Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 44
“Attention all units! Attention all units! Return to the mothership immediately! Retreat now!”
Leon’s order through the loudspeaker shocked Alois. “Why?” He couldn’t help but wonder if he had misheard.
“I repeat! Retreat immediately! Do not engage the enemy! This is an order!”
Leon’s voice carried an unusual tension and severity.
What happened? The current battle was clearly in their favor. The enemy’s vanguard had suffered heavy losses, and more of their units, unaware, were still moving deeper into the Second Sea of Death. With a bit of luring, they would enter the mine-laden high-risk area. Why retreat when the situation was so favorable?
Alois wanted to ask but had no time for questions on the battlefield. As a soldier and a pirate, obeying orders was his duty. He could only turn his craft and fly towards the mothership, Lady of the Night, skimming past an Empire cruiser.
The enemy was probably as startled by the sudden retreat as we were. Soon, two modified Godot IIs appeared on the radar, closely tailing Alois like determined hounds. If this were a retreat under unfavorable conditions, it could be seen as a feigned defeat to lure the enemy in. But retreating under advantageous conditions seemed too abnormal and could only be explained by internal issues within the pirate ranks. Not pursuing now would be foolish.
If Alois were the Empire commander, he would also send fighters to chase. The previous losses were too severe. If they didn’t score a win before the pirates disappeared, the record would look too dismal. The two Godot IIs behind him were determined to take down Doro.
Alois pulled up the map and located the Lady of the Night. She was cleverly hidden in an asteroid cluster, camouflaged as a large asteroid nearby. But Alois couldn’t return directly to the mothership. The enemy was too close; a slight approach would reveal the Lady of the Night’s position. Even if the ship’s laser cannons could take out the two fighters instantly, attacking would expose the ship’s location.
Alois gritted his teeth and looped back towards the battlefield. If he couldn’t shake off those annoying tails, he might as well take them down!
“Lagrange! What’s taking you so long?!” This time, Titia’s voice came through the speaker. “Retreat quickly! Don’t engage the enemy! Shake them off!”
“They’re too close, I can’t shake them!” Alois said as he pressed the launch button. Missiles shot towards a Godot II, but it easily dodged and skillfully destroyed the missiles. Through the explosion’s fire and smoke, the other fighter emerged, like breaking through the clouds, with indigo beams slicing through the air like a sword.
Alois pulled up his craft just in time to dodge the beams. Such high-level maneuvers must be from one of the top aces in the Empire fleet. This thought brought a subtle sense of jealousy to Alois.
A sharp noise came through the speaker, followed by Joanna’s voice, loud enough to shake the cockpit. “Lagrange! Stop fighting and retreat immediately!”
Simultaneously, six or seven red dots representing enemies lit up on the radar, quickly closing in on Doro’s position, forming an encirclement. When Alois tried to shake off the two persistent Godot IIs, a rain of indigo beams cut off his retreat, pushing him step by step towards the center of the encirclement.
“Alois, we’re coming to help!” Titia’s voice came through.
“No! Don’t come over!”
More red dots appeared. The Empire realized the pirates were genuinely retreating and couldn’t let them disappear into the vast space. Even downing one pirate fighter would at least save face from this surprise attack.
“Captain! You guys go first! I’ll follow soon!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You want us to leave you behind?”
“It’s a tactical retreat, not running away.”
Alois launched another wave of missiles, this time firing them to the left and right of his target. When the Empire fighter dodged, it ran straight into the missile. Even so, the damage wasn’t significant, and it pulled back, with more comrades filling its place.
“Alois.” This time, Joanna called him by name. “If you can’t win, surrender. The Empire treats prisoners well.”
“You don’t need to tell me that.”
“You idiot!” Joanna’s anger was tinged with deep helplessness. “Stay alive until I come to rescue you!”
“I… know that!” Alois shouted back.
The speaker fell silent. The radar showed all ships, including the Lady of the Night, retreating in an orderly fashion. The pirates quietly withdrew from the battlefield, shielded by the interference field and the cover of the Second Sea of Death’s debris. The Empire forces seemed hesitant to pursue into the complex terrain of the star sea.
Alois fired his last wave of missiles. All his ammunition was exhausted. He closed the communication channel with the mothership and opened the general broadcast to the Empire. “The Doro of the Begrel fleet surrenders. Please treat prisoners according to interstellar law.” After the announcement, Alois felt his face burn with shame. The Empire pilots probably wanted to drag him out of his cockpit and shoot him a hundred times.
His surrender quickly received a response. “Disarm and await recovery.”
Alois marked a big X on the control panel, indicating the activation of the ejection and self-destruction system. The screen turned blood-red as the cockpit transformed, the seat sinking and the upper part closing to form an escape pod. The screen flashed for a few seconds, and then the escape pod was ejected from the craft.
With no control panel, the escape pod contained only essential survival equipment and communication devices. It was soon intercepted and recovered by the Empire. The craft left behind wasn’t so lucky. The “escape and self-destruct system” activated after the pod ejected, turning the craft into a ball of flames, burning itself to ashes.
Even if Joanna would cry her eyes out, Alois wouldn’t change his mind. Leaving the craft and its data to the enemy was unthinkable. “Not letting you have it, my Doro,” he muttered proudly to himself.
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