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We didn’t have much time left. We had a deadline of 24 hours until the Galactic Federation attack from the time we had received the message, and since then we’d spent half a day chasing down Fam. After negotiating with her, we had to choose the fastest ship she had and arm and man it appropriately. That meant changing out its armaments and carefully screening crew members, which took another two or three hours. Once all the prep work was done, Satsuki divined the location of Iris’s fleet with her magic, and we spent another couple of hours in warp to get there.
“Phew, did we make it?”
The first thing I felt upon exiting the warp was relief that the fleet wasn’t in view yet. If they’d already opened fire by the time we got there, it would be too late. Our goal was to avoid any fighting altogether.
“By my estimate, we’ll be within each other’s radar ranges in roughly ten minutes.”
“So it’s just about time...”
I took a deep breath. We couldn’t afford to fail here. I had to convince Iris to call off her attack no matter what.
“Aye! That’s a mighty long face ya got there, boss! Relax! We’re here for ya, so ya got nothin’ to worry about!”
Just then, a member of Fam’s pirate crew tried to cheer me up. He was very clearly older than me, and had volunteered for the mission.
“Um, I’m not your boss.”
“What’re talkin’ about?! Yer the guy who saved Big Boss Squallow, ain’tcha? We all owe ya a big one!”
“Ahaha... Right...”
Squallow, huh? That name sure brought back memories. He was the founder of the Seageists and basically Fam’s foster father. My future self had apparently saved him for Fam’s sake just like I had, which was a welcome development since it meant Fam’s entire crew was happy to try and help me out in return.
“Just one thing though... You know I’m not actually the Rekka you guys know, right?”
“Don’t sweat the details, boss!”
I tried to correct him, but he just laughed the whole thing off with a hearty chuckle.
Am I just worrying about it too much...? Oh well. I need to focus on the task at hand for now.
So many people were lending me their aid that I had to make sure not to let them down. For their sakes, I was going to give this my all. And just as I steeled my resolve, a number of flashing alerts popped up on the bridge’s giant main screen.
“They’re here!”
The alerts were notifications that the enemy fleet was now within range. It looked like there was an alert for each individual ship... And there were easily over a hundred of them.
“Captain! They’re in the standard spherical formation!”
“All right! Calculate their density!” Fam shouted, rattling off orders from the captain’s chair.
“They’ve sent a transmission seeking to confirm our affiliation!”
“Spam them back with whatever.”
“Aye, captain!”
“We’ve received a warning. It reads, ‘Move it already!’”
“Ignore it.”
I did what I could while watching the crew scramble about. If things went awry here, I was prepared to hand myself over to the Galactic Federation to prevent a fight from breaking out. But like the doctor had warned me, that would only lead to more fighting in the future. It would be an absolute last resort. Before it came to that, we’d give this all-or-nothing surprise attack our best shot. We had to.
“We’ve located the enemy flagship!”
“Calculating the shortest route... Got it!”
“Enemy vanguard is changing formations! Looks like they’re about to open fire!”
“Okay, men! Chaaarge!”
“Yeeeeeaaah!”
When Fam rallied them, her entire crew roared in unison as the ship sped forward to meet the Galactic Federation fleet.
“Urk!”
I couldn’t actually feel how fast we were going from the bridge, but the stars whizzing past us were dizzying.
“Enemy has fired a long-range beam cannon! Impact expected in 15 seconds!”
“Evade it! Left blaster jet to maximum thrust! Seventy degrees!”
The ship trembled as it tilted to the right. A giant beam of swirling light then went flying past just to our left where the ship had been sitting moments ago. So this was what space combat was like... It was basically a long-range showdown.
We knew where the enemy ships were thanks to the radar, but they were still 10,000 kilometers away. We didn’t even have a visual on them at that distance. But that shot they’d fired just now... That definitely would’ve sunk us if it had been a direct hit.
Still, we had to get close enough to be able to see Iris’s flagship at the center of the fleet. Beams like that would be flying the whole time we were trying to make it there... It was a little late, but it finally set in on me how ridiculous of a favor I’d asked Fam.
“It’ll be fine, Brother Rekka!” Fam called out, turning to me with a smile. “If they were serious, we wouldn’t stand a chance. But that’s not gonna happen.”
“Wh-Why not?”
“Because we’re just a single ship. A midsize one with no long-range artillery, even. While they won’t just let an unidentified ship sneak into their ranks, they know we’re not a serious threat to them. They’ll respond accordingly.”
Fam knew the fleet’s real target was agency HQ, which was notoriously defended by mechanisms of the doctor’s own personal design. They weren’t about to charge in recklessly. Of course, a pirate ship appearing out of nowhere was suspicious to them, but a ship that could only go fast was nothing more than an annoying fly to a fully-equipped battleship fleet. They would swat at us if we got too close, but they weren’t going to waste but so much time and energy on us. Their battle lay ahead, so they would conserve any and all resources they could for the main event. Or, at least, that was Fam’s theory.
And she seemed to be right. Slowly but surely, we made our way closer and closer to the fleet. They continued to fire at us, but at a rate that suggested they were trying to drive us away rather than shoot us down. That gave me a spark of hope, but...
“Now the real fun begins,” Fam said suddenly.
“Huh?” I asked, stupefied.
Fam then turned to me and explained, “We’ll be inside their formation pretty soon. That’s where the party starts.”
“P-Party?”
“That’s right! It’s showtime!” Fam roared with a confident grin. “So you should get ready, Brother Rekka. Once we have a visual on Big Sis Iris’s ship, it’s your turn. Better get pumped!”
“Yeah, you’re right. Leave it to me!” I said with a nod as I pounded my chest.
While I was worried about Fam, now wasn’t the time for second guesses. If I wanted to honor the hard work she and her crew were putting in for my sake, I had to see this plan through. I had to make sure it succeeded.
“Let’s go, everyone!”
“Right!”
I gathered Satsuki and the others, and we moved through the ship following the instructions Fam had given us beforehand. The route led us to a small hangar where more pirates were waiting for us.
“They’re here! C’mon! Put these on quick!”
They gave each one of us a space suit similar to what we’d worn on the sandy planet where we found Lea. We quickly got changed, and the pirates checked us out to make sure everything was in order.
“And where’s your suit, lass?” one of the pirates asked Lea.
“I don’t need one,” she replied.
Lea closed her eyes and began concentrating while Satsuki, Harissa, the doctor, L, and I all finished getting ready. Once preparations were complete, the pirates who’d helped us get changed retreated from the hangar. Things were potentially about to get dangerous. We patiently awaited Fam’s signal, but all of a sudden...
Boom!
An impact rattled the ship, making the whole hangar shake.
“Kyah!”
“Eek!”
I had to grab Harissa and Satsuki to keep them from toppling over.
“What was that?! Is everyone okay?!”
Don’t tell me the fleet had actually landed a hit...
“Everything’s fine! It was just a scratch! They only managed to graze us,” someone suddenly declared from behind us.
When I whipped around to see who it was...
“Wait, Fam?! What are you doing here?!”
“I’m coming too. I’ve left orders with my first mate, and they’ll get the ship outta here once we depart.”
Fam, who should’ve been on the bridge, descended the ladder to the hangar floor. She was already wearing a space suit and everything.
“I’m pretty useful when it comes to navigating ships, you know? I also want to see Big Sis Iris again, so let me tag along.”
“F-Fine! Let’s just get a move on!”
The longer we stood around here arguing, the more likely the ship was to get shot down. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take, and with that decided, I turned to Lea.
“Lea! We’re going!”
“Understood.”
On my signal, Lea began to transform. She went from adult woman to legendary beast.
“Get on, everyone.”