Mob No. 46 “First, let’s arrange ourselves in the agreed formation! If we do that, pirates won’t be so scary! Once we pull them in, we can repel them to some extent with simultaneous firing!”
The next morning,
I was surprised to see the gathered fleet.
I didn’t know where they came from, but nearly 150 cargo and civilian ships crowded near the service area of the planet Tassia.
There were probably some mercenaries mixed in as well.
Indeed, this might make hesitant folks think twice before making a move.
But against professional and large-scale pirate gangs, it wouldn’t be effective.
They were experts in combat and plunder, with equipment far superior to ours.
If they had a skilled commander, they could be more terrifying than a mediocre army.
If mercenaries coordinated like in the previous escort request from the Neima Trading Company, it might work. However, in the current situation, just gathering wouldn’t contribute much to the overall firepower.
I should have contacted the Mercenary Guild first…
Well, it was probably just a whim, and considering the delivery deadline, there wasn’t much time for that.
Soon, the initiator of the fleet called out,
“Thanks for gathering in response to our call! With this many ships, it won’t be easy for pirates to attack, but we never know when they might strike! Be vigilant, and let’s move swiftly to our destination, the planet Nachirema! Now, let’s depart from the front!”
And so, the caravan set off.
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The destination, the planet Nachirema, was about two days away.
I positioned myself as high as possible in the fleet, activating my radar.
For a while, or rather, on the first day, everything progressed without any incidents.
During the night in Galactic Standard Time, humans from the larger ships took turns on watch.
I thought there might be something happening during those times, but nothing occurred.
The next morning passed without any incidents.
The fleet continued smoothly.
However, a disturbance occurred just after noon that day.
Two small vessels from the fleet suddenly broke away.
In that moment, I couldn’t determine if they were going after the big target pursued by the second fleet or the smaller one I was chasing. It could be either,
or perhaps both.
The people in the fleet seemed puzzled or unresponsive.
The vessels that broke away probably understood this and were taking advantage of a bit of negligence.
It seemed like a good opportunity to ambush those two small ships.
However, I couldn’t yet confirm if they were indeed pirates.
At that moment, my ship’s radar picked up multiple responses,
Of course, all from unidentified ships.
“Large fleet approaching! Probably pirates!”
Normal ships don’t hide their registrations.
If every ship in that fleet was concealing its registration, it undoubtedly meant they were pirates.
“Hey! Is that true?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“We confirm it on our radar too! No mistake! Pirates! Distance: 1.8 billion km!”
The communications officer on a larger ship provided additional information.
With that, panic spread among the fleet.
Then, a young man’s voice echoed, and a video feed appeared.
“Calm down! First, stay calm and report to the police and the military! If we handle this calmly, we can survive!”
It was obviously a template line to suppress the panic, but it calmed the panic considerably.
“Follow the predetermined formation, and we won’t be afraid of pirates! By pulling them in and then firing all at once, we can repel the pirates to some extent!”
And spurred on by the man’s words, the fleet neatly arranged itself around the leader’s ship like an umbrella.
Apparently, there had been some agreement made without my knowledge.
[As expected of a mercenary of bishop rank! Reliable!]
It seemed the initiator of the fleet was the employer, someone from a different branch whom I had never seen before.
Honestly, I thought it would be best to escape immediately, but pirates were faster, and resisting even a little would undoubtedly buy time until reinforcements arrived.
Considering that, this man’s proposal for interception didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.
The man continued further.
[However, I can’t do this alone. Those mercenaries and fighters in the fleet need to cooperate. Please join me in intercepting them, up to the position where those two aircraft attempted the interception earlier.]
And six aircraft emerged.
With that, including myself and the two aircraft that attempted the interception earlier – the bishop-ranked man included – we now had a total of ten aircraft.
From the members, it seemed that both pilots of the two aircraft I suspected as pirates were women.
As for the reason, both were dressed similarly and had very similar faces.
They were probably sisters.
That was close.
If a large pirate fleet hadn’t come, and I had attacked those two, even if they turned out to be pirates, I would have been seen as the villain.
The world always favors the beautiful.
Since the initial information I received didn’t include the appearance of the pirates, I decided to ask Mr. Roans for additional information through communication just to be sure.
Suddenly, a confidential line, only for those ten aircraft, came from the bishop-ranked man.
[From here on, this is a secret conversation between us. There’s probably a pirate liaison within that fleet. We can’t let them know our plan.]
The mercenaries might all understand the situation, but what about the presumed pirate sisters?
Since they’re pirates, they might agree to the proposal of dividing the loot.
“I don’t have time for introductions. I have a plan, so listen up. When the fleet’s ships open fire, they should split into two groups. We’ll engage them there. Then, two ships will flank them from behind. It’s a textbook tactic, but effective.”
It’s indeed a tactic that even I could come up with, and it’s a good move.
Well, the pirates probably understand that much too.
And the problem lies in,
“I need someone to flank the enemy from behind…”
The role is to flank the enemy.
The idea is to sneak around to their rear while they’re distracted, but if caught, there’s a high risk of getting sunk.
“I want you on that light brown ship. You’re probably a knight, right?”
Even though I didn’t introduce myself as a mercenary, they assumed I was and assigned me a role.
The face of the bishop-level man at that moment resembled a stuck-up popular kid from my school days.
“Yeah, got it.”
But someone has to do the job, so there’s no reason to refuse.
Plus, there’s no doubt I’m a knight.
“…Right. Then I’m counting on you. And you, Batto. Can I rely on you?”
“You bet! I’ll take them down for sure!”
The bishop-level man seemed displeased with my quick response.
He probably intended to scold me for being demanding, like “Don’t be selfish when everyone’s lives are on the line!”
Seeing him address the others by name even though I hadn’t introduced myself suggests that the other six might be his fellow bishops.
“Then you two, head towards us when the cannon fire starts. The remaining members, split evenly and intercept the pirates in the direction they split!”
And so, the stalling tactic began until the arrival of the Imperial Army and the police.
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