Chapter 4

From the orbital elevator to the space station 'Wagoyama' in geostationary orbit.

After arriving at Wagoyama, Dawson Iida proceeded to the entrance of the military facility inside the station.

"I am Dawson Iida, assigned to the Rear Operations Room. I have been ordered to come here."

"Are you Mr. Dawson? Please wait a moment."

The receptionist, a humanoid body equipped with artificial intelligence, verified the purpose of his visit and informed Dawson of his destination.

The destination was Dry Dock 4, located in the military facility.

Dawson thanked the humanoid and immediately headed there.

It seemed that artificial gravity was not working in the corridors of the military facility, so he had to move by grabbing onto the handrails floating in the air.

After transferring between handrails three times, he finally arrived at Dry Dock 4.

When Dawson entered the dock's workroom, there was artificial gravity inside, and he managed to touch the floor despite the sudden change in gravity.

Straightening his posture, he looked around the room and saw a woman in a military uniform sitting in a chair, drinking tea. The woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, had the rank of Sergeant on her collar.

"Dawson Iida. I have come here by order."

"Oh, I'm sorry for my appearance. I thought you would come a bit later—welcome, Special Lieutenant Dawson Iida. I am Technical Sergeant Himeko Ogetsu, assigned to the Rear Operations Room."

Dawson was unfamiliar with the rank 'Technical Sergeant.' Usually, technical positions were 'Technical Lieutenant' or higher.

As if understanding Dawson's confusion, Himeko explained her rank.

"I enlisted as a second-class marine on a destroyer and was later assigned to the maintenance department, where I became a technical non-commissioned officer with practical skills. After being transferred to the Rear Operations Room, I have been working here at Dry Dock 4, dismantling and analyzing enemy ships of the SU."

"Since you haven't taken the officer examination, you are a 'Technical Sergeant,' right?"

"Yes, that's correct. Also, please note that you are now an officer, Special Lieutenant. Be mindful of your words when speaking to a non-commissioned officer like me."

"…Understood. It's a bit difficult to act superior to someone older than me, especially as an orphan fresh out of school."

"Lieutenant. Discussing age with a woman is a taboo, even if you are an officer and I am a non-commissioned officer."

"Sorry. I'm not used to talking to women."

Dawson apologized for his failed attempt at a joke and decided to change the topic to his mission.

"So, my role is to harass the SU using a privateer ship, right?"

"That's correct. For that purpose, you will build a privateer ship in this dock."

"Build? I thought I would be given a decommissioned destroyer or something."

"Unfortunately, that's not possible. We cannot reveal Amato Kowa's involvement to the SU, so using Amato Star Navy ships is prohibited."

"…So, the ship I will be on is a privateer, right?"

It was understandable that Dawson had his doubts.

A privateer is a pirate with a letter of marque issued by a specific country. Without a letter of marque, they are just illegal pirates.

Dawson thought that if Amato Kowa issued a letter of marque, they would at least provide a destroyer.

However, Himeko explained that Amato Kowa wanted to hide their involvement, which seemed contradictory to Dawson.

"Yes, you have a misunderstanding. The letter of marque is not issued by Amato Kowa, but by 'True Rights,' a nation in the Orion Arm that opposes the SU."

"True Rights? I've never heard of it."

"It's an interstellar nation formed by people who oppose the SU. According to the SU's ship database, it occupies a quarter of the Orion Arm."

"The Orion Arm is not part of the SU's unified nation, then."

To weaken the SU's economy through piracy while hiding Amato Kowa's involvement, True Rights was the perfect ally.

"So, I will get a letter of marque from TR. Is that prepared?"

"They are generous with letters of marque for the SU. If you bring a ship and say you want to destroy the SU, you can get one."

"Is that also from the SU's ship database?"

Dawson finally understood the full scope of his mission.

He would hide his identity as an Amato Kowa military officer, become a privateer in TR, and wreak havoc on merchant ships of the SU.

"Given the circumstances, the ship we build here should mimic ships in the Orion Arm. Not a 'warship,' but a 'ship.'"

Logically, there should be few warships in the hands of pirates. TR would use warships themselves rather than give them to pirates, and the SU would have no reason to do so. Therefore, the only way for pirates to get warships would be to capture them on the battlefield or salvage them.

"Is there any data on ships in the Orion Arm in the SU's ship database?"

"Yes, here it is."

Himeko waved her finger, and a spatial projection monitor appeared in front of Dawson.

All the ships in the database appeared on the monitor, and military and naval vessels were gradually excluded.

The remaining ships were still numerous, but only about half of the original list.

"There are large transport ships and shuttles for leaving satellite orbits. Let's exclude the too small ones."

Due to the nature of his mission, ships that could not travel interstellar distances were removed from the list.

Even then, a large number of ship data remained to be filtered.

Seeing Dawson's troubled expression, Himeko offered advice.

"Considering your mission, wouldn't it be best to build a large transport ship armed to destroy many SU merchant ships?"

"No, transport ships are slow and require human crew. These two factors are only a hindrance. We should exclude this type of ship."

"If it needs to be fast and operated by you alone, it would be a fast boat or smaller. The armament on such a ship might lack firepower, wouldn't it?"

"True, firepower is necessary. Showing the power of the weapons can make merchant ships more cooperative."

However, emphasizing firepower would inevitably make the ship larger, requiring more crew and reducing speed.

Conversely, a smaller ship would allow Dawson to operate it alone and be faster, but the firepower and the benefits of piracy would decrease.

Realizing the difficulty of balancing these factors, Dawson decided on the priorities for building the ship.

"Strong armament and fast speed are essential. I will give up on the benefits of piracy."

Privateers must deliver a certain percentage of their loot to the country that issued the letter of marque. Therefore, ordinary privateers prioritize the amount of loot and use ships with large cargo capacity.

However, Dawson's mission was to economically damage the SU through piracy. Stealing goods from merchant ships was only a bonus.

He was about to give up on cargo capacity when Himeko raised a question.

"Is that really okay, Special Lieutenant? All the loot from piracy will be yours. The more you take from merchant ships, the richer you will become."

"Your words are tempting, but I will firmly give up on cargo capacity."

Dawson was not planning to die on this mission. To ensure his safety, strong armament and fast speed were essential.

Moreover, once the piracy operation was on track, he could commission a separate cargo ship. Part of his mission was to recruit pirates to inflict more economic damage on the SU.

With his mind made up, Dawson quickly excluded slow large and medium-sized ships.

From the remaining medium and smaller ships, he began to select a suitable one.

"From the specs, the smaller the ship, the faster it is."

"The lighter the hull, the less likely it is to exceed the inertial control system's limits at high speeds. Also, a shorter hull can be structurally stronger, allowing for higher speeds without overloading the ship."

"In that case, the strength of the hull frame is important. The propulsion system can be modified."

Dawson sorted the list by the strength of the hull frame.

The top result was a small, somewhat chubby fish-like ship that could barely travel interstellar distances.

"It's red by default, so it looks like a plump sea bream."

"It's a cute ship. It seems unpopular in both the SU and TR, but it might be popular in Amato Kowa."

"The sea bream is the national fish of Amato Kowa since the colonization. It will sell well."

Himeko immediately transferred the data of the ship Dawson found to her terminal, likely to report to her superiors and sell the data to a civilian shipyard under the Rear Operations Room's name.

Meanwhile, Dawson felt a connection to the ship and considered how to build a privateer ship based on it.

"Despite its small size, it has a decent cargo capacity. If I sacrifice the cargo space, I can fit propulsion and fusion generators from a medium-sized ship."

He called up the ship's data and began modifying it in a virtual creation interface.

During this process, he found a surprisingly well-fitting combination of propulsion and jump systems from a medium-sized fast ship and a sub-generator from an SU heavy cruiser.

"If I sacrifice a bit more cargo space, I can fit an energy replenishment device from a destroyer. If I can fit that, I can do a lot of mischief."

The energy replenishment device could store energy from the generator.

With this device, the jump system could be used twice in succession. The first jump would use stored energy, and the second would use the replenishment device.

Furthermore, the same process could allow a charged particle cannon from a destroyer to fire two consecutive full-power shots without a break.

"If I can fit a cannon, I should. To maximize its range, the ship should be specialized for long-distance operations. I will need a good long-range sensor."

Feeling inspired, Dawson added various necessary equipment to the ship.

The result was a ship with minimal living space, designed without consideration for the crew.

Most of the ship was filled with propulsion and jump systems, generators, and replenishment devices.

The limited remaining space was used for an electromagnetic barrier for debris, an identification signal transmitter, an inertial control system for high-speed maneuvers, a long-range radar, a large communication device for interstellar use, small repair robots and materials, a life support system, and a captain's cabin with a toilet, shower, food cartridge automatic cooking device, and foldable bed.

There was no more spare space left.

To control the ship, he had to use a cockpit from a space fighter as a makeshift bridge. The corridors inside the ship were so narrow that only one person could pass, and they had to be in a zero-gravity state due to the lack of artificial gravity.

With no spare space inside, the loot from merchant ships would have to be stored outside. He installed magnetic anchors on both sides of the ship to carry cargo pods from transport and merchant ships.

The armament also had to be mounted externally. The charged particle cannon, though a destroyer's main gun, was large, slightly exceeding the length of the small ship. Since it was designed for external mounting, this was not a problem.

However, leaving the cannon exposed would immediately reveal it as a pirate ship. The cannon needed to be covered with armor and a mechanism to open the armor for firing.

The final result was a ship that looked like a fat fish with a protruding lower jaw.

"It's a sea bream, but a puffer sea bream."

"Wow, it looks ugly... "

"Performance is more important than appearance—though maybe I should avoid red."

Trying different colors, yellow seemed the most appropriate for the appearance.

However, the unassuming appearance only changed the impression from a puffer sea bream to a large tropical fish.