CH 39

Battle of Leboir [9]

“That woman, she told us to be careful but at this rate, we are going to get crushed even before her sister shows up isn’t it!”

Saki irritatedly shouted a few minutes after Valentina left. Like before, the enemy strikers are not that strong but if they keep coming like this, Saki’s side will gradually exhaust themselves.

“But we can’t afford to withdraw here either.”

Schleer said as she fired her heavy machine gun. She had withdrawn from battle and resupply earlier but she still had to return to the front without getting any proper rest. After all, holding such an amount of enemy with only 2 strikers is obviously not going to be easy.

“We could keep up with their number because we are piloting Zeniths. If we let such a big wave of enemies reach another front…….I don’t even want to imagine what will happen.”

“Still, our opponents are clearly just reserved units. They must have stationed their main force elsewhere. It can’t be good for us to continue playing their game like this.”

Kisei growls. The enemies they are facing are clearly just a diversion. It’s hard to imagine that the Noredian commanders think that this amount of troops can take them down. Moreover, even though Valentina clearly dislikes her sister, she seems to acknowledge her ability. There’s no way that the enemy commander-in-chief is just an average person.

“Yes, exactly. While these decoys stall us here, the enemy’s main force must be moving somewhere else. Honestly, if their main force collided with ours, it’s impossible that our force would come out on top.”

One could say the fact that Kisei who is their most powerful war asset is being stalled on an unimportant front is showing that the current situation greatly deviated from their original plan. Right now, the battle is progressing at the opponent’s pace.

Schleer glanced at the tactical map displayed on her sub-monitor. The enemy unit attacking them seems to be a small and compact one. This renders their guerrilla tactics less effective. What’s more, if they can’t send out a recon unit, they will not be able to verify the location of the enemy’s main force. In other words, there’s nothing they can do.

“…….we need to find a way to win this.”

Schleer muttered while suppressing her frustration.

“If it’s a way to win this battle then there’s one you know. It will be fine!”

While she was like that, Kisei replied with a bright voice. Avoiding the enemy attack, Kisei approached the enemy strikers at full speed and skewer them one by one using his pile bunker.

“For now, the situation is progressing in the direction that the enemy expected! That’s why it will be fine. We just have to turn the table on them when the time comes!”

“……what do you mean?”

After hiding her striker in a shade of a rock, Schleer asked. Is there really a way for them to turn the table on the enemy as they are now?

“It seems that the enemy has quite a high opinion of us. That’s why they definitely do not want us to be anywhere near their main force when they are trying to deal a decisive blow on the main fleet.”

“That’s…….true.”

Schleer nodded while thinking to herself that it’s not ‘us’ who they are putting up their guard against but ‘you’ alone.

“In other words, there’s a high chance that they will send something powerful our way to keep us occupied when the time comes. That will be our signal to counterattack.”

“I see, so that’s when we can take the initiative to attack them back huh!”

Saki grins. Certainly, that plan is much more interesting than just remaining on the defensive.

“The moment our opponent makes an advance on our main fleet, I will rush in to intercept them. It will be difficult for me to withdraw though.”

“So, you are saying that you have a chance of winning?”

“Of course! I will show you. I am Hokuto Kisei after all.”

Saying so, Kisei laughs out loud. After thinking about his proposal for a while, Schleer agrees to his plan. Although she has never seen any lone Zenith turning the tide of battle between capital ships, she has no other plan to offer right now.

“I understand, let’s go with that.”

Hearing that, Kisei let out a small sigh. He then put more strength into his grip on the control sticks.

“This might be bad for me. But, this is the thing that you must do, Hokuto Kisei.”

In a small voice that didn’t even get picked up by the mic, Kisei motivated himself. He then looked to the sky in the distance. A unit of strikers is approaching their location at a tremendous speed. From the presence he feels, it’s clear that their level of skills is clearly different from that of the enemies they have faced so far.

“It seems that our timing has arrived. Now then, shall we!”

In a bright voice, Kisei made his striker jump up. And just like that he fired the thruster at full power and rushed toward the enemy unit.

“Ah, Hey! Where are you going!”

Seeing him rush out, Saki shouts at him from behind. Glancing at the approaching enemies, it’s clear that their strikers are even more advanced than the [Jetta]. The output of their engine is clearly higher.

“These signals…..[Lenion]! The Imperial Knights!?”

“Oi, Oi, Oi, those Noredians suddenly got serious. Moreover, he just rushed in!”

While the two were taken by surprise, Kisei continued to accelerate. Naturally, the enemy concentrated fire on him but he skillfully avoided them all.

The distance between Kisei and the enemy elite unit is reduced and he can now see them on his screen. It was a unit of jet-black glossy strikers. The [Lenion] is a high-spec model of striker that is only available to the Imperial Knights under the direct command of the Empress of the Nored empire. Perhaps they were intending to blitz their position, all [Lenions] are all straddled on ride boosters.

“There, it’s the enemy from the report.”

“Keep your guard up, that is no ordinary enemy.”

The Noredian’s communication line immediately grew noisy. Then, Kisei held up his blaster rifle and fired. The [Lenion] he targeted avoided the beam with a reaction speed that would not bring shame to the name Imperial Knight but the second shot Kisei fired still found its way to the [Lenion]’s shoulder. As expected of the armor plate on a high-spec unit, it managed to endure the blow but the third shot Kisei fired in succession made an impact on the exact same place and the [Lenion] was sent flying.

“I’m taking this!”

While avoiding the enemy’s attack, Kisei commandeered the ride booster that lost its rider. He then flipped it back 180 degrees and fired its thruster at max power. As the ride booster also seems to be specially designed for the Imperial Knights, the G assaulting his body from the acceleration is even stronger than usual.

“Ugh…..!”

Kisei grit his teeth while enduring the rusted iron smell rising up from his chest.

His target, the Calencian main fleet.