Crystal Lifeform Extermination Operation

The crystal lifeform extermination operation has finally begun. The entire

garrison fleet on the imperial military has moved out with us mercenaries

following suit.

It would be bad if ships go out of formation for some reason and get

separated from the rest of the fleet, so all mercenaries were ordered to

activate synchro mode and link up with their respective lead ships. It's like

auto-docking but applied to fleet maneuvers instead. Once we link up with

the lead ship, we would automatically move in concert with it and the rest

of the fleet unless synchro mode was deactivated, so we really didn't have

to steer the ship ourselves for the time being. But the link was lax enough

that we would be able to immediately disengage in case of emergencies.

"It's really boring huh."

"Um… yes. Should we play some games, Hiro-sama?"

"C'mon guys…"

Elma glared at Mimi and me who didn't give off any shred of nervousness

and complained about how bored we were.

Right now, Krishna was parked inside Black Lotus that was currently linked

up with the rest of the fleet. We were supposed to be standing by inside

Krishna's cockpit so we would be ready to launch out any time, but it would

still take thirty-six hours before we reached the Jerom system where the

Mother Crystal was nesting. There was currently no point in us getting

worked up inside the cockpit right now. Even if we encounter some sudden

unforeseen mishaps, we had dozens of imperial corvettes acting as the

vanguards, so as long as they held out for a little bit, there would be enough

time for us mercenaries to mobilize.

And so, we don't have to be on our toes just yet. Or rather, it would work

against us if we were too high-strung since that would increase the chances

of us dropping the ball when it counts, so that's why we were currently

bored out of our minds. Mimi's already developed well compared to before.

I remember she was a nervous wreck when she experienced her first sortie

and pirate hunting mission. And because I was rather bored, she suggested

playing a game to kill time. Plus, her skills and composure aren't the only

ones that developed nicely. I'm pretty sure her chest assets did too.

Yep. They were definitely bigger compared to before. Since I was already

quite familiar with them, I can only brainlessly claim that they're hella big,

but the data collected from the medical pod's daily diagnostics will never

lie. Mimi… What a terrifying girl!

"Oww!"

"Hmph."

As I leered at Mimi's chest while she was selecting games from the library,

Elma suddenly pinched my thigh. Uh, yeah. I might have been too crude

there. Let me reflect on it. This time, I'll stare at Elma. Smooth white skin,

pointed ears, and very fine features. Yep, what a beauty. Mimi was the cute

type, but Elma was the beautiful type… No, the lovely type. For example,

Mimi can be likened to a cute puppy. Elma, on the other hand, was like a

beautiful flower in bloom.

Yep. Comparing her to a flower sure fit her nicely.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how you're as lovely as a flower,

Elma."

"What the heck are you saying, you?"

Elma glared at me in mock anger, but the tips of her ears were as red as a

tomato. You can easily tell Elma's real feelings by observing her ears. Now

I think I get why space elves like her had the habit of hiding their ears

whenever they felt embarrassed.

As I flirted with Mimi and Elma left and right, a lively voice rang out from

the passageway connected to the hangar. It looks like Tina and Whisker

finished their maintenance on Krishna and were now going to take a break.

"Good work guys."

"Yeah. Thanks, Boss. The maintenance was completed without a hitch."

"We only did some basic systems check and maintenance though."

The mock battles I participated in were conducted using only low-powered

lasers with significantly reduced outputs and dummy ammo, so there wasn't

any actual damage to the armor. Only our ship's maneuverability and speed

weren't restricted, so I think the power and transmission systems were the

ones that needed paying attention to.

"Hey, hey, c'mon!"

"Yossha!"

When I spread my arms wide while sitting on the sofa, Tina immediately

rushed in. I caught Tina squarely and started giving her head pats.

"There, there. Good girl. Good girl."

"Ahahahaha, you're gonna mess up my hair."

I patted Tina's head a few more times then released her. Afterward, two

heads collided with my chest from the left and right.

"There, there. There, there."

"Ehehe."

"Hey, can you do it gentler? Gentler, I said."

I happily stroked Mimi and Elma's heads as well. As I did that, Whisker

stared at us with a complicated expression. After I had my fill of stroking

Mimi and Elma's heads, I turned toward Whisker and opened my arms wide

again.

"Uryaaa–"

"B-Big si– Waaa!?"

Tina pushed Whisker forward, and she ended up diving headfirst into my

arms. I caught her firmly.

"There, there. There, there. It must be hard to be always pushed around by

Tina huh?"

"Hey. That ain't nice, Boss."

"But it's true, right?"

"Guh."

When I pointed toward Whisker who was shoved by Tina and ended up

burying her face on my chest, Tina made a mortified expression and pursed

her lips. As I gazed at Tina with a gloating expression on my face while

petting the flustered Whisker, May entered the break room.

And then, she picked up Whisker, had her sit beside Mimi, then knelt in

front of me who was still sitting on top of the sofa, and offered her own

head for a round of petting.

"There, there. There, there."

She must have monitored what was happening in the cockpit, and when she

saw me stroking everyone's heads, she wanted in on the action too. If it's

only head pats, I'll give you as much as you want, guys.

The peaceful and relaxing moments didn't last long. Before long, the

combined fleet managed to arrive at the Jerom system on schedule. Soon,

the ships will be jumping out of hyperspace and plunging right inside the

system.

"Now then, start the routine check of each section. May, please prepare the

launch catapult so we can sortie immediately when needed after entering

the system."

"Yes."

"Aye, aye, sir."

[Understood.]

I operated my console while giving out commands to the crew and switched

the power generator from idle mode to cruise mode. There should be a good

chance of the Mother Crystal being located far away from the hyperlane

nodes of the Jerom system, but conversely, there's a high possibility of

Guardian Crystals being near them instead.

Whether due to instinct or some form of intelligence, those things often

position themselves near the entrance and exit points of hyperlane nodes. In

SOL, their numbers were the highest in the hyperlane node nearest to the

position of the Mother Crystal, but I'm not sure if that still holds true in this

dimension.

If the behavioral patterns of the crystal lifeforms are the same as in SOL,

their numbers should be thinnest in the hyperlane node located the furthest

away from the Mother Crystal… Well, we won't be able to find out unless

we jump in anyway.

"We will be plunging inside the Jerom system soon. 30 seconds to warp

out!"

"Let's do this."

I gripped the flight stick and changed the generator settings from cruise

mode to combat mode.

I then simulated the most efficient evasion and attack maneuvers against

crystal lifeforms inside my head.

First, we'll need to deal with the Guardian Crystals that would come after

the rear line and aggro the rest. This is my first priority.

In this case, my main job is to make it easier for the allied ships that sport

far more firepower to safely pick off the enemies instead of destroying them

myself.

"We'll be jumping out of hyperspace soon. Countdown… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!"

A strange sound that was different from what a ship makes whenever it

deactivates the FTL Drive rang out. It was like 'giyooooon', or maybe

'biyooooon'… Like someone going ham on a synthesizer. Just what the

heck was that anyway?

As I mulled over that strange sound, Black Lotus finally jumped out of

hyperspace with Krishna parked inside it.

After a few moments, an alert rang out inside both ships.

[Crystal lifeforms confirmed. The corvettes of the imperial force vanguard

are moving in to engage. The mercenaries have been ordered to deploy as

well.]

"Okay. Send us out."

[Yes. Good luck, everyone.]

May's image displayed on the cockpit monitor made an elegant bow.

In the next moment, intense Gs rocked the ship. Krishna was promptly

launched out into open space by the hangar catapult, and the resulting Gs

that couldn't be fully nullified by the inertial control system assaulted our

bodies.

"Uu, no matter how many times I go through it, I just can't get used to the

feeling."

"The inertial control device is ineffective against Gs resulting from

acceleration via an external force after all. Mimi, obtain battlefield info

from the main fleet and mark the position of the Guardian Crystals on the

radar map."

"Yes."

I pacified the grumbling Mimi and headed out to battle. The imperial

military corvettes were already at the forefront as they engaged in an

intense battle with the Guardian Crystals. The other mercenary ships are

heading over as well.

It looks like it's safe to try and eliminate the creatures going after the rear

line. And then, we need to prioritize aggroing the rest of the Guardian

Crystals and draw them away.

"Yosh. We'll make a detour here and hit the enemies from the flank. We'll

attract their attention with a few reactive torpedoes. Weapon systems

activate."

Krishna's bow transformed, and the two ballistic shotgun cannons appeared

in all their glory. The four sub-arms holding heavy laser cannons were also

deployed out. Two anti-ship reactive torpedoes were ready to be launched

out from the weapon bay below the ship.

Battle preparations complete.

"Roger. Leave the sub-systems to me as always."

Just as I declared, I didn't head straight for the battlefield but took a detour

instead.

"This is Krishna. We're going to bypass the front line and hit the enemies

from the flank. We will be using anti-ship reactive torpedoes to get their

attention, so take care not to get caught up in the blast radius."

I operated my console in order to share Krishna's current course and the

expected explosion coordinates to all allied ships. Well, I think it'll be

alright since no one else would dare to jump right in the middle of the

enemies, but I still sent a warning out just in case.

"We're punching through."

"Yes!"

"Aye, aye–"

After getting sufficient distance, I accelerated the ship and began flanking

the enemies. One of them already noticed Krishna's approach and headed

out to intercept, but I evaded and pelted it with weapons fire from the

shotgun and heavy laser cannons. After gaining the aggro of one enemy by

injuring it, it called even more enemies to assist, and before long, the aggro

had successfully shifted from the vanguard to Krishna.

"Here's one shot to get things fired up!"

I fired a reactive torpedo from the weapon bay and immediately changed

course to avoid getting caught up in the resulting blast. I fired another round

immediately before the first torpedo exploded and changed course again.

"Alright, c'mon! Come and get it, you idiots! C'mon!"

Of course, they won't get to hear me provoking them personally, but the

reactive torpedoes were a different story. They successfully got their

attention. The first one landed a direct hit on a Guardian Crystal that was

about to turn around to give chase and exploded it to bits. A good number

of other Guardian Crystals got caught up in the explosion as well.

Then the other torpedo exploded. It directly destroyed three Guardian

Crystals at the same time. The resulting fragments scattered around

violently and hit even more Guardian Crystals and caused additional

damage. A greater number of Guardian Crystals turned their attention

toward Krishna.

"Let's get started. Pay close attention to the shield capacity."

"Aye, aye, sir– Leave it to me."

After hearing Elma's reliable reply, I fired up the thrusters and flew Krishna

at full speed.

And thus began an extreme game of tag (onigokko) with lots of destructive

projectiles and hundreds of Onis.