Chapter 192
Translator: uly
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: The Space Crawler's Descent
A rift tore open, and the first things to emerge were flying craft.
They swarmed out like bats pouring from a cave, blanketing the area around the rift in a black mass.
"Flying craft here too?!"
"Open fire! Target the rift!"
The anti-aircraft guns fired first.
Explosions ripped through, vaporizing an entire swarm of the craft.
They held out like that for a while with gunfire, and then the defense fleet joined in.
The situation shifted about ten minutes later.
"...The rift, the rift is opening again!"
It was just like the scene from Acheron back then, playing out once more.
Smaller rifts began spiderwebbing out around the central one.
The rift detection sensors couldn't pick up any prior energy fluctuations—this phenomenon always felt so abrupt.
But maybe because the central rift had been small to begin with.
The offshoots from that rift—barely big enough for a Space Crawler to squeeze through—weren't all that large even combined.
In short, the defense fleet and we could handle the defense just fine.
"It's playing out like an air raid defense battle."
"It won't stay open long. Space Crawlers don't have strong rift-generation capabilities."
"Huh? I see a head poking out over there!"
No sooner had I responded to Jim than the Space Crawler revealed itself.
With its length over ten kilometers, it seemed to go on forever as it emerged.
But the real point of note wasn't its length—it was the massively swollen carapace on its back.
"Oh, don't tell me that's..."
The Space Crawler, shrugging off the bombardment like it was nothing, curled its body slightly.
Then its back shell parted naturally, unleashing a torrent of flying craft.
"Looks like they've changed tactics. Numbers?"
"About 150,000!"
"It's just a big dump all at once—they're not as numerous as they look. We'll whittle them down steadily."
"Energy buildup detected from the Space Crawler!"
Having summoned 100,000 reinforcements from its own back, the Space Crawler pressed forward toward the fleet without stopping, charging its main guns.
Weapons of all kinds fired to halt it, explosions dazzling the eyes.
But the defense fleet alone lacked the firepower to stop it.
Worse, the Murdoch-class battleship hit by the first salvo had propulsion issues and ground to a halt right there.
Naturally, it fell behind the rest of our fleet, which was backing away to maintain distance, leaving the stalled ship exposed to a body slam from the Space Crawler.
Its barriers shattered completely, the hull bending visibly.
It looked like just a slight warp from the outside, but the internal damage had to be far worse.
In the end, the battleship went dark, swarmed black by incoming flying craft.
"Old ship, huh?"
"Yes. It's at least forty years old."
"Still, going down in one hit is rough."
I let out a sigh.
Most ships stationed in quiet sectors like this were aging vessels, either long in the tooth or pushed to their limits from constant repairs.
Even so, a Murdoch-class like the one we were on should've tanked at least one hit.
As the fight dragged on, our fleet was steadily pushed back.
The Space Crawler took three full volleys from the main guns and showed no signs of distress.
Instead, another ship sank amid the exchange, and the situation rapidly deteriorated.
'It's awfully smart.'
Its massive bulk made it look sluggish, but it knew how to use its speed.
Ever since earlier, the ships behind it had their firing lines blocked by the ones in front.
Those mishaps piled up one by one, and now the outlook was grim.
"How's the welcoming party's side holding up?"
"They just started fighting."
"Right..."
They wouldn't have the spare capacity to help us for a while.
With the distance involved, they'd likely prioritized securing their own victory over rushing to our aid.
"Captain! Incoming transmission from the defense fleet commander."
"Patch it through."
The defense fleet commander was a gaunt, fierce-looking woman with the rank of colonel.
The colonel got straight to the point as soon as the line connected.
-We can't afford any more losses.
"So what are you planning to do?"
-We're abandoning the effort to stop the Space Crawler.
"Understood."
-...Why aren't you trying to talk me out of it?
"If I could force you to stay, I would, but at this rate, your fleet gets wiped out first."
In wartime, fleets ranked far higher in priority than civilians.
And the Union fleet stationed on a planet wasn't just for dealing with alien threats.
In peacetime, they guarded Drive Gates, patrolled surrounding space to prevent crime, and protected the planet from meteor impacts and other hazards.
-Thanks for understanding.
"But if it comes down to having to stop it ourselves, I need one thing from you."
-What's that?
I slowly explained the plan I'd come up with.
It was for the fleet to keep the Space Crawler's attention while my absorption ability let me and the strike team infiltrate its body.
The fleet commander listened quietly at first, but by the end, she couldn't hold back and exploded.
-Are you insane?! Even for a superhuman, are you trying to get yourself killed?
"It's just for emergencies."
-...I'll keep it in mind.
The line went dead.
Same as with Thetis—no need to worry.
They'd just hang in orbit dropping aliens on the surface at most.
But whether they'd do the same here remained to be seen.
The moment comms cut, the defense fleet bundled their entire force into four groups, scattered, and rapidly pulled away from the Space Crawler.
All attacks focused on slowing it for thirty minutes.
In the end, the defense fleet successfully shook the Space Crawler completely.
'It's gonna spread out now.'
Safe, but not unscathed.
Even after that short skirmish, the defense fleet was in bad shape.
Of all the planets I'd visited, Arcstar's ships seemed the best-equipped.
The scattered defense fleet looped wide and regrouped.
The Space Crawler twisted its body in what seemed like displeasure before turning toward the planet.
So far, so good.
But the next sight silenced everyone.
"It, it's firing...!"
Was it venting frustration?
The Space Crawler's maw was already glowing.
And as its mouth gaped fully open, a barrage poured toward the planet.
"Ah..."
Our assumption that it'd quiet down once in orbit was wrong.
The magnified feed showed a city vanishing in vivid detail.
One entire city erased from the map.
Rooooaaaaarrrr!!!
A roar like it was showing off shook the ship.
"Damn it..."
I'd anticipated this high likelihood, but I couldn't stop the curse.
Arcstar wasn't heavily populated.
Still, with a whole city gone, casualties had to be in the six figures at minimum.
Underground bunkers were useless against that firepower.
The rural planet's makeshift shelters had failed utterly, becoming tombs.
"...Whoa! Captain! The Space Crawler's entering the atmosphere!"
"What?"
"Look!"
It took a completely unexpected action.
It could've devastated the planet in a day just by staying in orbit and shelling like this, but it chose to expose its own weakness.
'Why?'
Either way, this was our golden chance.
I ordered pursuit and requested support from the defense fleet.
Our job now was keeping it from leaving the planet.
"Where's it headed?"
"That direction leads straight to the capital!"
Its speed had dropped sharply entering the atmosphere, so we caught up fast.
"Fire!"
No more holding back.
A barrage rained down indiscriminately.
The cities did the same.
Realizing its path to the capital, they paused dealing with the flying craft assaulting them and turned their batteries.
But it wasn't enough.
Just bulldozing in with that massive body made it unstoppable, and its barriers were still fully active.
Before the defense fleet even arrived, it slammed full-body into the capital.
"Ugh..."
The memory flashed of Acheron's 12th defense outpost getting pulverized by a Space Crawler's crash just two days ago.
This time, it slid in at a controlled speed, so the ground shock wasn't huge, but the buildings in its wake were flattened, the earth cracked open.
"Descending."
This changed everything.
I transferred authority to Frederick and rose from the captain's chair.
"Be careful, sir."
All the crew saw me off as I left the bridge.
At the escape pod bay, the team was already assembled—every member ready after all our drills.
"Eighteen superhumans including the two deputy leaders, all present. Leader."
"Good work."
I clapped Giz on the side to encourage him.
His shoulders were too broad to reach comfortably.
'Teams 1, 2, 5, and 6, huh.'
Lower numbers meant higher combat power.
But with 3 and 4 effectively wiped out, 5 and 6 would take their spots once this was over.
"Don't die."
"Hmph! No need to worry about this body. Do I look weak enough to need your concern?"
"You got beat by the leader less than a month ago. I remember."
"That was the past! I'll show you how much I've changed!"
Runshin was puffed up with pride, like he'd picked up some new trick.
It wouldn't be anything useless.
The Ryu clan's spear arts were vast, packed with devastating techniques.
They were pointless without the basics, though.
"...Right. Looking forward to it."
"Don't beg me to teach you later! Hahaha!"
Runshin leaped out laughing.
We watched him accelerate alone for a moment, then shook our heads.
"Let's catch up before he pulls some dumb stunt and hurts himself."
"Watching you, it seems like the boss takes good care of that idiot."
"Giz. That's your imagination."
Why would I look after some punk I didn't even like?
Anyway, we began our dive.
The closer we got to the surface, the clearer the capital's situation became.
'Tough to shell it.'
Even for a rural planet, the capital was a decent-sized city.
And the Space Crawler had buried half its body in the urban sprawl like a massive pie.
Too risky for stray shots—firing was tricky.
"Aliens are tearing up the city."
"The troops will handle it somehow. They've got combat mechs deployed, so they should hold for a bit."
Even if they couldn't, it didn't matter.
With the Space Crawler's arrival predicted, most civilians had evacuated underground.
The ones visible now were those who'd ignored orders or figured the long quiet meant it was safe and come back topside.
"Tana-senpai. That thing you did last time—possible here?"
"Accelerate and slam in from this height? No way. Might work if we could crack the barrier, but otherwise the g-force is too much."
That strike back then was incredible.
A mere human fracturing the spine of something that huge.
It'd go down in history.
"Too bad."
"More importantly, doesn't that seem off?"
Tana pointed at the Space Crawler.
More precisely, at the parasitic aliens crawling out from it and scouring the surroundings.
They were spreading everywhere, but one building had a dense cluster.
"What's that place?"
Figuring it out wasn't hard.
Amid the broad grounds where the aliens prowled, logos marked the affiliation in various spots.
A familiar logo.
"...Stella Walker! That's their private property."
Owning grounds that vast in the capital meant it had to be crucial.
The aliens ransacked the property before swarming into the central building.
'Impressive defenses for a regular corp. But with that many piling in, they won't last.'
Why were the aliens converging like that?
Searching for something?
Or was it just the endpoint of their scouting path?
I glanced at the nearing surface, then veered toward it.
First things first—I needed to check that out.