9 I Fight the Enemy Mothership

Author: Bishamon Mine
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0664js/11/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

A Wandering Event——an event where enemies above a floor’s danger level show up.
It’s certainly dangerous…… but——there’s no way I can abandon Yachimata-san’s little sister.

I comm Ill-san in secret.

〔Hey, Ill-san.〕
〔Yes, My Master.〕
〔The way the Galactic Union brings humans back, that’s Swampman, right?〕
〔———〕

What comes back from the tiny butler is silence. But I keep going.

〔I know FateLege is incredibly safe, and that if only the frame is destroyed the transfer unit on the seat moves you by wormhole. But the way they revive you when a player dies, see.〕

The butler, who had his eyes shut, opens them quietly and answers.

〔I believe there is regeneration and reconnection of missing parts of the body, and so on.〕
〔That’s not what I mean. If the brain is ruined, or the body is completely dust? Early on I read the revival section FateLege admin put out and I went pale.〕
〔———〕

Silence comes back again, as I thought.

〔Hey, Ill-san. For example, in SF you sometimes get a transfer unit like this.
1. Read a human’s composition,
2. Recreate them somewhere else,
3. Erase the human in the original position.
A transfer unit that does it in that order.
If you stopped the transfer unit “before 3,” you’d have two of the same human, right?〕
〔———〕
〔Hey, Ill-san. Of those two, “which one is real?”——Answer.〕

The butler puts a hand to his chest, closes his eyes, and bows.

〔———This aircraft has not been granted authority to answer that question.〕
〔——You really won’t answer.…… Then——I’m saving Maika-chan and Yachimata-san’s clan members!!〕

At those words, the butler who lifted his face shines.

〔Please. My Master!!〕

Three years ago I thought, maybe the Galactic Union’s “revival of dead humans” is a fax?

A fax can reproduce a document’s contents at the destination, but that’s a copy. Not the real thing.

Imagining that content, I was too scared to go out into space. I couldn’t take a step out of the training simulator.

But I can’t abandon the people in danger right in front of me.

A window appears in front of my eyes.

“Wandering Event. Avoid the bad end! Start ‘The Great Queen’?
⇨ Yes
No”

It displays.
I pick ⇨ Yes.

——The quest name is weird as usual, but I’ll avoid it for you!

“I won’t let it end on a bad end! 〈Multipurpose Vulcan〉, simultaneous sweep!!”

I shoot them down while closing on the 〈Grand Harpies〉.
The 〈Grand Harpies〉 that pass me now and then, I don’t let those go either.

Yachimata-san’s shadow falls on the front window.
She’s taken her eyes off the camera, looking at the back of my head.

“No way——”

❝Just now they raised the nose, did a 360, and drifted……❞
❝What AIM (hit) power is that❞
❝Hit rate showing 85%❞
❝AP rounds with stupid recoil, in a light frame like Waro in space, you’d shake so hard almost nothing hits. Even 40% would be plenty❞

Eh, but VR shows you the lead from our rounds and the opponent’s relative velocity, for when the bullet reaches them, so I think you hit pretty well.

This kind of lead display is tech Earth fighters have had since the World Wars, tech that supplements a veteran’s feel.

That’s why I can hit pretty well.

❝In the first place, keeping the enemy constantly dead ahead is too insane❞
❝I don’t really get it but is that amazing? Active fighter pilots please teach❞
❝To explain what’s amazing, tipping a fighter on its side is called a bank in the jargon❞
❝Ah, the thing you see in movies? When a plane curves it goes sideways❞
❝That. Suu-san’s frame is bad at yawing left and right because of where the rocket engines are and which way they can point❞
❝She’s reading the opponent’s movement and always putting the frame at a right angle to their direction of travel❞
❝Eh, she’s doing that!?❞
❝Yeah. And Suu-san’s boasting that hit rate with this hard a way of shooting, while dodging a countless barrage from the enemy❞
❝No no……❞

Yachimata-san adds to the comments and answers questions.

“Swallowtail’s speed, even in atmosphere, is two or three times a pistol round. If you take the limiter off or go crazy it can be four times.”

Is it about that much? ———She knows a lot.

“And in space it gets even faster——but Swallowtail is light, so in space a slight control miss easily puts you in a spin, and once that happens dodging enemy shots is completely impossible.”

❝That nose-up 360 just now was insane. Normally you’d spin.❞

True, if you go into a spin in space it’s a bit of a problem.

“A weird combination of controls alone is a fatal wound. Even Crimson Flash Alice can’t do superhuman technique like Suu-san.”

Eh, that’s a little…… maybe bad toward Crimson Flash-san.

“There’s no way…”

When I deny it.

“She can’t.”

Yachimata-san states it.

Comments go ❝You making fun of Flash Alice?❞, ❝The camera person❞ and so on.
This is bad, Yachimata-san!
But Yachimata-san, whether she doesn’t care at all, answers calmly.

“In the first place what Flash Alice is good at is fighting with her feet stopped in humanoid mode. She’s good at fights that trace the body’s movement in VR.”

At those words the comment field settles with ❝I see❞. Thank goodness.

Yachimata-san, done explaining, looks at the view outside.

Then she mutters “Too many enemies,” and

“Please, Maika, don’t die.”

she says like a prayer, then folds her hands and presses them to her forehead.

It’s okay, Yachimata-san. Leave it to me.

“All right.”

I remember a tactic I can use in a situation with this many enemies.

I use even the debris from enemies I burst, and shoot enemies down.

On the ground too, fragments from destroying an enemy are dangerous——fighter pilots are told “never attack an enemy craft near your own” to that degree.
——But in space the scattered fragments don’t slow down, so it’s even more dangerous.

❝Somehow…… even Grand Harpies you aren’t attacking are bursting? ——Wait, this kid…… isn’t she using even the debris to drop enemies❞
❝Eh, she’s bursting them after calculating which way the debris flies——!? Against enemies that fast!?❞

While that’s going on, I catch even the enemies in the back in 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 range.

“Ill-san. After 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉, deploy 〈Excitation Wings〉.”

The tiny butler swings an arm and takes a pose a battleship captain in anime would do.

“Understood. 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉, fire!”

The view ahead is wrapped in flash.

“〈Excitation Wings〉.”

❝Wait, you can’t see anything ahead and you’re using 〈Excitation Wings〉!? You’re diving in like this!?❞

I shove the throttle lever while mowing enemies down with 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉.

❝They actually accelerated!!❞
❝See, Swallowtail’s acceleration——this is dangerous!!❞
❝This is bad!!❞

Yachimata-san lets out a little scream too.

I speak to her to put her at ease.

“It’s okay. I know the route.”

Sorry, but compared to chapters 2 and 3 of difficulty 〈Insanity〉 in the training grounds, this is plenty of room.
I could do it with my eyes closed.

I sew through the barrage and the Grand Harpies.

“The target is the mothership!”

If we don’t take down the mothership that’s spawning enemies without end, I think the fight will never finish.

❝They turned at a right angle!?❞
❝How!? Makes no sense!!❞
❝Probably reverse-thrust → transform to humanoid → transform to flight form, and that’s how they turned❞
❝Flight form and humanoid form have different controls, right?❞
❝Yeah yeah, humanoid you can move in VR, but flight form you fly the same way as an Earth fighter❞
❝True, with a humanoid that has five limbs I get moving it in VR.——But a fighter’s impossible, huh❞
❝Switching from VR to the stick in an instant, the brain sounds rough.❞

The comment people are explaining the method, but it’s a little different.
That method wouldn’t turn that fast.

What I really did was fly flight form while half-transforming into humanoid.
In other words I operated flight form and humanoid form at the same time.
——Only, this method is pretty reckless, and if you do this.

Yachimata-san clenches her teeth.

“Kh——the G!”
“Sorry, camera person, hang on……!”
“I-I’m fine. I have the skill 〖Gravity Control〗.”
“———G-good.——Then is it okay if I put on pretty reckless G?”
“It’s fine!”

Even so Yachimata-san’s face is twisting a little like it hurts.
It’s pretty rough for me too.

❝Insane G is hitting them❞
❝What happened to gravity control!❞
❝If you turn at a right angle at several times a bullet’s speed you’d exceed the gravity unit’s limit too……❞

“Ill-san, are 〈Excitation Wings〉 good!?”
“Already deployed, My Master.”

The tiny butler’s wings are already glowing blue.
I dive into a place where enemies are stacked into a wall.

“Y-you’re diving in there!?”

I could tell Yachimata-san shut her eyes in fear.

❝There’s no gap!?❞
❝They’ll hit!❞

No. To me it’s full of gaps.

I race through Swallow-san between enemies and barrage like a labyrinth.
While racing through, I hit only the wings on enemies and destroy them.

❝So why can you turn that accurately in frictionless space!?❞
❝She’s drifting again in the middle of a drift, this girl❞

When Yachimata-san puts the slightly telephoto camera-drone footage on the stream, bands of light have been drawn in space.

❝Uwah lmao like anime lmao❞
❝A bunch of balls of light, and streaks lmao I’ve seen this kind of thing lmao❞

Yachimata-san, half-opening her eyes to look at comments, is screaming.

“Y-you really do draw a crazy trajectoryyyy!”
“Eh——camera person, don’t say crazy trajectory!?”

❝No, this is crazy❞
❝Maniac trajectory❞
❝A girl in gothic-lolita-like clothes doing this is even more Waro❞
❝Wait, isn’t Swallowtail sliding sideways? Moving left and right doing lelele fire? How?❞
❝No, I genuinely don’t get this. What is this phenomenon❞

This is mandatory on 〈Insanity〉 Death Road; I noticed it two years ago.

I’m moving by adjusting left-right output on the 〈Excitation Wings〉——and in atmosphere I can lelele another way, but if I explain now I’m in trouble, so I can’t talk.

“I see it, the mothership.”
“The enemy count keeps going up!”
“Ill-san, 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 then stretch the 〈Excitation Wings〉 as hard as you can!”
“〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 firing. 〈Excitation Wings〉 full deploy. Yes, My Master.”

The front is wrapped in 〈Critical Blackbody Beam〉 flash.

When the flash stops, darkness ahead this time.

“Eh, what!? ——The enemy mothership that was dead ahead, where did it go!?”

Yachimata-san has lost the enemy and is surprised.

“Camera person, right!”

Yachimata-san reacts to my words and turns the camera right. I hear her suck in a breath.
There, the hole-riddled enemy mothership surface is like a road.

“You’re already slashing with 〈Excitation Wings〉!? ——How did you sharp-curve just off the enemy inside the flash!?”
“Calculate from distance and speed!”
“In that instant!?”

❝Bad bad, they’re so close it looks insanely fast❞
❝The enemy mothership is huge! Radius like a kilometer❞
❝But from the side it was thin. A warped shape❞

I keep slashing the mothership’s surface, dodging enemies that come out of the mothership’s holes now and then.

“Castor, Pollux, come out!”

Two drill drones launch from Swallow-san’s arms.

“Yes, Mother.”
“Let’s go, Mama.”

❝The drone AIs are set as sons?❞
❝Gemini is a pretty popular AI❞
❝Well, it is kinda girly❞

“Thank goodness. I thought I’d get something said again.”

❝I treat my drones like kids too lmao❞
❝They really won’t say anything lmao❞

“Then Castor, Pollux. Crush the Harpies jumping out of the holes in advance.”

“Roger, let’s go, Pollux.”
“Got it, Nii-chan.”

Eventually, behind Swallow-san, flame bursts from the slashed rift as if chasing us. Like magma.
On the telephoto camera, collapsing magma closing on Swallow-san is showing.

❝Are they okay!?❞

It’s okay.

(This thing won’t last.)

Above all, as if it could catch Swallow-san.
Eventually the mothership that started collapsing comes apart in tatters like a cookie breaking.

“All right, enemy spawns stopped!”

❝Th-they actually did it❞
❝Suu-tan is insane!!❞

“Praise us too!”

❝Well done, Pollux!❞
❝Castor-kun, Pollux-kun, nice!❞

“Yay!”
“Honored to receive your praise.”

Pollux is honestly happy, and Castor is earnestly happy. It’s heartwarming.