Chapter 114 – Honestly, Your Manners Are Utterly Lacking!

Out into the pitch-black expanse of space -- the shining sea of stars -- Arden launched.

In the cockpit, Letaria glanced down at the unfamiliar large equipment mounted on both shoulders, and asked, a little concerned.

"Milea, whatever is this, exactly?"

"Letaria, take a look at Arden's main energy reserves right now."

Prompted by Milea, Letaria checked Arden's graphic interface. Despite cruising at maximum speed, the main body's core energy had barely dropped at all -- instead, a separate gauge labeled "Extension" was smoothly draining down.

"...Whatever does this mean...!?"

"That would be the newly developed 'Extension Cruise Booster.' With that equipped, high-speed long-range travel becomes possible. Though, in exchange for that overwhelming thrust, the strain it puts on the pilot is severe -- the final verification test with an actual pilot aboard was something we were planning to run later. The unmanned safety checks are already done, but... honestly, I would have preferred to follow proper procedure before putting it into real combat use."

Over the comm, Milea's voice carried a faint note of apology.

"I see. Now that you mention it, I do recall a slight jolt of sudden acceleration right at the start, but I feel perfectly fine now."

Letaria showed not the slightest concern over having effectively served as the test subject herself.

"...It's precisely because it's you that I judged it safe, physically and mentally, to have you wear it. That initial burst of acceleration would have knocked out any ordinary pilot cold, without question."

"So that is how it was! Fufun, for someone like myself, who has fully mastered this Arden, a strain of this magnitude poses no problem whatsoever!"

Rushed as the deployment had been, and effectively closer to a live safety trial than anything else, Letaria took Milea's words as the highest possible compliment, her nose lifting proudly with a satisfied smile.

"Fufu, reassuring to hear. The Trace Mode linkage is fully synced as well. Push your speed up further with your own piloting, and get to that transport ship as quickly as you can."

"Understood, I shall make haste!"

Arden's shoulder boosters erupted with a tremendous trail of exhaust, and the machine surged forward through space with even greater acceleration.

◆◆◆

Long before Arden's radar could catch the enemy machines.

"There they are...!"

Letaria's magic caught the distant foreign presences with perfect clarity.

One massive presence. This would be the transport ship calling for help.

And close beside it, two ominous signatures.

While Letaria was still processing this, Arden's radar caught up and detected the targets a moment later.

On the display: a signature that looked to be the transport ship, and two more that looked to be raiders -- one large machine, one medium-sized machine.

Before long, the civilian transport ship came into view within Letaria's own line of sight as well.

On the far side of it hovered a menacingly imposing "large red Makina" and a "medium-sized green Makina" that looked built for mobility. The large machine possessed an unusual bulk, more than double the size of an ordinary general-use unit.

"Can you hear me!? I have come to your aid!"

Letaria immediately opened a comm channel to the transport ship and raised her voice.

"Thank god...! But be careful, all our escort machines have already been taken down! They had us dead in their sights, so we couldn't risk moving!"

Looking closer, Letaria could see several half-wrecked escort Makina drifting around the transport ship. It was clear a life-or-death battle had already been fought here. The transport ship itself was already completely pinned down -- any careless attempt to flee would have gotten it sunk on the spot.

"...Those must be the impudent scoundrels."

Letaria's gaze turned toward the two raider Makina looming there, ominous and still.

The two machines, faced with the sudden appearance of the deep-purple newcomer, held back from engaging immediately, instead watching her with a wary, probing stillness.

"Boss, we drag this out any longer and Seldia's gonna send in the real cavalry."

The pilot of the green medium-sized Makina spoke up over the comm, sounding impatient.

"Don't rush. ...Still, that distinctive coloring, that mobility. Could this be the rumored 'Rampaging Lady'? No need to hold back. Let's finish this quickly."

The leader-type man piloting the large red Makina answered.

An instant later -- Letaria's honed magic caught a distortion in the space around them.

The telltale sign of both machines firing simultaneously.

"...! I can see it perfectly well!"

Letaria snapped Arden into a rapid evasive maneuver, clearing the line of fire in an instant.

A moment later, a thick beam of light tore through the exact space Arden had occupied.

"To open with an attack, without so much as a proper greeting -- honestly, your manners are utterly lacking!"

Before Letaria's anger could even fully register in her voice, the green medium-sized Makina surged forward with tremendous speed to press the follow-up attack.

Just as she was about to dodge the enemy's rapid-fire Photon Rifle barrage in her usual sweeping, dramatic style -- in that instant, Letaria's senses caught something wrong nearby.

(...If I move too widely, I shall catch them in it!)

Several escape pods from the destroyed escort machines were drifting quietly in the surrounding space. If she dodged with her usual bold, expansive maneuvering, the thrust wake and shockwave could easily catch and destroy those fragile pods.

"...I shall manage this...!"

Letaria gritted her teeth and chose the most minimal possible movement instead.

Rather than dodging to the side or retreating, she threaded the gaps in the enemy's furious barrage and slipped forward instead, closing to point-blank range in a straight line, taking the most direct path into her opponent's own guard.

"What--!?"

The medium-sized machine's pilot, never expecting her to charge straight through the line of fire rather than dodge it, showed a split-second opening. He scrambled to draw his Photon Saber -- but --

"Too slow!"

Faster than the blade could clear its sheath, Arden drove a savage straight punch into the enemy machine's right arm, the one reaching for its saber.

A tremendous shock rang out, and carrying the same momentum through, her other fist shattered the joint of the left arm as well. In an instant, the enemy's combat capability was completely stripped away.

"Step aside!"

Letaria seized the now-helpless enemy machine's head with her manipulator and, putting her entire body's mass behind the throw, hurled it violently off into the distant void.

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!?"

Carried by the force of the throw, the medium-sized machine spun wildly away into the distance. Unable to right itself, it tumbled far off in a direction well clear of the escape pods.

"Now then... you're next."

Letaria let out a short breath to steady herself and turned her gaze to the remaining massive red Makina.

"...Hmph. Better than I expected, little lady."

The enemy leader murmured, unshaken, as he leveled the massive cannon and large Photon Rifle mounted on both his shoulders, bringing both to a dead-steady aim on Arden at once.