Chapter 324: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (42)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 324: Blazing Flames of the Battlefield[R-18] (42)
I opened the cockpit and, after adjusting my spacesuit’s headlamp, approached the escape pod. In my hand was a simple terminal. I followed the outer wall, found the access port, and carefully connected the device.
—Beep.
With a short signal, the pod’s entrance slowly opened. What emanated from within was silence and the stench of death.
I instinctively grimaced. The inside was a wreck. The oxygen seemed almost completely depleted, and bodies floated aimlessly in zero gravity. One had its neck snapped, another had shrapnel embedded in its chest. The space was filled with the traces of terror and despair.
“…In a mess like this, it would be a miracle to find anyone alive.”
I slowly scanned the interior as I moved forward. Just then, something stirring in a corner caught my eye. It was different from the other bodies. Its posture was relatively neat, a silhouette floating with a belt fastened around its waist.
I shone my light on it.
“…Elena?”
It was a familiar face. She was unconscious, her face pale, but she was still breathing, however faintly.
“She’s alive, at least.”
I quickly took her in my arms. I then carefully laid her down in the auxiliary seat inside the Requiem’s cockpit before returning to the escape pod.
‘An emergency first-aid kit… there should be one.’
Thankfully, when I opened the left storage compartment, I found a small first-aid kit and a basic nutritional food package. There were also a few small, portable compressed oxygen cans. I took everything I could find.
“Alright… now for the next step.”
Energy and a means of transportation.
The Requiem’s output was at a mere 7%. One more maneuver like the last, and the internal reactor would melt down completely.
I operated the controls, extending the surrounding sensors to their maximum sensitivity.
Heat signatures, power readings, structural density. As I searched through the debris, something came into view.
A transport ship.
Caught in a gap between broken structures, a half-demolished small transport ship was floating there.
It looked like a civilian model. Part of its propulsion system was damaged, but the fuselage seemed intact.
“If it’s this much…”
I immediately moved the Requiem.
The machine groaned, and a high-temperature warning blared from the cockpit.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
I carefully brought the unit alongside the transport ship. The automatic docking system was dead, so I had to approach manually, aligning the connection ports. I inserted the terminal into the hatch lock and forcibly overrode the locking algorithm.
—Click.
With a screech of metal, the hatch slowly opened. It was quiet inside. The cockpit wasn't far. The floor was clean, and the panels were still active. Oxygen, gravity, system response—all were being maintained. It was in better shape than I’d expected.
The problem was energy. The fuel level was questionable.
‘Let’s get the unit inside first.’
I headed back to the hatch. Entering the cockpit, I carefully pushed the Requiem into the transport ship’s internal dock.
Behind the pilot’s seat, I lifted the two unconscious women.
I laid Carla down first in one of the ship’s compartments. Taking out the first-aid kit, I removed the shrapnel and began to stop the bleeding. A pain-relief patch, an oxygen tank, a nutritional injection—I went through the steps quickly.
For Elena, I just laid her down and put an oxygen mask on her. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, but she was still far from consciousness.
I returned to the cockpit. I rebooted the panels and checked the main systems.
A crude interface slowly lit up on the panel.
Remaining Fuel: 48%.
Seeing the fuel level, I let out a sigh of concern.
“Don’t tell me… the 3rd Fleet was actually wiped out.”
I had no desire to get lost in space, so I was desperately hoping to find the fleet alive.
Sitting in the pilot’s seat, I started moving the transport ship. I could hear things thudding against the outer hull.
Fragments of debris were hitting the ship.
After carefully maneuvering for some time, I finally escaped the hazardous area and my view cleared.
And then, I saw it.
The 3rd Fleet.
Or more accurately, its wreckage.
Battleships, destroyers, mobile weapons… all of them had been annihilated.
“This… this wasn’t because of the colony’s explosion.”
I could tell at a glance.
If the colony’s explosion had reached the fleet, even I couldn’t have guaranteed my survival. This meant they were wiped out for a different reason.
‘While I was unconscious, did Arsenos… attack?’
The possibility was high. They must have waited for the fleet to retreat from the colony’s explosion, then swept through the battleships while their formation was in disarray.
*
Not long after, Elena regained consciousness. Her eyes slowly opened, her gaze wandering through the empty air.
“…Lieutenant, where are we?”
“A transport ship, Major. Do you remember what happened last?”
Elena took a moment to catch her breath. She answered in a dry voice.
“An abnormal reaction was detected… inside the Nemesis Colony. An energy reading that wasn't in any Federation records. The withdrawal order was given immediately, and Armeo prepared for an emergency escape. But it was too late. We were caught on the edge of the explosion, and I barely made it to an escape pod…”
She closed her eyes, then opened them again.
“At the same time, I heard it. A transmission saying Arsenos was blocking our retreat and attacking the 3rd Fleet’s main force directly.”
I silently pointed beyond the cockpit’s front viewport. Countless pieces of shattered ship hulls and mobile units were floating there. They were no longer a military force, just remnants closer to ghosts.
“That transmission seems to have been the last. What you see now… is the wreckage of the 3rd Fleet.”
Elena was silent. Her gaze remained fixed on the debris.
“………….”
She stared for a long, long time, without a word. There was no ripple of emotion, no tears. Only a calm silence dominated her expression.
‘…She doesn’t seem particularly sad. Was she on bad terms with the Admiral?’
I carefully observed Elena’s reaction.
At that moment, her lips trembled ever so slightly. A small, low, but clear voice escaped them.
“…In the end, you were going to leave like this anyway…”
A single phrase brushed past my ear. A somewhat bitter, endlessly quiet lament.
She was silent for a while after that, seemingly organizing her emotions as she gazed at the wreckage outside.
I didn’t intrude on her quiet. I waited. Then, judging that she had composed herself enough, I carefully spoke.
“More importantly, Major.”
She looked at me.
“From now on, we need to think about survival.”
After a brief silence, I tapped a panel on one side of the cockpit and continued.
“This transport has less than half its fuel left. What’s worse… the navigation system is broken.”
Elena’s expression hardened.
“My god…”
“I didn’t realize it when we departed. Now I see the stellar coordinates themselves are corrupted.”
My hand swiped across the touch panel. The HUD, switched to auxiliary navigation mode, showed nothing but a blank blue background. No star positions, no course tracking, nothing.
“If we continue like this…”
Elena took a silent breath.
“……We’ll be lost in space.”
“Yes. It’s a 100% certainty. Once we run out of fuel… we’ll just be adrift. Like dust in the cosmos.”
Elena quietly approached the front of the cockpit. She looked down at the signal graph on the left auxiliary panel I had on and spoke.
“Then… we have no choice but to move to a location where we can send a distress signal. Or connect to a nearby relay station or a remnant signal network.”
“That would require a lot of luck. Driving without a map will get us lost immediately. But before that, we have to consider any enemies that might still be around.”
“……You’re right.”
“And there’s an even bigger problem.”
I pointed to a screen on one side of the cockpit. Looking at the Requiem displayed there, I said, “The Requiem can no longer fight. Energy reserves at 4%. Reactor cooling is unstable, and its arms and legs are half-destroyed. If it moves even one more time in its current state, the unit will explode.”
Elena closed her eyes and let out a short breath.
“…Hah. Do we have any food?”
“If we ration it, we have enough to last about a month. The problem is…”
I pointed at the panel.
“The fuel won’t last that long.”
Elena rubbed her chin with her fingers and said, “Then we’ll have to find a way to extract fuel from the nearby wreckage.”
I stared at her blankly for a moment before nodding.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
Elena gave a slight smirk.
“To be able to refuel… at the very least, the core pipeline has to be intact. It’ll be difficult with a civilian transport, but there’s a chance with a destroyer-class or larger.”
“We’ll have to find one, then. Let’s just hope there’s one left.”
Elena nodded silently.
*
His breath came in ragged gasps. In the artificial air spewed by the broken oxygen circulation system, Oh Hyun gripped the controls and desperately stared ahead.
Pristine white armor. A frame a size larger and heavier than a standard mobile weapon. Yet its movements were unbelievably agile.
“……Sheryl Mortimer.”
He whispered, almost to himself.
“The White Slaughterer.”
The unit she was piloting, the Eclipse. The leader of Zeros Code and a weapon classified for solo operations—the most horrific killing machine ever created. A unit whose very existence was said to be a war in itself.
He had no idea why she, a member of the Earth Federation Army, was here. He had simply sortied after receiving a message that their mission inside had failed, only to find her blocking their path.
“Hngh…”
The left arm servo of his unit was broken. Barely maintaining its balance, Oh Hyun’s machine creaked as it held its position in the void. Red warning lights piled up on the dashboard like mountains.
Amidst all the chaos, the Eclipse was serene. Her unit moved as smoothly as if it were swimming, every curve a harbinger of sudden death.
[This is Equinox. The operation has failed… Withdraw immediately.] Aaron Blake’s voice flowed through the comms.
He was always composed, but this time, even his voice was laced with a slight tremor. The appearance of Sheryl Mortimer was something even he hadn’t anticipated.
“Dammit…”
Oh Hyun gritted his teeth. Beyond the shattered HUD, he narrowed his eyes between the flashing warning lights. His fingertips felt numb as if frozen, and a tightness gripped his chest.
“Lisa! Mason! We have to fall back! We’re no match for her!”
His voice was a desperate shout. But the Eclipse had no intention of letting them go.
The pure white predator slowly turned its head. Its gleaming blue lenses aimed precisely at Oh Hyun’s unit.
And then, it moved.
“Get back—!”
Before he could finish, the white unit shot forward like a beam of light.
—KRAAAANG!!
Oh Hyun’s unit was sent spinning through space, its entire body twisting. The control stick was knocked from his hand, and the console panel exploded in a shower of sparks. The HUD flashed and went white, followed by a torrent of thunderous warning alarms.
“Guh…”
Vibrations wracked his entire body.
Lisa’s unit was drifting, out of control, while Mason’s was on its knees, fixed in place. Beyond the cockpit, a red signal light, indicating a retreat, was blinking.
‘Equinox… is withdrawing…?’
From Calliope Station, defensive main cannons fired at the Equinox. The battleship barely evaded the shots, but at the same time, it began to accelerate and retreat.
‘In case of mission failure… abandon remaining comrades.’
Aaron Blake’s cold voice echoed in his mind.
‘You’re… abandoning us?’
There were no comrades, no rescue.
Just then, a communication channel opened.
[This is Sheryl Mortimer. If you wish to live, cease your resistance.]
Through his blurry vision, he saw dozens of mobile weapons surrounding them. Their gun muzzles were all aimed this way.
*
Adele watched Sheryl Mortimer descend from the cockpit and smiled gently.
“Good work, Sheryl.”
Taking off her white gloves and helmet, Sheryl slowly wiped the sweat from her brow.
“They were more skilled than I expected.”
“For you to say that, Sheryl, they must have been quite the pilots.”
Sheryl replied with a slight lift of her lips.
“If we’d fought in units of the same class… I might have lost. Without the Eclipse’s superior performance, the three of them would have surrounded and finished me.”
“They were that good?”
“Yes. The red unit, in particular, had exceptional maneuverability. The gray one… had experience and skill.”
Adele tapped her chin lightly with her fingertip and narrowed her eyes. Her pink irises took on a cold glint as they rested on Sheryl.
“Hmm… So Arsenos is the one who sent such skilled pilots.”
“But is there anything to gain from them?”
“You never know. Why they attacked this place… and how they pinpointed my location so accurately. I need to find that out. And whether they’re truly colluding with the Earth Federation.”
“I kept them alive as ordered. You can handle the interrogation yourself.”
At Sheryl’s annoyed tone, Adele smiled slowly. But the smile soon vanished, replaced by a calm statement.
“I suppose I will. More importantly, Sheryl, we have a problem.”
“What are you going to make me do now?! Let me rest!”
“A civil war has started. Just now.”
Sheryl’s eyes wavered for an instant.
“……This is serious.”
“Yes. If this news leaks to Arsenos…”
“They’ll lead their entire army to invade immediately.”
“Exactly. And the bigger problem is that the Federation forces that were on standby nearby are moving this way.”
Sheryl took a sharp breath.
“Are you planning to leave soon?”
Adele nodded and stood up.
“I’ll have to. I’ll just leave the bait and go.”
“Just blow this place up. You never know.”
“No way! I worked so hard to build it. I’d be sad if I destroyed it with my own hands!”
“Hah… Then do as you please.”
Sheryl covered her ears and walked away, and Adele followed quietly behind her with a smile.