Ch.127127. Wolves of Winter

# Human Federation

The Human Federation, a force so powerful and massive that it dominates one-third of our galaxy and stands unrivaled in the universe, is in fact more accurately described as a literal federation of various nations.

As a result, each nation has vastly different tendencies, and while they enjoy a high degree of autonomy, this inevitably leads to somewhat unstable security conditions.

The Federal Army under the federal government is certainly powerful, but their numbers are insufficient to cover the vast expanse of the entire federation. Meanwhile, the planetary defense forces of federation members… while sufficient in number, vary wildly in quality.

For example, wealthy planets with advanced technology maintain planetary defense forces equipped with gear superior to the Federal Army’s, while planetary defense forces from planets with only modern-level civilization are often compared to line infantry armed with nothing more than laser weapons.

Perhaps for this reason, the power disparity between planetary armies is severe, and since command authority rests with each planet’s government, various accidents occur during joint operations due to command issues.

Therefore, the military organization that fills the inevitable gap between these two forces is the mercenaries of the space age, composed of psychic users.

While mercenaries exist in various forms, when one simply specifies “mercenary” in space, it typically refers to a member of the Mercenary Guild established by Theresia, who was once the captain and ruler of a satellite-class ship—a relic of ancient civilization.

The Mercenary Guild was founded by Theresia after she single-handedly defeated the named monster, the fire dragon “Vulcania,” and slaughtered the various dragon subspecies inside what had been the dragon’s nest, claiming the satellite-class ship as headquarters.

The headquarters residents who directly handle the guild’s administrative duties across generations number over 18 billion, and the number of mercenaries under their command is estimated to be in the tens of trillions at minimum.

The satellite-class ship used as headquarters lives up to its name as an ancient relic—it generates a small artificial black hole as its power source and possesses incredible maneuverability despite its size through a strange psychic phenomenon called the “flicker effect.”

Additionally, the Mercenary Guild headquarters has a space-severing barrier that can block even planet killers and firepower capable of reducing a moon-sized satellite to dust.

Thanks to this, it’s considered superior in pure combat power to any other ship in the Federation, so there’s hardly any need to explain its strength further.

Moreover, they possess so many mercenaries that they’re considered equal in scale to the federal government within the Federation. Their top-tier Special Grade mercenaries, who surpass even First Grade, are individually assessed to be capable of taking on entire ships.

Because of this, despite having no clear planetary base, they hold more voting rights in the Federation’s council than anyone except the Nano-Tech planetary realms.

And at one of the many branches of this Mercenary Guild—that is, one of the super-massive ships.

“…A kidnapping?”

“Y-y-yes, th-that’s right… Please, please save my daughter! I beg you, I beg you!”

Yon Ferrison, a Second Grade hunter and leader of “Winter Wolves”—a well-established mid-sized mercenary group operating from this branch—was discussing the request with this man who was pleading with him.

The man, who was also the client, was a middle-aged man dressed in a high-quality suit—someone who exuded an unmistakable “I’m a CEO” aura.

Normally, he would have maintained an imposing presence and dignified expression, but with his only daughter kidnapped, he was now simply a father desperately pleading with Yon.

“It’s the O-Ophilin! Those bastards! N-no… my daughter, please save my child who’s been captured by the Ophilin pirates!”

He was asking for the rescue of his daughter who had been kidnapped by a pirate group composed of an alien species called Ophilin.

Ophilin. One of the many alien species wandering the galaxy after the destruction of their homeworld, and one whose way of thinking isn’t too different from humans.

Their most distinctive feature is the pale pinkish-white fur covering their skin surface, which hardens like sharp spines with just a small injection of psychic energy.

These spines not only cause puncture wounds upon contact but more importantly function as organs that block lasers, making infantry-grade lasers incapable of even wounding an Ophilin.

Additionally, Ophilins have lower bodies resembling four-legged wolves and relatively human-like furry upper bodies. They’re not only large in size but also naturally born with powerful enhancement-type psychic abilities.

Therefore, they’re difficult for conventional armies to deal with at both long and close range, which is why this businessman’s best hope for rescuing his daughter lies with this mercenary group called “Winter Wolves.”

They number only 508 in total, with just a few dozen small assault crafts and one 500-meter armed merchant vessel used as their base.

They don’t even have support troops handling armored weapons or providing long-range fire support, which is standard for mercenary groups in this era—they’re truly an elite few. However, they possess characteristics distinctly different from other mercenary groups.

First, all 508 members are mid-level—that is, Grade 6 or higher psychic user mercenaries, which means that despite being only 508 in number, they’re effectively equivalent to 508 humanoid tanks.

Additionally, all 508 members previously served in the planetary defense force of a low-temperature planet with a low civilization level, making them all specialized in close combat and the use of psychic cold energy.

In other words, rather than direct confrontation, they specialize in infiltration and VIP protection as an elite few, making them exceptionally skilled at rescue missions involving people kidnapped by pirates like these.

“I accept the mission to rescue the VIP kidnapped by Ophilin pirates.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Having readily accepted this request, Yon responded with a humble gesture to the man (client) who was bowing his head in gratitude, while simultaneously contacting the mercenary group’s officers via psychic communication.

‘Got a request. I’ll send the related materials to your terminals.’

Once again, it was time to set out to earn their living.

※ ※ ※

Shortly after, in the conference room of the “Winter Wolves” flagship, Ice Fang.

“So, is the target indeed that planet?”

“Yes. Fortunately, it’s our specialty.”

The five company commanders and mercenary leader Yon were holding a meeting about the upcoming operation.

All wearing customized versions of the SR series—the most famous model of close combat powered suits in their star system—each had a different appearance.

First, Sigurd Bayerson, commander of the 1st Company “Armored Wolf,” wore an extremely thick suit that resembled a coffin, befitting his role as leader of a company specialized in frontal close combat.

To draw a comparison, his Hulkbuster-like suit had a plasma hammer strapped to the waist, with a tactical shield and shortened plasma cannon on his back.

In contrast, Sila Wondereye, commander of the 2nd Company “Wing Wolf,” was a specialist in aerial assault and infiltration, wearing a sleek powered suit that clung tightly to her body, with a massive booster-equipped backpack for mobility.

Her lack of defensive capability was compensated by the psychic barrier from her backpack, and in combat, she would activate her boosters to fly around, either showering enemies with fire or directly striking their flanks—a fitting outfit for the commander of the 2nd Company.

Meanwhile, the commanders of the 3rd and 4th Companies, named “Attack Wolf” and “Assault Wolf”… wore moderate outfits that fell between the 1st and 2nd Companies.

They were typical mercenaries in powered suits with decent defensive capabilities, high mobility, and flexible battlefield adaptability.

Finally, the commander of the 5th Company, “Cannon Wolf,” specialized in fire support—true to his transhumanist ideology that favored body modification, he had numerous implants.

Both arms had long been replaced with machinery, a pair of cannons protruded from both shoulders, and six pairs of mechanical arms extending from his back each carried a plasma rifle.

And Yon, the superior of these company commanders—wearing an ice-colored powered suit covered with wolf fur giving a barbaric impression—concluded the meeting with:

“…Please, don’t cause any incidents.”

These individuals, as diverse in appearance as they were in personality—charitably described as unique, or frankly speaking, completely unhinged—were being told not to cause any incidents on this mission.

Having had to pay 50% of previous mission rewards as compensation for cleaning up their past incidents, Yon was absolutely sincere in this request.