Chapter 83
The Tarlmache fleet displayed truly cunning maneuvering.
They feigned an assault on Traltan 4, pinning down the Federation fleet on the planetary side. In truth, their objective was to help their comrades who had no backup for their lives to escape, but the Federation fleet was clearly being split apart.
Despite expending all their weaponry in the attack, the Tarlmache ships weren't easily sunk, even by the superior Federation vessels. If they carelessly pursued the retreating ships, the Federation's formation might collapse.
"People who don't think ahead are scary."
'Live rounds incoming from the rear.'
Even for Kait, who was facing off against the flagship, this wasn't someone else's problem.
After all, stray shots and optical weapons were flying in from all directions. While the output wasn't strong enough to break through the barrier, the chaotic battlefield created by the enemy was troublesome.
The opponents weren't easy to handle either. The attacks from the Worker Bees hadn't dealt a decisive blow to the massive flagship.
The Queen Bee's firepower alone wasn't particularly high. It excelled against similarly sized combat crafts, but to take on a far larger battleship-class enemy, it needed time to charge or a small asteroid that could be converted into a kinetic weapon.
In this sector, the Federation and Tarlmache fleets had been exchanging fire while observing each other until just recently. As a result, all the small asteroids in visible range had been cleared out. It would've been helpful to have a sunken ship, but unfortunately, it had only been skirmishes—no ships had gone down.
"This is a problem, really."
'An unexpected weakness has been exposed.'
The Tarlmache fleet's flagship was the largest warship they had ever faced. It was probably more than ten times the size of Divin's battleship. Against Divin, the concentrated use of Worker Bees had sufficed, but that wasn't realistic this time.
They wanted to shoot down a nearby small battleship and use it for a ram attack, but perhaps Kait's tactics had been studied—no battleships were approaching. When they tried to aim from a distance with the Worker Bees, the flagship would launch annoying counterattacks.
Their movements had been thoroughly studied. Perhaps they had gone too wild outside the Federation's sphere of influence.
"Well, it's not like the enemy can shoot forever. Eventually, they'll run out and become sitting ducks."
'It's probably just as Segari Gug planned.'
"That's the thing, isn't it."
If they kept hesitating like this, things would go exactly as Segari Gug intended. They didn't particularly want to sink the retreating ships, but since they were all staffed by criminal trading companies, at least capturing them would be ideal.
As Kait was thinking that, his vision turned completely white.
Apparently, a barrage from an enemy ship positioned diagonally below had hit directly. The Queen Bee, protected by barriers, was unharmed, but it looked like a large optical weapon had been used, engulfing the entire ship in a torrent of light.
"Can't be helped. It's sudden, but let's unveil the new equipment."
'You're going to use that?'
"Well yeah, I didn't build it just to decorate the ship."
Neither Kait nor Emotion were shaken. If the Queen Bee could be destroyed by this level of bombardment, it would've died three times already.
"Once the shelling stops, launch it. One should do for now."
'Understood.'
***
From the Tortoise, which was docked in the artificial celestial body Traltan, George, Liz, and Carlos disembarked.
Carlos supported the still-limp George by the shoulder. The Psionic Launcher still attached to his right arm scraped the floor with a metallic sound.
"Ah, right. Girl, could you take off the Psionic Launcher? I don't think I can move even a finger yet."
George asked in a trembling voice, and when Liz turned around with a troubled look, he showed some confusion.
"Dear... um..."
"What's wrong, girl? Why that face?"
"The Psionic Launcher—its limiter came off, didn't it?"
"Yeah."
"So that means... your fist won't get burned off, right?"
"Thankfully, yeah."
"Actually, once it's equipped, it can't be removed."
"...Huh?"
At the unexpected words, George's eyes widened.
Fidgeting, Liz continued. Her movements were cute like a small animal, but this wasn't the time for that.
"W-What do you mean?"
"You know, the original Galactic Viper's Psionic Launcher is disguised as the right arm and can't be removed, right?"
"Well... that might be true."
"Up until now, the fist physically disappeared, so there was no place to attach it and it came off. But with the limiter off, the fist doesn't get burned off by excess energy, so it stays on."
George couldn't lift his arm yet, so he trembled his head and looked down at his right arm. The Psionic Launcher would never come off now. And because the limiter had been removed, the output constantly exceeded George's capacity as a bonus.
For the first time, George felt a pang of regret for modeling it after the original Galactic Viper.
"Apparently, just like the original, it even has the disguise function built in. You've taken another step closer to the real Viper!"
"That's great and all. So... how much psychic power do I need to actually use it?"
"Ah... well..."
Liz averted her eyes in silence. A brief pause. Carlos tilted his head, not understanding the conversation.
Liz was the first to break the silence. She forced a bright smile at George.
"I-It's fine. If we surgically amputate your right hand, we can take it off. See, your modifications mean there's no pain in your fist, and it regenerates as many times as needed."
"Y-Yeah. That's true."
"Y-Yeah, definitely. Definitely..."
Just then, as George and the others were more worn out than ever, a Traltan staff member approached.
Though his body was quite hairy, perhaps because he walked on two legs, he didn't provoke much disgust.
"You must be the Earthlings who've aligned with the Federation this time."
"Y-Yes."
"You've had quite a rough time, haven't you? Normally, we'd send you to the Federation immediately, but as you know, there's currently a battle outside. We ask for your patience a little longer."
"T-Thank you."
The three were utterly bewildered by this polite speech, something they'd never encountered before.
Amidst this, Liz noticed that the hairy figure in front of her showed no signs of fear. He didn't seem to think the Federation could lose. No matter how the battle turned out, he seemed certain they would win.
"Would you like to see the outside? There aren't many staff in the observation room right now, so it might be a good place to rest."
"Ah... we'll take you up on that."
Liz answered on behalf of the group, and the hairy figure casually lifted George up. A princess carry.
There wasn't even time to protest. Cheerfully saying "This way," the hairy figure started walking briskly while still carrying George.
Perhaps it was a small mercy that there were hardly any staff around. George's face was red like a ripe apple.
Thinking she wanted to eat apple pie for the first time in a while, Liz might have been escaping reality in her own way.
***
The long bombardment finally weakened. The torrent of light slowly thinned, and the Queen Bee remained unscathed in place.
The attacking ship must not have expected it to be completely unharmed—it froze for a moment.
"Alright, launch it."
'Understood. Launching.'
From the rarely used weapons bay of the Queen Bee, a cylindrical object was ejected. When Kait exerted his power, the cylinder unnaturally stopped and moved to his right side.
'Your cunning never ceases to amaze me, Captain.'
"Doesn't sound like a compliment."
'Because it's not.'
"Is that so?"
The Worker Bees that had been circling the Queen Bee returned. Kait, remembering how he'd been deploying them away from the ship lately, shaped them like a human arm.
Yes. The Queen Bee was a combat craft with arms like a human.
"Well then, once again... Psionic Launcher, equip!"
The Psionic Launcher, modified into a large version for combat crafts, was firmly attached to the Queen Bee's right arm.