Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Lushaka's Provocative Intervention
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The star system where the decisive fleet battle between the Holy Union and the Democratic Republic was unfolding.
Lushaka's fleet boldly spectated the fight, broadcasting thought waves and communications far and wide.
"It's time to choose a better life. Start anew with your families."
The Holy Union and Democratic Republic forces, who had been firing indiscriminately to annihilate their foes, couldn't help but hesitate whenever Lushaka's fleet drew near their firing lines, wary of accidental friendly fire.
"Fuck, just blast them?"
"No, calm down."
Surely they wouldn't, but if a PATO ship got hit by mistake, they could use it as an excuse to jump in.
It was the kind of dirty trick you'd find in the history of most worlds.
Neither interfering nor joining the war, they were an utterly irritating presence.
The kind that made you want to just obliterate them on the spot.
And that wish came true.
In the midst of this bizarre stalemate where shots seemed to fire yet not quite, Lushaka's spectator fleet suddenly began to move.
"Huh?"
"Oh no!"
To make matters worse, their course headed straight toward the Holy Union's forward cannons, naturally inserting themselves into the line of fire.
The flustered admiral hurriedly tried to redirect the cannons, but the already-launched projectiles couldn't be steered, hurtling toward Treegalaon's massive flank.
Perhaps due to the ship's enormous size, Lushaka showed no signs of evasive maneuvers.
A torrent of imaginings flashed through the admiral's mind in an instant—his homeland's future, his own, the monster veering to crash into the ship—
Boom!
In the end, the shell embedded itself in Treegalaon's side.
A suffocating silence fell.
Even the Democratic Republic fleet on the opposite side squeezed their eyes shut, as if they'd witnessed something horrific.
In response, Treegalaon, which had been cruising leisurely, came to a halt.
Grrr...
The colossal beast's eye swiveled toward the ship that had fired.
And then.
Treegalaon turned and began approaching the vessel.
"Fuck, shoot? Should we shoot?"
"What are you asking us for?!"
Lushaka's monster was already looming right in front of the ship.
As heavy silence hung in the air, a thought wave emanated from Treegalaon.
"Ah, uh."
While the crew's hands dripped cold sweat, inching toward the firing button.
"Is Private Max aboard this vessel?"
"W-what?"
"We've come to transport PATO immigrants. Private Max? It's time to head to paradise."
"Th-that's me!"
"??"
"Yes. We'll send a shuttle right away. Just board it."
Under the watchful eyes of the Holy Union soldiers, a Remora and Space Whale swooped in, docking beside the ship.
When Private Max glanced around nervously and tried to flee, the admiral finally snapped to and blocked him.
"Stop him! Desertion means summary execution!"
At the admiral's shout, the guards moved to apprehend the escaping private.
But Lushaka soldiers, who had already breached the hull, blocked their path.
"Pardon the intrusion."
A Hirak at the front, cigarette dangling from his mouth, pointed at the soldier named Max and stepped forward.
Dressed in a simple suit without any combat gear, yet his massive build and confident demeanor.
Plus the intimidation from being Lushaka-born.
The guards desperately wanted to gun down this monster and punish the deserter, but their homeland's precarious position made it all the more heartbreaking.
"Mr. Max is a PATO citizen, so the Lushaka Kingdom fleet will protect him."
"What nonsense is that? Oztlan doesn't tolerate traitors. Hand over that criminal now."
"As I said, Mr. Max is now a Lushaka citizen. If you'd like to taste Her Majesty's wrath, be my guest."
In the end, the admiral could only glare furiously as the Lushakans took the deserter away.
What infuriated him even more was that they apologized for the forceful entry, repaired the hull breach, and left.
It meant they had the Holy Union ship designs perfectly mapped out.
And to finish repairs in such short order—truly an overwhelming technological gap.
But even the admiral's rage quieted at the sight of Treegalaon's massive eye filling the forward viewport.
"No helping it."
They'd fired first, and trading one soldier for that was a bargain.
At least full-scale war had been avoided.
Right now, focus on crushing those rebel scum.
Max was a lazy slacker anyway; his absence wouldn't affect operations.
"Deserters face summary execution! Act without shame to our faith! I trust no true coward thinks fleeing to another nation betrays our homeland!"
Just clamp down on any more deserters.
So thought the admiral.
But contrary to his expectations, sadly, Max's safe defection burned deep into the soldiers' minds.
Even as Lushaka's fleet withdrew after picking up the immigrant and battle resumed, every soldier thought of that one who spectated this bloody grind without breaking a sweat.
A casual thought wave of immigration hopes during combat, and somehow Lushaka detected even that tiny signal, coming personally to escort.
No matter the hail of bullets or barrage of shells, they ignored it all.
Even shells hitting Treegalaon earned only a indifferent glance before resuming business.
In the end, even when the admiral openly bombarded Treegalaon, its armor regenerated in seconds, utterly unscathed.
All who witnessed it felt the gap between the great powers and the Holy Union.
"We're not a great power. Your homeland is now."
Eventually, amid the fleet's subtly shifting mood and the dragging battle, the Holy Union admiral made the call first.
"Retreat."
Unlike the bitterly withdrawing Holy Union fleet, the citizens opting for PATO migration headed to prosperous planets or newly pioneered paradises of their choice.
Unstable dimensional jumps weren't safe for civilians, so they used honest hyperlane transport.
The Holy Union-Democratic Republic civil war now dragged into the prolonged stalemate PATO desired.
Whenever battle erupted, Lushaka's fleet appeared to disrupt—how could any proper advance happen?
Even trying to advance far from Lushaka's fleet, they'd mysteriously show up in the battlefield before you knew it.
Finally, the Empire and Holy Nation spoke up at the Holy Union and Democratic Republic's cries.
"Hey, come on. Moderation, yeah?"
"It's all legal procedure."
"We get that, but there's such a thing as lines."
Who opened borders for PATO? The Holy Union.
The Empire blocked military transit? So they didn't enter Empire space.
What about Democratic Republic territory?
This was Holy Union territory, not Democratic Republic.
Right, Holy Union High Council?
"Well... true."
If they didn't want Oztlan Democratic Republic fully independent, they had to agree.
Even if they denied it, PATO only roamed Holy Union space— their loss alone.
At worst, the Holy Union and Holy Nation would endorse it as righteous.
The galaxy's foremost pacifists, slandered for galactic peace efforts. How tragic.
Just rescuing war-torn citizens.
Don't you think?
"What do you want?"
Finally, real negotiations.
A meeting of great powers excluding Holy Union and Democratic Republic.
Cake-laden table, and PATO finally invited.
"As you probably guessed, this line is the territory the Holy Nation and Empire agreed to divide."
More merciful than expected.
Or rather, crueler.
Not swallowing the Holy Union whole, but leaving a buffer state in the middle.
Empire takes the current Democratic Republic; Holy Nation absorbs Holy Union voluntary secessions by faith into its influence.
The problem: the rest, neither Democratic Republic nor expected voluntary secession.
A new horizontal Chile is born.
No clue who planned it, but a horrific map.
Still, not my country.
"PATO wants secure territory including the Lourka Star System."
Truthfully, just Lourka would suffice, but no need to refuse extras.
Buffer for dimensional jump errors—nearby systems wouldn't hurt.
They heard Holy Nation and Empire demands, hashed out compromises, planning the Holy Union carve-up.
No justification for straight land grabs, so bundle with surrounding systems into independent states joining PATO.
Name it something like Lourka Federal Republic?
In exchange, halt war interventions and forgo claims beyond agreed systems.