Around an hour and a half later, we entered level-two battle stations in Riche III’s geostationary orbit. “Level-two battle stations” referred to a state of alert in which we had to be ready to enter combat with any enemies that suddenly appeared. It wasn’t just us in the Krishna entering that state. The Antlion, piloted by Elma, and the Black Lotus, commanded by Mei, were also at level-two battle stations. Konoha, Tina, and Wiska were on standby in the Black Lotus, while Kugi and Mimi were with me aboard the Krishna. The Black Lotus would be stationed at the rear of the grouped vessels, alongside the Pirate-Hunting Unit’s capital ships, which was a relatively safe position. That placement was appropriate, given the importance of safeguarding Konoha, who was here as an advisor from Verthalz.
As a side note, according to the Grakkan Empire’s Imperial Fleet, level-two battle stations essentially implied “be prepared to enter level-one battle stations at any time,” with “level-one battle stations” being actual combat. It entailed readiness to engage with enemies at any moment even if enemies hadn’t yet been detected.
“So will that immediate-response fleet make it in time?” Elma asked through her comms.
“Who knows? Even using my powers, we can’t communicate with them in real time. I might possess sufficient psionic reserves to handle that kind of task, but my energy is being channeled into Kugi. She’s the one actually using it, and her body can’t handle the strain of doing that constantly.”
“That is indeed a failing on my part,” Kugi said. “I’m truly sorry.”
“It’s not really your fault. If I don’t control my psionic energy properly, I can emit enough of it to blow away several planets, right? It’s incredible that you’re able to receive and control that much energy even for a moment.”
This was probably similar to taking a battleship’s most powerful generator and jury-rigging it to fit a small vessel’s thrusters. If things went awry, it was entirely possible that Kugi might explode under the pressure.
“Looking at it that way, it’s a miracle that Kugi’s still okay and didn’t overload on your energy,” Elma remarked, grimacing.
She must’ve reached the same conclusions I had. Kugi had collapsed for a short while after receiving my energy before, although she seemed fine now.
“Master Hiro, what do you think Colonel Serena’s plans are for this battle?” Mimi asked.
“Well, let’s see… Asking someone with a normal brain, like me, to keep up with and predict plans created by Colonel Serena’s physically enhanced brain is a tall order… But at the moment, she’s probably enduring stress-related stomach pain, feeling torn between adhering to her mission and adjusting based on the information provided to her. Mr. Tetrahedron told her that she probably won’t win with her current fighting power, but given her mission, she can’t just accept that info and flee without even trying to fight. She probably plans to give the fight a shot, collect as much data as possible, and hopefully retreat with minimal casualties.”
Hopefully that dangerous space monster that Mr. Tetrahedron had sealed was one that would allow for escape.
“Are we sticking with Colonel Serena to the bitter end?” Elma asked me.
“If the battle seems to be going poorly, the Black Lotus and Antlion should retreat first. Krishna will serve as a vanguard and buy time. Sorry, Mimi and Kugi.”
“That does seem to be the best plan… Make sure you escape and come after us, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
If we really had no chance, there was nothing I could do. But, if it was avoidable, I didn’t want to abandon Colonel Serena. At any rate, if worst came to worst, it would be best to start by having the Black Lotus and Antlion flee, since they were slower. Meanwhile, I’d hang in there for as long as I could. Given how fast the Krishna was, I should still be able to get away just fine.
Although it made me a failure as a mercenary and a captain, I wasn’t the kind of person who would feel no qualms about running away immediately, abandoning Colonel Serena. Well, whatever. I do what I want. I feel bad for worrying Elma, though.
“If you die,” Elma said, “then the Antlion, Black Lotus, and Mei will belong to me.”
“Fine by me. You hear that, Mei?”
“…If those are your wishes, Master, then I will comply.”
In the event that such a thing happened, my crew would probably end up selling the Black Lotus and operating the Antlion as a team of four: Elma, Mei, Tina, and Wiska. What about Dr. Shouko? Without the Black Lotus, they couldn’t provide the type of research facilities she’d want, so she probably wouldn’t join them as the ship’s doctor.
“Talking about stuff like that makes it sound like we’re cursing hon,” Tina objected. “We should talk about what we wanna do after we beat that space monster!”
“Discussing what we want to do after this battle would be a death flag, Sis…”
“Oh, right. I didn’t say nothing!” Tina laughed.
Tina can brighten the atmosphere with a joke even at a time like this… I really can’t match her. “It’s been almost two hours.”
I switched the Krishna’s main screen to a wide-view map and confirmed the current fleet’s positions. Colonel Serena’s Lestarius and the other capital ships were in place, but ships the size of destroyers and smaller were still moving to their spots, most likely because it’d taken them longer to recall all the soldiers who’d deployed to the surface. The mercenaries were all in position already, since the mercenaries aside from me had been tasked with patrolling nearby space.
Mercenary ships tended to be either small- or medium-sized vessels to begin with. According to the military’s labels, they’d be classified as fighters, frigates, or corvettes—all extremely small ships. In fleet battles in which battleships and cruisers comprised the main fighting forces, small ships were only useful for close-range brawling. The difference in range and firepower between them and larger craft was simply too great. Of course, gunboats pretending to be motherships—like the Black Lotus—were a different story.
“It wouldn’t be strange for either of the parties we’re waiting for to show up right around now…”
That said, the Krishna’s sensors hadn’t yet detected anything. I checked the Antlion and Black Lotus’s sensors too; they hadn’t picked up anything strange either.
“Nothing ye—wait. What the…?”
Suddenly, an oppressive force assaulted me, which plunged me into confusion. The sensors had yet to detect anything, but I was definitely experiencing very real physical pressure. Kugi must’ve felt it too; her usually elegant face scrunched up in a wince as she struggled against it. On the other hand, Mimi seemed completely unaffected. She even had the luxury of worrying as we behaved strangely.
“What happened?” she asked.
It seemed that the pressure had only affected those with psionic powers. Did Elma experience the same pressure in the Antlion? “We started getting a weird sensation that probably has something to do with psionic power,” I explained. “Kugi, is that a sign that Verthalz’s fleet is about to arrive?”
“No… It’s something different.”
“That space monster must’ve caused it, then. All hands on deck… Level-one combat stations. Mei, send Colonel Serena a warning.” Konoha might already have warned her, but if I sent a message cautioning the colonel too, that should increase the warning’s credibility.
“Yes, Master. I sent her a warning.”
“It’s coming, my lord,” said Kugi.
“Yeah.”
The moment I responded, that sense of oppression suddenly exploded.