Ch.155Fleet Battle (2)

Commander Sanada-ef of the Nemea Fleet was on the verge of losing his mind.

No Cult residents lived in the JP-22 system. There were no resources that would attract the Cult’s attention.

Nor was it a strategic point important to the Empire’s security. Apart from its proximity to Star Union territory, there was nothing particularly threatening about it.

‘But why is an Imperial Mothership here?!’

It wasn’t that they hadn’t prepared for combat with the Cult. They had completed preparations to defend against psychic attacks before making the hyperspeed jump.

But he never dreamed an Imperial Mothership would appear.

‘If we fight like this, we’ll suffer tremendous casualties.’

The Nemea Fleet was one of Star Union’s 12 elite fleets. With enough firepower to scorch multiple planets, they were unlikely to lose against an Imperial Mothership.

However, given their opponent, significant damage was inevitable. The Imperial Mothership, equipped with the planetary cleansing weapon Cosmic Volt, also possessed powerful secondary armaments. Fighting such a monster recklessly would result in the annihilation of at least a quarter of the fleet.

‘…Let’s try talking first.’

They must know too. The fact that they couldn’t easily defeat a Star Union fleet on their own.

The other side seemed quite surprised that an elite fleet from an allied power had invaded their system. That’s probably why they requested communication first.

“Ef. Connect the communication.”

「Confirmed.」

Soon, an image appeared before Sanada-ef’s eyes, connected to the ship’s computer.

A middle-aged Cult with yak horns stood in an elaborate situation room decorated with gold and jewels against an ivory background, glaring at him.

「I am Eshta, captain of the ‘Punisher of Gormos03’. Cyborg, state your name and affiliation.」

“…Acting Fleet Commander Sanada-ef of Star Union’s Nemea Fleet.”

「Nemea Fleet? The 5th fleet among the 12 fleets?」

“You are correct.”

The Cult who introduced himself as Eshta widened his eyes. His expression showed he had thought the fleet was large, but never expected an elite fleet to come here.

Sanada-ef thought they might be able to resolve this through dialogue, but that was a mistake. Eshta’s surprised expression quickly contorted.

「How dare you! The pillars of Star Union commit such a vile act!」

“What are you talking about?”

「Don’t play dumb! Do you not know how much damage you cyborgs have inflicted on our empire!」

“Damage? This is embarrassing to say, but we just arrived here.”

「How shameless. Do you need to see evidence of what you’ve done before you’ll admit it?」

「New communication record file detected.」

‘Communication?’

He opened the file Eshta sent. The communication records in the file began playing in his ears.

The contents of the communication were beyond his comprehension.

「I am MacKay from Star Union’s Population Management Department. I’m a cyborg who will give you the honor of becoming one with Star Union.」

「I, I am Koshei, a Cult warrior unit member of the Judge of Damos08! If the council learns of this…!」

「Hmph, council? Only weak species rely on such inferior political institutions. You ungrateful, useless kind—our Machine Committee has implemented this great work to save you.」

「D-damn it! I inform the last Cult fleet receiving this news! What happened at the holy site was the cyborg’s doing! The location is JP-2…」

「Shut up! How dare you contact them secretly! You bitch!」

「Kyaaaak!」

‘What is this?!’

Sanada-ef was confused. No matter how many times he listened to the communication, he couldn’t understand its content.

‘Why is the Population Management Department here… and what’s this holy site?’

For a moment, he wondered if the Machine Committee was trying to purge him by withholding information, but he quickly dismissed the thought. The efficiency-focused Machine Committee wouldn’t use methods that would severely damage the Nemea Fleet, which formed a wing of the 12 elite fleets.

Yet Eshta didn’t seem to be lying either. Even though the Cult Empire had over a hundred Imperial Motherships, they weren’t expendable to this degree.

In other words, the communication was fabricated. And there was a high possibility that both he and Eshta were being manipulated by someone.

Having organized his thoughts, Sanada-ef spoke.

“Listen, Captain Eshta. Have you considered this? That the communication might be false.”

「Are you suggesting our warrior unit member reported falsely? Impossible. Koshei used a proprietary communication network known only to the warrior unit.」

“Think about it. If we really intended to trap you, would we be doing this? We would have laid Gremlin torpedoes before the Imperial Mothership arrived via hyperspeed travel.”

「…」

Since this wasn’t wrong, Eshta kept silent. If the Nemea Fleet had truly set a trap, they would have suffered massive damage as soon as they entered this system.

「Then how do you explain this MacKay sent from your side? We have identified his affiliation and his last known location.」

“That… please wait a moment. I’ll check right away.”

At his words, Eshta clicked his tongue but said nothing more. It was clear they had no intention of starting a war either.

Knowing he would be in serious trouble if he missed this opportunity, he urgently called Ef.

“Search for MacKay’s brainwave signature and find his location immediately.”

「Confirmed. Searching.」

“Fucking crazy cyborg bastard, what the hell is he doing…”

「Found.」

“Already? Where?”

「Detected near the Jonas Asteroid Belt in the JP-22 system.」

“Isn’t the Jonas Asteroid Belt nearby?”

Sanada-ef had an ominous feeling at Ef’s report.

This situation was far from normal. Someone unknown was definitely pushing them into a trap.

‘Could it be?’

“Captain Eshta! Listen carefully! This is all a trap…”

Sanada-ef tried to explain hurriedly, but suddenly the video communication cut off. Not only was the communication severed, but the cable connecting Sanada-ef to the ship’s computer also stopped working.

“What’s this? Ef? Answer me!”

「Ch-chzz, E, EMP detected, chzz, recovery in one minute.」

“EMP?”

After a minute, the communication was restored. As soon as Eshta’s face appeared, he shouted urgently.

“Captain! Everything is a misunderstanding! Don’t make hasty judgments!”

「…」

But something was wrong.

Eshta wasn’t looking at him. As if he had forgotten that the video communication had been restored, he was staring blankly into space with dazed eyes.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like that?’

Eshta’s face was so pale it would have startled even a cyborg like him. The face of someone who had seen something extremely terrifying.

Eventually, Eshta screamed at the top of his lungs.

「Th-the three-headed demon! Everyone, open fire!」

“Huh?”

「Imperial Mothership’s main cannon activating. Dark matter detected.」

“This fucking… everyone sca—gack!”

Sanada-ef tried to hurriedly order a scatter, but at that moment, the entire ship shook violently. Along with this, Ef displayed an image of the enemy ship that had attacked them.

「Psychic power attack detected from that ship.」

“Fuck, I know! Ships, counterattack!”

Sanada-ef cursed while looking at the black Cult escort ship in the image.

There was no stopping now. He needed to subdue the enemies as quickly as possible and then report to the Machine Committee on what to do next.

Thus, the elite forces of the two cosmic superpowers, the Cult Empire and Star Union, clashed in JP-22.

「Big sister, am I doing this right?」

[Zzu zzu zzuzzu zzuzu (You’re doing very well)]

「Yes!」

Finding No. 26’s concentration endearing, I stroked it with my infection tentacle. It seemed to enjoy being stroked, as it wiggled and emitted a red light from its entire body.

[Zzu (Focus)]

「Ah. Right. Focus. Focus!」

Reading my wavelength, it regained its composure and readjusted the flow of its scattered psychic power.

It’s currently using the Deep Sea Terror trait to create an impressive illusion. With No. 26’s power, our ship is covered in a massive hallucination—the image of me when I transformed into an adult after consuming psyonium, the being Cult members call the three-headed demon.

‘The Cult members must be absolutely terrified.’

As I expected, the Imperial Mothership and Cult warships that came here are losing their minds after seeing the illusion created by No. 26.

‘This should help cover up the ambiguous parts.’

Among the Cult genetic information I’ve stored, there’s one from a warrior unit member of an Imperial Mothership. A warrior unit member hunted by Sky Mother while I was in Transcendence Stage 2.

Since then, I’ve used her voice effectively to deceive other Cult members, and it’s proving helpful again here.

‘Thanks to contacting them through the emergency channel used only by the warrior unit, I was able to avoid suspicion.’

I used encryption codes only she would know to connect to the emergency channel, mimicked her voice to create a false situation. During this process, the cyborg MacKay under my control played the role of a villainous Star Union antagonist.

As a result, a large fleet including an Imperial Mothership came to this system to rescue Koshei, who was already dead.

‘Normally, they wouldn’t have come for just this.’

The word “holy site” I mentioned, and the contact from a survivor who was annihilated while trying to remove the contaminant from that holy site. These two elements triggered their overreaction.

And to drive home their misconception, I asked No. 26 to show them an illusion of the form designated as Deep Sea Terror.

Originally, Deep Sea Terror manifests the image that the victim of a mental attack fears most. I wasn’t sure if a C-demon could directly reflect the image it wanted, so I thought it might not work, but No. 26 managed it.

‘It wasn’t difficult because it remembered my form well.’

I’m not sure how a creature without eyes knew, but anyway, it successfully created the image of my adult form.

The fear that Cult soldiers harbored toward me also played an important role here. Thanks to their fear of the “three-headed demon” that destroyed an entire mothership squadron, this deception operation could succeed.

‘The biggest concern is Star Union.’

Star Union’s cyborgs include many androids, and their ships are heavily equipped with anti-psychic defenses. Therefore, they have high resistance to psychic power attacks, including Deep Sea Terror.

So I induced the Cult members to prepare for battle after seeing the illusion of the “three-headed demon,” while simultaneously launching a preemptive strike on the Star Union fleet. Since I attacked in the form of a Cult escort ship, they would have no choice but to counterattack.

‘A precise scan would quickly reveal my identity.’

But would they have the luxury to do so when facing an immediate enemy?

Mistaking my attack for one from the Cult fleet, Star Union began their counterattack. As a result, a space war between the two powers is now unfolding before me.

‘It’s not over yet.’

I still have tricks prepared for Star Union. I plan to use them when the battle intensifies.

At that moment, Sky Mother muttered beside me.

「I can’t believe this actually worked.」

She is observing what’s happening outside through the reinforced glass I made, along with Adhigh Orr.

“People’s thoughts are simple.”

「…I’ve thought this before, but you’re really good at acting.」

She looked at me as if disgusted.

Well, since she’s been repeatedly deceived by me in the game, I can roughly guess how she feels. What she must have thought when she saw me imitating Koshei on the communicator. Her feelings must be quite complicated.

‘Acting.’

Considering my family background, her thoughts are probably close to the truth. Perhaps my ability to deceive people well in the game was also due to that.

‘…Let’s put aside unnecessary thoughts.’

We’re in the middle of battle now. Shaking off memories I’d rather not recall, I examined the situation outside.

The Cult ships aligned in a diamond formation centered around the Imperial Mothership. Then, three purple heat rays were fired from the main cannons attached to the ships.

Beams of light that oxidized all the rocks and space debris floating in the black space as they traveled.

Meanwhile, the cyborg fleet wasn’t idle either.

Small white drones poured out like waterfalls from the large and small rectangular ships. The drones moved in perfect unison, spreading out in front of the ships. The sight resembled a matador waving a cloth in front of a charging bull. In this case, white instead of red.

Eventually, the purple heat rays clashed with the mass of white drones. Anyone would have thought the heat rays would smash the drones, but the result was different.

The name of those drones launched from Star Union ships is APD (Anti Psychic Drone).

These drones are made of an alloy of Black Silver, a metal with strong resistance to psychic power, and Gallenium, a metal that absorbs various energies. They are primarily used when fighting against entities that mainly use psychic power, like the Cult or Gallergorn.

A purple flash so intense it would blind an ordinary human occurred in the middle of space. Star Union’s APDs managed to block the tremendous impact of “part” of the Cult’s cannon fire.

I say “part” because the Cult’s attack wasn’t over yet.

The heat rays fired from the Cult’s main cannons appeared to be three streams, but they were actually three rapid shots. Since there was a time difference in the arrival of the heat rays, the APDs easily blocked the first attack but couldn’t adequately defend against the follow-up attacks.

‘APDs are vulnerable to time-differential attacks.’

As I expected, some of the purple beams passed through the swarm of drones and penetrated the cyborg warships. Explosions occurred one after another where the light had passed, and the warships shattered.

Having lost several ships, the Star Union fleet showed no sign of retreat and launched a counterattack.

To describe the appearance of Star Union ships simply, they have rectangular hulls with numerous spike-like cannons attached. Those cannons embedded like spikes are not decorations.

Countless cannons began to operate. Thousands, tens of thousands of torpedoes precisely controlled by androids flew toward the Cult.

The Cult ships maintaining their diamond formation simultaneously emitted purple light. Shields formed on the front of the ships connected to create a massive diamond-shaped barrier.

The torpedoes that flew first were blocked by the giant shield and exploded.

The Cult maintained their shields without damage. But it was too early to relax. Some of the torpedoes flying toward them suddenly changed direction and hit the sides or rear of the Cult ships.

With explosions, several Cult ships broke formation. As the shield wavered slightly, other ships hurriedly filled the gaps left by their broken comrades.

Seeing this, Star Union tried to launch more torpedoes to strengthen their offensive. If the Imperial Mothership hadn’t intervened, the Cult would have suffered even greater damage.

‘It’s starting.’

Cracks appeared in the refined diamond shape of the Imperial Mothership. The parts corresponding to the corners opened, and black gun turrets emerged.

The eight gun turrets are the Black Cannon, a secondary armament built into the Imperial Mothership. Like the Cosmic Volt, it’s a powerful weapon that uses dark matter as an energy source.

Star Union ships, aware of the Black Cannon’s power, hurriedly scattered. The Black Cannon fired toward them as they moved frantically.

Unlike other Cult ships, black spheres left the Black Cannon and flew toward the Star Union ships, not in the form of heat rays.

A black sphere reached a ship that was moving too late. At that moment, the ship distorted and was sucked into the sphere.

The sphere, which devoured a ship in less than a few seconds, continued forward, quickly swallowing other ships.

‘As expected.’

The Black Cannon is a weapon that creates and fires artificial black holes.

Being hit means instant destruction, making it very effective at disrupting enemy formations and sniping flagships.

However, its drawbacks are that the black hole projectiles don’t last long and can’t be controlled.

Seeing the Imperial Mothership use black hole projectiles, the Star Union fleet approached the Cult while maintaining their scattered state.

Their intention was to close the distance with the Imperial Mothership and induce a melee. Since black hole projectiles don’t discriminate between friend and foe, this was an appropriate response.

‘Good. Then I’ll go too.’

There’s something I need to do when the melee starts. If I can successfully complete that task, I can leave this system without being tracked by them.

I led the Cult escort ship under my control and moved quickly.

A space fleet melee awaited me.