Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space?

Chapter 5 : Space Jellyfish and Betrayal

Dimasu was the first to begin his report.

「Most of the parts and such drifting about appear to be damaged. I also found a large crate bolted to the floor.」

This report seemed to pique Varubo's interest.

「What waz inzide?」

「A small liaison craft.」

A liaison craft roughly fifteen meters long with a capacity of six, he said.

「Doez it ztill work?」

「I can't say. Even if it was new when stored, there's no telling how old it is.」

Berta, Rieto, and Sario apparently hadn't found anything. My turn came, and I started by reporting on the safe.

「I discovered a safe bolted to the floor in the back. And also......」

My report was cut short as Varubo twisted his ugly face and fired off a question.

「Wait - a zafe, you zay. Did you check inzide?」

「It was locked, so I wasn't able to.」

「Tch, uzelezz fool. We're going to inzpect that zafe.」

「Um-」

I tried to continue my report, but Varubo glared at me.

「Shut your mouth and do az you're told. Take me to that zafe.」

I led them to the safe. The moment Varubo laid eyes on it, a grin split his face.

「Blazt the zafe open with explozivez.」

Dimasu set charges on the safe. We evacuated outside the warehouse. The explosives detonated, and all manner of debris came flying out through the entrance.

We waited for the aftermath to settle before entering the warehouse. The safe's door hung open, and metallic ingots drifted through the air. The entrance to the room where the maintenance robots were, however, had been buried under blast debris and was no longer visible.

Varubo snatched one of the drifting metallic ingots out of the air and let out a howl. Eerie, I thought - but it was apparently a cry of joy. The ingots turned out to be a metal called『Galithium.』

Galithium, a metal that doesn't exist on Earth, can only be mined in specialized spatial zones. Ten tons of it is valuable enough to purchase a medium-sized sub-light-speed transport ship.

「Ah-」

Dimasu let out a cry. The small liaison craft he'd found had been struck by debris scattered from the explosion and was now destroyed.

「Tch, that zmall liazon craft waz already broken to begin with. Never mind that - ztart recovering the Galithium.」

We recovered roughly two tons of Galithium drifting in the void, then returned to the reconnaissance ship Gyogaru. Varubo reportedly puffed out his chest when he reported to the captain.

Acquisitions like these became the property of the reconnaissance ship Gyogaru, with the profits divided among the captain and officers like Varubo. For those of us who actually found it - Sario and the others and me - there was nothing. Same as always, all we got were preserved food tubes.

At that moment, I seriously considered killing Varubo and making a run for it. But the disciplinary terminal implanted at the base of my neck could inflict agony so intense you'd wish you were dead with the push of a single button.

We continued exploring Ponse Spaceport after that. Time passed without me ever finding the chance to report the maintenance robots.

Around that time, a swarm of Space Jellyfish drew close to Ponse Spaceport. I thought Varubo would call off the search, but instead, orders came down for our reconnaissance units to exterminate them.

「Why us? They've got the Mobile Space Corps, don't they?」

I asked Sario. The Mobile Space Corps was essentially the space equivalent of marines. They also used armor similar to Mobile Armor, but theirs outperformed ours, and their weapons packed more punch than the space machine guns we carried.

So I'd figured they should have the Mobile Space Corps handle the Space Jellyfish hunt instead of dumping it on the reconnaissance units.

「It'sh pointlesh. The Goblin rashe'sh military alwaysh shendsh the lower-clash shubordinate sholdiersh in to fight firsht, and only after they've been wiped out do the Goblin sholdiersh shtep forward. That'sh jusht how it worksh.」

This approach was a matter of historical doctrine, he said, and would never change. We armed ourselves and headed for Ponse Spaceport. Other reconnaissance units should have been deployed as well.

We moved through the corridors toward the Docking Bay - a spacecraft berth used for loading and unloading cargo. This particular Docking Bay was spacious enough for five spacecraft to handle cargo operations simultaneously. The entrance was fitted with an airlock, which we passed through to enter.

「Huh - there aren't any Space Jellyfish in here.」

I scanned the vast Docking Bay but saw no sign of them anywhere. Part of the outer hull had been destroyed, leaving a large breach, so they might have been coming and going through there.

Just as I was thinking that, an Space Jellyfish drifted in through the breach. A monster roughly eight meters across. I aimed the muzzle of my space machine gun at its core and pulled the trigger.

The recoil slammed into my shoulder and sent me drifting backward. Shit. I'd forgotten to activate the electromagnets on the soles of my feet. I switched them on and locked myself to the iron-rich floor.

I looked at the Space Jellyfish - the explosive round had destroyed its core, and it was dead. The instant I breathed a sigh of relief, more Space Jellyfish came pouring in through the breach one after another.

「Attack! Wipe out every lazt one of them!」

Varubo barked the order in his raspy voice. We kept pulling our triggers at the oncoming Space Jellyfish. By the time I'd downed my fourth, I noticed my remaining ammunition was running low. The others were in the same boat.

「Commander, we're running low on ammo.」

Dimasu reported to Varubo. Varubo's eyes darted around frantically, and after confirming that a large number of Space Jellyfish still remained, he issued his order.

「You lot fight to the very lazt. I'm heading back to report.」

「That's...... Are you ordering us to die?」

Dimasu protested. Varubo held up the disciplinary terminal's controller.

「I can kill you with thiz inztead, you know.」

With that, he fled. Varubo was gone, and only us subordinate soldiers remained. Worse still, he'd apparently sealed the airlock at the entrance behind him.

「That bastard sealed the airlock on us. Is there another way out?」

Dimasu snarled. Meanwhile, the Space Jellyfish kept coming, and I gunned down my sixth.

「Look over there!」

Sario's shout came through the communicator. In the direction he was pointing, something resembling an airduct was visible. We broke into a run toward it.

The Space Jellyfish gave chase. Shit - it was only about a hundred meters, but it felt impossibly far. Dimasu's space machine gun ran dry first, and an Space Jellyfish's tentacle snagged his body.

I pulled the trigger, aiming for its core, but missed. Hitting a target while running was no easy feat. Blood erupted from Dimasu's mouth. The tentacle had crushed him.

Next, Berta and Rieto were caught by an Space Jellyfish.

「Help me!」

Berta's voice crackled through the communicator. I skidded to a halt and pulled the trigger at the Space Jellyfish. The explosive round struck its core - and at that exact same instant, Berta's and Rieto's bodies went limp. The creature had crushed them the moment the shot hit.

「Shit!」

I leveled my space machine gun at the Space Jellyfish that had killed Berta and Rieto and pulled the trigger again and again.

「Zen, thoshe two are dead. Let'sh run!」

Sario's voice snapped me into motion. Behind us, the swarm of Space Jellyfish was closing in. Sario fired his space machine gun at the air duct. The explosion blew away the dust cover that had been blocking its entrance.

Sario dove into the air duct first. I leaped in after him and pushed deeper inside. An Space Jellyfish stretched its tentacles in after us, but once we'd gone about ten meters, they could no longer reach.