Chapter 155: Break and Invitation

The damage to the 2nd Recon Fleet was relatively minor. The damage directly received by our main force, which was composed of the ships from the Independent Anti-Pirate Mobile Fleet, was two of their corvettes getting a part of their hulls crushed due to their energy shields getting pierced during the battle. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported as a result of that.

However, two mercenary ships ended up going down, killing three people. It looks like they weren’t so lucky when we got plunged in the midst of the crystal lifeforms after they staged an ambush. In addition to the two downed ships, several others received varying degrees of damage and were now parked inside ships with maintenance hangars for necessary repairs.

“……”

“Man. It looks like we’re kinda fated to bump into each other huh.”

“……Tsk.”

“What are you clicking your tongue for!?”

The one who got assigned to Black Lotus for repairs is the ship of that young merc I got into a minor scuffle with back at the award ceremony. Come to think of it, I didn’t manage to get his name yet huh…… I didn’t, right?

“Uh, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet huh? The name’s Hiro by the way.”

“……Wade.”

I extended my hand for a handshake, but the cheeky bugger ignored me. This guy…… I’m trying to treat you as a responsible adult y’know. Well, it’s not like getting angry here would lead to anything good anyway.

“Ok, ok, I get it…… Want a drink? Water or something?”

“None of your business.”

The young mercenary named Wade gave me a hostile glare. Man, this is going nowhere. Well, if he wants me to leave him alone, then fine. Krishna’s maintenance and ammo replenishment is finished anyway, so I was totally free unless another battle happens.

“I’m heading back to my ship then. If there’s anything you need, just tell the mechanic sisters working over there.”

“……”

What’s with this guy’s attitude anyway? Was he jealous? Uh, well, I’m a lot more successful than him, I had a big mothership, and I was accompanied by the beauties Mimi, Elma, and May. Oh, man. It won’t really be strange if this guy was jealous.

Hahaha! It’s not like he’s getting to me. Not at all. Yup.

When I returned to Krishna’s cockpit with a wide grin plastered on my face, I saw Mimi and Elma, who seemed to have recovered somewhat, staring intently at some info displayed on the cockpit monitor.

“What are you guys looking at?”

“That earlier battle’s consolidated data. You really did it this time huh. This ship is the undisputed top ace.”

“You’re amazing, Hiro-sama!”

“Hahaha, aren’t I? Go ahead, girls. Don’t hesitate to shower me with more praise.”

After seeing the two’s admiring gazes, my irritation from earlier completely flew out the window. Come to think of it, I really shouldn’t let that young merc’s attitude annoy me like this. I’ll just hit him back if he decides to hit me. Hard.

“What’s wrong?”

Elma tilted her head and asked me what was up. Maybe she sensed my irritation from earlier. I didn’t normally ask them to shower me with more compliments after all. Maybe she inferred from that?

“I was just a bit annoyed by the young mercenary who came in for ship repairs earlier. It’s nothing much.”

After saying so, I plopped down on the pilot seat and started reviewing the battle data as well. Oh, so I managed to bag 153 kills huh.

“The torpedo you guided really did the trick, Elma.”

“That’s right. Thanks to Elma-san precise calculations, a great number of the enemies were eliminated.”

“I’m not trying to act all humble here, but it was originally your idea anyway, Hiro. And besides, the biggest factor that allowed me to score such a hit was you successfully bunching them up and dragging them around while avoiding the rest of the enemies. So it really was more of your achievement rather than mine, Hiro. I definitely can’t pull off those weird maneuvers of yours.”

“Don’t call them weird. And besides, I think you can also do them with enough practice.”

“Yes, yes, of course, I can.”

She dismissed my claim without hesitation. Just why? She can definitely do them too if she practiced diligently. Basically, you just needed to pay attention to the radar readings, predict the movements of the enemies, and preemptively evade them. For practice, one should start with evading low-ranked seeker missiles with a relatively slower projectile speed.

“For our future schedule, it seems we will stay here for the time being for some rest and repairs, and then mount a counteroffensive afterward, Hiro-sama.”

“Counteroffensive?”

“Yes. This system is also a hyperlane hub with nodes extending out in four different directions. So while we are resting and undergoing repairs here, they plan to investigate where exactly the crystal lifeforms came out from and whether or not there are more lurking in this system. We will also look for the traces left by past survey and recon fleets.”

“I see.”

“Also, in preparation for future possible ambushes, we will stop acting in two separate fleets and act in concert from now on. It seems they plan to strengthen our defenses by consolidating our forces.”

“Understood.”

We were lucky this time because the time needed to reach our allies via the hyperlane was quite short, but in some cases, there might be a time difference of several hours between the two groups, so our 2nd Recon Fleet will suffer even greater damage in case of another ambush. It would have made it possible for me to increase my kill count even more, but it would also put Black Lotus in more danger.

“Well, in cases like this, I feel like consolidating forces is a basic move in the first place.”

“I wonder. There’s also the risk of being annihilated all at once by a bigger force even if we did group up from the start. The goal of the operation this time is to gather info, so separating into two groups in order to ensure at least one group can make it back to base in order to deliver the gathered intel isn’t such a bad move as well.”

There’s also the method of letting just a small number of ships escape while the rest buy time for them huh…… Won’t that also be a valid method if you just want to ensure the intel would be brought back?”

“But in that case, only those few ships will survive and the rest will probably get annihilated, right? If the forces are divided equally into two, the number of surviving ships will rise drastically. The vanguard group would still be able to buy enough time for the other group to make their escape.”

“But the risk of gradually getting worn down by smaller enemy forces attacking you repeatedly will also increase if we continue to act in two groups…… Well, it’s certainly a difficult call. Anyway, it’s the military that will ultimately decide our actions, and we need to just obey their orders.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

A call came in after I finished discussing fleet strategies with Elma. Mimi operated her console and opened a comm channel.

“Yes, this is Krishna. Yes, yes. Please wait for a moment…… Hiro-sama.”

“Hm? What’s up? Who’s calling?”

“It’s from Major Serena. I’ll put her up on the monitor.”

“Okay.”

A call from Major Serena? I wonder what for. I inwardly had my doubts but I didn’t let them show on my face.

After a few moments, the image of Major Serena was projected on the cockpit monitor. She was looking sharp in her military uniform as always.

『First, congratulations on becoming the top ace. It seems you’re not as tired as I expected.』

“Thanks. You look like you have plenty of fight left as well, major.”

『Yes, of course. This wasn’t even enough for a warm-up.』

“As expected of a top imperial military officer. So, what do you need, major?”

I decided to cut straight to the point. I was wary of being sidetracked and led around the nose after all.

『Well now, someone sure sounds impatient. That’s so like you though. It’s not something you need to be wary about anyway.』

“I sure hope so. So, what is it?”

『Since we’re going to have a 24-hour break, we were planning to invite the top ace and recipient of the Silver Sword Wings Assault medal for a formal dinner banquet.』

“Dinner huh…… I don’t think your food would be better than ours though.”

『Please just overlook that. We’ll be sure to bring out some good alcohol.』

“You do know I’m an extreme lightweight, right?”

I’m so utterly weak to alcohol that one sip will bring me down instantly. Even if they brought out the best alcohol in the universe, I wouldn’t feel any excitement at all.

『Well, just think of it as part of the reward for achieving top ace status. We will bring out the best menu the Restalias has to offer for you.』

“I’d honestly prefer money to food and drinks though……”

『Of course, we’ll prepare a monetary reward as well. A reward system is indispensable for maintaining morale after all.』

Major Serena made one of her perfect-looking smiles. I see.

“So you basically want to use me to advertise the treatment a top ace would receive and how much of a bonus I’ll get huh? But won’t that only invite jealousy from everyone else?”

『You’re already attracting more than enough as it is anyway. And besides, you’ve made more than enough contributions to justify such treatment. Also, if we don’t give you the bonus you deserve, the imperial military’s credibility will be called into question. It would be a problem if rumors about the famous imperial military not handing a top ace his due rewards start to spread, don’t you think?』

“In other words, I have no choice but to attend, right?”

『Well, I wouldn’t say that, but we really would appreciate it if you could come over.』

I let out a sigh as I looked at Major Serena, whose smile never faltered in the slightest, and turned my gaze toward Elma sitting on the sub-pilot seat.

“I think it can’t be helped.”

I turned to Mimi as well.

“I want to try eating the best menu the imperial military has to offer, Hiro-sama.”

“You would, huh……”

Man. Mimi sure has her priorities straight. But I kinda want to sample the best menu the imperial military has to offer as well.

“Understood. We’ll accept the invitation. When should we come over?”

『That’s great. Well then, please come to the Restalias’ hangar an hour from now. Are you three the only ones coming over by the way?』

“May needs to stay in the Black Lotus, and the mechanic sisters are still busy performing maintenance and repairs on the mercenary ships. Yep, only us three will go.”

『Understood. We’ll see you in an hour then. Oh, and please be sure to wear your medal, alright?』

After saying so, Major Serena cut the call. My sigh echoed around the now-quiet cockpit.

“She completely got me wrapped around her little finger huh?”

“I don’t think it’s to that extent, but…… well, we mercenaries can’t divorce ourselves from getting in contact and working with the military after all. Just treat this as you building connections in preparation for the future.”

“It’s like that huh…… Well, I guess I’ll just look forward to the food then.”

“Yes!”

“Yeah. There’s the alcohol too!”

At least Mimi and Elma looked excited. I don’t really feel like attending a courtesy dinner organized by the higher-ups though…… I sighed again.