This unidentified enemy had targeted a strategic transit point. Even with Forthorthe’s advanced technology, they hadn’t perfected space travel so that people could fly freely. Space distortion navigation, or warp travel, had margins of error caused by the state of the destination, measuring instruments, the limitations of the computer’s calculating abilities, and more. All those reasons overlapped to create a discrepancy over where a ship would exit warp.
The differences in distance were very small, but on a large scale, such mistakes became enormous. For example, say that the margin of error was one percent. At a one-hundred-meter warp, there would be a one meter difference. While that might not have been a big problem, when traveling a hundred light-years, the difference became a full light-year. So if anything existed within a light-year radius, there was a chance of collision. Therefore, warp travel required warping to destinations where there was nothing, or rather so little that the probability of a collision was negligible.
Moving through such stepping stones was the basis of Forthorthe’s space travel. As a result, many ships gathered in specific passages while traveling the galaxy. These empty spaces weren’t conveniently available, so spaceships ended up congregating across a few limited routes that would take them to their destinations. In a sense, they were like highways.
The enemy had targeted a junction where multiple highways intersected. The Imperial Army defending the junction had a base in a nearby system, and it was that base that was under attack.
“Considering the location, it’s almost definitely Maxfern,” Koutarou concluded after looking over the information. “They must be trying to stall us.”
Kiriha nodded. “Indeed. There is the off chance that it is another anti-government organization, but they have little reason to attack that location. And even if they’re not explicitly cooperating, it would almost definitely be a coordinated move.”
“That’s Ralgwin for you, I suppose...” Koutarou folded his arms and pondered. They would have to pass that location to reach Maxfern’s stronghold anyway. Ralgwin must have chosen the base because it was easy to defend.
“Hmm...I am sure they didn’t expect their stronghold to be discovered at this time,” Clan informed them. “They must have quickly gathered their forces to defend it. In which case...there probably isn’t a large fleet.”
Her senses told her that the enemy was moving too fast. If they had predicted this series of events, they might have prepared a large fleet, but considering the situation, that didn’t seem probable. The Imperial Army discovering the Liberation Army’s stronghold had been unlikely. She didn’t think the enemy had a large enough fleet prepared for an attack.
“The defending force hasn’t been wiped out immediately,” Theia said. “The enemy is panicking. Of course, they should be sending reinforcements, so we can’t let our guard down.” She agreed with Clan’s thoughts on the matter. The basis for that reasoning was that the defending forces were still present. Even now, they were holding the line while sending information. If that information was reliable, they would be able to hold out for a while longer. Still, the fleet couldn’t let its guard down. The forces on-site wouldn’t be able to deploy enough troops for protection, so if the enemy called in reinforcements and took the junction, Koutarou’s side would be severely hampered.
“All right, let’s go save them immediately!” he swiftly decided.
They had no time to waste. Grevanas and the Gray Knight might also show up as well, in which case Koutarou’s group was best suited to resolving it. Moreover, avoiding battle and giving the enemy more time was bad. If their opponents managed to move their stronghold, everything would be for naught. They had to set out immediately.
Fortunately for Koutarou and the others, the launching ceremony had finished. They flew up into orbit with all their equipment, and Nefilforan was nearby with her Hidden Leaves. They could omit any time spent on changing ships and quickly take action.
“So, we’ll head straight to the site,” Koutarou said. “The, uhm, Kularia system.”
“I will pray for your fortune, Koutarou-sama,” Elfaria replied.
Koutarou had command of the Imperial Army, so although it was unnecessary, he’d decided to report to Elfaria, who had returned to the Imperial Palace. She had gone to the surface when they had taken the Blue Knight for a test-drive. Even on days like these she had work to do.
“It’s a good thing you returned to the surface,” Koutarou said.
“What a blunder. I missed my chance to get you to take me with you without a fight,” she replied with puffed-up cheeks.
Normally, Koutarou would have a remark about that gesture, but not this time. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I’ll leave the rest to you.”
He didn’t complain about Elfaria and instead gave her a satisfied nod. While Elfaria had been joking, her eyes weren’t smiling. She was by no means taking the situation lightly. Koutarou knew that as well.
“Yes,” she said with a nod. “I will gather reinforcements to send after you, Koutarou-sama. I will also have the reconnaissance unit head over there.”
“Tell them not to get too close.”
“I understand. I should keep them at a distance where not even Sanae-san or Yurika-san can tell, right?”
“That’s right. It’s better to be safe, knowing who we’re up against,” Koutarou agreed with a nod.
They really were lucky. Koutarou and most of his friends were already aboard the Blue Knight, and Elfaria had returned to the surface. It was helpful to have someone who understood his group to send backup from Forthorthe.
“Koutarou-sama, please take care, considering who you’re facing,” Elfaria cautioned him. If possible, she didn’t want him to fight on the front anymore, personally, politically, or militarily. But the enemy wouldn’t allow that. Although worried, she had to send him out.
“That’s the plan, but it won’t be that easy.”
“In which case, I will pray for your fortune.”
“Thank you.”
It was frustrating for Elfaria that all she could do was to pray over the comms. Perhaps this is how Empress Alaia felt...
She was on the surface, while the woman who had inherited Alaia’s soul and powers left with Koutarou. Elfaria could understand why Alaia had wanted to be a normal girl.
Military spaceships had better warp devices installed than civilian ships. The same was true for the new Blue Knight, which came equipped with the latest model. But because of the size of the ship, it could only warp with roughly the same performance as Hidden Leaves. At first glance it looked like there hadn’t been any technological advancements, but the engineers deserved praise for making a Chivalry-class ship capable of warping like a Royalty-class ship.
“Master, we have finished the spatial distortion navigation,” Ruth reported. “Our course is set for the Kularia system.”
“Your Excellency, Hidden Leaves has finished warping as well; we are currently following the Blue Knight,” Nefilforan said over the comms.
“I’m counting on you, Princess Nefilforan,” Koutarou answered.
Having completed navigation for the last spatial distortion, the Blue Knight was facing the Kularia system. Hidden Leaves followed slightly behind and below it. Because of the Blue Knight’s legs, that area was a blind spot, so their current formation had been decided beforehand for when the two ships operated together.
“How does the situation look, Ruth-san?” Koutarou asked.
“It appears the battle in space has finished and they have moved the fight to the surface. But due to the strong fortifications, they are still fighting,” Ruth reported.
“Fortifications?” Koutarou tilted his head. He knew that important planets had fortresses on them, but he found it strange that a system in a region like this would have one.
“This has been a strategic transit point for a long time,” Theia explained. “They knew there would be fighting here if a war broke out, so the base was fortified.”
To Theia and the other Forthorthians, this historical background was common knowledge, but Koutarou didn’t have the same understanding.
“I see...” he said with a nod. “So the transit point is not a recent development.”
As warp technology advanced, traffic points usually changed. Since warp technology relied on stepping stones, several points could be set aside as technology improved. Even so, junctions where multiple routes intersected remained key locations no matter how much technology advanced. In some cases there weren’t many stepping stones around them, and those locations had always been militarily important, with fortresses built near many of them.
“That said, the situation looks bad,” Kiriha placed her thin finger on her chin and started thinking. Her expression was as serious as the circumstances. “If they’ve moved to a ground battle, the Imperial Army’s fleet must have been damaged. If enemy reinforcements arrived first, the Imperial Army would have lost a lot of time.”