ยฉNovelBuddy
I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary-Chapter 288 โ Planetary Descent Once More
Chapter 288 - Planetary Descent Once More
Translator: SFBaka
ใWe will be entering Refill IVโs satellite orbit soon.ใ ๐๐โฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ัตe๐.co๐
โWe will land in the integrated port facility at the Minfa clanโs territory. Please watch out for a possible enemy ambush within the planetโs satellite orbit and beyond as we descend.โ
ใAye, aye, sir.ใ
I gave instructions to Mei, who was piloting the Black Lotus, while I waited with Mimi and Elma inside Krishnaโs cockpit so we would be able to sortie any time in case of an emergency. I kept my eye on the data collected by Black Lotusโ various sensors as well.
โThere really is something out there huh.โ
โYeah, there sure is.โ
โUhuh.โ
Elma and Mimi, who were paying attention to the sensor readings as well, raised their voices in agreement. Black Lotusโ sensors picked up readings of a small ship moving at high speed within the planetโs satellite orbit. It belonged to a mercenary unit and wasnโt affiliated with the star system garrison. When I looked it up, I found that it really was a scout ship belonging to the Crimson Lance mercenaries.
Of course, since we managed to detect it, Mei should have detected it as well. There wasnโt any place to hide out in satellite orbit, so it wasnโt even trying to hide its presence and just brazenly followed after us.
โMaybe itโs a high-speed scout ship specializing in electronic warfare?โ
โIt does look the part.โ
โCan you really tell that just from its appearance?โ
โTo a certain extent. Although the ship seems to be small and light, it has two main engines. The number of its attitude control thrusters is also quite smaller than usual. So we can tell that it isnโt a ship built for dogfights from those details. Rather, itโs a configuration that allows the ship to rush to a target coordinate at really high speeds and escape immediately once something disadvantageous happens. There are also various unnatural protrusions across the body of the ship, right? Those are probably additional sensor arrays.โ
โThe shapes of radomes are almost the same, so theyโre quite easy to spot.โ
All starships basically have protective energy shields, but even so, if delicate sensors were left exposed, there was a high possibility of problems occurring. Thatโs why radomes that offered additional protection to those sensors were indispensable. And when you install a lot of additional sensor arrays, youโd have to install radomes together with them as well. The surface of the ship would become peppered with bulging radomes, and inevitably look a bit clunky as a result.
โI thought it was a decoy that would make us let our guards down before they swoop in for an ambush, but it looks like there isnโt any indication of them launching any attacks at us, at least for now.โ
โRight. Well, if they launched an obvious attack in a place like this, the system garrison forces patrolling geosynchronous orbit would get alerted immediately and rush here.โ
โBut this is a good spot to launch an attack if theyโre aiming to shoot us down regardless of the consequences, right?โ
โThatโs if theyโre prepared to throw everything away and go down with us. But I wonder what sort of pretext they used to send out a ship like that to Refill IVโs satellite orbit.โ
โI wonder? Maybe they took on an official security assistance mission from the system garrison.โ
โAh, right. Thereโs that method huh.โ
Maybe thatโs what Marie went to the guild for yesterday. She might have offered the services of their convenient high-speed recon spacecraft that had electronic warfare capabilities to support Refill IVโs defense forces through the Mercenary Guild. If she set the price low from the get-go, the system garrison was more likely to accept her offer. This is especially true now that theyโve been on the receiving end of space pirate raids twice in a row. So they were probably more than willing to do anything in order to improve their efficiency.
โThey didnโt seem to have followed after us when we left the Refill Prime colony, so that really might be the case.โ
โRight. Well, in any case, they canโt pull anything against us. At least, not yet.โ
โIt looks like we have no choice but to ignore them huh.โ
Iโm not sure how good the information gathering capability of that ship really was, but it canโt be helped. Neither Black Lotus nor Krishna had the ability to enter stealth while entering a planetโs atmosphere, after all, so they should have a clear idea about where weโre going already. Maybe theyโve even found out the fact that we plan to head to the Rose clanโs territory with Krishna. But we really donโt have any methods to resolve this situation right now. Weโd be treated as the instigators if we took the initiative to attack them after all.
ใMaster, weโve successfully entered satellite orbit. Weโll be entering the planetโs atmosphere in two minutes.ใ
โRoger that. Weโll probably be okay for the time being, but stay alert.โ
ใYes. Please leave it to me.ใ
Shortly after Meiโs reply, Black Lotus began entering the atmosphere. The heat generated by adiabatic compression caused plasma to form on the outer side of Black Lotusโ energy shield, emitting a bright glow.
โItโs really beautiful, isnโt it?โ
โI guessโฆโฆ?โ
Iโve seen a lot of creative works portraying stuff blowing up in a blaze of glory during atmospheric entry due to various reasons, so instead of finding the current sight beautiful, I was feeling a bit anxious instead. But if one looked at it from a pure perspective, then it certainly was beautiful, so I didnโt want to put a damper on Mimiโs innocent impression.
โYou really have a weirdly mysterious taste for stuff sometimes huh, Mimi.โ
โEh!?โ
After hearing Elmaโs tasteless comment, Mimi became teary-eyed. Well, I guess Elma had a point though. I couldnโt really bring myself to reprimand Elma because I was basically thinking the same thing. I just didnโt voice it out.
ใMaster, weโve completed atmospheric entry. I am now proceeding to head to the target destination while decelerating. We will arrive in about 5 minutes.ใ
โGot it. Thanks for all your hard work piloting the ship, as always, Mei. Weโll remain on stand-by inside Krishna.โ
ใUnderstood. I will also notify Tina-sama and Whisker-sama.ใ
โI leave it to you.โ
Meiโs transmission from Black Lotus was cut off. Recently, Mei had begun addressing Tina and Whisker respectfully with โsamaโ as well. She addressed them with โsanโ before, right? What was the reason for such a change? Well, uhโฆโฆ I guess itโs because I finally laid my filthy hands on the two of them too.
โWeโre finally heading to Elma-sanโs homeโฆโฆ Err, I guess itโs a bit different huh. How should we put it?โ
โIsnโt it fine to just say weโre paying a visit to my relatives?โ
โRight! Weโre paying a visit to Elma-sanโs relativeโs home! Iโm really looking forward to it!โ
โItโs really nothing special. Nothing special, okay. Thereโs actually not much difference between a colony home and one on a planet.โ
โIs that rea?lly the case, Lady Elma?โ
โThatโs kind of annoying, so stop.โ
The Rose clan was particularly close to the empire among the three major clans, and the Willrose clan, a branch of the Rose clan, was actually recognized as an official imperial noble house. Elma insists on downplaying it, but I bet her status was a pretty prestigious one. In the first place, she was a true blue daughter of an imperial noble house. She may have lived outside the aristocratic circle for a good number of years while working as a mercenary, and her outlook was closer to that of a commoner than a noble as a result, but her outstanding lineage and upbringing couldnโt be denied.
As I mulled about such thoughts, I received a request for access to Krishnaโs hatch, and I accepted. After a short while, a loud voice echoed out from behind us.
โHeyo! Iโm barginโ in fellas-!โ
โIf youโre just gonna get in the way, then get out.โ
โWhy!?โ
โDonโt make so much noise, Big Sis.โ
A free-spirited older sister, who made a fuss after hearing my sharp retort the moment she entered the cockpit, was admonished by her serious and responsible younger sister. Yep. Just the usual.
โOr rather, whyโre ya familiar with a classic downtown dwarf joke, Boss?โ
โSo thatโs actually a classic dwarven joke huhโฆโฆโ
โWow. Itโs even more amazinโ if you really didnโt know about it.โ
Well, I guess this is some sort of cross-species culture appreciation or something. Iโm a little surprised that a common joke back in Japan also existed in dwarven society though.
โFufufu, itโs finally time ta set fire to the newly modded sub-seat.โ
โUm, I know thatโs just a figure of speech Big Sis, but doesnโt the cockpit catching fire sound a bit too ominous?โ
As they bantered back and forth, the sisters unfolded the modified sub-seat and sat down. A while back, Tina modified it so two people can actually sit on the originally one-seater sub-seat. Itโs also been equipped with seat belts, and according to Tina, its durability was also upgraded.
ใWe will be landing soon. Please be mindful of the impact when we touch down.ใ
โRoger that. Cโmon you two. Go and fasten your seatbelts.โ
โGotcha.โ
โAlright.โ
Shortly after the two responded to me, the hull of Black Lotus shuddered a bit. Yep, that was a perfect landing, as always.
Now then, I guess weโll immediately head out after Mei comes over.