Editing KSGU:Volume 4 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 12===

“ECOAS 729 called in. The Object Ball has been placed.”

One could tell from Ensign Mihiro’s tense voice that she did not have time to feel relieved over the end of the second phase. Object ball—their positions were set. There was no backing out from this competition. They had to quickly release the cue and let the cue ball hit the gathered targets. “Alright!” Otto let out a voice that echoed through the bridge, and used this momentum to pause his thoughts. He picked up the ship’s phone from the Captain’s seat armrest and pressed on the button to broadcast to the entire ship.

“This is the Captain notifying all hands. We’ll begin the 3rd phase of the operation. At this moment, our ship will rush into enemy space and attack their base with the hyper mega-particle cannon.”

First Officer Liam, who was seated at the console in front together with the cannon operator and the navigation officer, gave a tense glance at Otto. The sensor operator was sitting at the left console, and Ensign Mihiro was on the right. The second communication room was left to Operator Bellard for him to contact ECOAS and pass the information. The often-empty commander’s seat beside the Captain’s seat was occupied by Alberto, and this observer’s unreliable face was all pale, but nobody in the ship had time and will to send him to the safe living quarters for safety. Otto ignored Alberto, who swallowed his saliva hard, and said,

“As everyone knows, we need all the power on the ship to fill the hyper mega-particle cannon. Our ship will now head towards the enemy watchzone at the fastest speed possible, but we’ll have to rely on inertia once we start loading. We won’t be able to turn and adjust ourselves, and the main and side cannons can’t be used. We can only use the ship’s navigation speed to break through the enemy’s perimeter.”

In other words, once they rushed out, they would not be able to stop. They had to barge into the firing zone with such restrained conditions and fire the hyper mega-particle cannon at the target. They had to break through the enemy’s ranks until the ship’s power was regained. Otto heard the sighs of the crew members that amounted to more than a hundred for himself and emphasized, “This is a dangerous gamble.”

“However, the success of this operation will depend on this hit. I hope every crew member can rise up to the challenge.”

He put down the ship’s phone and stared at everyone’s faces on the bridge. It was impossible to see the crew’s expressions as they were covered by the normal suits’ helmets, but Otto felt the weight of the life in each individual body more than ever. He took in the last mouth of breath he could take and finally gave the order, “All hands, check the airlocks.” and closed the visor of his helmet.

“All hands, accelerate defensed. Proceed at high speeds.”

Soon after the command was repeated countless times, the trembling of the machines was amplified, and the ship itself shook with a rattling voice.  10 thruster nozzles let out flares at the same time, and the 400m long giant ship let out an impact from the inside. The “Nahel Argama” was starting to accelerate. Otto held onto the armrests tightly as he stared at the navigation screen in front of him.

The stars that were on the bridge windows did not move. Nothing could prove that the ship was accelerating other than the speedometer, but the G-force striking from the front increased its pressure regularly, causing the sweat under Otto’s armpits to flow towards the back. They started from the ‘safe driving’ of 1km per minute, and gradually accelerated such that it went down to 50 seconds, 40, 30. Once it reached the 30 second mark, the G force on the bodies exceeded 3G, and the skin on the faces were rattling.

The body that had the weight of the normal suit added on felt like a lead block, and he could not lean on the backrest. His arms felt heavy, like they were being pulled down by something, and if he relaxed, it seemed like the force would strike through the armrests fully. Otto continued to stare at the navigation screen as he heard the groans from the opened wireless communicator inside the ship. Soon, they would reach their fastest speed—3km per second as the ship accelerated by the minute.

The ship let out a rattling sound, and the continuous acceleration monitor let out a warning light. The minute space dust hitting it would let out a sandstorm-like sound inside the ship. The G-force on the body exceeded 6G. The “Nahel Argama”, escorted by three machines bore the G-force that was equivalent to that of leaving the atmosphere, and it passed through the shoal space region like a rocket. (We’re about to reach the enemy watchzone.) (Minovsky particles, scattered to battle situation density). Otto heard Liam and the rest let out reports that sounded like groans through the wireless communicator, saw that the value on the acceleration monitor was already what they planned, and shouted with all his strength, “HYPER MEGA-PARTICLE CANNON, READY TO FIRE!”

The vibrations of the engine faded away quickly, and the G-force that were pressing down on the body was weakening. (Coordinates stabilized, designated as the target instructed by the ship) (Engines stopped, proceeding by inertia. Focusing all power to the hyper mega-particle cannon!) (All hands, switch to the backup power). The voices rang and disappeared through the wireless communicator, and the lights in the bridge were switched to the red light of the backup power. This time, an impact from the back struck everyone. As the acceleration ended, the G-force on the bodies became zero, and the bodies that were released from intense pressure bent forward.

The thrusters stopped, and the ship that lost the propelled power flew in space by inertia. The real danger began at this point. The sounds of the ship’s rattling was fading gradually, but the sounds of minute debris was still pinging on the ship’s external armor. The air sac of the normal suits crumpled, and the Otto felt an itchy feeling in his lower body during to blood circulation flowing into his numb parts. He held his breath and stared at the sensor visual.

The navigation path was designed by comparing the latest space maps, but it was possible for the debris flying over to obstruct their way. The effective range of their sensors was reduced to a range of about 20km radius at this point as they had scattered Minovsky Particles. All signs of debris in the way would collide directly into the “Nahel Argama” within milliseconds…

Suddenly, a black shadow grazed past their sights, causing the sweat on Otto’s back to freeze. A small white light flickering outside the window as an allied machine diagonally in front of them—Ensign Riddhe’s “Delta Plus” was telling everyone that it was carrying out adjustments. The irregular debris floating in from the space outside seemed to graze past something not too far away from the ship as it flew behind. (Hii…) Mihiro let out a weak shriek a second later as the debris floated away from the sensor’s range.

(This is too reckless…)

Alberto moaned with his hands covering his head. ''Who do you think was the cause behind this?'' Otto suppressed the urge to let out this voice from his throat and his body felt the engine rumble again. (The anti-air Gatling guns can still work, shoot down the irregular rocks!) The sound of the hyper mega-particle cannon gathering power overpowered Liam’s growl as it got louder and louder. The large monster sucked up all the power the “Nahel Argama” generated and rumbled. The 50m long large cannon poking out from the hull of the ship spread the melody of the power generated and gathered through the ship.

17.59. The time schedule was going at a difference of 5 seconds. At this point, they could only leave their luck to Heaven. Otto saw the spot of light on “Palau” on the screen and exerted strength in his hands resting on the armrests. They would shoot the fireworks ECOAS 729 set up at the Pyramid Spot on the rhombus at 18.00. There were 3 seconds left, 2, 1…