CH 83

Underground Fortress Infiltration 3

“The 7th floor has been breached!”

“Forty percent of our defense system is down, ma’am. The Bulkheads are not responding!”

“What are you all doing, fix it!”

While Kisei’s group’s offensive goes swimmingly, the commander on Nored side was rebuking her subordinates with a blue vein popping on her forehead. Even though she’s the commander of this base, she’s still in her early teens. This is no surprise given the fact that young high-ranking aristocrats are required to fight as a general on the frontline in accordance with Vuld culture.

“What’s the defense team doing? The Calencian shouldn’t have that many soldiers available either. Why are we the one being pushed back when we have a defensive advantage!”

“Th, that’s……”

When the commander angrily asked while roughing her blonde twin-tails, her subordinate nervously replied.

“The rumors that the [Wicked Star] is among the enemy has widely spread among our soldiers so the morale has plummeted……..moreover, it appears that some of the commoner troops have even surrendered to the enemy before the fight even begins.”

“U-S-E-L-E-S-S-!!”

The commander stomped on the floor. Her staff officers looked at her with a tired expression but they didn’t voice any complaint. After all, they share her frustration as well.

“This is why I hate working with those damn commoners!”

Even if with that said, there’s nothing to be done. A defensive war would be another thing but there are really not many things that can be used to motivate the commoners when it comes to an invasion. They have low attachment to the army as well as their nation, their sole motivation is their salary. Once they see that things are going south, they would immediately surrender. In the first place, these commoner soldiers belong to the commoner unit that no one put any expectation in them from the start. Still, using their number, they should amount to something……

“The 1st and 2nd gates of the underground harbor are destroyed! It seems that the Calencian engineer units are attacking from the sea, ma’am!”

“Eh, W, why!? That underground harbor was newly constructed right!? The Calencian can’t possibly know that it’s there!”

The underground fortress has a large harbor connected to the sea. Its purpose is to secretly maintain and resupply their submarines and spaceships when a ground battle occurs. It also serves as an escape route in case the fortress falls into the enemy’s hand. Naturally, the location of its entrance should be one of the most confidential information regarding this base…….

“Most likely, the troops that surrendered have given up the information…..”

The aged staff officer answered in a small voice.

“Why! Why are my subordinates so incompetent!”

When the base commander screamed while scratching at her head, an alarm suddenly ring inside the command center.

“Our communication line was hijacked, ma’am!”

The operator reports in a desperate voice. The base commander was about to rebuke her but she didn’t get a chance to do that as Schleer’s face suddenly showed up on the main monitor of the command center.

“Ahem……Greetings, Ladies of the Nored Empire. Can you hear me?”

“AhAhh~ CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“We can.”

The base commander shut her ears and shouted so but the aged staff officer answered Schleer with an unpleasant expression.

“Princess Schleer Henrietta I assume? The reason you contacted us now……well, I guess you are probably going to tell us to surrender, correct?”

“It’s helpful that you are so quick to understand.”

Schleer replied with a smile.

“We’ve already infiltrated the lowest level of this fortress. We are only waiting for our surface unit to arrive before we storm into that command center of yours. However, I think that both of us desire to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, no?”

Fighting inside a striker can more or less lessen the damage to human lives due to the safety the cockpit provides but that is not the case in anti-personnel combat. Moreover, the battlefield this time will be a closed space. Fighting here will inevitably lead to massive loss of lives.

“If you surrender now, both soldiers and generals will not be treated poorly. We will squarely treat you as prisoners of war. What do you think?”

“Hmph, I am the next Marchioness of Mithra! I will not surrender so easily!”

“Exactly.”

The aged staff officer agreed to the base commander’s statement. However, the reactions from the surroundings staff officers and soldiers are different. Some of them despaired at the coming tragedy, while the others got inspired by the base commander’s words.

Seeing that, Schleer’s mouth turned downward.

“…….In that case, this is inevitable. Goodbye.”

“Wait.”

Schleer was about to end the communication but the aged staff officer stopped her.

“It is still the role of the general to reduce unnecessary losses. In shorts, your terms are acceptable as long as our commander’s honor is protected. Is that not the case? Commander.”

“Eh? Y, Yeah?”

The base commander looked at the old staff officer like she was trying to ask what she’s planning here. The aged staff officer then looked back at her with a mischievous smile.

“I propose that we perform single combat between the generals from both sides. No matter what the result, our commander’s honor will be preserved.”

“W. Wait a minute? I’m only a major general though?”

“It is just a figure of speech, Commander.”

After glancing at the base commander like she was a stupid child for a moment, her eyes turned back toward Schleer.

“If you win, we will obediently surrender. However, if we win, we’d like you to allow our personnel of officer rank and above to escape. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

“Fumu, well, I already thought that this kind of proposal would come.”

In a situation like this, a commander would be disqualified as an aristocrat if they do not propose a duel like that. Schleer, who is on the advantageous side has no obligation to accept such a proposal but there’s no doubt that winning such a duel here would boost the morale of her subordinates.

“Let me state this condition first just in case. We will not allow you to send in a representative. As a princess, surely you would not hide yourself behind a mere mercenary, correct?”

“Naturally.”

Since this is her chance, Schleer wants to make it an overwhelming victory to show Kisei how cool she is. Thinking so, Schleer replied with a grin.

“This is a general’s duty! I will not allow you to escape from this, ma’am!”

The base commander involuntarily stepped back at the aged staff officer’s strong attitude.

“I, I never said that I would refuse right!”

“Very well. Then let us do this at the underground harbor. If it’s there, you should be able to fly your striker to your heart’s content.”

Saying so, the aged staff officer signaled the operator with her eyes to send the map of the fortress over to Schleer.

“Hmm, it seems that it’s nearby. Very well.”

The underground harbor was located within walking distance from the command center because it also served as an emergency escape route. After checking the map she received with the map she has to see if the Nored side is laying down any traps for them, Schleer agreed.