Ch.269Battle Preparations Complete

# Chapter 269: Battle Preparations Complete

About a month remained before the arrival of the Emperor Swarm.

Soon after, I was able to determine roughly how many forces had gathered for what was provisionally called the “ISTO Joint Training Fleet”—officially known by some unnecessarily long name but commonly abbreviated as “I-PAC Training.”

“So it’s about 35,000 in total?”

“Yes, but about a third of the fleet consists of ships dispatched by Ztrakfor.”

With ISTO member nations numbering in the dozens, all their combined fleets totaled 35,000 ships.

And Ztrakfor alone was contributing 10,000 of those.

“…What about the rest?”

“Umm… I think it would be better if you saw it directly rather than having me explain, Minister!”

As Riel said this while handing me a terminal, I nodded once and decided to check the contents.

[Foreign Affairs Executive Internal Report]

[Inspection Results of the so-called ‘I-PAC Training’ Scale]

[Ztrakfor Council: Approx. 10,000 ships (including 500+ battleships and aircraft carriers)]

[(Provisional) Minor Nations Allied Fleet: Approx. 7,000 ships (including 100 battleships and 10 aircraft carriers)]

[Roirakan Republic: Approx. 3,000 ships (no large ships of battleship class or above)]

[Riksi Parliamentary Territory: Approx. 4,000 ships (200+ battleships, exact number unknown)]

[Sir-Hod Federation: Approx. 3,000 ships (100+ battleships, number of aircraft carriers unknown)]

[Nurbal Republic: Approx. 3,500 ships (including 100+ battleships and aircraft carriers)]

[Uko’Praknar Interstellar Union: Approx. 3,000 ships (150+ battleships, fewer than 30 aircraft carriers)]

[Kar-Du Holy Grand Duchy: Approx. 500 ships (10+ battleships)]

[Balakur Interstellar Alliance: Approx. 500 ships (20+ battleships)]

After quietly comparing the fleet sizes with the scale of the respective nations, I said:

“Those Roirakan bastards, they’re clearly showing their reluctance.”

“I know, right?”

The leadership of the Roirakan Republic had sent a fleet comparable to that of Uko’Praknar, which has only half their national power…

How should I put it?

It was obvious they wanted to maintain their dignity as an interstellar nation while believing there was no practical benefit, so they were just making a token effort.

Unlike Roirakan, the Eastern Three Nations were focusing on upgrading their forces after fleet expansion, as we had mentioned.

And the smaller nations had scraped the bottom of their barrels for forces.

Perhaps they were eager to absorb the tactics, strategies, and experience of the major powers?

“I wonder if these guys left enough forces to defend their capitals…?”

Even considering their combined numbers, the smaller nations were collectively smaller than Uko’Praknar, the smallest “interstellar nation” among the treaty members…

It seemed they had truly committed everything they had, down to the foundations of their homes, to this fleet.

In response to my concern, Riel said:

“ISTO treaty patrol fleets will be conducting regular surveillance patrols for the time being.”

“Hmm.”

This reminded me of what NATO did for Eastern European countries that sent equipment during the Ukraine war. I thought that after this war ended, the treaty organization would likely suffer from pirate-related problems for quite some time.

But since I had more immediate concerns, I decided not to dwell on that issue further.

“Good, so where are these fleets currently located?”

“Right now, the fleets from each nation are temporarily gathering at the capital of Kar-Du. Once all national fleets have assembled there, they’ll come here.”

“So it’ll take about two weeks for them to arrive here.”

Seeing everything proceeding according to the schedule shown in my status window, I nodded with satisfaction.

Although the Emperor Swarm and Kirsanid Scourge would arrive within nine days after their arrival, meaning the war would be quite chaotic once it began…

‘Look, this is our first time dealing with this too.’

‘…’

‘Who could have predicted such bizarre space monsters would come?’

They understood we hadn’t called them here to use them, but that this problem arose purely due to bad luck, so they were hurriedly preparing for war.

After receiving Riel’s report, I leaned back on the sofa, intending to relax and observe the situation.

Honestly, at this point, I just needed to wait for the fleet to arrive, then for the Emperor Swarm and Kirsanid Scourge to show up, and watch them fight each other.

Moreover, the fortification of the planetary systems was almost complete, and I had finished laying the minefield as required by the previous quest.

I was enjoying the softness of the sofa, closing my eyes to savor a moment of leisure.

But at that moment.

-Ding!

[Time Pause]

With the familiar notification sound, the world froze, and an event message appeared.

[Quest: Provide a Base for the ISTO Joint Fleet Training!]

[The final forces you’ve somehow managed to scrape together to eliminate the Emperor Swarm will soon arrive at the Holy Sebelli Empire.]

[Naturally, they are expected to spend their training period at a base in the capital planetary system of Kesada…]

[The problem is that currently, there are no fleet bases in Kesada, the capital planetary system of the Holy Sebelli Empire, that can accommodate such large-scale forces.]

[If you bring them here as is, the reputation of the Holy Sebelli Empire might plummet to the level of the Puksviet Federation!]

[Moreover, without a fleet base and docking facilities, it’s obvious that a fleet that has traveled a long distance cannot maintain proper condition for battle!]

[Objective: Provide a base for the ISTO Joint Training Fleet before their arrival.]

[Reward: +10 Support for the Holy Sebelli Empire within the ISTO Treaty]

…

‘Hmm.’

Faced with this unexpected problem, I felt skepticism rising within me.

‘In the game, you could fit hundreds or even millions of ships in a single planetary system with just one docking facility…’

Of course, realistically speaking, the game was the abnormal one, so while I nodded at the quest window, I couldn’t help feeling extremely annoyed.

‘This is such a hassle. They won’t be staying long anyway, so can’t they just float around in space?’

I wouldn’t normally have such crazy thoughts, but after exhausting my brain trying to counter the Emperor Swarm and Kirsanid Scourge, my mind was filled with terrible ideas.

It was something like burnout, I suppose.

I unconsciously started to select the option to abandon the quest, but…

[Warning! If you fail this quest, the Holy Sebelli Empire will be expelled from ISTO due to being deemed incapable of acting as its leader!]

‘…’

Seeing that warning prominently displayed below, my brain, which had turned to mush from overload, suddenly solidified again.

Because the moment I failed this quest…

‘Hey, Sebelli.’

‘Huh?’

‘We’re taking (the fleet) back.’

The ISTO Treaty Forces fleet that I had been maintaining for months at a cost of hundreds of galactic credits per month, as well as the newly arriving ISTO Joint Training Fleet…

A total force of 85,000, no, nearly 90,000 ships would vanish in an instant.

Of course, the ships belonging to our Holy Sebelli Empire would return, but they numbered less than 5,000.

‘Damn it all.’

[Time Pause Released]

I immediately released the time pause and addressed Riel, who was still in front of me.

“Riel, are there any places left in this capital planetary system where we can build a new base?”

“A base? Why suddenly ask about that?”

“It’s an urgent matter, so please tell me quickly.”

Though Riel was surprised by my sudden question, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

She immediately started “searching” by spinning her antennae, and after a moment:

“Hmm… there is one, but it’s quite far in the outskirts.”

“Where is it?”

“An ice planet beyond the asteroid belt on the outskirts of the planetary system.”

“Contact the Defense Ministry. Tell them we need to build a temporary fleet base in that area, no matter how many engineering corps we have to deploy.”

Hearing this, Riel narrowed her eyes and asked:

“Minister, did a quest pop up?”

“Yes, the reward isn’t particularly good… but the consequence of failure is quite severe.”

“What is it?”

“We’d be expelled from ISTO.”

Upon hearing my words, Riel immediately snapped to attention with a sharp salute and exclaimed:

“I’ll go inform them right away!”

“Good, I’ll also do my best to explain the situation, so thank you for your hard work.”

————————————-

Naturally, since we weren’t a corrupt, brainless organization like those red bear bastards, and since the “fortification” work was almost complete…

“Minister, the base construction is finished.”

“Good.”

In less than a month, the excellent engineering corps and construction companies of the Holy Sebelli Empire had successfully built a temporary base capable of accommodating 30,000 ships.