Chapter 1340: Without Explicit Permission

The longer they stayed there doing nothing, the more uneasy they became.

"Sir, I know it doesn’t look good right now, but really, we’ll be able to handle ourselves," Luca pleaded, stepping forward with those earnest golden eyes. "We’re only going to get them out of there and come straight back before you even know it! In fact, why don’t we just use B9’s battleship since we’ve already gathered the evacuated cadets here on B10’s vessel?"

He was already prepared to point out that they wouldn’t even ask for additional energy or rations.

Hell, he’d rent the battleship if that was what it took!

Unfortunately, Luca never got the chance to negotiate.

"I understand," the proctor interrupted. "And I’ve already been informed about the capabilities of the team asking to return to the surface. But we’re currently unable to contact the Academy or Military HQ for authorization because the communication lines have been severed."

His voice softened slightly.

"Without explicit permission, we can’t take the risk of sending cadets this young back down to confront terrorists, especially when you’ve already managed to reach safety."

Off to the side, B10’s assigned head proctor honestly had no idea what expression he was supposed to make.

Because he knew damn well that these cadets weren’t like their other students.

Hell, they weren’t even comparable to most of the colleagues and soldiers he’d worked with over the years!

If anything, several members of this group were probably more capable than a good portion of the reinforcements they were currently waiting for.

But knowing that and being willing to authorize a group of first-year cadets to deliberately head back toward armed terrorists were two completely different things.

The higher-ups would skin them alive! And that was after they’d already tortured themselves over doing something so reckless instead of going out there personally.

But the examiners on board also knew better than to make themselves liabilities when there simply weren’t enough of them to form a force capable of making any meaningful difference.

Thus, regardless of whatever personal confidence he had in DG, the proctor could only support the decision to keep them aboard.

He was already preparing himself for another round of persuasion, hoping they could finally convince the cadets to remain here while the battleship returned to orbit to await further instructions, when his terminal suddenly pinged.

Ding!

A high-priority notification appeared across the holographic screen.

"...?"

What none of them knew was that one particular Imperial Crown Prince had already grown deeply annoyed at having to watch his wife work this hard just to convince anyone to let them help.

Especially when Xavier himself had been working like crazy all year precisely so his little chipmunk wouldn’t have to fight so many unnecessary battles, whether verbal or physical!

What were their titles even for if they could still be held up by something as absurd as this?

So while Luca had been pleading his case, Xavier had already taken matters into his own hands and requested a blanket authorization from the Marshal’s office under the guise of a guild contract, giving them the authority they needed to proceed with their rescue efforts.

As for the supposedly severed communication lines?

Well...

That might’ve been a problem for everyone else.

But those restrictions had never really applied to D-29, who could happily meddle with all sorts of networks whenever he pleased. Apparently, he was working even faster now because, according to Sid, the little system had been supercharged by all the praise he could hear from the murmuring cadets who couldn’t take their eyes off the waiting biomechas.

As a matter of fact, D-29, who was currently in mecha form, was outraged beyond belief at the thought that his newfound fans might not get to witness his majestic flight and combat moves.

"..."

"..."

That much was debatable.

No wonder the guardian mecha who relayed such important information had seemed extremely pained throughout the entire exchange. Xavier, however, thought it worked perfectly well as free motivation to get the ball rolling faster without having to pay the entertainment industry’s biggest invisible client.

Sure enough, the invigilator’s expression changed dramatically as he stared at the official notice that had just appeared on his terminal.

His eyes widened.

Then narrowed.

Then widened again as he reread the authorization from beginning to end just to make absolutely certain he wasn’t seeing things!

However, before he could even voice the absurd order he’d just received, something changed.

Luca’s pleading expression vanished.

His golden eyes sharpened as his head abruptly snapped toward the viewport.

"Activate the shields!" Luca suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs!

__

BOOM!

The sharp, thunderous roar of heavy artillery slamming into the newly raised energy barrier rattled the entire hull, making the massive battleship rock from the force of the impact!

Finn Wrenner could hardly believe his eyes.

Only seconds earlier, he’d been listening in from the primary command center while most of the other cadets gathered near the lower deck to hear the increasingly heated argument between the members of DG and those stubborn invigilators.

Honestly, Finn had wanted to be down there with everyone else.

However, he’d eventually reasoned that this might be his last opportunity in a very long while to get hands-on experience aboard an actual military battleship.

After everything that had happened during this supposedly normal first-year exercise, Finn had a terrible feeling the Royal Military Academy would be undergoing some rather massive structural changes and implementing far stricter restrictions once this whole fiasco was over!

So, in a desperate attempt to squeeze as much practical experience out of the situation as possible, he’d remained in the command center, helping wherever the crew allowed him while listening to the argument through the internal channel.

The experienced battleship crew, who’d remained largely hands-off during the cadets’ initial flight, were now busy performing the final checks for orbital entry. With the exercise officially suspended, they were finally free to step in, though Finn continued working alongside them whenever possible.

As for his personal opinion on the standoff... the longer he listened to the proctors explain why DG couldn’t possibly return to the surface, the more he found himself quietly shaking his head.

See, their reasoning probably would’ve applied perfectly well to normal cadets. Not that most normal cadets, particularly first-years, would be crazy enough to announce that they were going down there to face actual terrorists with nothing more than false bravado. So clearly, there was something else going on here.

And thinking back to the performances those proctors had undoubtedly witnessed as observers, did those rules really apply to the kind of monsters who’d already been personally recognized by some of the most prominent personalities in the Empire?!

Finn was still busily turning that thought over in his head, already beginning to wonder whether there was some way they could convince the proctors to reconsider, when a familiar voice suddenly cut straight through his thoughts.

"Activate the shields!"

Finn jolted.

Their Battalion Commander had clearly directed it at literally anyone within hearing range.

The problem was, at that precise moment, out of all the cadets aboard, Finn was the only one actually inside the command center who could do something about it.

The experienced battleship crew certainly hadn’t been paying attention to cadet gossip while preparing the vessel for flight!

Thus, before Finn’s dazed mind could even fully process what he was doing, his body moved almost entirely on instinct.

He sprinted toward the captain’s main console and slammed his hand down on the manual shield activation control!

"!!!"

The surrounding crew members were instantly scandalized.

Several mouths opened at once, ready to harshly reprimand the cadet for such wildly unauthorized behavior when they’d already been generous enough to let him remain in the command center for additional training even after the exercise had been suspended.

But before a single word could leave their throats—

BOOM!

Something struck the battleship with immense force!

The newly activated energy barrier flared brilliantly around the hull, absorbing the impact as the entire vessel shuddered beneath their feet.

Everyone froze.

Whatever had just hit them hadn’t appeared on their long-range radar at all!

The still-trembling logistics cadet stared at the readings with rapidly widening eyes. There’d been absolutely no warning, yet the readings confirmed they’d definitely been hit by something!

What the hell?!

Were they being attacked with spiritual energy blasts?!