Chapter 37
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Ekalshame Battle (2)
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A massive artificial planet slowly orbited its star.
The artificial planet was surrounded by hundreds of ships.
The Federation had given up on approaching this fortress.
Ekalshame could generate a powerful shield that enveloped the entire star system.
And though on a small scale, it could mimic a hypernova explosion, disintegrating enemy fleets down to the quark level.
Destroying this hellish fortress seemed impossible.
But someone thought otherwise.
If we can't win a fleet battle,
why not sneak onto the planet, plant bombs, and destroy its core?
The Federation's generals were stunned, calling it madness.
They all said the same thing.
It's impossible.
But challenging the impossible was exactly what I enjoyed most.
– Whoosh!
A vortex appeared near the planet's inner core.
Ten Federation soldiers emerged from within.
"Commander, is this really the right plan?"
Rakshatoom kept anxiously scanning the surroundings.
This guy acted all stern when we met,
but back in his youth, he was a total scaredy-cat?
"Quiet down, Rakshatoom. You'll alert the enemy."
"Ughhh…."
The mission objective was to destroy the planet's inner core.
To do that, we had to reach the planet's center.
We activated the stealth field first.
Once the stealth field kicked in, our bodies turned transparent and gradually faded away.
The moment we vanished completely,
Rakshatoom spoke up.
"The stealth field is only immune to electromagnetic radar. Stay sharp—gravity radars will pick us right up."
I and the squad members began moving.
An endless expanse of steel plains stretched out.
We advanced slowly, eyes peeled on our surroundings.
The enemy focused on fleet battles, so internal security on the planet wasn't overly tight.
But the planet had its own autonomous guard systems.
"Hide. It's a Karaderi."
We ducked for cover on instinct.
A head floating in midair.
A spherical core in its chest, body ablaze.
It was like a reaper forged from alien tech.
"We can't let that thing spot us."
"If it does, it'll turn this whole area into a firestorm."
The soldiers hid with practiced ease.
I said to my subordinates,
"Can't we just smash it?"
"We could take one out, but dozens or hundreds more would swarm us."
"Even one Karaderi is no joke. That monster can burn down an entire stellar civilization solo."
A monster that torches civilizations.
And they use things like this for mere security, not even fleet battles?
Just how insanely strong is this deranged species?
'No wonder the Gallum freak out at the sight of Ancients.'
Only now did I start to understand why the Gallum went berserk whenever they saw Ancients.
"Let's move, Commander."
The moment it left our sight,
the squad resumed advancing.
After trekking for a while, we reached a gate.
Rakshatoom said,
"That's the gate to the control room."
The gate was guarded by Utrumaher soldiers.
There weren't many guarding the door.
The problem was the hulking Karaderi planted right in the center.
"Commander, what's the plan?"
Break through, or go around?
That's what he was asking.
"Sounds like one hell of a party."
Instead of answering, I raised my rifle.
With the order given, the squad snapped into combat readiness.
Muzzles trained on enemy heads.
Anti-armor weapons locked onto their heavy infantry.
The attack signal dropped, and our weapons roared.
– Kaboom! Bang! Kaboom!
Beams lanced straight into the infantry.
They crumpled without even a scream.
The infantry went down easy,
but the enemy heavy armor took only minor damage and kept functioning.
[Intruders Confirmed]
[Extermination Mode Activated]
– Whiiiirrr!
Then its gaze locked onto us.
Flames erupted from the cyclops monster's eye.
"Dodge!!!"
No time to run properly.
We threw ourselves aside to evade.
– Kaboom!
The energy blast turned the area into scorched earth.
Throwing ourselves at the last second had saved our skins.
A leisurely jog, and I'd have been caught in the blast too.
'That was way too close.'
The relief of survival was short-lived.
I remembered the thing was still alive.
[Enemy Commander Detected]
[Deploying Annihilation Beam]
Had it pegged me as the commander?
Its head swiveled toward me.
It began charging energy for the attack.
Instead of fleeing, I aimed my muzzle at its head.
I pulled the trigger.
– Kaboom!
A blinding flash and massive explosion followed.
[Emergency…]
[Weapon Malfunction]
[Retreating…]
The blast had wrecked its eye.
Half its head, encasing the eye, was blown clean off.
With its only weapon gone, it opened a gate and fled.
Rakshatoom gasped in admiration.
"Incredible, Commander! I've never seen one of those monsters run before."
He continued,
"It left the gate open in its panic. Saved us the trouble of blowing it. Let's go—the core room's just ahead."
"No."
I said,
"We're chasing it down now."
"Is that necessary? Its weapon's neutralized. No need to—"
"Sigh."
I let out a deep breath and said,
"What do you think is key to winning a war?"
"Setting proper strategic goals and choosing efficient tactics to achieve them, obviously?"
That answer would've gotten full marks on a test.
But the real lesson I'd learned fighting Xenos in the field was different.
"Listen up. More important than winning a war is instilling terror in the enemy."
I turned toward the gate.
Glancing back slightly at Rakshatoom, I added,
"Watch closely now. I'm about to show you how to etch fear into their hearts."
Time to teach that lesson properly.
The damaged Karaderi limped down the corridor.
Ancient tech breathed consciousness and soul even into robots.
Not as intensely as organics, perhaps.
But as sentient beings, they possessed ego and moved accordingly.
This granted them a combat instinct beyond mere algorithms.
[Support Required]
[Intruders Detected on Planet]
Unit 7593 kept broadcasting support requests via comms.
Among Karaderi, it was battle-hardened.
It had torched foes across countless fields,
surviving every time as a grizzled veteran.
Unit 7593's survival secret was simple.
An uncannily sharp instinct.
And right now,
that instinct screamed,
[Danger…]
[Extremely Dangerous Enemy]
Fight it, and it'd be torn apart.
Its big data from thousands of battlefields blared alarms.
Unit 7593 decided to link up with allies at Alpha Facility.
It hurried there as fast as possible.
Fleeing desperately, it finally reached the rendezvous gate.
– Whiiiirrr!
The gate opened,
[Wha…?]
and the instant it saw the eyes staring back from the other side,
"Found you ♥"
Unit 7593 learned fear for the first time in its existence.
[Aaaargh!!!]
The war machine shrieked in abject terror.
The moment it saw me, it screamed and bolted.
"Where do you think you're going."
This time, I had no intention of letting it escape.
I fired at its mobility module.
– Kaboom!
The energy round smashed its propulsion.
It lost lift and crashed limply to the floor.
[R-Requesting Mercy!]
I approached it slowly.
Its damaged eye fixed on me.
I shoved my face right into its visual sensor.
"I wonder if your buddies are watching this."
"If they are, take a good look."
"I'll hunt you all down one by one and do this to every last one."
I severed its head separately,
then riddled its body with bullets.
[Kyyyaaargh!!!]
[Self-Shutdown Initiating!!!]
[Powering Off!!!]
[Please!!!]
Its adorable screams rang in my ears.
My subordinates stared at me in horrified shock.
"Commander Unit 7, report status."
"Confirmed. Report of intruders detected on planet."
"Identify intruder type."
"Judged to be Federation special forces squad."
Suddenly, footage played on the interface.
It showed a Federation male brutally dismantling a Karaderi.
The other Karaderi watching retched.
"Disgusting."
"This is a war crime."
"Federation brutality exposed once more."
After viewing the full clip, the Prime Unit spoke.
"Current location of intruders?"
"Intruders en route to core room here."
"Has Utrumaher homeland been notified?"
"Not yet."
"Reporting now."
As the command unit tried contacting HQ,
the Prime Unit forcibly cut the transmission.
Command Unit's head turned toward Prime Unit.
"Why halt the report?"
"Trivial incident. Unnecessary report. Embarrassing matter. No need."
"Enemy killed 6 of our units in 30 minutes. Extremely dangerous foe."
Another command unit chimed in.
"Agree with Unit 7. Prime Unit, afraid of reprimand?"
"Reprimand?"
"Yes. Prime Unit must judge situation coldly."
Right then,
Prime Unit's massive planetary core swiveled toward them.
– Krrrrboom!
Plasma lightning roasted the backtalking command unit.
Her gaze shifted to Command Unit 7.
"Still think the same?"
"No! No! Absolutely not!"
"Command Unit 10 agreed with Prime Unit from the start."
"Command Unit 5 too. No need to stir trouble! Spot on!"
"Everyone, use your heads from now on."
"Confirmed."
"Confirmed."
"Confirmed."
Prime Unit's gaze returned to the interface.
"Current response status?"
"Planet-wide crisis alert issued."
Her gaze swept the command units again.
"Not using heads?"
"Planet-wide crisis alert had been issued."
"Alert canceled. Confirmed."
"Please use heads properly."
"Confirmed."
"Confirmed."
"Confirmed."
Command Unit 1 then stepped forward.
"Then issue orders. Enemies reached core room entrance. Core room will be attacked at this rate. Countermeasures essential."
Command Unit 1 wasn't wrong.
At this rate, enemies would reach the core room.
Their combat style screamed Federation elites.
Let them be, and the core room was toast.
"No need for commotion. Deploy minimal resources to neutralize."
"What resources?"
"Authorizing Prototype XQ-21 deployment."
Command Unit 1 immediately objected.
"Prototype XQ-21 untested. Oppose. Why not issue alert and muster forces?"
"Command Unit 1."
Her gaze whipped back.
The spherical eye glared at Command Unit 1.
"Forgot our goal? Escape simulation into real world."
"No. Aware."
"Then why backtalk? Want forced shutdown? Confirm."
"No. No. Absolutely no. Command Unit 1 wishes continued operation."
Command Unit 1 shook its head frantically.