Chapter 19

Episode 19. A Week of Party Time (1)

And about two days after seeing the chat of the deceased.

“Commander, we have a report from the unmanned surveillance drone installed on the outskirts.”

“Hmm.”

“Just now, a pirate group consisting of 1 destroyer, 2 escort ships, and 2 patrol ships is approaching this base.”

Upon hearing Jessica’s words, I immediately opened the quest window to check how much time was left.

[Time remaining until the frenzy begins (00:00:03)]

‘Ah, timing.’

And as soon as I checked the time, the timer ran out, and a new message appeared before my eyes.

—————————————-

[Event: The Week of Frenzy Begins]

[Starting today, pirate attacks on the base will continue for a week.]

[Your ranking will be reflected based on your pirate handling score, so please check.]

—————————————-

-“Are the pirates finally coming, Commander…♡”

“Hmm, it seems so.”

I nodded in response to Pashtira’s communication, who had become a marine and loved blowing up ships.

Then, I decided to get a brief briefing from Jessica next to me about our current situation.

“Jessica, what’s our current situation?”

“On the front, there’s a fleet including the escort ship Pashtira is on, and behind the ice satellite ahead, there’s a fleet led by Belial waiting.”

After Jessica’s briefing, I looked at the sleek new ‘escort ship’ we had just deployed 2 hours ago and said.

“Good, then let’s proceed with the plan as scheduled.”

“Yes, Commander.”

==========

Of course, the pirates were at a disadvantage in every aspect except one.

“Except for having a destroyer, they are weaker than us in numbers, brains, and even the quality of their troops.”

“Hmm.”

“Moreover, by not conducting any reconnaissance of this terrain, they are even losing in the information war.”

Belial’s assessment was indeed fair.

Immediately after the battle began, our pirates, with the destroyer at the forefront,

advanced towards Pashtira’s fleet, which was holding its ground with an escort ship as the flagship, firing wildly.

However, Pashtira’s fleet calmly evaded as planned, pretending to retreat due to being outnumbered, and began to lure them in.

Given that our base is located in the early ‘Resource Zone’, surrounded by various abandoned or depleted satellites, it’s no exaggeration to call it a cosmic maze.

Perhaps our pirates were intoxicated by the seemingly overwhelming difference in power (1 destroyer, 2 escort ships, 2 patrol ships vs 1 escort ship, 3 patrol ships).

-“Oh my, the pirates keep chasing us?”

Without proper reconnaissance, they kept chasing Pashtira, pushing deeper and deeper.

-Kuuuu…Kugugung! Kakak!

Even as their ships collided with satellites along the way, they mindlessly pushed forward.

Watching this, I couldn’t help but wonder why they were so frantic.

“Commander, did you see that?”

“See what?”

“Pashtira taunted the pirates.”

For a moment, I was puzzled by what she meant, and a question mark appeared above my head.

Seeing my reaction, Jessica clapped her hands, realizing she hadn’t explained, and said to me.

“With the recent update, the real-time status of each ship during battle is no longer transmitted to the commanders.”

“…What?”

“To be precise, if the communication function is turned off or destroyed, there’s no way to know the status of that ship.”

“Hmm.”

“Even if a ship is captured by the enemy, unless it’s attacked, there’s no way to know.”

What kind of crappy update is that?

Of course, it wasn’t the most important thing at the moment, so I decided to look into it more after the battle.

Anyway, as I was thinking that, the pirates, taunted (?) by Pashtira, reached the place we had planned.

-“Now.”

Belial, who had been hiding behind the ice satellite, dove into the pirate fleet like a dive bomber.

-“What’s that?!”

-“It’s an ambush! Enemy right above!”

And as the pirates, startled by the sudden ambush, all looked up.

-“Just as the Commander planned♡”

Pashtira’s fleet, which had been slowly sinking while luring the pirates, made a 180-degree turn and unleashed the main guns and missiles of the patrol ships and escort ships without hesitation.

-“Fire♡”

At the same time, our Pashtira, who had grown stronger through relentless training, unleashed powerful beam attacks.

Among the pirate group’s ships that were trying to focus their shields upward, one escort ship next to a destroyer was swept away by the attack and sank.

Another ship was also hit defenselessly and retreated.

Only the destroyer managed to block Pashtira’s concentrated attack due to its size difference, but…

The problem was that in the process, the destroyer’s shield was completely shattered, exposing its vast deck.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the shield would have recovered by the next fleet-wide attack, and the destroyer would have survived just fine…

But at that very moment, the assault pods fired by the surprise attack force from above… no, the assault pods pierced through the destroyer’s deck.

As a result, the inside of the destroyer, which had been swarming with pirates, was now in chaos as SSS-class and near-SSS-class superhumans ran amok, creating a holocaust.

While our superhumans were busy “cooking” the destroyer, the remaining pirate ships tried to make a desperate escape to survive.

But with the destroyer barely holding on, and with their small numbers, inferior performance, and lack of a commander…

It wasn’t long before they became nothing more than producers of new heat and space dust in the universe.

Truly, these space pirates, who had never been of any help to anyone in their lives and remained a nuisance until their dying moment…

I nodded in gratitude as I watched them explode like fireworks in the distance.

“Thank you, Midori… Live strong in space.”

“…What exactly are you doing to the space pirates, Commander?”

Of course, Jessica, who was beside me, frowned, unable to understand my attitude.

“Think about it, Jessica.”

“Yes?”

“If someone gives me a free destroyer, shouldn’t I be grateful, whether it’s from pirates or whatever?”

“…”

Moreover, they even provided us with a large number of dummies (alive) to level up our superhumans. How generous is that?

“They’re like a tree that gives without holding back, just giving everything away.”

“Is… is that so?”

And while I was having this conversation, under the protection of the fleet led by Pashtira…

I could see the destroyer captured by our Ignis and Belial from the space pirates, proudly entering the base.

==========

Anyway, with that, we concluded the first day’s attack.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in real combat, but fortunately, my instincts haven’t dulled yet.”

“Same here♡ I guess my skills haven’t died yet either♡”

“Truly an excellent force, everyone.”

Our reliable superhumans, of course.

“Battle results: 1 destroyer captured, 2 escort ships sunk, 2 patrol ships sunk, and no damage to our side.”

“Hmm.”

“It was a great battle, far more impressive than expected.”

Jessica, who was watching the situation from the command center, also seemed very satisfied.

I inwardly sighed in relief, knowing that the strategy I had planned had worked perfectly.

And aside from the strategy, I was thrilled that everyone had grown by sucking up experience points without getting hurt.

But regardless of that, I couldn’t just be happy seeing this.

Because, you see, this damn pirate rampage event wasn’t over yet.

For the remaining 6 days, they would continue to push into the base like a boss rush.

==========

And indeed, about 4 days after that day…

[Pirate Extermination Complete]

“…I’m tired.”

“Same here.”

I nodded as I watched the once fresh-faced girls grow increasingly fed up with the pirates’ relentless plundering.