Chapter 8

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Lemea, having entered the atmosphere, continued its low-altitude flight toward the enemy plant.

Considering the possibility of being intercepted if they descended directly above the enemy plant, they opted for a ground assault.

However, the enemy was also aware.

They immediately noticed Lemea's approach with hidden surveillance satellites and monitoring devices on the ground and began to deploy their anti-aircraft defenses.

In the bridge of Lemea, dissatisfaction erupted over Claudia's reckless plan.

"Just calling a simple charge a strategy!"

As the commander said this while sitting in his seat, an operator reported in a voice like a scream.

"The enemy plant has completed its anti-aircraft preparations!"

"Of course. If we had descended from above, we would have been swarmed."

If they had descended directly from outside the atmosphere, they would have been intercepted and sunk.

The operator's eyes were tearing up.

"Why not just attack from the air and destroy it!"

The commander, who was being blamed, pulled his cap down over his eyes, blocking his view.

He didn't want to see anything else.

"How should I know! What kind of elite are they? Just a bunch of idiots."

Then, a slight howling sound echoed through the bridge, followed by Claudia's voice as the leader of the Jaeger unit.

"Jaeger unit, all units launch."

The operator's eyes widened.

"Are you telling us to open the hatches and launch the mobile knights at this speed!?"

The commander, removing his cap, told Claudia that Lemea's units could not be launched.

"It's suicide. Our people can't be sent out!"

"I never counted on you from the start. You just need to transport us to the enemy plant."

Feeling sidelined, the commander clenched his teeth and then gave orders to his subordinates.

"Open the hatches. --I don't care what happens."

◇

As Lemea's hatches opened, Nevan units began to launch one after another.

The Nevan units, ejected into the air, ignited their additional pack boosters, designed for gravity, and accelerated.

They looked like missiles with mobile knights attached to their tips.

Claudia's body, inside the cockpit, slightly sank into the seat.

"This acceleration is too much for even Nevan to handle."

The cockpit could protect the pilot from a certain level of acceleration.

The Nevan units, which exceeded the cockpit's performance, overtook Lemea and headed for the enemy plant.

The anti-aircraft systems deployed, and several turrets appeared as the Nevan units began their attack with the rifles they held.

Several turrets were destroyed by optical weapons.

Reports from her subordinates continued to pour into Claudia's cockpit.

"Anti-aircraft systems that would interfere with the mother ship have been eliminated."

"Enemy plant in sight."

"They intend to intercept us."

The enemy plant seemed to be using all available equipment to confront the rapidly approaching Nevan units.

Claudia smiled.

"You weren't enough to face us. Purge the boosters."

Claudia's Nevan detached the boosters from its backpack.

Her subordinates' units also detached their boosters, which then headed toward the enemy plant.

The boosters were hit by the direct fire of the optical weapons and exploded.

Claudia's Nevan, spreading the wings of its backpack, accelerated.

Even within the atmosphere, the Nevan units, flying through the air, continued their low-altitude flight toward the enemy plant.

Several thousand laser beams were being fired from the turrets of the optical weapons installed on the enemy plant.

While they couldn't avoid all of them, the Nevan units' armor could withstand the hits.

The surface would turn red from the heat but quickly returned to its original color.

Special processing for optical weapons meant there was no problem unless they stopped and continued to take hits.

"You're here to welcome us."

Judging the turrets to be ineffective, the enemy launched mobile knights—Zoaks—equipped with real weapons.

They held machine guns and large rifles, firing at the Nevan units.

The gunfire rained down like rain, but Claudia and her team avoided it and reached the enemy plant.

Claudia's Nevan kicked one of the Zoaks, destroying its head.

She then aimed her rifle at the cockpit of the fallen Zoak and fired a beam to finish it off.

"---All pirates will be exterminated."

Claudia's cold voice was met with a "Yeah!" from her subordinates, who began attacking the surrounding area.

They mercilessly destroyed enemy units and the turrets installed on the plant.

◇

One of the pirates entered the cockpit of a Zoak, a product.

It was a pre-shipped unit with plastic-like seats, but it had been pressed into service to fight the enemy.

"Damn. Damn!"

The young pirate had joined the organization with the determination to rise in the world.

He had been a pirate for a few years and was still doing menial work.

He wanted to one day command a pirate ship and lead subordinates.

He had such dreams.

But now, the young pirate was trembling in the cockpit.

The plant he was assigned to was a vital source of income for the organization.

Being assigned here was almost like being recognized as a promising individual.

It looked like just a factory, but in an emergency, hidden turrets would appear, transforming it into a fortress.

But now, black smoke was rising from several points in the base.

The young pirate, piloting a Zoak with a gatling gun, had been told who was causing chaos in their plant.

He moved through the narrow passages between the factory's equipment, hoping not to encounter the enemy.

"I'm going to rise in the organization. It's a joke to encounter those demons here. I'm a man who will become bigger."

His teeth chattered as he trembled.

Should he just run away?

He tried to suppress that thought and headed to the designated point as ordered.

After turning a corner, he saw a friendly Zoak with a gray body, its cockpit burned through by a laser blade.

"Ah!"

The enemy unit noticed him.

But then, two veteran Zoaks flew over the building to provide reinforcements.

The veteran shouted instructions at the young pirate.

"Don't stop! You'll be killed!"

"Y-Yes!"

He aimed his gatling gun.

But, hesitating to pull the trigger because of his allies, the Nevan unit attacked with a laser blade.

One of the friendly units had its arms cut off and was kicked away.

The other unit attacked with a machine gun, but the enemy's armor deflected the bullets.

The enemy unit used its shield in its left hand to strike the cockpit of the friendly unit.

Armor and power.

The enemy unit's overwhelming attack, which surpassed the Zoak in every way, crushed the cockpit of the friendly unit.

In just a moment, two of his allies were downed.

"A---Aaaaah!!"

In fear, he reflexively pulled the trigger, and the gatling gun in the Zoak's hand began to fire.

The bullets pierced the surrounding buildings, but he had no time to care.

After all, the enemy was a Nevan.

The next-generation mass-production unit that the Banfield family was officially deploying was far superior to the Zoak the young pirate was piloting.

Moreover, the quality of the pilots was different.

"I'll defeat you and become a hero! The demon of Banfield!"

Crying and soiling himself, the young pirate shouted in the cockpit.

But the Nevan with the horned head, which was in front of him, jumped and approached quickly with its boosters.

Before he could raise his gatling gun, the Nevan was already close.

The face of the Nevan filled the screen of the Zoak's camera.

"Ah!?"

The cockpit was hit by a violent shock.

He must have been knocked over.

He tried to move the control stick, but the Zoak didn't respond.

"Damn! I got a defective unit!"

He lamented that the Zoak he was piloting was a defective unit.

But a voice contradicted him.

The Nevan, standing up, was holding the arm of the Zoak in its right hand.

Crushing it, it then took a laser blade in its free hand.

"It's not the unit's fault, but the pilot's skill. Now—"

The young pirate desperately pleaded with the Nevan, which was about to mercilessly stab the cockpit with the laser blade.

"Wait! I, I surrender! I won't resist. I promise!"

Begging for his life, but the voice of the pilot in the Nevan was cold.

"I have no interest in cannon fodder."

The last thing the young pirate saw was the monitor's image cutting off, and the cockpit being enveloped in darkness—then the light of the laser blade reaching the cockpit.

◇

After destroying the base's turrets, a friendly unit equipped with an electronic warfare pack approached Claudia.

"Captain, no self-destruct devices were found."

"Of course. This is a valuable source of income for the pirates. They wouldn't risk blowing it up."

There was a benefit to placing self-destruct devices in the base to prevent easy enemy infiltration.

However, pirates were not a military organization.

There were many stories of pirates, due to personal conflicts, becoming desperate and blowing up the base.

And when they installed a self-destruct device that couldn't be easily triggered, this happened.

They decided to self-destruct when the enemy boarded but forgot how to operate it and couldn't self-destruct.

Moreover, there were times when they wanted the pirates to fight to the death rather than easily choose self-destruction.

Claudia thought this was one of those cases.

"Alright, deploy the ground troops. Leave the plant's suppression to them."

"We will provide perimeter security."

The mobile knights were too large for base suppression.

From here, it was the ground troops' turn.

Soon, three small craft from Lemea landed inside the plant.

Soldiers in powered suits emerged one after another.

They quickly entered the facility, and the firefight inside the buildings began.

The turrets and armed pirates were broken through one after another by the special forces, who entered the interior.

Claudia felt good about their efficiency.

"Once we capture the officers, it will be over."

Just as the mission for Christiana seemed to be nearing completion, a friendly unit equipped with an electronic warfare pack reported to Claudia with urgency.

"Captain, enemy units confirmed around the base!"

"Are they the units we left outside?"

Claudia also searched the surroundings with the radar, but the noise was severe.

Using the camera at maximum zoom, she could see several Zoaks in the distance.

The number of Zoaks that appeared, surrounding the base, exceeded a thousand.

"Where did they come from!?"

Based on the scale of the plant, they had calculated the enemy's pre-existing forces.

Therefore, they had prepared only the minimum necessary number of units—but the enemy had deployed more forces than expected.

Then, an explosion occurred inside the base.

"What happened!?"

"The pirate ships inside the base exploded. It wasn't us!"

"—They cut off their own retreat."

Amidst the unbelievable events, Claudia made a decision.

"Leave the interior to the ground troops. We'll handle the outside."

"But, the ammunition—"

"Procure the pirates' weapons. Analyze the access codes—"

To prevent the enemy units from using the weapons, access codes were required.

They would analyze the codes and procure the weapons on-site.

But another explosion occurred.

"What now?"

"—The ammunition depot seems to have exploded."

A larger explosion than before occurred.

The area, which included surrounding buildings, was blown away, and it was where weapons and ammunition were stored.

Wakagi-chan (°∀°) "The extras are immortal! So I'm immortal! I'm everyone's idol, Wakagi-chan!"

Emma (・∀・) "But you look like Wakagi?"

Wakagi-chan (#゜Д゜) "I'm still Wakagi in my heart! If you call me a liar, I'll appear in your dreams tonight and advertise until morning! I'll make you think of nothing but me!"

Emma (・∀・) "You're more like a cursed tree than a sacred tree. --The world of otome games is harsh on extras! Volume 9 will be released on November 30th! Pre-orders for the e-book are also available, so please check them out."

Wakagi-chan (°∀°) "I'll definitely be active, so be sure to buy the book and check it out! I really will be active! I don't lie!"

Emma (・∀・) (If I become popular, will I appear in the book too?)