Chapter 17: If I’m Going To Be Framed, I Might As Well Act Like I’m Innocent, And Get Revenge Later
  Six hours. Jowain’s knowledge sounded the alarm bells.
  Such a short time was far too little for war preparations. Especially since they hadn’t even launched the ship into space yet.
  If it were just the Mirandora, it wouldn’t be a problem. They could perform an emergency ascent and engage in space combat. That was well within the capabilities of the Mirandora crew. After all, they were New Balance, an elite force, even if they were rotten to the core. They had to be capable of at least that much.
  However, the problem was their numbers. No matter what, they had to fight this battle alone. If they were a fast destroyer, they could consider running away, but they were a cruiser with strong firepower. If they pushed it, they could achieve destroyer-level speed, but then they would have to abandon Planet Byblos.
  That wouldn’t be meaningful.
  
  “Should we assume we can’t expect support from the Rebel Army?”
  『We can deploy our Rabi Reivu and Georg. The Security Force will gather their skilled personnel, but even then, we’ll have ten people at most, including us. Six of them are from the Security Force. Honestly, we were especially focused on engine maintenance. Even Dr. Phoenix and Percy helped, knowing this is the ship they’d escape on, and yet, this piece of junk……』
  
  Even Lopes, who was usually bold, wore an apologetic expression.
  
  “There’s no point lamenting what has already happened. We should divide the command structure of the combat forces. Mark’s squad is already on our side. We’ll take care of them, but I want to entrust the mixed unit, including your Security Force, to Captain Lopes!”
  
  Shougo couldn’t command a hastily assembled mixed unit, and it would be difficult for even the seasoned warrior, Lieutenant Mark, to manage a unit with uncoordinated movements and unfamiliar quirks.
  Above all, if Shougo’s knowledge was correct, the Rebel Army also had its own quirks. If they worked well together, they might achieve synergy, but there was no time to gamble on that now.
  They had no choice but to act independently, making sure not to get in each other’s way.
  
  “Besides, what about the evacuation of the residents? I’ve just arrived here, so I don’t know anything about that!”
  『Adamant and the others are doing their best. Luckily, there’s an underground shelter here. I think it’ll be fine unless there’s a major attack, right?』
  
  It was the original Jowain who launched that major attack.
  Shelters were meaningless against the Planet Killer.
  And, although he didn’t know if it was fortunate or not, Byblos was a planet whose population had decreased over the past few hundred years. The main reason was that most of it was too rural and had been abandoned for development. The Byblos of today was redeveloped by those with technology, so to speak, this planet was still developing.
  The total population had just surpassed three hundred.
  
  “I hear the population of this planet is a little over three hundred. It seems small, but it’s still a lot. Can they all escape to the shelter?”
  『Well, in the worst-case scenario, we’ll open up our Rebel Army’s secret dock. Actually, we’ll have to do that anyway. We want to clear some space on our side too. Even if we can’t launch into space, we plan to restore it enough for sea navigation. The more firepower, the better, right?』
  
  The sea was located not far from the international airport. Apparently, the Rebel Army was hiding in that way.
  
  “They will mercilessly target civilian facilities. I think we need to go out into space and keep an eye on them.”
  
  The Mirandora could somehow manage to ascend into space. In the worst case, the enemy might launch the Planet Killer.
  The Planet Killer was a mass-producible weapon of mass destruction, but naturally, there were restrictions on its use. Even Colonel Anferu couldn’t freely use it as many times as he wanted.
  Even so, there was a strange sense of trust that the man might do it.
  
  “C-Captain, may I have a word?”
  
  As if there wasn’t enough to think about, it seemed there was a new report from Operator Clart.
  
  “What is it!”
  “Yes, w-well…… it’s the enemy…… a long-distance communication from the fleet.”
  “……What?”
  
  That was an unexpected report.
  Communication? Were they going to declare war now? Or was it an ultimatum?
  If it was a unit under Anferu’s influence, they might attack without question. Yet, they were communicating. It was hard to read their actions, but they couldn’t ignore it either.
  
  “Connect it.”
  
  Shougo wondered who would appear as he adjusted the collar of his uniform and looked up at the noisy central main monitor.
  Due to the effects of the gravitational anomaly, it was difficult to get a clear connection, but by narrowing the frequency and increasing the output, they could manage to communicate. Still, it wouldn’t be possible for a long time.
  
  『──This is Major Janet Kabler, Captain of the cruiser Petrarca, belonging to the 729th Fleet.』
  
  The screen was still noisy, but the person who appeared was a young woman at first glance. She had sharp, strong-willed eyes, straight, rich red hair, and a military uniform that she wore like a true soldier. The staff waiting beside her were also well-trained and didn’t move a muscle.
  Upon recognizing that much, Shougo retrieved data on the female captain from Jowain’s knowledge.
  A person matching the memory appeared. Janet Kabler, an elite who had risen to the rank of Major and become a captain at the young age of thirty-five. Jowain knew that the Kabler family was also a military family.
  For some reason, the impression of her being a cheeky woman who was a Major but captaining a cruiser flowed into his mind.
  
  ‘Jowain, if it were a different time, you’d be the one getting flamed.’
  
  While thinking such complaints, Shougo replied to Janet.
  
  “I am Jowain, formerly of the New Balance flagship fleet. Major Janet, may I interpret that you have come to defeat us rebels?”
  『Of course.』
  Janet declared firmly.
  
  『My fleet consists of four cruisers. You have one cruiser, and although the Rebel Army seems to be hiding, we know that you don’t have a large fleet. At most, you’ll have one cruiser or destroyer. That was the composition of the unit that stole the prototype from us.』
  
  It seemed they had been found out.
  They had gathered quite a bit of information.
  
  “Then I’ll ask again, how do you intend to defeat us? You’re not going to launch a Planet Killer, are you?”
  『We’re not the Rebel Army, using forbidden weapons. But Lieutenant Commander Jowain, no, traitor Jowain. The story of you stealing the Planet Killer and siding with the Rebel Army is already famous in the military.』
  “I stole the Planet Killer?”
  
  So, Anferu was already trying to cover things up.
  The method was so predictable it was almost laughable.
  
  “Hahaha! I! Stole the Planet Killer! Hahaha! Did Anferu say that?”
  
  Janet didn’t answer Shougo’s question.
  She gave him a cold stare, as if to say she wouldn’t listen to such nonsense.
  
  『If you surrender peacefully, we will not harm you. However, if you resist, we will attack without mercy. But harming civilians is a disgrace to a soldier. Let’s wait until the evacuation is complete. Or, if you intend to go out into space, we can respond accordingly. I’ll hear your answer in two hours.』
  
  With that, the communication was unilaterally cut off.
  Two hours later. They would send another communication.
  Shougo let out a small sigh.
  
  “……That’s what she said, huh?”
  『Captain, I have a proposal.』
  
  It was from Major Kes.
  
  『Please launch the Planet Killer towards Janet’s fleet. Apparently, they are a regular unit. However, I don’t think they would send only such an obvious unit.』
  
  It was an unexpected proposal from the usually cautious Kes, but it seemed there was a reason for it.
  
  “Let’s hear your reasoning, Major.”
  『Yes, first, the reason for launching it is that there’s no need to destroy the fleet. However, we can cause damage to the fleet through gravitational waves. If they go offline, they’ll have to stop moving. That will buy us a lot of time.』
  
  The first reason was convincing.
  In other words, they would use the Planet Killer as a mine to stop them.
  
  『The problem is the unit other than Janet’s fleet. Listening to her words, I thought, Colonel Anferu is framing us. Then, we need something to make it definitive.』
  “Meaning? They’re already making us out to be super criminals, aren’t they?”
  
  In a sense, it would be like being preempted in what they were trying to do, but that wasn’t a problem. Rather, it was expected. They had the information to overturn it and the strategy to rewrite it.
  Of course, that was if they survived this situation.
  
  『It’s only spreading within the military. I don’t think it’s reached the general public yet. However, we can create sensational publicity for the general public. That would be killing Major Janet. Her fleet seems to be acting on general orders. Assuming that the ones who attacked us in the previous battle were Anferu’s faction, since they’ve lost so many pawns, they’ll have to be more cautious.』
  “……There’s a separate unit?”
  『Yes, most likely. A separate unit to crush both us and Janet’s fleet. That’s where the unit with the Planet Killer is probably located. So, we’ll have Janet’s fleet stop moving. Then……』
  “I see…… They won’t be able to move!”
  『That’s right. After all, they can’t show themselves to a regular unit that knows nothing and launch the Planet Killer. At the same time, we might be able to detect the enemy’s movements.』
  
  The strategy was decided.
  Shougo adopted Kes’s opinion and started to take action to put it into practice.
  “Listen up. Everyone, it’s time for our second act of rebellion. But think of this as a noble operation to save lives. Alright, our enemy isn’t New Balance. There’s no need to needlessly take the lives of those who were once our comrades. We will use the Planet Killer to stall them. After that, if anything reacts to the gravitational anomaly, that’s the real enemy!”
  
  The Mirandora’s engines roared to life.
  
  “Lieutenant Mark and the other combatants, board your Teurugias! You might have to sortie. Fire control, all guns, prepare for automatic operation!”
  
  Rapid ascent at maximum output.
  The G-forces involved should have been tremendous, but the futuristic battleship seemed to mitigate even that.
  In less than ten minutes, the Mirandora broke through Byblos’ gravitational pull. Once again, the pitch-black space.
  But they had no time to be immersed in it.
  
  “Fire! And start searching!”
  
  If the enemy had visually observed their actions, they would have thought, ‘What are they doing, are they stupid?’.
  But it was Shougo and the Mirandora crew who did that stupid thing.
  The Planet Killer was launched in an unexpected direction. It was set to self-destruct and began to break apart a few minutes after launch. At the same time, it caused a gravitational anomaly, but this time it didn’t affect the Mirandora. However, it should have dealt significant damage to Janet’s fleet, which would likely be advancing straight ahead.
  And then……!
  
  “Enemy ship reaction! Byblos North Pole direction……! Their stealth is deactivated!”
  
  The North Pole. In terms of direction, it was located above the Mirandora. Whether that fleet was Anferu’s faction or a unit that had simply received orders like Janet’s fleet, they couldn’t tell.
  But, well, it was just bad luck.
  
  “They were there after all!? Alright, the enemy will panic! Launch a missile barrage, deploy the Teurugia squad! They’re the ones who tried to ambush us!”
  
  Because Shougo didn’t want to d*e.
  Perhaps panicked by being ambushed when they were supposed to be the ones doing the ambushing, the enemy ship rapidly started its engines and launched a charge. At the same time, it launched missiles and something like capsules.
  
  『Lieutenant Commander! Those are space parachutes! The bastards are trying to force their way down to the surface!』
  
  Lieutenant Mark, who had sortied after the missile barrage, shouted as he shot down one of the things called parachutes.
  There were six of them. One had been shot down, but they were launched at tremendous speed. They also had to deal with the other Teurugias.
  
  “Tell Lopes and the others on the ground! We’ll do our job!”
  
  But for now, they had to focus on what was in front of them.
  In any case, they just had to sink the enemy ship.
  
  “We have to take down that enemy ship no matter what! It might be carrying the Planet Killer! As for the ground……”
  
  It was at that moment, as he shifted his gaze.
  Five tremendous flashes of light. They precisely pierced through the space parachutes.
  
  “W-What?”
  
  Shougo knew that attack.
  Because it was the Trismegistus’ beam. A high-powered beam fired from its chest. Five of them.
  That wasn’t all. The Mirandora’s cameras confirmed a white machine floating in the stratosphere. The Trismegistus.
  With its faceless, priest-like appearance, it spread its arms and fired the beams as if praying to G*d.
  
  “W-Who’s piloting it? Percy?”
  
  But the answer was unexpected…… No, it was the answer it should have been.
  
  『Uh, um…… Yuuki Shijima is piloting the Trismegistus……』
  
  Yuuki’s bewildered voice was there.
  
  ‘H-Huh? Why is Yuuki piloting it? Percy isn’t dead, is he?’