Mock Battle (3)

"First of all, we absolutely cannot fight in open spaces."

This was the hard-earned lesson from countless mock battles over the past week. Knights must never be engaged in wide, open areas. During dozens of simulations, the Second Reconnaissance Battalion's Marine Company had tried every possible method to stop the AI, yet they had never truly succeeded. If there was any progress at all, it was stretching their annihilation from the early twenty-minute mark to around the twenty-five-minute mark.

Instead of getting picked off one by one, someone had suggested concentrating all one hundred soldiers' firepower in a wide area to take it down. They had tried luring the AI into the large parade deck in the middle of the ship… only to be wiped out in an instant. As if it had been frustrated by the cramped corridors until then, the AI rampaged without regard for direction—up, down, left, or right—and it took just eight minutes for all one hundred to fall.

"For now, the basic principle stays the same. We'll divide into platoon units and focus on stalling as long as possible. Trying to actually kill it seems impossible."

There was no need to kill it. The scenario was that if they held out for thirty minutes, friendly Salvation Knights would arrive and annihilate the enemy. The goal was thirty minutes. They only needed to last about four minutes longer than their current record, but that was proving incredibly difficult.

"It might be better to assume it can go even harder than what we've seen."

"Even harder than that?"

Just what it had shown so far was enough to turn their stomachs. And there was still more it could do?

"Didn't you see it too, Commander? At first, when we had no idea what we were doing, it dodged everything and moved as safely as possible. But once we started responding properly, it began forcing breakthroughs even if it meant taking some damage. Honestly, if it had kept playing it safe like in the beginning, we would've lasted thirty minutes already."

He was right. During the first couple of days, the AI had taken the bridge without a single scratch. But as the Marine Company's responses grew more precise and time grew short, it started engaging them while accepting a certain amount of injury. The scene from yesterday—charging straight through the explosion of a plasma grenade despite suffering severe burns across its entire right arm—still made their legs go weak just thinking about it.

"Didn't the Master Chief Petty Officer say so? Don't assume we'll be able to stop a knight without any sacrifices. In other words, doesn't that mean a knight is willing to accept some losses to break through us?"

The treatment of knight candidates and full-fledged knights was like night and day. While candidates received education with all basic needs covered and earned a pittance of a salary under the pretext of dignity maintenance allowance, everything changed once someone became a proper knight. Upon receiving their commission, they were granted free residency rights in any of the Federation's three capital star systems. They were also provided with a two-room house and received an enormous annual salary.

If they continued living in the knight order's dormitory, they received a private room instead of the four-to-a-room setup from their candidate days, along with a housekeeping android to attend to their every need. In ancient terms, it was like a commoner rising to the rank of nobility. It was obvious that the candidates would be grinding their teeth and charging in with everything they had. Especially since this wasn't real combat but a mock battle. As long as the damage wasn't severe enough to ruin their evaluation, they would probably ignore moderate injuries.

"But at this rate, we're not getting anywhere."

Honestly, they had already tried every tactic that seemed even remotely viable. Some had charged in like suicide bombers with plasma grenades. Others had tried luring it toward the outer hull, smashing through the wall, and dying together. But the suicide attack with plasma grenades had only cost it one arm, and when they blew open the outer wall, it endured until more than a dozen soldiers were sucked into space before successfully escaping the room.

They needed something revolutionary.

"How heavy do you think this is?"

Corporal Jacob from the 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad tapped the thick bulkhead and wondered just how much it might weigh.

"Uh… I'm not sure exactly, but it's gotta be insanely heavy, right?"

Private Tommy measured the height and width of the bulkhead for a moment before shrugging. It was a massive barrier, four meters high and six meters wide. On top of that, it was ten centimeters thick. Even if it were made of water, it would weigh 2.4 tons. If it was steel, it would be close to seventeen tons.

"If we crush it with this, do you think it'll die?"

For a brief moment, he wondered if the man had lost his mind with such a ridiculous idea. But strangely enough, it was oddly convincing. No matter how strong a knight was, surely it couldn't withstand that kind of weight?

"But how are we supposed to move it?"

That was the problem. Even if the weight seemed too much even for a knight to endure, how were ordinary people supposed to move it?

"We'll just try it and see. Call some of the guys over. Let's cut it up."

There wasn't really any other option anyway. Since this was virtual space, the Commander had told them to try anything, even if it went against doctrine. So they might as well experiment.

And so Jacob and Tommy gathered the soldiers and began cutting the bulkhead.

"Damn it! This isn't going to work."

The bizarre plan to crush the enemy with a giant bulkhead hit a wall right from the start. To move the bulkhead, they first had to cut off the upper part, but the barrier installed in the final corridor leading to the bridge was far sturdier than they'd imagined.

"That bastard sliced through it like paper."

The AI had focused for just a few seconds before cutting through as if it were nothing, so they'd underestimated it. But its strength was no joke.

After struggling with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every tool and weapon the Marine Company possessed, they finally managed to cut the bulkhead. By then, fifteen minutes had already passed.

"This won't work. It's taking too long."

"And it's way too heavy."

They had even diverted all the mana normally used for their rifles into their powered suits' output and pushed with everything they had, but the bulkhead didn't budge. It took four or five soldiers working together just to move it a few centimeters.

"It won't even tip over."

There was almost no gap with the ceiling, so they could push it somehow, but it wouldn't fall over.

"What are you guys doing?"

The 1st Platoon Leader arrived just as seven soldiers were grunting and straining to push the bulkhead about thirty centimeters.

"So you were trying to knock this over and crush it?"

"But it doesn't seem possible. Just cutting it took over fifteen minutes. And even when seven of us force it, we can barely push it. I don't think we can do anything with this."

The 1st Platoon Leader fell into thought for a moment. It was truly a ridiculous idea, but it wasn't completely nonsensical. From the combat logs, the AI only moved after the bulkhead had been completely cut and all the fragments had collapsed.

That meant even fragments would be a burdensome weight if not fully intact. If they could topple an intact bulkhead at the perfect moment, it might create a huge opportunity.

"Take a break for now. I'll go discuss this with the Company Commander."

Lucas immediately contacted the maintenance officer about the soldiers' strange idea.

"Hey, it's the Marine Company Commander. Are there any tools on the ship that can cut through the bulkheads?"

When the maintenance officer asked hesitantly, Lucas nodded and explained the situation. Even though it was virtual space, it was an exact replica of a Carnelian-class light cruiser, so all the internal tools and materials were present. The idea was to use anything that could be used.

It seemed like there was hope. If it were completely impossible, he would have said so outright. The fact that he was going to check meant he had some tool in mind. It wasn't certain yet, but they had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cleared the first hurdle.

"Even if we cut it, the problem is moving the thing. According to the specs, it looks like it weighs about seven tons."

The silver lining was that it was made of a lighter material than expected. Still, seven tons was extremely heavy. No matter how much the powered suits increased their strength, some things were simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠impossible. Even if they tried pushing together, the corridor's width only allowed six people to stand side by side.

After pondering various options, the maintenance officer finally brought the answer they needed. They retrieved the tool from the maintenance warehouse and, while it wasn't within one minute, they succeeded in cutting the bulkhead in about two minutes.

"Now the key is moving this thing."

"Commander, among the mock battle conditions, isn't there a clause that allows personnel replacement of up to ten people within our battalion?"

"There was such a provision. Why do you ask?"

Honestly, swapping out fewer than ten people wouldn't mean much. Changing team members would require time to rebuild teamwork, and borrowing a few elite designated marksmen wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.

But the 2nd Platoon Leader had a different idea. Of course he knew that swapping a few soldiers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or borrowing elite troops wouldn't change the situation. However, the personnel the 2nd Platoon Leader wanted to bring in weren't mere elite soldiers.

In this situation, they were strategic weapons.

"So I just need to push this?"

The Reconnaissance Battalion's only pureblood beastman, Second Lieutenant Morgan of the elephant clan, looked up at the massive bulkhead and asked.

"Yeah. As long as it gets pushed even a little, we can use it in all sorts of ways. Give it a good hard shove."

Even as he gave the order, Lucas watched with a nervous heart. The future tactics would change depending on how much power Morgan could exert. If even Morgan and the other soldiers working together could only barely move it, they'd have to find another method. But if he pushed it fairly well, they could use that…

"Uoooooooh!!!"

With a fierce burst of sparks, the bulkhead not only moved—it flew. Every member of the Marine Company stared in blank amazement. Just moments ago, the six strongest men had barely managed to push it fifty centimeters. Yet Morgan had shoved the bulkhead all the way to the end of the corridor in an instant. When he turned around as if asking if that was enough, Lucas burst into cheers and slapped the reliable beastman's broad back repeatedly.

You damn AI bastard. Just you wait.