Ch.426Feint (2)

The Star Union’s highest governing body, the Machine Committee.

This organization is operated by 12 high-performance androids known as Supreme Commissioners.

The purpose of the Supreme Commissioners is to govern the vast territory and people, and to assist the Grand Sovereign. To this end, each was designed to effectively perform duties in their assigned field.

The twelfth commissioner, Pisces Twelve, is responsible for “exploration.” Her role is to analyze and organize the various resources that exist throughout the vast universe.

Of course, Pisces rarely ventured outside the capital city Jax-01. Most information was collected by drones or androids. With her overwhelming information processing ability, she oversees the data sent by lower-level terminals.

But recently, the situation has changed. She has had to leave Jax-01 more frequently.

Currently, the Machine Committee and the Grand Sovereign are secretly working on a project. It’s important enough to be directly related to the future of the Star Union.

The Supreme Commissioner Pisces working with Space Dogs is also for the success of this project. Knowing how valuable her work is, she had no complaints.

No, except for just one thing.

“Hey, Ms. Tin Can. How’s the ground situation?”

An impertinent voice woke her from her thoughts. She was synchronizing with the ship’s computer and activated the camera responsible for visual information collection.

The owner of the voice stood before her.

He was a young human male with scales on his face and neck. His name was Shinobu. He is the head of the Shino Group and Pisces’ current partner.

“Hello? Ms. Tin Can? I’m asking how things are going.”

“…Facility maintenance is complete. The planet’s atmosphere will stabilize in 1 hour and 45 minutes from now.”

“What? So it takes two hours? In a game, this would be done in 10 minutes. Why does it take two hours when item specs are just like in games but this part is…”

“…However, I can shorten the time if I remotely access the terraforming machine and adjust it. So be quiet.”

At those words, Shinobu closed his mouth.

Having silenced her counterpart, Pisces synchronized with the ship’s computer using the cable connected to the back of her neck.

But the silence didn’t last long.

“Come to think of it, this reminds me of when I learned how to hunt Arcane Orcas. It was annoying because those nobodies kept refusing to teach me…”

Shinobu started chattering again after just a few minutes.

She would like to ignore him, but couldn’t. The reason his value is highly rated lies precisely in that chatter.

Shinobu, whom the Grand Sovereign brought in two years ago, was knowledgeable about rare creatures. Among the things he knew were quite a few facts unknown even to the Machine Committee.

The current consecutive dangerous creature hunting operation was actually initiated based on information from his mind. Because of this, she couldn’t simply ignore Shinobu’s chatter.

As she tried to handle two tasks simultaneously, Pisces suddenly paused at an anomaly she detected.

“Those punks, saying I’m ruining the mood with their bullsh—”

“Pisces Twelve. Problem detected. Be quiet.”

“Huh? Problem?”

While remotely accessing the terraforming machine, she caught a suspicious trace.

“Someone attempted remote control.”

“Must be that guy, Common or Conan or whatever. Probably touched something while doing repairs.”

“Negative. If that were the case, traces of intrusion would remain.”

Space Dogs typically use cheap hacking modules obtained from black markets. The drawback of these modules is that they leave many traces when hacking. However, no such traces were visible in the terraforming security program.

Or more precisely, the traces of intrusion had been skillfully concealed to appear nonexistent. If it weren’t for Pisces with her superior analytical abilities, it wouldn’t have been detected.

The unidentified intruder possessed skills high enough to be considered a machine. Would such an entity have only breached the terraforming machine’s security program?

“So what is it? Why did you stop talking? The thing I hate most is when people stop mid-sentence and…”

“Checking. Wait.”

Having reached that thought, Pisces quickly checked the warehouse where the “important assets” were stored. Various data related to the warehouse, including internal camera recordings, were transmitted to her head.

After processing the enormous amount of information in an instant, she confirmed that the skilled hacker had also infiltrated the warehouse.

Unlike the terraforming machine case, this time there were no traces of remote control. It was so clean that without discovering the terraforming machine intrusion, she wouldn’t have suspected anything.

“Someone has infiltrated the warehouse.”

“What?”

The traces of intrusion were discovered by checking the internal camera recordings one by one.

There was a manipulated section in the recorded footage. The hacker must have entered and exited the warehouse directly, then manipulated the video.

“One hour ago, an unauthorized person was in the warehouse for 20 minutes.”

At those words, Shinobu’s expression hardened.

“Our items?”

“No components are missing.”

“…I’ll go down immediately to check, so get ready. While I’m down there, find out which bastard did this.”

“Search personnel and equipment are already prepared.”

The conversation ended there.

Shinobu, now completely expressionless, left, and Pisces remained alone in the room.

To obtain information about the intruder, she scraped together and thoroughly searched through all data produced on AG-01.

This is the work of a Supreme Commissioner, the essence of the Star Union. Finding the intruder wouldn’t take long.

–

Five large transport ships pierce through dark clouds as they descend. The transport ships, larger than ordinary patrol ships, landed on the port as if plunging down.

What appeared when the ship’s hatches opened were steel giants. The Star Union’s elite walkers, Monster Walkers.

Monster Walkers, reinforced models of Heavy Walkers, boast monstrous specs as their name suggests. They have three walker engines installed to increase output, and their armament, defense, and mobility are far superior. However, being so powerful means their production costs are high, making them rare even within the Star Union.

Now, dozens of these expensive monsters are here. And those piloting the walkers are all Space Dogs.

“Hmm, it’s strange that not a single person is in sight even though we’ve arrived.”

“I contacted someone I know at the port, and they said everything was fine?”

“Not even a rat in sight and they say it’s fine? What nonsense.”

The pirates’ voices travel through the communication devices built into the walker cockpits.

Shinobu, standing among the walkers, just listened silently. His proxy would convey his intentions anyway.

“Searching the warehouse takes priority over everything else. On the way, if you spot anyone suspicious, shoot to kill immediately. Don’t hesitate even if they’re pirates.”

“Yes sir!”

Sutherland, Shinobu’s puppet, relayed his master’s will exactly. The pilots, unaware that their boss was a figurehead, responded enthusiastically.

Then dozens of metal giants began to move. Shinobu also walked among them.

Each time the 8-9 meter Monster Walkers moved their feet, the ground cracked with a dull bursting sound.

Despite the considerable noise, no one appeared. The buildings also just had their lights on, with no sign of vitality. Because of this, it felt like walking through a graveyard.

“……”

Perhaps due to the strange atmosphere, the pilots’ voices coming through the communicators gradually subsided.

In the silence, Shinobu pondered the identity of the intruder.

Though he always maintains a playful attitude, his mind isn’t all flowers. It’s a kind of survival tactic.

In reality, he was a low-ranking member of a street crime organization. To survive long among villains, it was best to pretend to be harmless and cheerful. In reality, he was cautious and cold-blooded.

‘Who could have infiltrated?’

While controlling his walker, he considered several possibilities.

It couldn’t be a betraying subordinate or a separatist here. If so, Pisces would have noticed long ago.

‘Could another ranker have come?’

The intruder had secretly infiltrated, evading the watchful eyes of the Supreme Commissioner. There aren’t many beings with such excellent infiltration abilities.

At most, it could be Akira Yujin’s shadow, or perhaps the ranker from the Return Faction who can replicate himself.

‘Definitely not the shadow.’

Shinobu and Akira are on the same side. Instead of deploying the shadow, Akira could simply ask for the superweapon.

It also seemed unlikely to be a ranker from the Return Faction. Since before he awoke in this strange world, the Ruling Faction and Return Faction had been in a continuous ceasefire.

Even after killing the Outspacer Queen and destroying the colony, the 4th-ranked Empress made no response.

With the Return Faction’s greatest force remaining still, it’s unlikely other members would come all this way to steal a superweapon.

‘Or maybe…’

“We’ve arrived at the warehouse.”

A voice from the communicator snapped him out of his thoughts. On the screen synchronized with the external camera, a black warehouse appeared.

Perhaps because he was lost in thought, they arrived earlier than expected.

“Who’s in charge here?”

“Sinoni Cartel is responsible. Should I call them?”

“We’re going to move everything inside anyway, so no need. Open the door with the walker.”

“Yes sir.”

A walker approached the warehouse on Sutherland’s command. The walker tried to melt the door using a plasma cutter mounted on its arm.

While watching from behind, suddenly the communicator in his pocket activated. It was the dedicated communicator used to contact Pisces.

“The intruder? Did you find out who did it?”

“Bzzt, intruder, bzzt, satellite…bzzt”

“What are you saying?”

“Communication stabilized. The communication satellite is confirmed to be under the intruder’s control.”

“What?”

“What’s in front of you is a trap. Be careful.”

Just as Pisces warned, the warehouse door opened by itself.

Or more precisely, “something disguised as a warehouse” returned to its original form.

With ghost-like white scales, it wrapped its long neck, split into three parts, around the walker. The mysterious monster grabbed the walker and disappeared into a large pit behind it.

“W-what is th-, bzzt, ARGH, bzzzzzzt, click”

With a short scream of bewilderment, the communication from the fallen walker was cut off.

And shortly after, strange sounds leaked from the pit.

It was like the sound of heavy rain hitting the ground, or the noise of a debris flow caused by a landslide.

Why such sounds came from underground, or who made them, became clear soon enough.

What appeared from the edge of the abyss was a being that resembled a human but was certainly not human.

“W-what is that?!”

“Damn! Everyone, prepare for combat!”

Starting with the pilots’ shouts, bizarre things covered in black mud poured out of the pit.