"So, Captain Serena aside, all that political stuff is supposedly out of our jurisdiction, but... what the heck was that f*c– I mean esteemed emperor thinking when he decided to throw us to a place like this?"
"Please refrain from making disparaging remarks against His Imperial Majesty in front of me. Think of my position, will you?"
We were currently within the captain's quarters of the Independent Mobile Anti-Pirate Fleet flagship Restalias, which can be described as pretty luxurious. Captain Serena responded to my remark with a smile on her lips as she held a teacup in one hand.
For Imperial soldiers, the emperor was a respected monarch to whom they all swore allegiance, but for me, he was just an eccentric old guy who liked to throw me into harsh circumstances just for fun.
"I personally cannot hope to fathom His Imperial Majesty's exact intentions. However, I believe he didn't choose you simply due to your skills in exterminating pirates. You are probably a stone he cast upon the lake to create waves. In other words, he's expecting you to be the catalyst for change in the current state of affairs."
"State of affairs... State of affairs huh? In the first place, I'm not even clear about the entire situation right now. Anyway, this is a disputed conflict zone between the Graccan Empire and the Vereverem Federation, and I'm guessing enemy commandos have disguised themselves as space pirates to disrupt the empire's supply lines. But the delinquent noble house who messed with House Dareinwald was sent here to get crushed, so..."
Suddenly, I had a really bad feeling about all this. What was the worst outcome in this particular situation? When I ran with that train of thought, it felt like I could already guess what that damn old man was expecting from me.
"What is it?"
"I hate to even imagine it, but I think His Imperial Majesty is actually expecting that troublesome noble house to raise a commotion. The worst that can happen in this particular situation is House Ixamal defecting to the Federation, right?"
"Isn't that going a bit too far? Even if they are rotten, House Ixamal is still part of imperial nobility."
"I might be preaching to the choir here when it comes to you, but saying something is unlikely doesn't mean it's impossible. That's a big taboo on the battlefield y'know? Ignoring something just because it's supposedly unlikely, that is."
"That's... true, but..."
Captain Serena turned speechless. In my opinion, I wouldn't think it strange for guys to defect to the enemy side if they were to be cornered and sent to the front lines as a punitive measure. However, other imperial nobles seemed to find such a thing unthinkable.
"Is it really that unthinkable for an imperial noble to betray the Empire and join the Federation?"
I turned to Elma, who was sitting next to me and inquired.
"Well, if one defects to the Federation, they'll lose both their status as a noble and the territory under their rule. If you're an earl, you'll end up losing at least five star systems, right? The tax revenue one gets from their territories alone is already a huge amount, and there are many other benefits one gets from being a noble, so usually, one wouldn't even consider switching sides."
"I see. Aside from pride, there are also practical benefits. But you see... since I'm already involved in this, it probably won't turn out so well for us."
"Why do you sound like you've half-given up already? Do you not have the courage to overcome adversity?"
Captain Serena gave me a reproachful look as she criticized me for lacking guts. This person looked like a typical beauty who was more suited to a dress instead of a military uniform, but she was surprisingly more of a musclehead than I gave her credit for.
"Based on past experiences, trouble isn't something I can simply avoid even if I wanted to... I mean, if you braced yourself for trouble right from the start, then you can avoid panicking when something really does happen."
"Aren't you being too much of a pessimist?"
"I've simply learned my lesson. Well, I kinda get the political circumstances now. In any case, there aren't many things mercenaries like us can do when it comes to that aspect, so please keep an eye on them instead. So, give me the info you got on those space pirates next... But they probably aren't real space pirates, right?"
"Other than the fact that their ships are extremely well-equipped, and their movements being systematic and relatively clever, there's no doubt that they truly are space pirates. We've already captured several of them, and they are pirates through and through."
"Huh? So, it's either they have sponsors backing them up, they were hired and are taking orders from someone else, or both."
"More or less. As a professional on the matter, what's your opinion?"
"There's no need for any particularly special methods to deal with them. The best thing to do is to keep beating them up and make them think continuing their activities is not worth all the trouble. They are pirates after all. If things don't go their way, they won't hesitate to fall out with their sponsors to save themselves. If possible, it would be great if we could directly go for the enemy command unit that's ordering those pirates around."
As long as the enemy isn't an idiot, they were probably moving their command center around constantly. Perhaps they were using a ship just as big or even a bit bigger than the Black Lotus as their flagship. A stealth-specialized mothership was highly effective in guerilla warfare as a mobile command post after all. It'll be quite hard to detect once it hides itself within an asteroid or debris field.
"So, the decapitation tactic is the most effective option... Whether or not we can pull it off highly depends on luck though."
"Well, yeah... Or rather, the supply lines are being targeted, so hasn't the Imperial Space Force put up a defense net or something yet? Even though we're so close to the front lines?"
"Aside from the immediate conflict zones, including the Creon star system, there hasn't been much security put up further back. Those pirates are active in the Xyram, Daomun, and Volks systems, which are further behind this system."
"Oh, I see. It's not the supply lines from here to the front lines that are being attacked. Instead, they are targeting the supplies being delivered to the supply bases... After all, the one in charge of delivering supplies from the supply bases to the front lines is the military, which isn't an easy mark."
It was naturally the Imperial Space Force's transport units that were in charge of carrying supplies from supply bases like the one in the Creon system to the front lines, and they were always guarded by well-armed escort ships. No matter how well-equipped those pirates were, I thought it was strange that they were attacking such transport units. I see. So, they were instead infesting the star systems closest to the conflict zone that were further behind.
"If that's the case... then this will be quite troublesome."
"Have you all understood the general picture now?"
"Yeah."
"Uhuh."
"I have."
The three of us responded to Captain Serena in unison. As for what exactly was troublesome about the situation, it's that we had no concrete idea regarding the activity range of the pirates. All the star systems located behind the Creon system, or rather, the imperial borders, had at least three or four hyperlane entrances. And because they were relatively close to the front lines, there were lots of armed ships piloted by mercenaries and the like coming and going from them. If those ships were newly purchased combat ships, you wouldn't be able to visually determine if they were pirate ships. And if their equipment was top-notch even if they were relatively old, there's a possibility of them employing a device that would allow them to hide their bounty status.
"Can't we take control of the flow of weapons and funds?"
"You can't set up a hyperlane stabilizer in a conflict zone after all."
"Ah–... I see."
Hyperlanes, which were subspace pathways that connected star systems, were quite convenient. However, to travel through them more quickly and reliably, a certain degree of preparation, or rather, several arrangements were required. Just as waterborne ships could traverse more efficiently and safely through well-maintained waterways or canals rather than large, winding rivers that had unstable water flow speeds depending on the location, hyperlanes also needed hyperlane stabilizers and subspace beacons to be installed at certain points to ensure navigation efficiency.
On the other hand, if stuff like that were to be installed, the coordinates where you could enter or warp out of the hyperlanes would be fixed in place to some extent. In other words, it was possible to set up an ambush. This allowed for a huge advantage for the defending side in a conflict. Of course, these devices were only effective when they were installed on both sides of a hyperlane in question, so in conflict zones, they were the very first things the attacking side would nullify.
If these devices were to stop functioning, the time it took to navigate a hyperlane would become longer, and the warp-out coordinates would end up at random spots over a fairly wide range. Because they were located outside star systems, the general directions were fixed to some extent, but the possible warp-out coordinate range was still quite large. Even when using an FTL Drive, it'd still take at least a few hours to scout the entire area out. This, on the other hand, was a considerable advantage for attackers, and it also made it easier for smugglers and space pirates to come and go from the lanes. However, this would also pose problems to those trying to perform an infiltration.
"We conduct regular patrols to keep an eye on them, but we're simply unable to cover them all. They're also focusing on harassment tactics, so we often ended up too late when trying to deal with them..."
"If we don't take any drastic measures, it looks like they're just gonna gradually bleed us out through these minor encounters... Well, it's not something we should worry about right now anyway. In the end, we just need to do our respective jobs. It's not like they specifically ordered us to fight on the front lines anyway, right, Captain?"
"That's true. The main mission of our fleet is to subdue the pirates who are attacking our supply lines and disrupting our rear."
"Well then, let's just do our best to perform our respective missions so we can both come out of this smiling."
"You sure seem confident. Do you have something in mind?"
"It's nothing special. As long as the opponent isn't acting randomly, there's still something we can employ."
To pave the way for that, we had to collect more info first. If my hunch was correct, it should be possible to grab the opponent by the tail.