By the time Kisei and the others finished resupplying and headed back to the frontline, the battleships on both sides had already opened fire on each other, it was an exchange of deadly colorful rays of light.
“Yeah, no one would want to get in the middle of that. Let’s focus on guarding our fleets.”
The powerful beams that are being exchanged right now have enough power to sink a small ship with just a graze. If they wander about in the middle of such an exchange with their strikers then they might end up losing their lives to some stray shots. Valentina’s proposal was very reasonable. No matter what Valentina may think of Schleer, Schleer is still the current commander of the entire Calencian fleet. They can’t afford to let her get shot down by some lucky hit.
“Right…….what’s the battle situation?”
The latter half was not directed toward Valentina but the staff on the [Radiant] which is now engaging the enemy. The battlefield is filled with jamming signals from both their allies and enemies but they can still use short-range laser communication without any problem.
“It appears that the enemy still can not reorganize themselves yet. Moreover, many of their ships have their FCR disabled…….I believe that we are about even, Your Highness.”
The person who responded was Solana. The entire fleet is currently being commanded by high-ranking staff like her. Terran generals may think of this situation as absurd but it is not unusual for a Vuld commander to take to the field. Even if you call them a commander, it’s mostly just in name……a banner in which her soldiers have to rally behind.
“Even huh……”
Schleer muttered while looking at the enemy fleet. Some of their ships are fighting back fiercely while others were still in confusion. the defeat of Duchess Angel who was the fleet commander caused great disturbance among their ranks.
The direct subordinates of the Duchess in particular are probably in a panic. Since they do not know which ship held their master, they can not poorly attack their enemy since they might accidentally blow away their duchess after all.
“For them to be able to put up an even fight in a situation like this, we will have to give it to them huh.”
In the end, the Angel fleet is gigantic. Many ships are shooting at them without care for the duchess’s wellbeing. Moreover, it’s not like they managed to destroy all of the enemy FCR and some of the Calencian battleships already received a direct hit.
“We need another push huh. Maybe, well, …….it’s about time we use that tape? I don’t really want to but that thing will definitely be effective.”
The ‘tape’ was of course the AV starring Diaroze and Kisei. The suggestion came from Valentina but she seems to be terribly embarrassed to bring it up. On the other hand, the person who’s actually in it, like Kisei, immediately turned bright red.
“Are we really going to use it, that thing…….”
“I understand why you are hesitating, I’m the same…….rotten as she is, she’s still my sister. But if this keeps on going then we will eventually be at a disadvantage.”
“Well, I understand but–….”
Kisei let out a small sigh. It’s still embarrassing.
“Don’t worry. You don’t have to be afraid that you can no longer be a groom anymore. I’m always willing to accept you after all.”
“Sorry for interrupting but we’re not going to use that tape yet you know.”
Diaroze, who sensed that the conversation was rearing toward an undesirable direction, interrupted. Diaroze herself aside, both Kisei and Schleer are not good at holding secrets. There’s no way to know when the two might crumble under pressure.
“It’s a plan designed to demoralize the enemy so its effectiveness will depend on the timing. In a situation. There’s a big difference between giving the enemy a shock when they think they are winning and when they have the leeway to shrug it off after all.”
“I think it would be very hard for them to shrug something like that off though…….”
The worst kind of scandal involved the Empress’s own daughter. There’s no doubt that the effect will be nuclear.
“Well, it will certainly improve our odds here but……since we went out of our way to tape it, I want to use it at the most effective time possible. In short, I want the Empress to completely lose her cool when she sees it.”
“I see…….it’s true that if we use it to repel the Angel fleet, the fleets under the Empress will be unaffected. We can’t afford to fight two consecutive battles with fleets that large after all.”
“That’s right. Besides, a single video can’t make the whole army tuck their tail and run after all.”
In any case, they do not have nearly enough firepower to annihilate all their enemies. Even if the tape is a powerful trump card, they have to use it carefully.
“Well, since we’ve already got her, let’s make use of Duchess Angel’s name here. We can emit a signal telling them that she’s on board our flagship. That way the enemy won’t dare attack the [Radiant].”
“U, Using her as a hostage? You’re as underhanded as always……”
Valentina disdainfully moaned but Diaroze was unfazed.
“Wasn’t it you who said that you don’t mind whatever method you have to use? Hmm?”
“Ugh……”
Schleer’s face cramped up at the tension-filled exchange between sisters. She was glad that none of her sisters have this kind of personality.
Still, what Diaroze said was correct.
Using the laser communication line that’s still connected to the [Radiant], Schleer relays the plan to them.