How to Get an Honorable Discharge? (1)
‘Huh? The situation isn't going as fun as I hoped?’
Korri's perked-up fox ears were busily checking every detail of the surrounding situation without missing a beat. The playful tail of the fox had turned surprisingly calm and sharp. At first glance it appeared as if she was dozing, but her eyes were tracking a group of soldiers—security personnel on decks 13-04, totaling twelve, platoon-sized. Not elite troops.
“Second Lieutenant, boundary level D1!”
“This is a real combat situation. Everyone, check your weapons immediately!”
Boundary level delta. Real combat situation.
Korri fiddled with the gray bullet in her pocket.
Finally... is this the time to use this?
Mom Goat had said ‘okay’, but...
As long as I don't confirm with my own eyes—
I can never be at ease.
“No orders from the captain yet! Everyone, hold your positions and carry out your assigned duties! All exits on deck 13-03 are closed, so if there's an intruder, they must come here!”
Even as the alarm blared and words were cut off, the young devil lieutenant in the ship security unit issued calm instructions. As Erika approached the lieutenant, Korri set aside her thoughts and followed her.
“Second Lieutenant!”
“Colonel!”
“Is this alarm a drill?!”
Erika raised her voice above the noise of the alarm. Her near-screaming shout made the lieutenant shake his head in reply.
“I don't know yet! It sounds like a signal from sector 13-03, but since it's a real delta alarm, we have to perform the mission carefully!”
Having said that, the lieutenant released the safety on his pulse rifle.
“Could you help us?”
“Of course, Lieutenant!”
Korri and Erika drew their weapons. Recalling their role as support troops for the delta alert, they first evacuated the civilian personnel in the welfare area to the nearest deck 13-05.
“Korri, what is sector 13-03... damn, I thought this was the first time here.”
“Hehe, sorry if it doesn't help!”
Korri scratched the back of her head while thinking Actually, I know, but... According to her memory, sector 13-03 was the medical bay with operating rooms. Right now, it was the most likely place for the ‘wolf’ to be sleeping. Taking advantage of the distraction while Erika evacuated them, Korri secretly and quickly placed the gray bullet, ‘Stone’, into the medicine cabinet.
“Haha! Training on some other ship must be different!”
“What's so fun about it?”
“Eh?! That's too much! I was born with a smiling face, you know?!”
Suddenly, the alarm stopped.
The alarm stopped, but the lieutenant stood like a guardian of hell in the center of the lobby on deck 13-04. The security personnel were looking around, unsure of the situation.
“Front view clear! Position secured! Until the order to release the blockade is given, this is not over! Stay alert!”
As she said this firmly, the security personnel readjusted their stances. At that moment, the security personnel aiming at the emergency stairs door covered their ears as if they heard something. The lieutenant cautiously approached there, holding her breath and focusing her hearing.
“......”
A low growl came from somewhere.
It was coming from the door a few meters ahead.
Someone had clearly come up from sector 13-03.
The lieutenant sent the squad assembly signal, and all security personnel gathered in front of the emergency stairs door. She put her finger to her lips and carefully lowered her gun.
A low moaning sound came again.
The suffocating tension swept through the area. ‘Something’ was there.
The lieutenant carefully put her ear to the door.
But she couldn't tell.
Korri did the same, focusing her hearing on the door. It sounded like an animal, or like a low moan. If there was a window, she could have seen, but this emergency stairs door was a heavy single metal door designed to prevent fire from spreading, and she couldn't see the other side. The lieutenant leaned her back against the left wall of the door and picked up her gun that had been on the floor.
“Listen, this is a delta boundary situation! Announce the password!”
Anyone in the Valkyrie crew wouldn't know today's password. Everyone there waited calmly for the answer, but suddenly the sound from the opposite side stopped.
Something was wrong.
Korri secretly released the safety on her pistol.
“Say it again, announce the password!”
As soon as the lieutenant finished speaking, a sound of the door handle turning carefully came. The security personnel aimed at the door in the highest state of tension. Something in black uniform came out.
The opponent did not announce the password.
And with just that fact, the lieutenant did not hesitate.
“!”
The lieutenant kicked the knee of the appearing figure. With a short moan, it lost balance and fell to the floor on its belly. Seeing it try to get up by propping itself on the floor with both hands, she mercilessly brought the heel of her boot down on its back.
“Identify your affiliation, suspicious person!”
Pointing her gun at the wriggling head, the lieutenant said. Watching silently as if it was just training, Erika's eyes widened uncontrollably.
“...Elia? Elia!”
“Stop!”
She shouted to stop Erika who was rushing out.
“Orders are absolute and must be prioritized! As long as the alarm is ringing, I have the duty to suppress suspicious persons according to the execution rules!”
It was only a blink of an eye, less than ten seconds. Korri narrowed her eyes and watched the fallen Elia on the floor. Her eyes were filled with shock and fear. Is this the ‘wolf’? No way, acting? No. From the monitoring so far, the ‘wolf’ would never do such acting. Then the real one? Maybe this is the real appearance.
...Hold execution for now.
Red blood scattered everywhere on the disheveled uniform. Seeing Elia's mouth corners red, she seemed to have vomited it herself. Her face was extremely pale, she was weakly convulsing while clutching her head with both hands. It was an appearance that couldn't be suspected of acting even if she wanted to. After confirming Mom Goat's words with her own eyes, Korri put the pistol back in the holster.
“Hey, Second Lieutenant? Is this the captain of our Obelisk? Move your foot—”
“Impossible, Lieutenant. Identity verification is possible after restraint according to procedure.”
The sunny lieutenant was stubborn.
“Move that foot, Lieutenant.”
“Colonel, are you interfering with my mission?”
“S, Second Lieutenant? It would be better to move your foot!”
The lieutenant raised her eyes and faced Erika. This young first lieutenant didn't know who the person standing in front of her was. Korri worried about her future and desperately tried to persuade her.
“That's it, the person standing next to me right now—”
“This ship is the super-heavy cruiser Valkyrie! The Colonel of Obelisk does not have the authority to issue orders to me!”
Erika's eyes burned with anger at the lieutenant's arrogant words. The soldiers in the security unit were at a loss, looking at each other. The dangerous atmosphere intensified.
“Last warning, Lieutenant! Move that foot!”
“Colonel! This is a serious act of disrespect to another ship! Elia Edelvine? I have heard that name! The captain of Obelisk who has ignored the captain's orders and caused all sorts of unfortunate incidents. I will detain you immediately!”
Erika's eyes widened. All sorts of thoughts swirled in her head. She had prejudices against Elia in a way. Arrogant, willful, and even too haughty to look down on.
“Ive, Eve, I want to be by your side....”
But at the same time, she hoped to go to the side of her precious colleague who had left the world wearing such a mask. Living wanting death. That couldn't be called a life. She had abandoned her who was living in such a hellish life. Guilt spread through her body like poison.
“...If you want to say it nicely, move right now, you bastards.”
Recalling the tears of blood Elia had shed, her heart ached as if it was tearing. But these were perfect strangers who didn't know the situation. Frustrated and angry, anger welled up. How dare you detain someone in front of me?
“Okay, fine. If you don't move, I'll move it for you.”
Erika, who had never lost her composure facing any upper entity of Unknown, finally lost her cool. The elite special unit of Aegis, Chainstalker, and the honorable warrior of Defelheim raised all the mana in her body. An explosive flow of mana. The startled lieutenant shouted at the security personnel.
“Security! S, stop!”
12 vs 1 battle. But the 12 security personnel blocking the way couldn't be opponents for Erika. The security personnel desperately raised their mana and rushed towards her, but they fell to the floor as if crumpled as they approached.
“Keep blocking like that.”
Overwhelming power. The fallen security personnel didn't even realize what happened, choking and flailing. Something hard hit their chest in an instant, and at that moment, the air in their lungs was all gone.
“Next, I'm really going to kill.”
The security personnel were overwhelmed by the killing intent and couldn't move.
Erika slowly approached the lieutenant.
And then.
“What are you doing right now!”
The familiar shouting voice came.
“L, Lora?!”
Lora, who saw the captain's figure curled up under the lieutenant's foot and trembling, froze for a few seconds.
“Lieutenant, that foot... move it right now.”
She said in a voice that tried to push aside her anger. As a commander of lieutenant colonel or higher, the lieutenant complied with the regulations and moved her foot.
“Ah, I, I was late, I was late...”
Lora dropped the bundle of documents she had been holding with both hands. She had desperately been looking for an excuse to go on a business trip to Valkyrie, and at that moment, she found the report on the unauthorized use of the Nautilus Cannon that she had to report directly to Karina.
“Chloe, please! I'll go report!”
“W, wait! Lora! Where are you going arbitrarily—”
She took command of Obelisk's command arbitrarily, picked up the documents roughly, arrived at Valkyrie, heard from the adjutant that the captain was with the captain, and was hurrying to the medical bay.
“Captain, Captain! Do you hear me?!”
Lora knelt beside Elia. After looking at her more closely, Lora's face crumpled terribly. Her complexion was pale, her pupils dilated widely and lost focus. Her breathing was shallow and fast like a patient on the verge of death.
“Lieutenant Colonel Lora, the security in this area is under your—”
“By command authority, I order you, Lieutenant! Immediately shut that mouth and run to call the medical unit, all of you! Before you all go to prison for insubordination!”
The roar like lava spewing from a volcano. Lora, who usually avoided harsh words, burst out with rough words, startling them, and they rushed to call the medical unit.
“...I, I don't, I don't, I don't, anymore, I don't.”
Despair hit Lora upon hearing Elia's murmur. She knew this symptom. Even though she had left the world, it was the same as her proud soldier father.
“It's okay, Captain. I'm here, I'm here.”
Lora hugged the trembling Elia tightly.
PTSD.
She never imagined that the captain, who was usually arrogant, had such a dark past. She had thought she was as solid as a fortress, but it turned out to be a sandcastle that had already collapsed. The surroundings were terribly silent, but Lora's mind was noisy like the middle of hell. Scenes of crew members talking behind the captain's back flashed like a slide show.
“Even parachutes are enough to ride. Calling that captain.”
“Would you make Lora deputy captain the captain again?”
“What are you doing in the captain's quarters? Bleeding?”
“Hard to die, what is the ghost doing? Not taking it.”
Harsh, cold words. What thoughts did she have while hearing these words. No one gave her comforting words as her days passed like a wounded person. In the cold captain's quarters that no one visited, how lonely she lived. Behind the mask hiding numbness, what expression was she making.
“Uh, music sound, music sound...”
Elia's voice was pitifully trembling, and her gaze didn't know where to fall.
“It's okay, Captain, it's okay, sorry.”
She hugged her tighter and whispered. Hot tears began to slide down Lora's cheeks, starting from one line, followed by regret and self-blame all at once.