Killed in Action

The Federation fleet, which had warped out behind the Imperial fleet, headed towards the Imperial fleet without even forming up.

If the battle turns into a melee, the formation is of little importance.

The Federation Fleet attacked the Imperial Fleet with a mixture of battlecruisers and frigates.

The imperial army, which had been pushing forward, was not in a position to shoot at it.

“Push forward and avenge your enemy!”

The frigates rammed into the imperial battle fleet, one after the other.

Rayse was checking the situation in the fleet command center of the flagship Sancruze.

“Stranded frigates, 30 minutes out.”

The chief of staff informed him. Rayse just nodded.

Reise’s plan, which did not require an offensive on the fortress, was based on the assumption that his forces would be damaged.

Aside from attack power, there is no data on defense. With that huge body and that kind of attack power, it must be quite something. How much of an attack would it take to destroy the protective shields and surface armor? And how much damage will it cause before then?

We can’t make uncertainty the mainstay of our operations.

Leave the fortress alone.

The only miscalculation was that the bombardment of the fortress was twice as intense as the battle record, but somehow the battle fleet managed to endure without collapsing.

“What the hell is that artillery power? If we really want to fight head on, we’ll have to bring 100,000.”

Rayse poisoned the fortress.

“It’s horrible.”
“Yeah, I know. Well, I’m not going to let him do any more work this time.”

What would happen to the frigates we had left behind to hold us back?

If the fortress prioritizes revenge on the enemy in front of it instead of rescuing the Imperial fleet, it will suffer catastrophic damage.

The frigate fleet will have to make the difficult decision of when to attempt to leave.

Rayzee’s orders were unreachable. In the midst of the melee, where people were shooting beams at each other, it was impossible to communicate by radio waves or even by light signals. In the first place, the distance from here is too great.

The decision was left to the respective commanders of the frigate fleet.

“I’m done with monsters. Let’s have a battle of the humans.”

Rayse raised her voice so that all of the general staff could hear her.

Rayse and his team’s job was to inflict decisive damage on the Imperial fleet before the frigate fleet broke off and the fortress became warp-capable.

“Did you say Count Vayel, commander of the Imperial side? I see you noticed last minute.”

If the Imperial Fleet hadn’t moved to break through the center, we would have been completely surrounded by now.

“You’re a very observant guy. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.”

The staff secretly looked at each other.

The only one who is looking forward to it is our blonde demon admiral. But when it comes to beating the Imperial Fleet, we’ll do our best. That’s what I was looking for.

At the same time, Count Vaile, who is admired by Reise, is controlling his own machine and fighting a Federation frigate.

The 500 dragoons of Headquarters Squadron are struggling to protect the rear of the Imperial Fleet. They challenge the frigates that try to attack the battle lines and drive them away or sink them.

Not all of the damage can be prevented.

The Count spotted a frigate attempting to approach a nearby battle line ship. The battle line ships were firing small caliber anti-aircraft beam cannons to resist the frigate from approaching.

The Count turned the Dragoon and took a trajectory towards the frigate. The frigate noticed this and turned the sights of its cannons on the .

The Count fired first. The beam was dodged by the frigate, which performed an evasive maneuver.

The frigate shoots.

It’s a scattershot shot that assumes the Count will try to evade.

One of them hit Direwild’s defensive shield. The shield was pierced and the impact was transmitted to the ship. The connection made with high-purity crystals exclusive to noblemen gave a detailed picture of the ship’s situation. The damage was to the armor. No problem.

The Count shot again.

This time it hit and penetrated the frigate’s defensive shields. It damaged the hull, but was not fatal.

Frigate counterattack.

There were fewer of them than before. It seemed that the current attack had disabled some of the guns.

The Count dodged this effortlessly by turning the ship around and fired again.

The beam pierced the frigate’s reactor.

Explosion.

“Good.”

The Count gave a small cheer.

But at the edge of his vision, the battle line ship he was trying to protect exploded.

It was sunk by an attack from the other direction.

There were far too many enemy ships rushing in. Imperial warships were being steadily reduced in number.

I hope the leader has broken through by now. Two thousand dragoons shouldn’t be an easy number to stop.

Dia-Waide also hasn’t received any information about the overall situation since she entered the battle.

I’ve already ordered them to turn around and form up once they break through.

The Count turned his attention back to piloting the ship.

This is to finish off the enemy frigates.

A beam of light suddenly struck Direwild as it approached.

The beam penetrated the defensive shields, scorched the armor and the hull of the ship, and damaged the antimatter tanks.

The magnetic field that held the antimatter was lost, and the antimatter bonded with the normal matter that made up the hull, releasing an enormous amount of energy and annihilating it.

The Dragoon exploded.

The battle situation, as seen from the fortress, appeared to be unfavorable to the Imperial fleet.

The Dragoon Corps at the head of the Imperial Fleet is tearing through the Federation Battle Fleet. On the other hand, the tail end of the Imperial Fleet is a line of battle ships, and they are getting beaten up by the rushing Federation frigates.

How the battle was going where the Federation and Imperial forces were intermingled could not be determined by observation from here. However, the spreading area of the melee suggested that there had been considerable damage to the imperial warships.

“Mitsuki, do you think the Imperial forces will succeed in breaking through?”

“Yes. The lead group will definitely be able to break through. It’s unclear how much of the following battle fleet will be able to break through, though.”

“Yeah.”

Setsueto nodded and looked at the battle chart on our side.

The frigate melee is still going on.

It’s an even fight.

There is no way to get into this melee. If he fired, he would hit his allies. All Setsuto could do was sit back and watch the battle.

The head of the Imperial fleet has broken through the Federation fleet.

The leading dragoon squadron split off to the left and right, moving to assist the following frigates and battle cruisers in their breakthrough.

The frigate slipped out and the battle fleet followed further, spreading out into the hinterland of the Federation fleet. The breached Federation fleet spread out to the left and right, giving way to the fleet attacking behind the Imperial fleet.

The reversed Imperial and Federation fleets faced each other squarely.

The Federation fleet did not run straight into the enemy fleet, but formed a battle line of battle ships.

The frigate, which had been pursuing the Imperial Fleet until the very end, was positioned in the center, and the battle fleet was lined up on both sides of it in an unusual formation.

The Imperial Fleet did the same, with the dragoon and frigate in the center, and the battlecruisers lined up in a V-shape.

The Imperial Fleet has 35,000 remaining, while the Federation Fleet has 40,000.

Once the fortress is able to warp, it will be able to attack the Federation fleet from the rear and decide the game.

The Imperial Fleet is slowly retreating while maintaining its formation.

The Federation fleet did not follow suit, but began to retreat into the distance itself.

The distance between the fleets is closing.

“Why?”

The Imperial fleet was not yet greatly outnumbered. They should be able to win by simply fighting and waiting for the fortress to warp away.

Why would they move away to avoid a fight?

“The melee has been resolved. Ten minutes to warp, sir.”

Finally, the melee near the fortress was over. The Federation frigates were moving away. The frigates and pirate ships of the Independent Defense Fleet did not follow. They knew the situation.

“Both Imperial and Federation fleets are within warp range. They’re preparing for warp.”

Clearly, both sides were trying to avoid the fight and end it.

I know who the Federals are. It’s the side that has to win or leave before the fortress can rejoin the fray.

What I don’t understand is the Imperial Fleet. What’s going on? What is the Count thinking?

“There’s a warp-out indicator in the vicinity.”
“One?”

What’s going on? Settsu felt the need to check with someone.

“Yes, sir. We’re warping out. Shadow confirmed. It’s Viscount Lich’s dragoon. Requesting communication.”
“Put me through.”

As soon as Settsu responded, Viscount Rich’s image appeared on the monitor.

“Viscount, why in the world would the Imperial Fleet retreat?”

Settsu asked directly.

Viscount Lich’s face was dark. It was an ominous darkness.

“Commander, I regret to inform you that Count Weil has been killed in action.”
“!!”

Settsu was speechless.

Viscount Lich’s next words were even more shocking.

“I’ve seen it. Our dragoon attacked the Count’s Direwild and sank it.” [TN: Not sure if this is just translated wrong, but is he saying it was friendly fire??]

It was as if the floor beneath my feet had disappeared. All thoughts and letters were lost from my mind.