space The Spartanian wings reflected the lights fro iridescently The reat hostility, and the bea by“Like hell you're going to hit me!”However, the four of them boasted simultaneously Those were the words of proud warriors who have survived past the verge of death many timesAs if to show off their superhuman skills, the Spartanians made a sharp U-turn and avoided a ravity shi+ft, thethely, the Spartanians flapped their wings The Imperial Fleet's Walküres juhtHughes, Choukri, and Konev each responded gladly with their battle-crafts One by one, the enemy battle-crafts turned into fireballsHowever, one of theer He shot the enemy with uranium-238-bullets at the rate of 140 shots a second The bullets ell capable of penetrating et, they will emit super-thermal heat and explode Yet, all of his bullets were sucked into the void Except for him, the other three already made blood sacrifices of a total of seven battle-crafts“What are you doing?”The person who loudly sue was the Imperial commander, Vice Admiral KempffKempff was also an ace He was a brave veteran who rode on a silver-winged Walküre and slammed dozens of eneh he was exceptionally tall, it did not feel that way because of his wide girth He had short, brown hair“Why are you fiddling around with enemies of that caliber? Semi-surround thee!”The instruction was correct Three of the Walküres half-surrounded Lieutenant Hughes's Spartanian from behind, and skillfully drove hihes realized the danger he was in,a uranium 238 bullet into the cockpit of one of the battle-crafts, and atteap where the battle-crafts dropped off However, he did not take into account the enemy shi+p's secondary cannon Beahes and his cherished battle-craft disappeared from this worldChoukri was killed with the sa two barely shook off the Walküres' pursuit, and escaped into the bind-spot of the cannonsKonev was able to bury four enemy battle-crafts, but Pouplin had to flee back without shooting down a single battle-craft His self-esteem was irreparably wounded When he discovered the reason that not even one of his bullets hit the target, he exploded into heartbreak and anger Pouplin returned to the mother shi+p, swiftly leaped out of the cockpit, and yanked onto the collar of a mechanic who ran over“Tell the ally-killing chief mechanic to come out! I will kill him!”Chief mechanic, Lieutenant Toda (トダ技術大尉), rushed over, and Pouplin's rebuke ca “The sight on the rees off! Did you even maintain it properly? You salary thief!”Lieutenant Toda raised his eyebrows“Of course I did While humans can be made for free, battle-crafts cost money, so I care about maintenance”“You bastard! Are you going to make jokes about it?”The coh into the floor that it bounced The flareen eyes, and Toda's eyes became narrow and sharp“You want to fight? You insect!”“Sure, let's So far, I have killed who kno many Imperial h to fight the likes of you I will give you a handicap!”“Bullshi+t! Don't make your own lack of experience someone else's responsibility”Some did shout for theun by thenWhile Toda was able to get in two or three punches, he was soon forced to be on the defense as his footwork started to drift Just as Pouplin raised his arht it“Fool! Enough is enough!”Commodore Schönkopf said bitterlyThe brawl subsided No one dared to disrespect the hero that captured Iserlohn However, as far as Schönkopf was concerned, to only be able to join to stop the braoefully disappointingThe I Ulanhu's 10th Fleet was Vice Adht-brown eyes His narrow face and his strong body see brows and sharp eyes, suggesting a warlike personalityAll of the vessels under his command were painted black, and they called themselves the “Black Lancers (黒色槍騎兵)” They were a fierce fleet It was this fleet that Ulanhu delivered significant daes his own fleet sustained was comparable – based on not ratio, but absolute numbersBittenfeld's fleet was larger than Ulanhu's fleet in terms of nu Both the commander and the subordinates were filled with fresh vitality, and even though they paid considerable sacrifice, at last, they succeeded in placing the Alliance fleet under a full siegeThe 10th Fleet was neither able to advance nor retreat, therefore it was ie from the Bittenfeld Fleet“Just fire and you will hit them!”The Iy beams and missiles at the concentrated Alliance Fleet vesselsAfter the energy neutralizing netic fields were torn, the outer shells of the shi+ps sustained unbearable impact The impacts penetrated the shi+ps, explosions occurred, and the deathly flash fire knocked out the officers and menThe destroyed vessels lost their thrust and began to be pulled away by the planetary gravity Half of the planet's inhabitants saw countless ht sky Momentarily, the children were erVIThe 10th Fleet had reached the lith They lost 40 of their vessels, and half of the re vessels were so devastated that battle would be impossible The fleet's chief-of-staff, Rear Admiral Chen (チェン) palely turned towards his commander“Sir, it is no longer possible to continue the battle Our choices are li”“Choose between two disgraceful options, eh?”Vice Admiral Ulanhu mocked“Surrendering doesn't fit my personality Let's run away Send the order to the entire fleet”Even if they wished to flee, they still had to open a path of blood Ulanhu reorganized his reh a corner of the encirclement Ulanhu kne to utilize a concentrated forceHis bold and skillful tactic allowed half of his subordinates to escape the jaws of death, but he was sacrificedHis flagshi+p fought the encircling enemy until the very end, but the moment it tried to withdraw, its y beam, and his shi+p explodedIn all parts of the front line, the Alliance Fleet was beginning to taste the bitter juice of defeatThe 12th Fleet's commander, Vice Adht to the point where only eight gunboats re the battle became impossible, he pointed the blaster at his head and pulled the trigger Rear Admiral Connally (コナリー) assumed the command, stopped the actions, and surrenderedThe 5th Fleet was attacked by Reuenthal, the 9th Fleet was attacked by Mittermeyer, the 7th Fleet was attacked by Kircheis who earlier annihilated the Alliance logistics convoy, the 3rd Fleet was attacked by Wahlen, and the 8th Fleet was attacked by Mecklinger In response to their respective onslaught, the fleets made repeated retreatsYang's 13th Fleet was the only exception Faced with the Kempff Fleet, he utilized a clever half-moon formation to avoid the enemy's offense Then, he caused the ene theht and left flanksThe unexpected loss startled Ke for the excessive blood loss to lead to an aard and debilitating death, he caes to the situation Therefore, he pulled back his fleet in an atteanize itWhen Yang saw that the eneo on the offensive Yang thought that there was ht After all, even if he had won here, at the end, he would still get beaten by the enemy's entire fleet with their superior circu where the enemy pulled back to escape as far away as possible“Great! Whole fleet, run away!”Yang ordered solemnlyThe 13th Fleet ran away In an orderly mannerThe eneeous position did not chase after him Instead, they started to retreat rapidly Kehly surprised He had anticipated that the enemy would pursue, and his fleet would be subjected to considerable dae, but he had worried in vain“Why did they not pursue us when they inning?”Kempff asked himself, but it was also to ask his staff for their opinionsThe subordinates' opinions were split into two ca to the rescue of the other Alliance Fleets that were cornered; the other hypothesis said that they were inviting us to spot the chance and go on a light offensive, so they could try for a h attackThere was an ensign by the na officer who just graduated from the academy, who fearfully opened his mouth“I uht It is just running away”His staten Lücke took his leave His opinion was the closest to the truth, but no one noticed it, not even himKempff was a tactician rich with common sense After deep contemplation, he reached the conclusion that the enemy's withdraas a trap, and abandoned the efforts to initiate a counterattack Instead, he worked on restru