The Dead Man's Switch
Enemy mecha units charged in, yet the Rastold drove them back instead, counterattacking with the remaining Imperial Guard escorts and its anti-air autocannons.
In that window Beatrix clung to the enemy vessel, tearing into engines and hull plating wherever she could reach, and succeeded in stripping it of any further pursuit capability.
Jincheon's role had been enormous as well—buying the precious time that kept the enemy knight orders from joining the fray. In a situation where every second of escape mattered, becoming entangled with those knights would have meant enemies pouring in without end.
They had broken through, yet the pilots who returned to the Rastold did not climb out of their machines. They were still inside enemy space, information was scarce, and an enemy ship could appear from any direction at any moment.
Hours passed with no force rising to bar their way. Only after Eirin announced over the general channel that they were entering the hyper lane did the pilots finally erupt in cheers.
"We did it!"
"We broke through!!"
"We're alive! We're actually alive!"
The order followed at once to brace for the shock of hyper-lane entry. A brief, violent jolt seized them, as if some immense force were dragging them under. Only after confirming that the next star system held no enemies did the pilots finally leave their mechas.
"Hooo…"
Beatrix, who had poured everything into the short, savage fight, pulled off her helmet and let her braided hair tumble free. Strands of her brilliant green hair, damp with sweat, glittered as they slid down her shoulders—like a living work of art.
"Everyone did well."
She went to each Imperial Guard pilot in turn, offering praise, then approached Heliane and Calsira.
"May I speak with the two of you for a moment?"
"What is it?"
Heliane, still pleasantly flushed with victory beside Calsira, offered the proper courtesy as Beatrix drew near.
"I have been watching you both for some time. Your skill as pilots is outstanding, and your characters strike me as earnest."
After the praise she cut straight to the point; long noble circumlocution would only breed resentment.
"Would you join the Imperial Guard? With your abilities you would rise high even within its ranks. Honor and reward would naturally follow."
For ordinary mercenaries to enter the Giranlek Empire's Imperial Guard was nearly impossible. Yet in a moment when every ace pilot counted, the two of them would become vital strength.
"You are mercenaries, so I will speak of compensation first. Enlist, and each of you will receive a Guard-exclusive mecha and an annual salary of 2.3 million credits. All supplies, of course, would come from the Imperial—"
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
Before Beatrix could finish, Heliane and Calsira bowed their heads in thanks and refusal.
"We are content where we are."
"We're getting along far more enjoyably than it might look."
They made it clear they were satisfied with their present place and gently declined her offer.
"I press this because your talent is too precious to waste. That man Jincheon certainly has ability. But with a personality that arrogant he will make enemies wherever he wanders. In time only enemies will remain around him."
Beatrix tried again, as was only natural. The Jincheon she had seen was trash with excellent skills and nothing more. Stay beside such a man and the only ending was death at the hands of the enemies he created.
"His personality is rotten, yes. But if you watch him long enough, he has surprisingly charming sides as well."
"And… ahem. In any case, we have no intention of leaving him."
Calsira nearly mentioned Jincheon's nighttime talents, then coughed and glossed over it.
"Why in the world would you stay with a man like that? Is there something far more important with him than anything I just offered?"
Beatrix simply could not understand. His only merits were a striking face and pilot skill—and even that skill came from Calsorn Empire relics that let him fight with superhuman mobility, not pure personal power. He did not seem stupid when he spoke, yet he clung to a sinking ship, and these two clung with him.
"Because we love him."
"We love him."
"!!"
The simultaneous confession struck Beatrix speechless. She wanted to shout that a man like that did not deserve love from women like them. Yet the light in their eyes told her any words would be useless.
"That man saved not only our lives but our fates. Lives that would have ended anyway—we simply wish to stay with him until the very last moment."
Heliane bowed once more, then walked with Calsira toward the lounge.
"Haa… such a waste…"
Watching the unwavering backs of the two who had refused her without a tremor, Beatrix let the regret slip out.
And where did that man go, anyway?
She still had words for Jincheon as well—why he had stepped forward on his own to block the supporting knights before any order from this side. The Jincheon she knew was not the sort for self-sacrifice; she wanted to know why he had done it.
Yet complete safety was not yet certain. She decided she could ask later, after she had shaken the celebrating Imperial Guard back to vigilance, and pushed him from her mind.
Years afterward she would look back on that day and wonder how the future might have changed if she had sought Jincheon out then.
Having reached another star system through the hyper lane, Eirin exhaled in relief at the empty sensors. No enemies here meant no force remained that could bar their path. All that was left was to cruise without being overtaken by any pursuit that might still follow.
"Hoo… First Officer."
"Yes, Captain."
"I am going to rest. Take the bridge for a while."
"Leave it to me."
The middle-aged man with the splendid mustache bowed. At last the woman who had watched over the young emperor and borne the weight of every life aboard could rest.
Eirin, finally free to breathe, made her way toward her son's chamber near her private quarters.
Galdorn… I should have been wary the moment he began forming his faction.
Walking the corridor, she regretted not having stopped the half-brother who had assassinated her own brother and now sought to murder her nephew as well. At the time Galdorn had devoted himself to the role of lubricant that made the emperor's decrees run smoothly. Normally one would watch a half-sibling building a faction, yet he had prostrated himself and aided every endeavor, and the late Emperor Antatiel had gradually lowered his guard. Even so they had kept his power in check—yet no one, not even Eirin, had imagined he would conspire from the shadows to commit assassination.
Regret now was far too late.
She hid her exhaustion and entered her son's room.
"Ah, Mother!"
The beloved boy came running; every fatigue of the past days melted away. Eirin sank to her knees and gathered the small body into her arms.
"You must have been frightened, left alone. Forgive me."
"It's all right. Everyone is fighting for me."
A child might have whined about being left alone, yet the boy understood the others' burdens with quiet dignity.
My own child, yet he was born with the makings of a wise ruler.
She patted his back and smiled.
"We have slipped free of the pursuit. Unless something unforeseen arises, we will reach loyalist space. With Duke Hamilton at our side, you will reclaim the place that is rightfully yours."
Shuprit Hamilton—Duke of the Giranlek Empire and head of the loyalist faction. The first loyalist territory they would enter was his domain.
"Only about twenty more days. Endure until then."
"Yes."
Mother and son shared the leisurely conversation the long chase had denied them, and for a while the mood was light. Soon, however, mental fatigue pressed in; Eirin wished for quiet rest and rose to leave.
"I will go rest now."
"Mother, since we're safe… may I go outside?"
"Mm… very well."
The chamber had been built to protect the emperor even if the warship itself exploded; until now he had been forbidden to leave. With safety restored, free movement no longer mattered.
Having given permission, Eirin walked to her private quarters to ease the weight on her mind.
The door slid open with a soft chime; lights brightened automatically.
"Haa~"
At last she could rest without a single care—
"You seem quite at ease after what you did."
"Kyaa!?"
A familiar voice from behind made her scream. She spun around and found Jincheon smiling at her.
"H-how…!?"
"I timed it to the moment you entered and slipped in with you. On the security cameras it will look as though Your Grace the Empress Dowager was simply escorting me."
He had muffled his presence and followed her in; now he raised his Bio Device and displayed a recording.
"You must have much to say, but watch this first."
"!!"
From Jincheon's first-person view the footage showed Eirin pinning him down, rolling her hips with lewd abandon, lost in pleasure. Anyone watching would see the Empress Dowager overpowering a man and raping him.
"Even now, remembering that humiliation makes rage boil up inside me."
"…You mean to blackmail me?"
Eirin opened her mouth, buying time, and carefully let her hand drift toward the holster on her thigh. She intended to kill him here. Excuses could come after the body cooled. Her sister had said the man's personality was foul; she would hammer that point and pin everything on him.
"I would prefer you abandon the plan of shooting me dead. This recording is registered to a dead-man's switch."
"Kh…!"
At those words her fingers froze short of the pistol.
Dead-man's switch. The term had two meanings. The first was a switch that announced a human pilot had been incapacitated by stun or death, after which the machine followed preset protocols. The second was a will that automatically released upon the owner's death—video messages sent across the net, sealed vaults opening, and so on. Jincheon meant the latter.
"It is set to publish across countless sites on the galactic network. What do you suppose will happen if the Empress Dowager's adultery becomes public knowledge in our present situation?"
"Hmph! That I, the Empress Dowager, suddenly went mad with lust and forced myself on a lowly man like you? Who would believe it?"
"No one, of course. But to the rebels, truth is irrelevant."
"……!"
He was right. Whether the recording was genuine or not, the rebels would spread it far and wide, layering every conspiracy they could invent, and carve deep scars into the Empress Dowager's reputation. In ordinary times she could laugh it off. In a fractured empire, she could not.
"…What do you want?"
No matter how she turned it, she saw no way to stop the chaos the video would unleash once it spread.
"One more round."
"What?"
"Among my many virtues, the one I rank highest is the ability to send women properly on a bed. Last time I was unprepared and had to endure the humiliation of being led."
"D-don't be ridiculous! I am the mother of the Giranlek Empire! How dare you speak so before—"
"Can you still say that after watching this?"
Jincheon showed her the image of herself straddling him, pinning him by force.
"Ngh…! B-but…"
Honestly she still did not understand why she had done it. Her body had burned so hot that she had no confidence she could keep her reason unless she cooled it. In the end she had not kept it.
"If you do this with me, the recording will never spread."
"H-how am I supposed to trust the likes of you!"
"I stepped out alone and blocked the knight order that was coming as enemy reinforcements. Once we have come this far, acting boldly earns far greater reward than playing it safe."
That much was true; his contribution had been decisive. How he had spotted the enemy before their own radar even registered them remained a mystery, yet the fact stood.
"If I release this recording here, every reward I might claim vanishes, and all the effort until now becomes nothing."
Jincheon stepped closer.
"But I have too much pride to simply take a one-sided beating. Having come this far, I can no longer retreat."
His voice hardened with resolve.
"Do not think of buying time. Now that you have seen every card I hold, the moment we enter loyalist space you will throw me into a cell rather than kill me. Before that happens I will release the recording and disappear."
Unmentioned but true: Jincheon's transport ship still trailed the Rastold Silverion under unmanned control.
"……."
Eirin bit her lip and glared. He simply kept the footage of her riding him, hips rolling, and pressed her in silence for an answer.
Kill him and the dead-man's switch would scatter the video. Buy time and he would not allow it. Subdue him here and now? What if he simply killed himself?
To reclaim the throne her son rightfully deserved, the loyalists had to stand united. If this recording spread, some among them would surely waver; a fractured loyalist camp would bleed over to the rebels in an instant, and both her life and her son's would fall into traitors' hands.
I'm sorry… but… for my child…
In the end Eirin could not overcome the blackmail. She lowered her head and nodded.