Chapter 269: Operation Details and Sharing my Thoughts

After spending some time getting treated inside the med-pod, I made my way back to the Black Lotus’s cargo hold that’s been converted to a temporary training area. I then witnessed the exhausted appearance of the noble-born officers under Lt. Col. Serena. As for Lt. Col. Serena herself, she was smiling bitterly as she looked at the miserable appearance of her subordinates.

“Aren’t you gonna try the training as well, Colonel?”

“I can’t let myself get injured before the start of the operation after all. I’d be happy to take on the challenge when the operation is over.”

“Yes, Serena-sama.”

Mei, who looked as unfazed as usual, nodded in reply. Well, of course, she wasn’t bothered even after all that activity. She’s a maidroid after all.

“Alrighty then. It’s not much, but please follow me for some refreshments, everyone. We do have a dedicated break room here.”

After saying so, I led the exhausted officers to the break room and left them to their devices.

“So, what did you really come here for today?”

I immediately got to the point and asked Lt. Col. Serena about her business with us after she took her seat.

“I came here to talk about the details of the operation with you. My men came here as my bodyguards as well as to sightsee and relax a bit.”

“My ship ain’t some kind of tourist spot y’know?”

As we chatted, Mimi came in and brought us some tea and sweets.

“It’s been a while, Serena-sama.”

“Yes, it has, Mimi-sama.”

“No, um, you really don’t have to address me with ‘sama’……”

“Is that so? Alright. I understand, Mimi-san.”

“Mm, please don’t be so formal with me.”

Lt. Col. Serena played a large part in letting us meet with the imperial family, so she knew the fact that Mimi was actually the emperor’s grandniece.

“Okay, colonel. You said something about the operation details earlier. Can you tell me about it now?”

“Alright. According to the information we’ve managed to obtain, it seems that the Red Flag pirates have built quite a number of small-scale bases in the surrounding star systems.”

“I think it’s better if I didn’t ask how exactly you got that info.”

“That would be for the best.”

Lt. Col. Serena flashed me a sweet-looking smile.

Compared to battles in outer space, battles within a planet’s atmosphere have a much higher survival rate whenever a ship gets shot down. Even if the ship’s life support system gets fried, it doesn’t mean you’d die immediately. As long as the cockpit block, which also doubles as an escape pod, is intact, there’s a high possibility of those inside surviving the crash.

Just recently, Refill IV, or Theta to the locals, was raided by the Red Flag pirates again, and a good number of them were shot down, mostly thanks to Mei and Black Lotus. In other words, they should have been able to capture a reasonable number of prisoners from the downed ships.

The imperial military, or rather, the Graccan empire itself, doesn’t have any mercy when it comes to space pirates. The captured pirates should be slated for a lifetime of hard labor, and if they were extremely unlucky, they could be selected as specimens for mad experiments that weren’t fit to be disclosed to the masses. Once selected, they’d have little to no hope of surviving. Their treatment was far from humane.

“So what do you propose we do to deal with those small-scale bases? Disperse their forces and crush them all at once?”

“Close, but not quite. We will completely blockade each star system and clean the bases up once the cage is closed shut.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Red Flag pirate organization wasn’t the type that developed by building a single large-scale base, but instead one that built a large network of small-scale bases interspersed in multiple star systems. Crushing one or two small-case bases wouldn’t cause any lasting damage to them. If you wanted to deal with them completely, you’d need to crush all the small-scale bases scattered throughout the different star systems all at once.

Therefore, Lt. Col. Serena was planning to block and suppress all the related hyperlane nodes of the nearby star systems which housed their small-scale bases in order to create a situation where the pirates wouldn’t be able to enter or exit. Then she’d order an all-out attack in order to annihilate all the small-scale Red Flag bases within the surrounding star systems in one fell swoop. Though this still wouldn’t be able to completely eliminate the Red Flags, it would shave a considerable chunk of their sphere of influence within the empire.

“In order to do that, you’d need accurate info regarding the exact location and number of their bases, right?”

“We were able to secure such information, so that’s why I’m confident in conducting this operation.”

“Ah, I see……”

Were they able to find a bigshot among the captured prisoners? Or did they manage to salvage the navigation data from the wreckage of one of the ships that were shot down? I’m not sure which one, but in any case, it looks like they really were able to get a hold of the info needed to make the operation work.

“But wouldn’t it be impossible to completely blockade all the star systems with only your independent fleet? Where are you gonna get the needed manpower?”

“They would be mainly from the local star system garrisons. I’m also contacting imperial detachments present in the sector that are currently unengaged.”

“I see. So, that means the attack will be conducted mainly by your independent fleet and contracted mercenaries.”

“That’s how it is. And I’ll have you play a part as an independent raid ship apart from the main attack force.”

“Roger that. Just the same as usual then.”

If we want to take full advantage of Krishna’s superior mobility and firepower, it would be more efficient to fly around freely on the battlefield instead of joining the battle line.

“What about Black Lotus acting as part of the rear lines?”

“We’d greatly appreciate that. This ship’s firepower will come in handy after all. Especially its EML. That thing’s power and range are really suitable for attacking bases from a distance after all.”

“That’s for sure.”

The large-caliber EML equipped on the Black Lotus’s bow was extremely powerful. Normally, weapon systems using live ammunition aren’t that effective against tough energy shields, but the EML has more than enough power to penetrate most shields. Of course, it’s also very effective against regular ship armors and hulls, so it was a very effective weapon for use against stationary targets.

Well, since its projectile’s speed was understandably way slower than laser fire, there’s also the drawback of its hit rate being significantly lower against moving targets. But Mei’s calculation speed and uncanny accuracy will mostly make up for that though.

“What are you going to do with the bases? Are you gonna just destroy them with no questions asked?”

“That’s the plan. We have a lot of targets this time after all.”

Lt. Col. Serena shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of the tea Mimi prepared.

The main source of income of the Red Flag pirates was the selling of slaves illegally on black markets. They’d attack planetary settlements, space colonies, merchant ships, and passenger ships, abduct the residents, passengers, and ship crew, ‘process’ them, and then sell them off to their clients. I suppose there’s no need for any further explanation about what kind of scum they were.

In other words, there’s a very high possibility of their ‘special goods’ being held at their numerous bases. And that’s why we’d destroy them without any questions. After all, there’s no way those involved in the illegal slave trade would be decent folks. Those who have been ‘processed’ by the pirates into illegal slaves would need considerable effort and extraordinary luck in order to regain their lives before they were abducted.

So far, I haven’t encountered any of those personally though. I’ve never had the opportunity to collect a sleep pod containing a fully ‘processed’ illegal slave after all.

“You’re making a long face.”

“Really? I suppose. It’s fine. Don’t mind me.”

It wasn’t a pleasant topic for sure, but an individual can only do so much. If there was no hope of them being saved, perhaps ending it all can also be considered a kind of mercy. In the first place, it was something I and Lt. Col. Serena couldn’t resolve on our own. Unless the empire itself gets serious about getting rid of it, the problem regarding illegal slaves would never truly go away.

“Fumu, you unexpectedly have your cute side as well huh?”

“Please gimme a break. More importantly, how’s the gathering of our forces going?”

“Our forces would be completely gathered within 38 hours. Please be sure to prepare yourselves physically and mentally for the upcoming operation.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

Lt. Col. Serena, who nodded in satisfaction after hearing my reply, proceeded to get her officers and led them back to their flagship; Battleship Restalias.

Oh, man. I ended up having my mood dampened by thinking about something needlessly. I guess I’ll cheer myself up a bit by flirting with someone.

While thinking so, I inputted the completion schedule of the reinforcement gathering on my mobile terminal and decided to loiter around the ship.