Chapter 45: Peek-a-Boo Warfare

1,500 ships charged toward the enemy in a swarm. It looked almost like a neighborhood soccer game where everyone just chased the ball.

*Doom!*

However, the formation gradually took shape. They were clearly divided into five units of 300 ships each. They picked up speed and fanned out in their respective directions.

“Their proficiency is 상당한 (considerable). They must have had almost no time to practice together.”

The vice-captain marveled. They had likely practiced forming these battle lines while traveling here.

‘The generals of Marshal Poena were the incompetent ones, but the quality of the soldiers wasn’t bad.’

After all, Marshal Poena was someone who overflowed with money and resources.

*Doom!*

Sagitta hurriedly established a formation. He placed all ships at the front, excluding the bombardment ships.

*Thrummm!*

Thick lasers were fired from the bombardment ships. Getting grazed by something like that hurt. A single hit could knock a ship out of action.

*Swoosh!*

Sagitta’s fleet scattered in a hurry.

*Ka-boom!*

Thirty ships were taken out of the line. Exploding, tearing apart, and drifting away—it all happened in an instant.

*Pew-pew-pew!*

Uganaoda also began his counterattack. However, it was not easy to pierce Sagitta’s fleet, which had formed a hemispherical defensive line.

Could they just ignore it and aim for the flanks?

Since they had their backs to the planet, aiming for the sides or the rear was difficult. To target the flank, one would have to move closer to the planet and resist its gravity. Naturally, they would fall into a trap and become easy prey. It was a bait of sorts.

“It’s about time we stepped in.”

If things were left as they were, Uganaoda’s forces would take quite a bit of damage. Those troops needed to be preserved to strike the Imperium’s rear later. The Imperium and I were mortal enemies. I had to inflict as much damage as possible in this war.

“Only eighty light mobile ships will follow me. The rest, on standby.”

“Orders dispatched.”

Our ship slowly moved forward. The other vessels followed behind.

“We will enter the planet toward the enemy’s left flank.”

“The gravity on that planet is strong. If we go in, it will take time to get back out.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just by the fact that we disappeared into the planet, that guy’s neck will start feeling itchy.”

Entering a planet with warships? It was extremely inefficient and existed in no combat doctrine.

Ships used fusion reactors to consume mana stones and generate energy. In other words, the available energy was limited. Shields, cannons, engines, and various other auxiliary devices—the energy had to be shared sparingly among all of them.

To produce the thrust needed to resist gravity meant it would be hard to use cannons or shields.

“Entering the atmosphere.”

***

Sagitta frowned. The newly appeared mystery fleet of 1,500 ships was a problem.

“They are quite elite!”

The quality of the ships was also considerably high.

‘It must be Poena’s side.’

The only power in this vicinity capable of sending such forces was Marshal Poena. Their generals were subpar, but the quality of the troops was high, making them difficult to deal with.

‘Impressive. Who is the general? I didn’t think there was anyone capable of such maneuvers.’

For a Poena general, the tactics were quite sharp. They had split the force into five units, and all of them moved well. They read the waves of the battlefield in an instant and operated the forces in optimal forms.

‘Tsk. If only my forces were intact…’

However, many deficiencies were visible. They seemed to lack experience. If they fought with equal numbers, Sagitta would have won nine times out of ten.

‘This much is manageable, but…’

The problem was something else.

“The Pak Yu fleet is moving!”

“What on earth are they thinking? Everyone, stay sharp!”

Pak Yu was threatening. Even with only eighty light mobile ships, they could never be ignored.

“The Pak Yu fleet is entering the planet!”

“They’re going down to the planet on purpose?”

Sagitta wore an absurd expression. Then, a cold sensation washed down his back.

“Don’t tell me! Is he planning to ram us without shields?”

The rear of the formation was left open. They were currently just barely touching the planet’s gravitational sphere.

“Would he really go that far…?”

the adjutant asked in a voice lacking confidence. It was because they had been beaten so badly before.

However, ramming into them without shields seemed like an unreasonable move no matter how one looked at it. The reason was simple. To escape the gravity of such a heavy planet, a huge amount of energy had to be used for engine output. This meant shields and cannons were almost unusable.

And…

“The main force of our fleet is bombardment ships.”

In terms of compatibility, it was a truly dangerous tactic for the attacker. But for some reason, if it was that Pak Yu guy, it felt like he would do something reckless without a second thought.

His head was already starting to ache.

***

Visibility was blurred due to the orange atmosphere.

“Invert. Target: Sagitta’s fleet.”

“Captain! It’s dangerous.”

“It doesn’t matter. Full speed ahead!”

Our fleet soared upward, overcoming the gravity.

“Now! Lower engine output and fire all batteries.”

“We can’t deal effective damage from this distance.”

“It doesn’t matter. Fire anyway!”

“Orders dispatched! All batteries, fire!”

*Vwaaaaaam!*

Eighty ships fired their cannons toward the sky. The orange atmosphere split apart as the beams shot upward.

*Boom!*

Simultaneously with the attack, the ships lost their power. Since they had lost engine thrust, they were being pulled down by gravity. The ground was getting closer.

“Increase engine output!”

***

“General! We have an incoming attack from the rear.”

“Damn it! Units up to the 100th, invert!”

If he was going to ram them, he would counter. If they approached without shields, they would simply be food for the bombardment ships.

“The attack is arriving…?”

Light rose from the planet, but…

*Swoosh! Ting!*

It was at a tickling level. There was no damage even without shields.

*Grind!*

Sagitta gnashed his teeth. He had been tricked.

“Invert again!!”

Because 100 ships were preoccupied with the rear, the troops set up as the main barricade were pushed back slightly. The enemies numbered 1,500. Moreover, they were well-trained Poena soldiers.

“General!! Another attack reaction!”

“Invert!”

He couldn’t ignore it. If they really did ram into him, it would turn into a chaotic melee. In a melee, the defensive line would collapse in an instant.

*Vwaaaam!*

The attack rose from the planet.

*Ting!*

This attack was also trivial. Some even dissipated before reaching them.

“The enemy ships are not visible!”

“This baldy bastard—!!!”

He was irritated, but there was nothing he could do. Pak Yu didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping after just once or twice. It was like a game of peek-a-boo.

“Invert again!”
.
.
“Invert!!!”
.
“Invert immediately!!”

His stress levels rose to the limit. Having someone buzzing around in the rear was incredibly distracting.

“Uh…?! Captain, it’s the Pak Yu fleet.”

This time, it was real. The heads of the enemy ships were carefully showing themselves.

“It’s a communication!!”

*Beep!*

[“Peek-a-boo!”]

“Come at me! I will make sure to kill you!”

Shouting that, he inverted 150 ships this time. But…

*Swoosh!*

Pak Yu’s fleet disappeared back into the planet. He had been toyed with again. His insides were seething.

“General!! The defensive line has been breached.”

A portion of the hemispherical formation had collapsed.

“We can’t hold out any longer.”

If it hadn’t been for Pak Yu’s detachment, he would have ended with a draw or a narrow defeat somehow. But at this rate, it was a certain loss—no, total annihilation. He had to make a decision quickly.

“Retreat. All units scatter and activate warp drives.”

Sagitta trembled.

***

After playing peek-a-boo a few times, the ships were starting to feel the strain. Ships were made based on dark matter. They had a very strong interaction with gravity. Therefore, just entering a planet was an act that ate away at their durability. Repairs would be necessary as soon as the battle ended.

“Captain, we have a communication. Sagitta’s fleet is retreating.”

“Oh! Let’s give it one last push and go up. Let’s go!”

“Orders confirmed. All units, exit the atmosphere!”

It was time to expand our achievements.

*Boom!*

We escaped the planet’s gravitational sphere. The scenery around us was a mess. Roughly 100 ships could be seen clustered together making a final stand. Meanwhile, the rest scattered and attempted to warp.

“All units, scatter. It’s time for a fly hunt!”

A ship in the middle of a warp drive is defenseless. However, its space is half-overlapped. To land a proper effective hit, one had to stick right behind them. Simultaneously, the phase had to be matched to a state without any vibration.

The ship type best at this was the mobile ship.

***

“Captain! It’s a great victory.”

Sound vibrated through space, carried by dark energy.

[“Our boss is the empire’s greatest scoundrel. Any woman is a free pass, the greatest playboy. Ah—ah—who can stop him?!”]

These guys were singing again. Since they mixed Force into their singing, it resonated through the ship’s hull. This song would also be heard by Uganaoda’s army.

[“Brother! That was incredible fleet management. This younger brother learned a lesson today.”]

The otter fellow praised me while clasping his hands together. It didn’t feel bad, but this guy was driven by his moods. He might follow me now, but who knew how he would change if things went slightly sideways. He was the type of guy who wouldn’t care about superiors if he got angry.

“You fought well too.”

[“Hahaha. I’m not used to leading such a large army yet.”]

The subordinates who followed him were also quite brave. If given enough experience, there were four people who could become B-rank commanders or higher. One of them would even become an S-rank. They were guys he had personally cast while escorting merchant groups. Their loyalty was also considerable. I licked my lips in envy.

“Now, let’s divide the spoils.”

[“No. I am fine. I merely placed my spoon on the table. It was all your doing, Brother.”]

Among the captured ships, there were only fifty intact bombardment ships. About 150 ships had fled, and 150 had either sunk or been half-destroyed and fallen onto the planet. The atmosphere of that planet was so foul that recovering them wouldn’t be easy. The half-destroyed ones would hide and then run away.

“I appreciate your consideration.”

Fifty ships wouldn’t catch his eye anyway. He was currently full of energy. He probably wanted to leave the cleanup to me and quickly head to the main battlefield to achieve more merits.

[“Brother, I will head out first. On my way here, I heard that Imperium is already at the second line.”]

“Right. But you must never attack first.”

[“I am not that stupid. I can’t lead a proactive attack with only 1,300 ships.”]

He had lost as many as 200 ships in this battle. Around fifty had completely sunk. We had to recover the remaining 150.

“Don’t try to force your way through when passing the planet either. Approach cautiously. If something seems off, take the long way around even if it’s far.”

[“Hahaha. You don’t have to worry.”]

The fellow nodded and warped away.

“I don’t know. That guy makes me uneasy.”

“Captain, shouldn’t we follow him immediately?”

The vice-captain looked a bit anxious.

“Why should we? We are an independent warlord now.”

“Don’t we need to deal as much damage as possible to Marshal Imperium in this war?”

“That’s true. But not now.”

“Ah!! Are we waiting until Dalip raises his army?”

The vice-captain had finally caught on. If Dalip attacked Sector 9, Imperium would withdraw his troops. Attacking during the withdrawal was the most efficient.

“We also need maintenance. Look at our state.”

The ships were a mess. We had to stop by the Starbase Center to perform even simple maintenance. Also, to use the captured enemy ships, we had to reassign crews, which would take quite some time. On top of that, we had to recover Uganaoda’s broken ships.

“Let’s go!”

We moved straight to the Starbase Center. Since the distance wasn’t far if we split the forces, it only required a few interstellar warps.

***

My father was out at the docks waiting for me.

“Yu. You’ve worked hard.”

As I disembarked, he ran over and patted my back.

“Whooaaaa!”

The vassals and the residents of the space station also came out to clap and cheer. It was natural for them to be happy. If the enemy had reached this place, it would have been scorched earth.

Imperium’s notoriety was currently building. Using the excuse of avenging his son, he was currently engaged in merciless looting, destruction, and murder.

“Father, please have the vassals help with the reorganization.”

The Pak family’s business was originally finance and investment, so the vassals were strong in administration. If they joined in, the reorganization time would be shortened.

“I understand. More importantly, did you capture all those ships?”

There were 150 captured bombardment ships. Besides those, there were thirty escort ships, ten supply ships, and five heavy mobile ships. About half of them could be deployed to the battlefield immediately after simple maintenance.

So, the strength I could mobilize for the campaign was:

Sixty-two light mobile ships.
Four heavy mobile ships.
Forty-five escort ships.
Eighty bombardment ships.
210 patrol ships.
172 Dogos family patrol ships.

There were 573 ships in total. The number had decreased, but the overall power had increased. Now, the armed merchant ships could be excluded from the main force. I planned to leave them here to prepare for any potential attacks from remnants of the defeated army.

“Yes. Didn’t I tell you? That Sagitta guy is no match for me.”

Somehow, I had secured a great victory.

“Ahem.”

U-Heuk coughed from the side.

“Fortunately, Lord Uganaoda arrived in time, allowing us to finish things up.”

I appropriately credited the U family as well.

“Hahaha. It would have been better if the lad had arrived a bit earlier.”

“No. If it hadn’t been for Lord Uganaoda, we would have lost 400 ships. I will make sure this point is clearly recorded.”

Although we were an independent family, we were naturally in an alliance with Marshal Humildas’s headquarters. Uganaoda needed military merits to receive land.

‘I should wrap it up and present it as nicely as possible.’

From my perspective, there would be problems even after the war ended. I couldn’t let Naparrre run solo. Uganaoda was perfect as a check against his power. And for now, the U family was friendly toward me.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

“I should join the allied forces too.”

I would head there slowly, dawdling along, until I heard news that Dalip had attacked Sector 9.

After working this hard, wasn’t it about time I got to pick up the easy pickings?