Chapter 158
Quietly sneaking onto the ship, I managed to secure a safe spot. So, what should I do now?
‘I need to sabotage the warp drive.’
This ship is part of the StarUnion fleet. Once the battle is over, it will return to its original space station for repairs. If the warp drive malfunctions, we’re done for.
The warp drive, the pinnacle of hyper-scientific technology, is as delicate as an overloaded reactor. Failing warp navigation could strand the ship in an entirely unexpected place, that could even be within a star.
Failing a warp navigation in the game means instant death. Top-tier equipment and ships won’t save you.
I’ve been in that situation before, forced into a star during a battle with the Vortex ones. It’s likely to be similar in reality. It’s an extreme case, but not impossible. We can’t afford reckless moves unless it’s an emergency.
I attached the auxiliary organ to the wall inside the garbage processing chamber. Intermittent vibrations and a strong flow of energy were felt from the ship’s side. The ship is in a difficult state to engage in combat due to heavy damage to the front rockets and hull. We’ll probably retreat to the rear of the fleet to avoid the cult’s attacks. We don’t know when the battle will end, but it likely won’t be long.
‘That cyborg battleship we saw earlier.’
That ship, appearing more than three times the size of others, is a model I recognize.
‘A Z2-class heavy battleship. Looks like it’s been modified somewhat, though.’
StarUnion battleships typically carry anti-ship torpedoes.
‘Gremlin Torpedoes.’
Among StarUnion’s inventions, this weapon stands out for its ability to corrode metals like a nanomachine. The Gremlin Torpedoes loaded onto the battleship can specify the metal they consume.
‘For instance, attacking with a Gremlin Torpedo specified for moonsilver will continue corroding until all monsilver in the vicinity is eradicated. And there’s only one faction that uses monsilver to build ships around here.’
‘It can be fired during a battle without any issues. Its only drawbacks are its high cost and vulnerability to EMP.’
‘But the cult can’t use EMP.’
Unless they have skilled psychics on the level of Number 26, or Cult Prophets, defending against Gremlin Torpedoes with regular shields is difficult.
‘They’ll probably aim for the Imperial battleship opportunistically.’
Firing a Gremlin Torpedo will end the battle. Until then, we need to deal with the engine issue.
The target is set. It’s time to move.
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (I’ll be back soon)”]
｢Where are you going? I want to come too.｣
｢I｣ ｢come｣ ｢together｣
｢Wait for both of us. Amorph… uhh, the big one has something to attend to.｣
｢Something?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Just taking a quick look around. I’ve been idle for a while)]
｢Yeah. Come back safely!｣
｢I｣ ｢farewell｣
“…”
Watching the Mother of the Sky, embarrassed by her own words, was quite amusing, but time is of the essence. After telling the kids to rest, I crawled out of the garbage processing chamber.
Normally, I’d move with them, but not this time.
‘We have to move quietly, that’s why.’
Everyone rampaging together is only safe after security is assured.
Coming out of the processing chamber, I moved upside down, clinging to the ceiling. Despite numerous cameras in the corridor, they failed to detect my presence.
It was all thanks to the characteristics of the “unknown creature fur.”
‘If I were a cyborg, they would have been startled to see me, wouldn’t they?’
They said it’s a stealth effect to avoid detection by detection equipment or traits, but normal cyborgs should still be able to see me fine. Androids or drones might not, though.
‘Let’s experiment with that later.’
It’s better not to run into anyone right now. With eight arms and legs, I stuck closely to the ceiling, choosing paths where I couldn’t sense android or drone movements.
Luckily, most drones and androids seemed to be deployed for ship repairs, as there weren’t many robots roaming the corridors. As I got closer to the engine room, I sensed a large movement in the distance.
‘A walker?’
But I quickly reconsidered. The closer it got, the more certain I became that it wasn’t a walker.
To avoid it, I slipped away at a junction and hid against the corridor wall. Eventually, a spider-like machine appeared beyond the corridor. It had a human head and torso, but instead of arms and legs, it had six robotic legs attached where they should have been.
‘A screamer, huh?’
The gruesome-looking screamer wheezed through tubes attached to its mouth. As chemical fluid was injected through the tubes into its body, cold sweat dripped incessantly.
After scanning the corridor with bloodshot eyes, it clattered off with its six legs, leaving only a metallic skeleton behind.
‘It smelled of sweat.’
I thought they might be cyborg soldiers, but they turned out to be screamers.
Screamers are quite the creation, reflecting the tastes of space survival developers. In summary, they’re akin to punishment units once operated by communist states.
Instead of sending the worst criminals or anti-establishment figures to prison, StarUnion turns them into screamers. Rather than waste individuals deemed useless to society for being potentially mechanical, they’re repurposed into combat machines.
Once turned into screamers, they lose all control over their bodies, becoming little more than puppets. They might as well be called bio-drones.
Once their sentence ends, they’re supposedly restored to normal cyborgs, but most end up dead in battle before that happens.
“It’s strange to see screamers in an elite fleet.”
From the Machine assembly’s perspective, since they’re all criminals, they’re not well-organized into such good fleets. I heard there’s a unit in the StarUnion’s elite forces consisting solely of screamers, but this ship isn’t part of that unit.
‘Let’s be careful of screamers. They’re not like androids and have significantly higher combat capabilities.’
They tear into enemies like rabid dogs. Dealing with them one by one like this is a nuisance.
Later, I confirmed there were two more besides the one I encountered. Since screamers periodically roamed here, I had to take a long detour to reach the engine room.
It took longer than expected because of them, but it wasn’t all wasted time.
‘Let’s consider we’ve familiarized ourselves with the ship’s layout.’
I checked the necessary information for attacking the ship, such as the security level of communication facilities and the location of auxiliary terminals where propulsion output can be verified.
After gathering information while bypassing them, I finally reached the upper level of the engine room.
Why the upper level instead of the engine room? The reason is simple.
‘It’s too risky to go straight to the engine room.’
Being a military vessel, the security level of the engine room is incomparable to that of research vessels that we have encountered so far.
The most important facility on this ship is guarded by ten heavily armed androids and twenty combat drones. They tirelessly monitor and guard against unauthorized intruders, turning them into bee-like hives without a moment’s rest.
Moreover, various types of sensors are installed throughout the corridor leading to the engine room.
While the “unknown creature fur” may not trigger the cameras, it could trigger motion sensors detecting vibrations.
So, I’ve decided not to directly assault the engine room.
‘Just need to disable other things essential for engine operation.’
For instance, the cooling system or circuits that supply energy from the reactor, etc.
After adjusting the direction of cameras installed above the corridor, I leaped down to the floor.
Landing silently, I immediately crawled close and pressed the auxiliary device beneath my chin against the metal floor.
From the dark gray walls, intense heat and subtle yet stronger vibrations were sensed.
‘This should do.’
Since I just adjusted the cameras, this area won’t be caught on tape.
I carefully scratched the metal plate on the floor in case noise might attract attention.
Soon, a hole appeared, revealing wires and tubes inside.
I widened my mouth above the hole.
‘Melting these will be tough, huh?’
The corroding fungus between my oesophagus and trachea activated.
Soon, acidic fungal masses poured out of my mouth.
***
[The Imperial battleship was damaged by 78%. Disabled.]
“Phew.”
Looking at the video feed coming through the cables connected to the ship, Cain sighed.
In the center of the video he was watching, there used to be the Imperial battleship.
The cult’s battleship, the “Judicator of Gormos 03” was hit by Gremlin Torpedoes and sank.
“It was intense. Truly.”
As the battle dragged on, at some point, the Imperial battleship began to falter.
Perhaps because they knew we’d finish it with Gremlin Torpedoes.
Other cult warships also made sure not to let their ships get within the range of the torpedoes.
‘More bothersome than I thought.’
Due to the cult ships’ sacrifices, even targeting the battleship with Gremlin Torpedoes became a challenge.
“The cult fleet is retreating.”
“Tch, about the time they ran. Bloody idiots.”
As the cult proved to be more troublesome than expected, Vice Admiral Sanadaeff of the Nemea Fleet opted for a very StarUnion-esque strategy.
They targeted our ships with torpedoes, coated with nanomachines, then charged toward the Imperial battleship.
This resulted in the destruction of about ten ships, but ultimately, the Imperial battleship succumbed to the Gremlin Torpedoes’ nanomachines.
And that’s what Cain is watching now.
“No need to pursue. The fleet will return to the ESS-22 system.”
Thus, the brief battle came to an end.
Cain doesn’t know how significant the outcome of this battle will be.
“But it’s none of my concern anyway.”
All decisions are made by the esteemed members of the Machine Council.
Maybe Vice Admiral Sanadaeff will be a bit annoyed because of this battle.
“Order the repair drones to return and prepare the navigation warp.”
“Confirmed.”
The computer of Ship 98 relayed Cain’s orders.
In the meantime, he checked the information of the ‘special machines’ onboard the ship.
“Damn, why conduct new Screamer experiments on my ship?”
Originally, all StarUnion Screamers were managed by Android Pyra Eleven of the Machine assembly.
Normally, they would be responsible for conducting Screamer experiments.
However, the situation was different this time.
The suggestion to test if Screamers could blend in well with regular soldiers came from higher ups.
Currently, a small number of completed prototypes are being tested on regular ships, and Cain’s ship happened to carry one of these Screamers.
“Why bring criminals on board in the first place?”
Even if they’re fully controlled, no captain likes criminals roaming their ship.
Furthermore, having to constantly observe how well these criminals adapt and file reports makes the situation even more unpleasant.
But Cain couldn’t voice his complaints.
Pyra Eleven holds the rank of a Supreme Councilor. His rank is equivalent to that of the Supreme commander of Nemea Five, who is the overall commander of the Nemea Fleet to which he belongs and also a Supreme Councilor of the Machine Council. There’s nothing he can say to an android in a position even higher than Vice Admiral Sanadaeff, the deputy fleet commander.
“Sigh, if it’s a problem, it needs to be dealt with. Ship 98, are we still far off? Why haven’t we departed yet?”
“The warp engine is experiencing issues.”
“What? What kind of issues?”
“The cooling function is inactive. Energy supply rate from the reactor decreased to 40%. Probability of error during hyperspace jump in this state is 63%.”
“What did you say? No way, what the hell is that nonsense?”
Why would the perfectly fine hyperspace engine suddenly go haywire? Cain was baffled. Then a communication came from the battleship.
[Ship 98, what’s going on? Why haven’t you returned?]
“Uh, there’s an issue with the warp engine. It’s risky to jump with a 63% chance of error.”
[You are still in the JP-99 system, we don’t know when enemies will return. Move to the nearby system urgently, repair quickly to reduce the error probability to 10%, then return.]
“Understood!”
After ending the communication, Cain contacted Ship 98 again.
“Which is the nearest system from here?”
“It’s the AD-100 system. We’ll arrive within 3 days with the current propulsion status.”
“Alright. Let’s head there first for repairs….”
As Cain was about to issue orders, the image that was floating in front of him suddenly cut off. Moreover, the lights in the situation room where he was seated all went out.
“What’s going on? Ship 98? What’s happening?”
Silence from the ship despite his outcry.
A moment later, power returned to the ship’s situation room. Ship 98 sent a message again through the connected cables.
[Urgent, unknown cause, direct EMP occurred. Currently under recovery.]
“What? Suddenly an EMP? What’s the cause?”
[Unknown. Currently investigating.]
“Try to investigate the cause by connecting to Starlink.”
[Not possible. Communication function currently inactive.]
[Damn it! How did this happen!]
Communication function inactive. That meant one thing.
Distress.
They were in the enemy’s territory just a moment ago, engaged in combat. To crash in such a damaged state, and not only that…
[Confirmed EMP source. Presumed to be inside the ship.]
“…Inside?”
Upon hearing Ship 98’s report, Cain felt a chill run down his spine.
Being stranded alone is already a problem, but having an unknown entity with them is even worse.
