Episode 94: This is Star Wa〇s!
A single spaceship confronted the grand fleet.
Although the situation was desperate, the eyes of the crew were filled with the light of hope.
They believed they couldn’t possibly lose.
They had firm confidence that the spaceship they had built was in no way inferior to the enemy’s spaceships.
“What do they intend to do with just one ship?”
“What are your orders, Kakka?”
“…”
He thought they should just shoot it down with concentrated fire, but he hesitated on impulse.
The enemy was only one ship. A laughingstock, not even a threat.
However, the Crimson Knight mentioned in the data sent from Earth was a concern.
It was strangely terrifying that this powerful individual, who had single-handedly crushed a reconnaissance unit, remained silent.
Was he aboard that spaceship?
Or was he lying in wait, aiming for them?
His many years of experience sensed unease, and Kakka couldn’t issue an order.
“…How will the Crimson Knight move?”
“The person of interest from the data, I presume.”
“Their earlier bold statements were likely because the Crimson Knight is with them, but…”
“Perhaps they’re intimidated by this grand fleet?”
“I hope so…”
According to the data, the Crimson Knight’s Gift was Transposition, making him nothing more than a non-combatant, and his Combat Power was only 5 and 8.
But it was an undeniable fact that he had overwhelmed the reconnaissance unit.
Moreover, the Crimson Knight possessed a hidden power that couldn’t be measured by instruments.
If that was the case, it was best to be cautious.
“Conduct a wide-range scan. Report any suspicious findings immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
“While remaining vigilant for the Crimson Knight, shoot down the enemy before us. All units, prepare to fire! Show these monkeys from the boondocks the difference in our class!”
The grand fleet’s cannons turned towards the spaceship carrying Ema and the others.
They intended to shoot it down with concentrated fire.
With cannons aimed at them and bathed in clear murderous intent, Ema and the others gulped.
“Are we going to be okay?”
“We’ll be fine! Probably…”
“Not ‘probably’! Definitely not ‘probably’! After making such a bold declaration, becoming space dust in an instant would be a disgrace for generations to come!”
“Well, we did conduct durability tests with Kazuma-kun’s cooperation, so I think we should be fine, but…”
“What kind of durability tests were those?”
“Kazuma-kun’s attacks, which are no laughing matter. He’s incredible, you know. He can shoot heat rays from his hands like some kind of kaiju.”
“And the results?”
“It didn’t even flinch after taking a thousand hits!”
“That’s wonderful, but…”
“The question is how powerful the enemy’s bombardment will be… If it’s stronger than Kazuma-kun’s, I’m not confident, to be honest.”
“Hmm… Well, either way, we can’t back down now. Let’s put our faith in Kazuma-kun here. Besides, even if we die, Kazuma-kun is still on Earth. Things will work out somehow.”
“You’re right. Strangely enough, knowing he’s around makes me feel like everything will be okay!”
“Alright! Then, let’s brace ourselves!”
The crew operated the equipment and deployed the Barrier.
Then, they coated the ship, increasing various resistances like heat, cold, and electricity.
Having solidified their defenses completely, Ema finally asked the crew something that had been on his mind.
“By the way, what’s the name of this ship? Without a name, it feels, well, somewhat frustrating.”
“We considered names referencing everything from anime, manga, and novels to movies, but ultimately, we named it Ame-no-Torifune, drawing from Japanese mythology.”
“Ohh. That’s to my liking. Isn’t that a fine name? If I recall, it was a god born from Izanami and Izanagi, and also the name of a ship the gods rode, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Its true name was quite long, so we went with an alias.”
“If it’s too long, it’s just hard to call, so that’s fine, isn’t it?”
“You’re saying the same thing Kazuma-kun did.”
“Gh, mm…”
Hearing that his impression was the same as Kazuma’s, Ema looked away, slightly embarrassed. Being the same as Kazuma meant, at the very least, a childlike level of thinking.
Realizing that he, a man of fifty, had said such a thing, Ema couldn’t help but blush.
“Ahem! Let’s pull ourselves together and head into Ame-no-Torifune’s maiden voyage!”
“Aye, aye, sir!”
Ame-no-Torifune charged straight towards the enemy fleet.
Ame-no-Torifune, with its Barrier deployed and its hull coated.
Meeting them was the grand fleet. The decisive battle for Earth’s survival had begun.
“Fire!!!”
Under Kakka’s command, the grand fleet unleashed concentrated fire on Ame-no-Torifune, which was heading straight for them.
An absurd number of heat rays and shells struck Ame-no-Torifune directly.
The explosions illuminated space, glittering as if fireworks had been set off.
“Enemy vessel confirmed! No way… After taking that much fire, not a single scratch?!”
Emerging slowly from the inferno was the unscathed Ame-no-Torifune.
Seeing Ame-no-Torifune completely undamaged after enduring such concentrated fire, the aliens’ eyes widened in astonishment.
The aliens couldn’t hide their agitation at this unprecedented sight.
“…Fire again.”
However, amidst the chaos, only Kakka remained composed and ordered another barrage.
He had anticipated from the beginning that since an irregular like the Crimson Knight existed, there would be other surprises.
He couldn’t afford to be shaken by something like this.
“Yes, sir!”
The bridge, which had been noisy with agitation, regained its composure at Kakka’s single word, and signals were sent to the other ships to prepare for bombardment.
And once again, the grand fleet’s concentrated fire struck Ame-no-Torifune.
“Enemy vessel still active… Our bombardment is ineffective.”
“To think they were hiding technology that surpasses our estimations…!”
“What shall we do?”
“Continue firing while retreating. It seems they’re deploying a Barrier, but if its energy is depleted, we should be able to shoot it down. However, since we don’t know how much energy it possesses, we should try other methods as well. Launch small crafts and send in troops directly.”
“Understood! Combat personnel, to your stations! We’ll board and suppress them directly!”
Once that was decided, the combat personnel immediately boarded small crafts and sortied with high spirits.
Numerous small crafts headed towards Ame-no-Torifune, gradually cutting off its escape routes.
“At this rate, we’ll be surrounded!”
“Don’t worry! We have a plan too! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! And against small crafts, we’ll pit our own small crafts!”
When the small crafts sortied from the enemy fleet, the crew of Ame-no-Torifune had also boarded their own small crafts to intercept.
With a signal, dozens of spherical small crafts launched from Ame-no-Torifune’s hatches to meet the enemy.
“The day has finally come!”
“I’ll show them the results of my FPS practice!”
“Time to unveil the techniques I honed at the arcade!”
“I’ll show them the power of the third-place finisher in the prefectural Invader Game tournament!”
“Lock on and pull the trigger, lock on and pull the trigger.”
“I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.”
“I can do it! Can I do it!?”
“Uwooooooh! I’m gonna do it!”
Each cockpit had a different shape.
Arcade sticks, gamepads, piano keyboards, and standard control sticks—a rich variety.
The reasons were trivial, like “it’s easy to use” or “it looks cool,” but the crew members were dead serious.
“What can you do with such tiny scraps of metal!”
Seeing the small crafts emerge from Ame-no-Torifune, the aliens laughed mockingly.
Ame-no-Torifune was indeed a threat, but the small, spherical spacecraft looked like nothing more than toys.
As they were laughing, wondering how they could possibly fight with those, one of their own ships was shot down, and their faces turned pale.
“Don’t underestimate us! This thing is a magnificent creation our ancestors dreamed up in their imaginations! Its performance is by no means low!”
“N-No way!? I can’t believe those spheres have such high performance!”
“Take this, you bastards, for underestimating humanity!”
The crew zipped around space freely, shooting down enemy craft one after another.
The aliens couldn’t just sit back and be defeated; they chased after the spheres, but their turning performance was so vastly superior that the aliens couldn’t keep up.
“Go to hell!!!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
One by one, they were shot down.
The aliens felt as if they were watching a nightmare.
It was supposed to be an easy job.
If they attacked with a grand fleet, even the strongest opponent would lose the will to fight.
That’s what they had thought, but when it actually started, it was a nightmarish scene.
It was no wonder the aliens were dumbfounded.
“K-Kakka! A-At this rate!”
“Don’t lose your composure. It’s a bit despicable, but target Earth. That should rob them of their composure.”
“Are you sure? We’re planning to sell Earth, aren’t we?”
“We can fix it later. Right now, dealing with those before us is the top priority.”
“U-Understood! To all units! Change target to Earth! Stand by until you receive the signal!”
He never imagined they would be forced to swallow such a bitter pill by an inferior opponent.
However, the enemy was fighting with Earth at their backs, waging a defensive battle.
While his side had sustained more damage, if they didn’t care about the means, they could turn the tables at any moment.
“Something’s strange about the enemy fleet’s movements…”
The bombardment had lessened, and just as he thought they might have given up, Ema noticed the enemy fleet’s cannons aiming at Earth and shouted.
“Damn it! They intend to target Earth!”
“I see. So if they can’t take down the Amanotori-fune, they’ll go for Earth, is that it…?”
“Is this any time to be so nonchalant?! We have to stop them immediately!”
“It’s impossible! We won’t make it in time now!”
“Then, can’t we at least act as a shield?!”
“Even if we expand the Barrier, it won’t be enough to cover the entire Earth!”
“Kuh…! Isn’t there anything else, any other move we can make?!”
“If we charge into their main fleet at full throttle, we might have a slim chance, don’t you think?”
“No, that’s impossible. The engines won’t hold. We’re already consuming a considerable amount of energy by keeping the Barrier constantly active; if we try to charge at full throttle now, we’ll become immobile.”
“Earth is finished.”
“It is not finished! Isn’t there something, anything at all…?!”
Just then, a communication came in from Kazuma.
『Deployment of the Barrier Generators is complete. We can activate them anytime~』
“This is the best possible timing! Activate the Barrier immediately!”
“Roger!”
The bombardment was unleashed towards Earth, and a tragic future was about to unfold, but just in the nick of time, the Barrier deployed, magnificently deflecting all the shots.
Earth was saved in the very nick of time, and Ema and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.