Chapter 9: CH 9

The warp through the star system was only a few seconds.

The starry sky was once again displayed on the main monitor of the bridge of the , which projected images from the outside.

“We’re out of warp. Error of 5 kilometers from the planned point.”

“We found the fortress. We’re right where we planned. Relative velocity measurement complete. Kewk, calculate orbital route.”

“Give me a minute.”

The men on the bridge are going through the necessary tasks to get things done. Just after warp-out is a very busy time.

The ship rocked for a moment.

“A small explosion in the warp drive of the super-lightspeed engine. Oh, thank God we’re not at warp.”

“We have a visual transmission from the fortress. Setsuto, it’s for you anyway. It won’t show up if you stay seated, so stand near your head.”

Setsueto tried to get behind Kitty without being prompted, but Kitty grabbed his arm and made him sit beside her.

Mitsuki’s image appeared on the main monitor.

“Welcome back, sir, and captain.”

Mitsuki made a gesture that was an Earth Federation military-style salute.

“I’m back, Mitsuki. How’s it going over there?”

“Everything is fine, sir. No spaceships have appeared within range of the main fortress. I see you’ve had a slight plan revision?”

Mitsuki was probably pointing out that the warp out point and speed of the Black Silver Glory ship were different from the prior plan.

“I had some business to attend to.”

“I see. Mr. Quek, do you need any help over here?”

“Prepare the tractor beam. I can match your speed.”

“Very well, sir. We’ll be waiting for you in port.”

“Be gentle, like you would with a live girl.”

That was the end of my talk with Mitsuki.

The Glorious Black Silver began to slow down in order to match speed with the fortress.

A short time later, a frigate squadron of the defense force warped out at a distance. They were more than far enough away, and with the speed difference, it seemed unlikely that there would be a battle.

“Sir, may I remove the disguise as planned?”

Mitsuki confirmed over the comms.

“Take care of her.”

“Understood”

The fortress that had been pretending to be an asteroid was now completely out of disguise.

The rugged appearance of the rocks peeled away, revealing a shiny metallic surface. The radar should be able to see us clearly now.

This would reveal the existence of the fortress to the frigate fleet. Once the disguise is removed, it will be obvious at a glance that it is not a natural object.

“Attention all spacecraft in our space station.”

From the fortress, Mitsuki’s voice was transmitted on several frequencies commonly used by the Empire.

“This is a mobile fortress belonging to the Earth Federation Space Force. In the name of the Fortress Commander, all combat activities within a radius of one light second of this fortress are prohibited. I repeat. This is…”

The same phrase was repeated three times.

“A fortress belonging to the United Earth Federation Space Forces.”

After the Count joined the frigate fleet, he received a report on the situation from the frigate commander, Quarter Admiral Claudet.

“Yes, sir. I’ve never heard of this army, but from what I’ve observed, the sheer size of it is bizarre.”

Claudette is scowling behind the monitor.

“It’s not public knowledge. The Earth Federation is the name of the former interstellar nation that built the ruins.”

The Count folded his arms and leaned back.

“I didn’t expect this to be what I was looking for, thinking it was the enemy fleet. This is going to be important.”

“Is that so?”

Claudette still didn’t seem to understand what the Count was worried about.

“That’s right. This dragoon is a ship made of ruins, but it is reasonable to assume that the fortress called the Vara Skirve is made of the same technological level. If the dragoon is that size, how much of a force do you think it would be?”

The dragoon is about 100 meters long, while the Varaskirvu fortress is measured to be about 30 kilometers in diameter.

Claudette finally looked at me as if she understood.

“The worst case scenario is that the fortress has the ability to build ships. In that case, whoever gets their hands on that fortress will be able to build Dragoons, and possibly even more ships than that.”

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“Count, that’s…”

“The military balance among the countries will change in a flash. But that’s still just a fantasy. In the meantime, let’s give some thought to what we should do first.”

The Count spoke calmly, daring to show his composure.

Inwardly, he was tempted to break out in a cold sweat, wondering how much turmoil that fortress would bring to the Empire and the nations.

However, if you show such behavior, your subordinates will get upset. The more upbeat they get, the more mistakes they will make.

“Yes, my lord.”

Claudette’s fears seemed to have eased a little.

(It’s a headache.)

There didn’t seem to be many options the Count could take.

In the fortress command center, Settsu was pondering.

The antimatter brought back by the Black Silver Glory has been transferred from the container to the antimatter storage room of the fortress, and preparations are underway to start up the antimatter reactor.

The reactor, the degenerate reactor, and the superluminal engine have already been repaired and are just being activated sequentially.

“How long until we can warp?”

“Five hours.

Most of the fortress’ combat capabilities remain lost.

The main turret is undergoing repair work, but only a few guns are still usable.

As for the defensive capabilities, since the repair of the shield generator has not been started yet, there is nothing that can be done except to withstand the surface armor of the fortress and the structure itself.

If the Imperial fleet decided to attack and enter, there was nothing they could do. I asked Mitsuki to analyze the situation, and her answer was as follows.

“Ten dragoon class assault destroyers and twenty similar destroyer class vessels would be a no-brainer if this fortress was fully capable, but as it is, it’s hard to deal with. We’ll barely be able to sink five of them before we get close.”

Apparently, the Dragoon was also known as the Dragoon in the Earth Federation Forces. Setsuto had no idea what an “assault destroyer” was, but according to Mitsuki, “It is the smallest of the regular combat ships of the Earth Federation Space Force. It is the smallest of the regular combat ships of the Earth Federation Space Force,” according to Mitsuki.

It is the current level of humanity that treats its smallest battle ship as the strongest battle ship.

The fleet led by Count Vayel, my father, is forming a formation at a distance from the fortress. They have not shown any signs of approaching the fortress, but they may be waiting for the battle fleet to arrive.

I know what Setsu should do. But I can’t make that decision.

“Sir, we’ve received a request from the Imperial Fleet for a visual transmission.”

While Setsueto was hesitating to make a decision, the things he needed to do were coming at him from the other side.

“To the Fortress Commander, over there is the Fleet Commander, Count Vayel.”

What do you want to do? Mitsuki asked with her eyes.

“Let’s deal with …….”

Settsu nodded.

“Yes. We can process the video and audio here to make you look like someone else, though?”

Mitsuki’s suggestion was a strong temptation for Settsu. He was a little afraid to talk to his father now, and it seemed more likely that they would be able to reach an agreement.

But somewhere in my heart, there was a voice telling me not to run away. Maybe it was stubbornness.

“No need. We’ll just keep going.”

“Very well, sir. But at the very least, I would like you to change your clothes. In those clothes, there is an interstellar distance between you and the clothes suitable for a commander.”

Settsu’s attire was the relaxed shirt he usually wore in his luggage.

“Yeah, I think you should change your clothes too.”

With Kitty’s push, Setsueto decided to accept the offer to change his clothes.

“Let’s do it.”

“The commander’s uniform is in his private quarters.”

“Okay, I’ll go change.”

Settsu walked out of the fortress command center.

Kitty, who was left behind, poked Mitsuki with her elbow with a happy look on her face.

“You did a good job.”

“What are you talking about?”

Mitsuki, on the other hand, had her usual dull expression on her face.

“Boys grow up with every decision they make.”

“I’m not interested. I will only show His Excellency the options that may be needed. I’m sure he doesn’t know how to put on a uniform, so I’ll go help him.”

Mitsuki saluted and walked out of the commander’s office.

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