31. Deployment.
31. Deployment.
While the Escort Unit's Irina and the Combat Unit's Riosk were going back and forth, intensifying their battle for second place—
An emergency alarm rang throughout the entire Keuble Knights.
Kal headed to the Administration Office a bit earlier than usual, curious about what kind of shitty situation had exploded this time. Perhaps because of the emergency, the seniors of the Administration Squad, who usually arrived late, were also there early.
The Administration Squad Chief, Karen, announced with a rather solemn expression that there would be a meeting in 10 minutes. Louis, the braggart who was quite well-informed about such rumors, spilled everything he knew with a greasy expression as if showing off.
"It seems a space pirate crew has appeared."
"...A space pirate crew?!"
Dana, the pink-head with a timid nature just like her appearance, jumped at the mention of a pirate crew. It seemed the situation was more serious than she had thought.
"Whether it's a passenger ship or a cargo ship, it looks like they hijacked a civilian vessel headed to Akumansina. It's total chaos right now."
"Isn't that a big deal?"
"It is a big deal. The entire Knights Order will probably be deployed."
Anxiety that couldn't be hidden settled on the face of Dana, who was only in her second year. Still, acting like a proper senior in front of her junior, she even managed to show some composure while comforting Kal.
"It's okay, Kal. Trust me, alright?"
"...Yes."
Kal replied, holding back a laugh.
Anyway, 10 minutes passed, and the Administration Squad began their morning meeting. Naturally, the content of the meeting was about the emergency signal that rang early that morning.
Just as Louis had said, the reason for the emergency was because of a space pirate crew.
"A passenger ship carrying passengers has been captured by a pirate crew. The identity of the pirate crew is Red Duck. They are vicious scumbags who will do anything for money."
The Red Duck space pirate crew—.
Their notoriety was so widespread that even Dana, in her second year, knew them well. Kal, too, had encountered various pirate crews while living as a knight and a fugitive for nearly ten years, and naturally, the Red Duck space pirate crew was among them.
Of all things, those crazy bastards had to be the ones....
They were so crazy that, unlike other pirate crews that just pecked around the outskirts, they were bold enough to enter the center of the Empire.
Their known scale was one 100,000-ton ship and about three 10,000-ton ships. The fact that they possessed a 100,000-ton ship meant they were already in a different league from small-time pirate crews.
"It doesn't seem like they kidnapped the passenger ship without a reason. Do they have any demands?"
When Wang-jjiji Ellie asked that, Administration Squad Chief Karen nodded as if it were obvious.
"Of course they do. 10 million Zeny per passenger."
10 million Zeny for just one person—.
Louis, shocked by that absurd amount, asked with an incredulous expression.
"...How many passengers are there?"
"Including the crew of the passenger ship, there are exactly 245 people."
ㅡㅡ!!
Then the total amount the pirate crew was demanding was 2.45 billion Zeny.
It was a truly ridiculous amount. Wasn't that equivalent to half a year's budget for the planetary headquarters? It was absurd to demand that as the price for the lives of a mere 245 people.
"No, are you sure they really demanded that? They must know that's absurd, right?"
"I don't know their intentions beyond that. They cut the connection right after demanding just that."
Everyone exchanged glances with troubled expressions.
"Then..., what do we do?"
"For now, the entire Knights Order has decided to deploy along with a negotiation team. And we will organize a special forces unit just in case. I will be included in that."
"...You too, Chief?"
At the mention of special forces, a tense atmosphere filled the meeting room.
"Of course, it's not yet known if we will be deployed. It will be decided depending on the situation. If a situation arises where the special forces must be deployed, then Ellie, you will temporarily take over the Administration Squad."
"Understood."
Administration Squad Chief Karen lightly hit the table with her clenched fist, gathering everyone's attention.
"This is a real situation. So everyone, stay sharp. Once we deploy, we don't know how long it will take until we return. You probably won't be able to come back until this case is resolved. It could be a week, or it could be a month. ...Of course, it could take longer than that."
She looked straight at each of her subordinates one by one before continuing.
"As long as you properly protect what needs to be protected, no problems will arise. All accidents start from trivial mistakes. So don't let your guard down even on small things. Understood?"
"Yes, understoodㅡ!"
"Good, everyone go back to your dorms, prepare for deployment, and come back to the Administration Office. I'll give you 30 minutes. Dismissed."
As Karen stood up, the rest of the subordinates jumped up and gave a sharp salute. And as soon as the Chief left the meeting room, everyone scattered to their dorm rooms to pack their bags and returned.
Kal, who came back carrying a stuffed duffel bag, was comforted by his direct senior, Dana.
"Don't worry. It'll be okay. Trust me. I'll protect you."
"Yes, I will, sunbae-nim."
Soon, the entire Administration Squad gathered and headed to the basement of the building. After boarding a transport vehicle, they headed to the spaceport.
Sitting in two rows facing each other, they didn't say a word the whole way to the port. A while later, the transport vehicle arrived at the port. As the Administration Squad got off, a massive 100,000-ton ship came into view.
Since it was the first time the pink-head Dana had ever boarded such a massive ship, she opened her mouth wide in awe at the overwhelming sight. Seeing that, Louis the braggart smiled crookedly and started showing off again.
"You guys haven't ridden something like this, have you? I rode it whenever I was bored. My father was the vice-captain."
"You are truly amazing."
Dana, Louis's direct junior, quickly played along before it became more annoying. She knew from experience that doing so was the easiest path for both of them.
The Administration Squad went through identity checks at the entrance and boarded the ship. As the elevator headed to the ship at high speed with a Vuung sound, Dana let out an exclamation of "Wow."
When they boarded the ship, there were guides waiting for them. Karen split off from her subordinates midway to go meet the captain.
The members of the Administration Squad were guided to an area where dorm rooms were packed tightly together. The dorm area they were assigned to was C-22. Each of them grabbed a tiny individual room there and went inside. Since they were filled in order of rank, the room next to his was the pink-head Dana's.
As they were unpacking and chatting in the lounge provided in the area, knights who appeared to be from the Escort Unit swarmed in. The number seemed to be five or six times larger than the Administration Squad. There, Kal also spotted the blonde Irina and the goody-two-shoes Alisa.
"Oh, look, isn't that sunbae-nim's sister?"
"...That's right. But, well, this isn't really the atmosphere to be acting all friendly right now, is it?"
"Ah, yes, you're right."
Kal held back the urge to ask this greasy braggart if he knew that his sunbae's sister sucked his dick so deliciously. ...Of course, there was no way he would know. If he did, he would have gone absolutely berserk right away.
Not long after the Escort Unit arrived, the Combat Unit also arrived in the dorm area. In particular, Riosk, who was a head taller than the others, immediately caught his eye.
Since the Escort and Combat units had much stricter military discipline than the Administration Squad, it was a total mess with trainee knights moving all their seniors' luggage one by one. ...Of course, the reason they brought the trainees here was just to make them do menial labor anyway. It wasn't exactly a surprising fact.
In contrast, the Administration Squad had a culture where you took care of your own work. Since that was the tendency of the Administration Squad Chief.
A while later, the chiefs who had met with the captain returned. Administration Squad Chief Karen rented a meeting room and gathered the Administration Squad members there.
"As I said earlier, from now on I have to move separately as part of the special forces. So, Ellie will temporarily lead the Administration Squad. ...You can do it without any problems, right?"
"Yes, don't worry about things here, Chief."
"Good. Again, this is a real situation. And the situation is very serious. ...It seems they've already killed a few hostages as an example."
Dana, who was timid, was startled and gasped, "Hup."
"They are the worst of the worst. So you must not let your guard down in any situation. Just keep that in mind. Understood?"
"Yes, understood."
"Then I'll be going now. I might come by occasionally to check on the status, so keep that in mind."
"Yes, Chief."
Just like that, Administration Squad Chief Karen left as part of the special forces. It seemed the other chiefs had also left to organize the special forces, as the most senior members were temporarily acting as chiefs.
Wang-jjiji Ellie worked hard to fill the vacancy left by the Chief.
She first maintained the communication network with each of the temporary chiefs. Then, she made sure the Administration Squad members were fully prepared to move immediately if a deployment order was given at any time.
"Keep in mind that we aren't here for a vacation. This is an emergency situation. That means you have to sleep in your battle suits in bed. And you must have your communication network connected at all times. ...You know what that means, right?"
"Yes, sunbae-nim."
Just then, Ding-dong, the speaker rang. And soon, an announcement came out that the ship would be taking off. At the same time, a vibration began to be felt under their feet.
As the countdown ended, the 100,000-ton ship began to slowly rise. Everyone cast their gaze at the sight visible outside the window. As the land grew more distant, everything began to turn into small dots.
The ship moved further and further away from the planet. Soon, the blue sea was visible, the rounded horizon was visible, and the pitch-black space background appeared. Before they knew it, they had entered outer space.
- In about ten minutes, we will perform a space jump. I repeat. In about ten minutes, we will perform a space jump. Those who are currently feeling any abnormalities in their bodies, please head to the infirmary immediately.
The 100,000-ton ship, Encraser, which had left the blue star Akumansina, slowly heated its engines for the space jump.
Soon, the countdown started again.
- 30, 29, 28, 27....
With every second that ticked away, the pink-head Dana's face became more and more deeply dyed with a look of tension.
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The countdown ended, and the Encraser began the space jump.
The ship, which had been leisurely floating in the empty space, disappeared Ppyong into the other side of space in an instant.