Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Giant Nesefala
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Galactic Standard Cycle 2236, February 3.
The galaxy's first united fleet from five nations had been formed.
"The Federation will exercise independent command."
"Kkuruk. The Cooperative will act separately as well."
Hmm. Probably?
Well, as long as we're fighting a common enemy, doesn't that make it a united fleet?
At least the Company and the Committee had handed over command rights to the Lushaka Kingdom.
The Company's fleet was half-wrecked and couldn't do much on its own anyway, and the Committee folks were cooperative by nature.
I didn't bother grabbing command rights—it was a shame, but these little things were all about politics and favors.
By "respecting" our allies' wishes, they'd feel grateful if they had any sense of shame.
Before entering the Nesefala Star System, we held a final meeting.
It was to share Varisa's briefing on Nesefala characteristics—mainly the weak points we needed to target.
"Hoo... So, kkururuk, their head asteroids contain minerals, you say?"
"That's right, nyaang. The bigger the body, the thicker the shell, nyaang. So we have to aim for the vulnerable mouth area, nyaang."
The cats had at least some shame and shared the intel.
And even though it was Varisa's claimed star system, they made it clear they wouldn't claim any shares from the hunt due to the emergency.
A "massive" monster packed with countless asteroids and minerals.
And whoever caught it owned it.
The participants' eyes gleamed with greed.
Personally, I thought we should emphasize the 'monster' part of giant monster.
The meeting ended on an excited note, and as soon as Varisa's scout fleet confirmed the hyperlane exit was safe, the fleets raced to depart one after another.
From Treegalaon's view, the first to pass through the hyperlane, the Nesefala swarm seemed to have fully occupied the star system.
Spread across the entire system, grabbing asteroids one by one to feed—it was almost peaceful.
Until Varisa discovered this star system, had they formed this ecosystem?
There were so many asteroids in orbit that unless you were right up close, it was hard to tell them apart.
Where the heck was the giant Nesefala?
Something that huge floating in space should be obvious, but it was nowhere in sight.
Contrary to expectations of immediate combat, things stayed quiet, and the fleets bared their fangs right away.
[General. Before the target appears, shouldn't we clear out any potential threats?]
[Kkuruk. Agreed. Eliminating latent dangers is crucial.]
Fair point.
We'd come to subdue the giant Nesefala, but if it wasn't showing, what could we do?
Might as well collect some oil money.
No grounds to oppose when they insisted on their own command anyway.
I sent word to the admirals agreeing.
Just added a casual warning.
"If the subjugation target is spotted, you must join the battle immediately."
[Of course. No worries.]
[We'll do that.]
The allied fleets spread out across the star system.
The regular asteroid-sized Nesefalas were no match, naturally.
Hunting Nesefala with standard steel ships took time and ammo, but this alliance consisted of elite customers who'd all bought Treegalaons.
Their numbers started dropping without issue.
[This corpse is now an asteroid. I'll name it 2236 CA.]
They snapped photos of the hunted Nesefala head-rocks, planted flags to mark their claims—nothing forgotten.
A golden chance to legally plunder another nation's resources.
The admirals couldn't let it slip.
Only Varisa wept bloody tears over their future mining revenue chipping away.
Meanwhile, I focused on finding the giant Nesefala.
Told Varisa and the Committee's fleets to roam freely.
Petty gains like mining rights for a few asteroids weren't my concern.
Minerals? Buy more if short. Money? Earn more if needed.
What I needed was the genes that could grow to satellite size.
Whether we could subdue the giant Nesefala was secondary—we had to find it first.
As I wondered if its massive bulk had hyperjumped to another system, word came from the frogs.
[Kkuruk, GFS Rueungpangho is missing—kkuruk—yes.]
They couldn't hide their panic; their frog croaks were way more frequent than usual.
"When was the last contact?"
[30 minutes ago, regular report time. Coordinates...]
Pretty remote spot.
Far from where we'd prioritized small Nesefala takedowns.
Like Saturn in our solar system—pointing near a planet orbiting the outer edge of the thick asteroid belt.
Near a massive gas giant with countless moons.
Countless moons.
...
"I'll check it out. Rally your fleets to prevent more losses."
[Roger. Kkuruk.]
Notified the Federation fleet too.
"Admiral. Time to work."
The sweet honey-sucking was over.
Couldn't this suspicious vibe just scream trouble?
Remoras launched from Treegalaon's gills and scoured the missing coordinates.
Main search: moons orbiting the planet.
Exactly giant Nesefala size—Solar-03a, Earth's Moon, a bit smaller.
This planet had absurdly many moons, like they'd all been pulled in by its gravity, especially since the system was sparse on planets.
One moon spun noticeably fast.
Planetary rotation and revolution are slow-motion affairs—hard to spot with the naked eye.
You'd need time-lapse footage sped up.
But this one visibly rotated.
Slow, but observable unaided.
No— it rotated to match the observing Remora swarm's view. Never showing the far side.
One Remora group split off, gunning for the far side.
The moment they arrived...
Puhook—.
Tentacles burst out at insane speed, skewering the Remoras.
Dying Remora feeds showed countless tentacles writhing in the moon's crevices.
Target found. Time to work.
Weeeeeng—.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
Treepalagons en route to the coordinates whipped around, unleashing laser barrages.
The Nesefala system's star was dim, but no issue.
Pre-charged from sturdy Alhamra.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
Successive laser strikes cratered the surface; realizing tricks were out, the target unfurled tentacles and moved.
A "moon" jetting off sans engines—still absurd no matter how many times seen.
The other nations must've thought the same first time they saw Space Whales.
[Target spotted! All fleets, prepare to fire! Annihilate the objec—t...ra...?]
'Moon-sized.'
Organic brains are sneaky—even knowing the exact measurements, your gut rejects it.
'Moon big? Pretty huge~.'
'About 10 million times Yeouido.'
Even hearing that—hell, knowing it wasn't a satellite but a monster—barely fazes you.
But seeing a dinosaur skeleton in a museum? That's when the scale hits, the awe sinks in.
Space age amps it up.
Even massive planets or ships look tiny from afar.
Stuff too huge might just lose all reality, get ignored.
But if that moon closes in, swinging tentacles?
Average human freezes solid.
[Oh God almighty.]
Uwaaak—.
Screams echoed from ships dragged into the giant Nesefala maw.
Of course, no sound in space.
Just imagine they did.
Treegalaons swimming nearby dodged tentacles—not rushing to rescue grabbed ships.
Why should I?
They targeted severing the dangerous tentacles.
Needed to prune threats before my ships got hit.
Could decide the whole allied fleet's victory or defeat.
Playing hero to save reckless fools hurt the greater good.
So understand.
Who asked you to get caught?
No asteroid-grade Nesefala crunching ships with audible chomps.
First, like stunning fish before reeling—grabbed ships smashed half-apart by tentacles for easy eating.
Power cores, engines, key systems wrecked—ships lose fight.
Then dumped into that endless abyss of a mouth.
Ship metals processed inside, reborn as moon parts.
True to its size, the giant Nesefala had matching tentacles—events simultaneous everywhere.
Ships that approached cockily for glory paid the price.