Ch.90Ancient Vessel (3)

# Chapter 90: Ancient Vessel (3)

The Pioneer’s soldier was undoubtedly strong.

On par with, or even superior to, that garbage ninja guy who was good at copying.

Back when I wasn’t incarnated in this game but merely “playing” it…

If you launched a ground assault without orbital bombardment on a Pioneer Empire planet…

Their defensive forces, numbering at most a few tens or hundreds of thousands, could reverse-annihilate invasion forces of millions, including massive mobile fortresses and tank groups. That’s how formidable they were.

—————————

Even without going that far, the Pioneer soldier had already demonstrated her strength sufficiently.

She moved like a Psionic against the ship’s defense systems.

And proving herself to be a psionic user, she deployed a double-layered defense with her telekinetic shield on top of the barrier provided by her combat suit.

In close combat, she displayed overwhelming defensive capabilities.

She didn’t just rely on the energy swords attached to both wrists; during combat, she seized equipment from our troops and used them freely.

She countered chain swords and energy swords of nearby troops with some unknown martial art, deflecting or blocking them.

While our attacks failed to penetrate, her energy sword sliced through reinforced armor plates like tofu.

She even imbued telekinetic power into bullets when firing weapons she had seized.

She demonstrated an absolutely overwhelming difference in combat power.

But.

-“Keep pressing down on her. Tired soldiers, switch with the next person.”

-“Crush her! She’s getting crushed!”

-“That bitch… filth!”

Unlike her, who was alone regardless of equipment or training level…

We were a group.

Moreover, unlike regular units, the Purge Unit had numerous psionic users participating.

-“Filth!”

-“Kyaaaak!”

Just as the Prosnack Marines on screen were pressing down on the Pioneer soldier with flashing eyes, they also had the variable of many psionic users.

Thanks to this, they collectively pinned down the wildly thrashing woman with their group telekinesis, which was more numerous than expected.

-“Now! Shoot!”

Once her psionic telekinetic barrier was disabled, other troops demolished her combat suit’s shield with concentrated firepower.

“It looks just like catching a cockroach.”

“…Must you always speak that way?”

As Riel’s assessment suggested, the Pioneer soldier became incapacitated without even putting up a proper fight, pressed against the floor like an insect.

And her humiliation didn’t end there.

-“We must eliminate her combat capabilities before she wakes up!”

Following this intention, her combat suit was forcibly disassembled by the troops present, but…

-“Have you ever seen such a shameless woman?”

-“You shouldn’t look, Minister.”

For whatever reason, she wasn’t wearing anything under her combat suit.

But putting her back into the suit wasn’t an option, not just because of its dangerous capabilities.

-“Huh? Why is it disintegrating by itself?”

-“Oh my.”

Perhaps to prevent capture by enemies, the forcibly disassembled combat suit broke down into powder and disappeared on its own, making redressing impossible.

-“You! You lot! Do you think such actions against a superior being would be tolerated?!”

Suddenly, the Purge Unit members and Prosnack Marines were misunderstood as a group of perverts restraining a naked beauty.

-“What are you planning to do to me?! No, I know! You’re going to do those things to me!”

-“Shut up! How dare you, filth, slander us who are bonded by camaraderie!”

After the Pioneer’s slander angered the Prosnack Marines, their heartfelt “pranks” were directed at her…

———————

-“Just spare my life! I’ll tell you everything—information, technology, objectives!”

Now she was constantly wailing and begging for her life from us, whom she had looked down upon as inferior.

Thanks to her becoming quite cooperative, we succeeded in extracting information about how many Pioneers were on the ship and what their tendencies were.

-“No matter how much torture or humiliation I endure, you will never discover our purpose!”

As if trying to maintain some final dignity, she continued to refuse revealing why they had come to this ship.

But I found this so ridiculous that I ordered Meteorn to operate the terminal further.

-Whoosh!

When my hologram formed through the terminal appeared before her, the Pioneer soldier, who had been showing all kinds of unsightly behavior, glared at me fiercely and shouted.

“So it’s you! You’re the one controlling these inferior beings!”

“…”

“Even if you come in person, I will never reveal our purpose! Tremble in fear without knowing our objective, inferior species!”

Seeing her spirited demeanor, I sighed deeply, scratched my cheek, and said:

“Well… you seem to think you’ve protected the most important information.”

“What do you mean?”

At my response, the Pioneer soldier showed confusion beneath her fierce glare.

“I’ve known your objective from the beginning.”

“…Like the inferior species you are, you try to mock me with lies.”

Of course, at my words, the soldier shook her head in disbelief.

“What was it again… to self-destruct—no, destroy this ship so it doesn’t fall into other species’ hands?”

“…!”

At my next words, the soldier’s fierce eyes widened in shock.

“H-how did you…!”

“You worked hard protecting information we already knew.”

After my provocation, the soldier began to rage, spewing all kinds of profanities.

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”

Despite having no equipment and being in a miserable state after the Prosnack Marines’ minor “pranks”…

The soldier, sending hateful glares my way, tried to lunge at me, not caring that she was completely naked.

“Inferior species like you have no right to possess such a ship, none at all!!”

“Can’t you stay still?!”

She was so enraged she forgot I was just a hologram.

Seeing her screaming that we had no right to the ship, I shook my head and decided to give orders to Meteorn.

“Meteorn, and Captain Gran?”

“Yes, Minister.”

“What is it, Minister?”

“There’s no need to rush securing the ship’s interior until all Pioneer forces that have infiltrated are eliminated. Remember that.”

“Understood, Minister.”

“Confirmed.”

Having given my orders, I was about to deactivate the hologram and return to my work.

But just before that:

“Excuse me, Minister Virtorius?”

“Hmm?”

Captain Gran directed a question at me as I was about to end the hologram communication.

“What is it?”

“What should we do with this Pioneer?”

Hearing this, I nodded, thinking he was asking about prisoner treatment and handling.

“Hmm, if she hasn’t surrendered, I’ll leave it to your judgment on the front lines.”

After all, it would be madness for a civil servant like me, who knows nothing about the specifics, to interfere in such matters.

Rather than unnecessarily constraining them, a mission-type command system or whatever it’s called—pursuing thorough autonomy under minimal regulations—was more suitable for this kind of situation.

Of course, since I’m not an expert in that field, there would be significant differences from the actual system.

Anyway, at my response, Captain Gran nodded and answered:

“Understood.”

And immediately after:

-Slash!

“…Huh?”

-Whoosh!

I witnessed something shoot through the chest of my holographic body with a chilling sound from behind.

And that something was none other than… the head of the Pioneer soldier who had been cursing up a storm just moments ago.

“…”

“Bitch… filth!”

“The filthy soldier has been beheaded, filling us with fighting spirit! How wonderful!”

“I didn’t expect you to answer so directly, Minister… but now I see why Ambassador Samiya holds you in such high regard.”

Ignoring all the comments around me, I looked at the Pioneer soldier’s head lying on the floor like garbage.

“…Carry on, everyone.”

-Communication terminated

I immediately deactivated the hologram, then placed both hands on my office desk and let out a deep sigh.

“Phew…”