CH 241

How to Deal with Battleships

“So……what’s our mission? Escorting the fleet?”

Kisei departed from the space carrier he was on but he did not hear the details of the operation yet. He can somewhat guess from the fact that Schleer personally came out here though.

“That will be Eleanor-san and Tersis-san.”

“……so, My Lord will act separately huh.”

Tersis asked back. Naturally, not only Kisei and Diaroze, the rest were told sortie. However, this time it seems they will have to act separately. A hint of dissatisfaction can be detected in Tersis’s tone.

“Kisei and I will be launching an attack on the enemy battleships. The enemy has that many battleships after all. We need to weaken them as much as we can before the enemy main force gets here.”

“Anti-ship battle huh…….so you want to blind them?”

Groaned Diaroze. What comes to her mind was her battle at Leboir. Due to Kisei’s effort, she lost many battleships to his attack. Kisei was taking out ships’ fire control radars which greatly reduced the accuracy of her ships’ main turrets. No matter how powerful a ship is, if it can’t hit anything then it’s just a chunk of iron.

“Yes. We will plunge at them and focus on destroying the FCR of their battleships. If we keep attacking then we should be able to target their weak points too.”

Although a battleship usually comes with its characteristic thick armor plate, its radar can not receive the benefit of such armor. A common anti-ship weapon should be sufficient to disable them. However, they usually placed a large number of AA turrets near the radar, it won’t be easy………..that’s why they need skillful pilots for this task.

“My striker is perfect for a mission like this. Besides, the fact that the commander is on the field will boost morale too.”

“I see, I understand.”

Eleanor nods. She then turns a stern gaze toward the [Colbrand]. It’s a jet-black Zenith that looks just like [Caliburn-Revive]. It was prepared for Valentina who lost her [Ortho Kratzer].

“But my striker is of the same type as yours, that would make me suitable for this mission as well. Instead of Valentina-sama, please let me go with you.”

Valentina is by no way weak in terms of piloting skill but she’s still inferior to the 4 Heavenly. Moreover, the [Colbrand] may be a Zenith but in terms of performance, it is far inferior to the exclusive strikers of the 4 Heavenly. She probably won’t drag Kisei’s feet but Eleanor truly worries that Valentina might not be good enough to protect him.

“There’s a reason why it has to be me and Schleer. Not only Calencians, there are also a lot of former Noredian soldiers in this operation after all.”

However, Valentina already expected such a protest so she has already prepared a retort.

“Rather, isn’t it fine if all of us just go together?”

With a difficult expression, Tersis proposed. After all, she’s piloting a highly specialized striker. She can make wonders in anti-striker combats but she can’t do anything against a ship.

That’s why it’s kinda hard for her to tell Schleer to take her with them……..However, rushing at the enemy is Tersis’s favorite kind of mission so she wants to go with them if possible.

“We can’t afford that. The enemy fleet will be attacking us with their smaller ships and strikers as well. For the time being, Nora is handling them but……there’s a limit to what a single ace can do.”

In the previous battle, she was made keenly aware of her fleet’s lack of AA capability. It would be impossible for her fleet to survive with the assigned escorts alone. Moreover, the enemy will have many space carriers among their many ships. It’s certain that the striker combat will be pretty intense as well.

That’s where the 4 Heavenly come in. With their help, the fleet should be able to fend off the smaller-sized enemies.

“Muh…….”

“Sorry about this.”

Valentina sincerely apologized to Tersis and the others. In this situation where they can not fully trust the loyalty of their subordinates, it would be wise to inspire awe in the soldiers by showing the might of the 4 Heavenly. Besides, the 4 Heavenly seems to have taken Calencia’s side even more than Valentina.

“I’ve familiarized myself with this striker so I will be fine. I won’t show our soldiers any shameful display.”

Valentina had been training with her new striker until the enemy attacked. Although its performance is inferior to that of her old personal striker, it’s not like it’s a bad striker so confidence can be felt through her voice.

“If you say that much then I will trust you. I’m counting on you, Lady Valentina.”

Tersis seems a little bitter but she agrees to her assignment. After that, she fired her thruster and flew back to the main fleet with Eleanor following behind her.

“Very well, let us be off then.”

Schleer said with a voice filled with fighting spirit.