novelraw Chapter 13 : The Serijoel System
Chapter 13 : The Serijoel System
After the scouting vessel Gyogaru fell behind, the battle between the giant monster and the Orc fleet began. Watching the fight unfold, Sario said he'd identified the giant monster's true nature.
「That'sh a Threat Level 8 Armored Artillery Anemone.」
「What does Threat Level 8 mean?」
「It'sh a shcale that rates how dangerous a monster is.」
【Threat Level 1】The weakest monsters; even amateurs can kill them if armed.
【Threat Level 2】Requires trained soldiers or Toryū Ryōheis to defeat.
【Threat Level 3】Combat power on par with a patrol boat.
【Threat Level 4】Combat power on par with a fighter craft.
【Threat Level 5】Combat power on par with a frigate.
【Threat Level 6】Combat power on par with a destroyer.
【Threat Level 7】Combat power on par with a cruiser; capable of destroying a small moon.
【Threat Level 8】Combat power on par with a battleship; capable of destroying a planet.
「That'sh how the shcale works.」
「Does that mean nothing at Threat Level 9 or above exists?」
「No, monshters at Threat Level 9 and above are just extremely rare - they shay you only encounter them in special locations. For people like us, they're something we'll never cross paths with.」
Even from a distance, the Armored Artillery Anemone was unmistakably massive. Its armored outer shell, shaped like a gigantic turtle's carapace, was riddled with bombardment ports of varying sizes, and from those holes it extended bombardment tentacles - living gun barrels that locked onto enemies.
Those bombardment tentacles writhed kunekune[sinuously] like a sea anemone's, firing plasma projectiles from their tips. When the battle with the Orc fleet began, dozens of bombardment tentacles slithered nyoronyoro[slithering] out from the armored shell and opened fire.
The Armored Artillery Anemone's plasma projectiles blazed orange, and the sight of that radiance streaking toward the Orc fleet was terrifying yet beautiful. They rained down like a meteor shower, hammering into the fleet.
Plasma projectiles struck several ships and detonated. No sound carried in the vacuum, but I could see hulls rupturing, holes blasted clean through. The destructive power made my blood run cold. The Orc fleet fought back desperately - cruisers and space gunships trained their main charged particle cannons on the Armored Artillery Anemone.
Most shots ricocheted off the armored shell. A few, however, struck the kunekune[writhing] bombardment tentacles and destroyed them. Unfortunately, the Orc fleet's mainstay consisted of space gunships - nowhere near powerful enough to deal a fatal blow to the Armored Artillery Anemone.
The Orc fleet was hopelessly outmatched. They abandoned any attempt at counterattack and focused solely on fleeing. Finally, they cleared the star's gravity well. Each vessel activated its Trans-Space-Time Jump Field Generator, produced a Trans-Space-Time Jump Field, and dove in.
Seeing the Orc fleet vanish into Transition-Space, the Armored Artillery Anemone generated its own massive Trans-Space-Time Jump Field and plunged in after them.
「Thish is it! Dive in there!」
I accelerated the small spacecraft. The massive Trans-Space-Time Jump Field had already started shrinking. Our speed climbed from Barch 3 to Barch 4, then pushed to Barch 5.
Would we make it? No - we had to make it! I poured everything I had into driving the small spacecraft forward. The Trans-Space-Time Jump Field shrank rapidly before my eyes.
「Faster, faster.」
Sario's voice crackled through the communication device. He sounded just as frantic as I felt. The small spacecraft plunged into the Trans-Space-Time Jump Field an instant before it vanished.
The instant we crossed through, space itself seemed to warp gunyari[with a rubbery twist] around me, and nausea hit hard. My head went foggy - I couldn't think straight. I staggered unsteadily back to the cockpit.
「I feel awful. Why?」
I asked Sario.
「We shuccessfully Jumped into Transition-Space. This is what Transition-Space feels like. You'll get used to it after a few times. More importantly, let's fire up the Luon Drive.」
Another wave of sensation twisted through my guts, like my organs were being wrung out. I checked the external monitor, but it showed nothing but pitch black. Human eyes and cameras couldn't perceive Transition-Space, so it registered as a void of pure darkness. From the battle room, however, someone with awakened Bosoru Sensitivity like me could supposedly see faint star-like glimmers twinkling in the gloom.
After two days, I'd mostly adjusted. The reason I'd never experienced this aboard the Goblin Race's ships was that they'd forced me into sleep whenever they Jumped into Transition-Space.
「By the way, which star system are we heading to?」
「The Serijoel shystem, about 3.4 light-years from Gorgona.」
「Even at light speed, that'd take about three and a half years. That's far.」
「Travel through Transition-Shpace and we'll reach Serijoel in two days. The long part comes after that, though.」
When dropping from the faster-than-light Transition-Space back into normal space, most Star Management Government typically mandated by law that ships revert in sectors far from inhabited planets. Violators faced steep fines, so most ships reentered normal space at the outer edges of a planetary system. The distance from there to any planet was considerable, and traversing it in normal space took time.
Two days later, Sario began operating the Luon Drive.
「We're about to drop back into normal shpace, so take your seat.」
「Got it.」
I sat down in the cockpit seat. Sario worked the controls, a tremor shuddered through the small spacecraft, and we dropped back into normal space.
Sario examined the star and his face visibly relaxed with relief.
「No doubt about it. Thish is Serijoel.」
Sario had already told me about the Serijoel system. The inhabitants who governed it were intelligent beings resembling dwarves - short in stature, the males barrel-chested and bearded.
「First the Goblin Race, now the Dwarf Race. What the hell is going on with this universe?」
When I muttered that to myself, Sario tilted his head in confusion.
「Huh? What about the Dwarf Race?」
「Nothing.」
「I'll shet our course for the fourth planet in the Serijoel system.」
Sario selected the destination coordinates through the piloting system. The small spacecraft fired its thrusters and swung into a wide course change.
Once fine adjustments locked in our heading, it was my turn. I moved to the battle room, opened the Power Conduit's Control Gate to Release Level 1, drew in Bosoru particles and Tenshiryoku, and used that power to accelerate the small spacecraft. When we reached target speed, I stopped accelerating and returned from the battle room to the cockpit.
「Even sho, your Tenshiryoku Drive is incredible, Zen. I doubt even a first-rate Mage could manage shomething like that.」
That spoke to just how efficient the Tenshiryoku Drive technique Zorofiēnu of the Tenjin Race had taught me truly was. With virtually zero loss, it could convert nearly all Tenshiryoku into propulsive force.
For comparison, when an ordinary Mage used Tenshiryoku Drive, they couldn't convert even a tenth of absorbed Tenshiryoku into propulsion. The Tenjin Race's technique was abnormally efficient.
「Come to think of it, I never asked why you chose Serijoel as our destination.」
「I want to shell the equipment we recovered at Gorgona and build up shome funds.」
I touched the back of my neck.
「Before we worry about funds - can't we get this disciplinary terminal removed first?」
「We need Credits to do anything at all. Shecuring funds has to come first.」
Credits were the currency used across the Sector Alliance. From what I'd heard, their purchasing power felt roughly equivalent to the Japanese yen, though I couldn't yet say for certain whether that comparison held.
No helping it. Without funds, the disciplinary terminal couldn't come off either.
We flew the small spacecraft toward the fourth planet. Here, too, I used Tenshiryoku to handle the acceleration.
It took four days for the small spacecraft, having reentered normal space at the outer edges of the Serijoel system, to reach the vicinity of the fourth planet.
Several space stations orbited the fourth planet Joel, and we docked the small spacecraft at one of them.
Sario had originally been a citizen of the Sector Alliance, so his personal identification data - genetic profile, iris patterns, and the like - remained on file with his home planet.
Cross-referencing that data against Sario's genetic information could verify his citizenship. Sario entered the space station alone and applied to have his identification card reissued.
Most people in the Sector Alliance carried their identification as a physical card. Subcutaneous implantation was an option, but plenty of people found that distasteful.
Reissuing Sario's identification card took three days. The verification of his personal identification data had consumed most of that time.
With his identification card in hand, Sario registered at the Toryū Ryōhei Guild and became a Toryū Ryōhei. Since the organization functioned like an adventurer's guild, it ran a system for purchasing various materials and goods.
Sario had registered specifically to sell equipment through the Toryū Ryōhei Guild. He could have sold to other companies, but some firms lowballed amateurs, making them far less trustworthy than the Guild.
We sold the Eight-Light Diameter Charged Particle Cannon and secured forty-five million Credits. Living normally, that amount would have supported the two of us for several years - but operating a small spacecraft devoured money.
Forty-five million Credits would vanish in no time. Just docking the small spacecraft at the space station cost roughly fifty thousand Credits per day. Without the option to pay after the fact, we couldn't even have moored at the station.