Chapter 88: Don't Say That!

  It has been a few days since Abyssal and company exited the torturous and dense minefield. That same fleet was at that moment, travelling towards the Dawning Star. An agreement was made between Astral and Jinko that they would stay out of each other’s business as they transport Meica to Nipon Steel headquarters where her mother awaits. Things have been relatively peaceful with the ships in the fleet making jumps after jumps towards their destination. During all of this, Sensenmann has yet to launch an attack on them. The fleet maintained the triangular formation and kept alert for any possible attacks.

  [Warp successful, next jump in 8 hours.] Abby sent out a notification to Abyssal. Abyssal quickly looked around the ship to see ship after ship appearing out of thin air beside her in a formation.

  “Phew. Another successful warp,” said Abyssal as she slumped down on her chair. Group jumps like this made her worry from time to time. When she was alone or with just Astral and wasn’t chased by a person whose nickname is literally the Reaper, it didn’t really matter much about how accurate her jump was. But when in a larger group, it scares her a little how they could easily be separated if one were to make an inaccurate calculation and jump into a slightly different location. In this case, Abyssal would be completely separated from the three large cruisers that were protecting her— she would be an easy target.

  “Don’t get too relaxed now, keep your eyes open, we are the most vulnerable in this state,” Astral said through open communication. Her spare body was currently sitting down with her eyes closed on the bridge. She was currently paying full attention towards her own ship.

  “Right....” Abyssal replied.

  It was true. They couldn't, or at least, Abyssal couldn’t just start up her warp drives again and warp out so quickly after doing one as it needs to go through a cooldown phase. Well, technically she could if she wished to damage it beyond repair. This is why most military ships contain a backup drive. This, in addition to backup generators and numerous other components. Abyssal made a mental note to get another back-up drive sooner or later. She would need to get some raw materials before she could fashion another one.

  ‘Maybe once this is all over…’ Abyssal thought to herself.

  “Dammit, why can’t we move faster towards Dawning Star, we should have reached by now if that damn woman didn’t… urgh...” Astral grunted as she too slumped on her chair. That being said, her hands could be seen touching the controls of her ship at all times.

  “Well, complaining ain’t going to get us anywhere. Why don’t you relax for a bit?” Kuon said to Astral. She stood behind Abyssal, sweeping the floor. Her head didn’t even bother to look at the bridge towards Astral.

  “Yeah. Relax when there is a crazy person out there for our blood. Oh right, have I mentioned that this person destroyed fleets of ships all by herself? Any sooner we can reach Dawning Star where this woman won’t disturb us, the better.”

  “Eh? This Sensenmann did?” Abyssal asked.

  “Right, I never told you about this, did I? Back when you were still within E’s care, I had a run in against her. It was near a graveyard of ships from Freedom United and Dawning Star, battleships, cruisers, destroyer flotillas, all sorts of ships. They were destroyed and gathered there by Sensenmann, luring others to investigate and thus adding to the pile.”

  “Are you sure it was Sensenmann? It could be a different ship? Or perhaps a whole fleet in its entirety,” Kuon asked, giving the conversation a little bit of her attention as she continued to sweep the floor.

  “She pretty much did the same thing to me as she did to you. Just appear out of nowhere, shoot a bunch of missiles and disappear into thin air. We fought for a while before she started talking to me.”

  “I’m surprised you survive.”

  “Who do you think I am? As if something like that could kill me. I wasn’t called an ace fighter for nothing, ya know.”

  “I see. Still, I wonder what kind of tech she was using. It’s a cheat, I’ll tell ya!” Abyssal complained.

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  ‘Maybe I should design a missile that can be remotely controlled so I can assimilate that destroyer…’ Abyssal thought to herself, soon after. “Yeah, maybe I should.”

  “Yeah, I’ve never seen tech like that before. Don’t talk about seeing, I never even heard of the possibility. It’s probably how she managed to get a jump on all those ships. Well, I got some friends working in the background, I will come to know what she’s using in due time.”

  “Friends in the background?” Kuon asked, curious about this so-called friend of hers.

  “Some mercenary friends working in Crimson Blood right now. That’s all I will say,” Astral said, her eyes peeking towards a certain corner of her screen— towards Yoake. “Though I would rather not wait until confrontation. I wish this slow journey could go faster.”

  “Well, it may be a slow journey towards Dawning Star, but at least it’s a peaceful ride so far,” Abyssal said to Astral.

  “The calm before the storm is what they call that. Things are too peaceful don’t ya think?” Astral asked.

  “Has anyone told you that you are a cynic? I for once hope things continue like this. It’s been a never-ending series of bad events after another with me. Frankly speaking, I kinda expected Sensenmann to attack us already, maybe she went back to her—”

  “Don’t say that!” Astral shouted. Her sudden increase in pitch caused Abyssal to jerk backwards.

  “Wh-what?!”

  “That! What are you thinking jinxing us like that! It’s as if you want her to attack us!” Astral yelled.

  “Ehh… aren’t you exaggerating here… I’m just saying what I’m thinking.”

  Astral folded her arms before looking upwards in a righteous look. “Listen, kid. Rule number one to survive in this galaxy. Don’t say things like that. Damn universe can hear you.”

  “...the universe? ” Abyssal asked.

  “It’s true. Tempt fate too much and she might just give you a backhand,” Astral continued.

  “You are a rather superstitious person, aren’t you Astral Phoenix? I didn’t expect that from you,” Kuon said, finally giving the red-haired woman a look— a weird one.

  “If that’s rule number one, I can’t imagine what’s rule number two, nyaa,” Meica added to the conversation, having been listening to it from the start.

  “Rule number two is probably to blow up all your hideouts the moment you used them,” Abyssal said sarcastically, with a small laugh.

  “How many rules are there, Astral of the Phoenix?” Yoake asked, joining the conversation out of nowhere.

  “You guys laugh now, but you’ll see—” Astral tried to say something but she was interrupted by something. She immediately looked towards a console to her left with her eyes furrowed.

  Moments afterwards, Abby sent out a notification towards Abyssal. That notification also included a large map of the current area, on it contained hundreds of dots coloured in red coming towards the fleet.

  [Cluster of missiles detected at 76° starboard, 145° z-angle. 45000 Km. Advise evasive manoeuvres.]

  “Uwahh… she really came…” Abyssal muttered out with a deadpan look.

  “Goddammit! You and your big mouth!” Astral shouted before steering her ship towards the hundreds of missiles coming towards them. Soon after, a huge number of lasers was shot out of the fighter ship causing a huge fireworks show. One volley wasn’t enough to dispose of all the missiles, so Astral made sure to do several passes in order to shoot down more of them.

  [Incoming transmission from Dawning Star Fleet.]

  Abby let out another notification as this was all happening. This transmission was immediately accepted, displaying the other members of the fleet within the display. Jinko was in the background, sitting on a comfortable chair near a window, while Hikari and Yoake could be seen on their respective bridges with men and women running to their battle stations in the background.

  Hikari was the first to speak out. “Abyssal, we will be taking evasive manoeuvres following this route. If there is any change to the route, I will notify you personally.”

  “Got it,” Abyssal nodded. Inside her mind map was a curvy line with lots of random turns showing the fleets evasive routes. The elites of the Dawning star acted fast and the ships around Abyssal were already starting to move according to this waypoint. She immediately poured power to her thrusters in order to follow.

  “Finally she comes. Hikari, maintain full power towards your radar. Yoake and I will handle the bulk of the point defence. I want the location of that swine the moment she appears. Also Hikari, Yoake, please start charging that,” Jinko said towards Yoake and Hikari who both saluted and replied with a “Yes, ma’am.”

  Jinko afterwards launched about eight fighters from her hangar. They then orbit around in weird patterns around herself. Unlike everyone who was aiming everywhere, Jinko’s frontal guns were aimed towards a singular location at all times— her front. It was technically aimed towards Abyssal who was always in front of Jinko. Abyssal didn’t know why she did so but didn’t question her much about it. It was her ship and she could do whatever she wants with it. It did make her a little bit nervous at having large-calibre guns aimed right at her.

  “The missiles are cleared,” Astral spoke out a few moments later.

  “Any signs of the reaper?” Jinko asked.

  “No, but I could detect a weird energy flux in the area. It’s disturbing my communication signals.”

  “As long as you don’t stray too far, you won’t get lost. ”

  “Don’t have to tell me twice. How long before we can warp again?”

  “We will warp in eight hours or when this annoying bug has been dealt with.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Astral asked.

  “It doesn’t matter if we warp or not. Clearly, she is able to track us and follow us around. She will just follow us to the next location. We should deal with this annoyance now and end this chase right now. Warping should be a last resort.”

  “Tch,” Astral clicked her tongue in response.

  And so, the fleet awaits Sensenmann to strike.