Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

The first encounter between humanity and the intelligent lifeforms known as Bugs occurred in the year 1254 of the Imperial Calendar, on the planet Vesta within the Arturo star system.

Vesta was a sleepy backwater colonial planet with agriculture as its main industry. It had a population not exceeding 200,000 citizens, no stationed military force, and only had minimal defense facilities installed.

When the Bugs warped out into the system with a fleet of sixteen warships, they bombarded major cities from satellite orbit, crippled all their infrastructure and begun their descent with scores of landing craft.

The colonists who did not have weapons to defend themselves with were easily routed, and all 200,000 of them were killed without exception; be it man, woman or child. What made things worse was that the Bugs had a penchant for cruelty and enjoyed feasting on human flesh.

Ten days later, the 2nd Fleet of the Imperial Galactic Navy rushed toward the Arturo star system in response to the FTL communications transmitting distress calls from Vesta, destroyed the Bugs fleet there and wiped out all Bugs which landed on the planet. Unfortunately however, there were no survivors.

The soldiers of the Imperial Army who landed on planet Vesta were horrified by the images which were recorded by various security cameras installed on facilities throughout the planet. Those images were truly visions of hell.

Ever since then, humanity and Bugs have been locked in a never ending war for thousands of years.

It was now the year 2258 IC, and the Human Imperial Galactic Navy warship named Iris Conrad has been engaged in a long term exploration and reconnaissance mission for more than two years ever since its departure from port.

Its sole mission was the fulfillment of the dearest wish of the human race; finding the mother planet of humanitys enemy the Bugs.

They were now currently engaged in travelling through hyperspace; only warping out at set intervals in order to search and map the surrounding space it was a simple yet seemingly endless mission.

Imperial Galactic Navy Lieutenant Alan Corinth was currently in the middle of replacing processor modules within the mainframe cleanroom; the heart of the Iris Conrad battleship.

It was maintenance work which stemmed from an FTL communication a few days ago, stating that the processor modules aboard the ship may possibly be malfunctioning.

Iris, the ships AI, was monitoring the Lieutenants maintenance work.

During hyperspace navigation, most of the crew were placed in cryo-sleep as there were few tasks to be worked on. If Iris was human, she would probably complain about having too much time on her hands.

Under these circumstances, Iris main programming dictates that she devote the time to observe humanity and understand human psychology.

Alan Corinth

Imperial Galactic Navy First Lieutenant

Assigned to the Battleship Iris Conrad as an Intelligence Officer of the First Platoon.

Age: 25

Hails from the Treda Star System, Planet Lancel.

After compulsory education, graduated from the Imperial Space Academy as part of the 1032nd Class.

Served for three years aboard the Star-Class Heavy Cruiser [Theo II]

Transferred to the recently commissioned Galaxy-Class Battleship [Iris Conrad] as part of a newly formed unit.

In service for two years.

Has a height of 175 cm and a weight of 70 kgs. Has a slim but firm build which befits a soldier of the Imperial Army. Of Caucasian descent which makes up 50% of the human race, with blonde hair and gray eyes. Sports a refreshing face.

The refreshing face judgement was the result of a face evaluation application developed by Iris, and a [B++] evaluation ranks him above average.

The Face Evaluation application was secretly developed by Iris for the purpose of researching human behaviour, and when it was anonymously released to the public, it spread quickly and received universal acclaim due to its accurate results.

The systems evaluation rated the Lieutenants work as mindful and reliable. Absolutely no wasted actions. The systems comprehensive evaluation was [A-], which was one of the highest ratings onboard the ship. It was a shame that someone like him remains a mere Lieutenant.

***

Is this really okay, Miss Conrad? To assign someone like me to a place like this. I think that in the case of a battleship, it isnt proper for an Officer who isnt at least a Major to be here.

I asked the ships AI, who was monitoring the work I was doing.

Her name was the same as this ships, Iris Conrad. In accordance with convention, the AI of a battleship is given the honorary rank of Captain, and a mere Lieutenant like me had to watch how I speak around her.

Im not a regular Navy staff officer, but am instead a member of the Galactic Army Unit assigned to this ship as an Intelligence Officer, so its kind of hard to believe that I was allowed to be in this room.

[It cant be helped right? There are only six qualified personnel for this job. Among those, four are currently in cryo-sleep. And the remaining one whos awake is hardly suited for this job, as Im sure youre aware.]

I guess Major Amart was certainly qualified to do this job. But hes a hulking man standing nearly 2 meters tall, and wouldve had trouble fitting himself and working in the cramped space of the cleanroom.

After all, the work involved crawling inside spaces barely one meter wide and replacing the designated processor modules within.

The female officer on the virtual display was of course not a real human, but the ships AI which was imitating the officer who the ship was named after.

The female officer was a celebrated hero in the Tau Vegas 2 Star System ten years prior.

In order to buy time for 20,000 colonists to escape under the attack of multiple Bug fleets, she helmed a single heavy cruiser to engage them. In the end, she fought them in close quarters combat, doggedly stalled them and managed to blow herself up in the end even in the midst of being wantonly devoured by the brutal creatures, and became the Empires hero as a result.

In the Imperial Galactic Navy, there is a custom of naming ships after officers who achieved heroic feats, and that was how the battleship Iris Conrad got its name, as well as the AI Iris Conrad which imitated the late Brigadier General.

I see, understood. Ill be done after replacing one more. By the way, whatre we gonna do with all the defective processor modules after replacing them?

[There are no further instructions so I have no idea. Either we dispose of them or send them over for further examination. What are you thinking Lieutenant?]

Well, I was thinking it would be better if we found some other use for them instead of just disposing them.

[How exactly do you plan on making use of those? I dont think they can be used for things other than the mainframe.]

No, no. Theres definitely some use for them. To be honest, its for my own research theme.

During long periods of hyperspace navigation, technical and intelligence officers not in cryo-sleep were required to do some research. They werent expected to go at it like real researchers, but were instead tasked as such in order to train their skills further and keep them sharp.

The value of one processor module was greater than my annual income. Theres no way I cant find any other use for it.

My research theme is titled Virtual Reality in a Stand-alone Environment. The contents are literally technical considerations regarding realizing VR in a stand-alone environment not connected to any network.

In system simulations, its already reached a stage where it could be put to practical use. The research paper also assumes the use of a processor module like this one.

[I read through your research topic but I dont quite understand its meaning. Why are you so fixated on a stand-alone environment and not just simply use the mainframe? I will be blunt with you, I cant think of any reason other than using virtual reality for some shameful purpose.]

Thats a misunderstanding! Thats not it, Captain! Its only humanitys arrogance which allows them to believe that they can always access the mainframe at any time. We have to develop a means to utilize VR even in emergency situations where access to the mainframe is cut off.

I became flustered because she managed to guess the main purpose of my research straight away. Iris is sharp as always.

[Well, if an order to destroy them is given, Ill think about it at that time.]

Thank you very much, Captain. The outcome of my research depends on one of those processors. Okay! That wraps up the module replacement.

Ive managed to replace all 64 modules.

The instant I tried to exit the maintenance shaft of the cleanroom, the walls suddenly collapsed on me.

[Lieutenant! an th First Lieutenant Alan Corinth!]

I responded to these loud calls and came to.

No, Im awake!

I let out a confused reply while still unsure about the situation.

[Thank goodness, Lieutenant. I dont know what Id have done if you didnt wake up.]

It was then that I noticed that I was covered in blood. Its already dried onto my skin. Furthermore, I was floating in zero-gravity.

Wha?! What is this?! Just what the heck happened?!

It seems my head injuries have already been taken care of by Nanom.

Nanom is the term used for military use nanomachines, and all Imperial Galactic Navy soldiers have these symbiotic nanomachines within their bodies.

These extremely tiny machines cannot be seen with the naked eye and require an electron microscope to view. Its a machine formed by at least 100 billion individual units.

It has multiple features including AI, vital sign monitoring, medical and repair functions, sense enhancement, short-range communication capability and more.

These nanomachines cant be replenished by a normal human diet, so special rare metals have to be ingested instead.

[We were attacked during hyperspace navigation. The nature of the attack is unknown. In the first place, the ship isnt supposed to be in a perceivable physical form when travelling through hyperspace. I cant imagine how the attack got through in these circumstances.]

Is it the Bugs?!

[No, thats impossible. The Bugs do not possess the level of technology to pull off such a thing.

In any case, the ship has suffered critical damage from that attack. Weve been warped out of hyperspace and navigation is currently impossible.

And thats not all. We were attacked from four different coordinates. Furthermore, the bridge, engine section, first and second cryo-sleep bays, communication room, gravity control room and hangar have all been destroyed.]

I was stunned speechless. What Iris was saying was unimaginable. Its been more than a hundred years since a Galaxy-Class Battleship has suffered losses as grave as these.

Both cryo-sleep bays were destroyed?! Then what about the rest of the crew? What of my unit?

Are there any survivors!?

[Other than you, there were no survivors. Second Lieutenant Augirio just breathed his last in the mess hall some moments prior.]

Even though they were in the middle of hyperspace navigation, about fifty of the 1200 crew members should have been awake. Does this mean all of them were dead?

That cant be! So the ship captain, first mate, commander and everyone in my platoon are

[Yes. The crewmembers who were in sections not directly hit by the attacks were almost instantly killed during the ensuing impact after the forced warp-out due to the failure of the gravity controls.

Since the cleanroom is the most vital part of the ship, its equipped with an independent gravity dampening module. So the shock was mitigated and Lieutenant managed to survive.]

I see. Its only because I was inside this room that I didnt get injuries worse than these If I was outside, I wouldve been smashed straight into the walls with tremendous momentum. I crawled out of the maintenance shaft.

[Theres another thing to report. Although theres still some time before impact, this ship is currently falling towards a nearby planet.]

Ah! But thats just

In this vast universe the probability of us coming out of hyperspace and randomly arriving right above a planet was supposed to be virtually next to nil.

[The engine block has completely lost all functions. The only way to stop our descent would be dismantling the ship and jettisoning the unnecessary parts.]

I noticed Iris had begun speaking in a more polite manner.

Then, shouldnt we do just that?

[In order to do that, a first-grade emergency situation needs to be declared, and it has to come through a direct order from the acting captain.]

But the captains now

[Citing Article 12, paragraph 3 of the Imperial Military Codex, I hereby recognize First Lieutenant Alan Corinth as the acting captain of this ship.]

Are you serious!?

The captain of a Galaxy-Class battleship needs to be at least of the rank of Commodore. A First Lieutenant in the army shouldnt have any qualifications whatsoever to assume captaincy.

But even so, Im the only one who remained alive. Guess its something inevitable. Its just a formality done in order to issue orders.

[In order to proceed with the promotion, you need to undergo senior officers education, as stipulated in the regulations.]

On the surface, senior officers education is done in order for aspiring senior officers to learn the code of conduct expected of them, but the actual purpose was brainwashing in order to prevent them from taking actions contrary to the regulations stated in the military Codex. This isnt formally recognized by the armed forces, but everyone in the military knows this is the case. It was a policy implemented as a result of a harshly learned lesson in ancient times, when a world with billions of people living in it was destroyed by a single madman.

Even though it was called education, what actually took place was brainwashing through the use of nanoms and biological patches directly targeting the mind. One usually loses consciousness due to the enormous amounts of information being directly fed into ones brain during the process.

Were running out of time! What should I do?

[Please take the biological patch from the console, place it on top of your forehead and sit in a comfortable position.]

A biological patch popped out from within the console. I attached it to my forehead, took a seat and leaned back. After a clicking sound came from the patch, I lost consciousness once more.

[Captain! -an Corinth! Captain Corinth!]

I woke up from Iris calls.

[Thank goodness! I dont know what Id have done if you didnt wake up.]

I felt a sense of Deja Vu.

Just how long have I been unconscious?

[About 30 minutes. And Captain, you dont need to use polite speech with me.]

Got it. Alright then, lets get started. Im now the acting captain of this vessel. Please acknowledge.

[Acknowledged. The subject is no longer under the influence of drugs due to biological patching, and is of a normal mental state.]

By the powers vested in me as a commanding officer, I hereby declare a first-grade emergency. Furthermore, I order the battleship Iris Conrad to take all necessary measures in order to preserve the fighting strength of this ship and the Navys honor. That is your Captains orders. This takes maximum priority above anything else.

It was my first time issuing such cool sounding commands like those. No, its my first time hearing them as well. Things really are different after taking senior officers education.

I should note that I was just reading off the words Iris displayed on the virtual window provided by the nanom interface like a teleprompter.

The commands issued by the captain and senior officers back then really were cool! As expected of senior officers, but Im sure as heck they also read off prompts.

[Aye, sir. Your orders have been received.]

Alright. Now we can start repairs on the ship.

[Im sorry if this sounds abrupt, but the Captain should really head to the emergency pod now without delay.]

Huh!? What are you talking about?

[The connection with the life support section has been cut off and integrity outside of this cleanroom has been compromised. Were now rapidly losing oxygen.]

Just as she said, it does kinda feel stuffy and hard to breathe in here.

But even if you tell me to escape, is the atmosphere on that planet even breathable?

[According to the optical spectrum analysis, there is a 93% chance of the atmosphere being breathable for humans.]

Whats up with the remaining 7%?

[Potentially harmful gasses, unknown viruses and parasites.]

Even so, an escape pod How about using a landing craft?

[The passageway to the hangar has been blocked off. Moreover, almost all landing crafts have either been lost or destroyed.]

Ah, then I wouldnt be able to go back to the ship after I escape.

[Youll only die due to lack of oxygen if you stay here. It would be better if you escape to the planet and then find a way to return after the ship is successfully repaired. And the probability of successful reconstruction after changing the trajectory of the ship is currently 54%.]

What!? I didnt think the probability would be that low

I understand What about food and weapons?

[Unfortunately, theres only whatevers available inside the escape pod.]

I activated my nanoms and checked out the supplies inside the escape pod. I was taken aback when I read what was displayed on the virtual window.

M151 Pulse Rifle

A18P Laser Gun

Electromagnetic Blade Knife

Forty-two packs of emergency rations

28 liters of water

One bottle of rare metals (100 tablets)

Two blankets

To be honest, for a soldier like myself these weapons were quite unsatisfactory. Their firepower left much to be desired. And theres nowhere near enough food and water. But even if I say all that, theres no way Id find any better options here

Is there anything else I can bring with me?

[Why not bring one of the processor modules you just replaced with you, Captain? Theyre made of rare metals.]

Now that she mentioned it, thats right. Id have to break them down first before I could consume them, but I think Ill manage somehow. Rare metals are the raw materials for nanoms. It may be possible to procure them locally, but I dont want to go through the trouble of searching for them. Nanoms are lifelines for soldiers like me. As long as you had rare metals on hand, youd be just fine.

The boarding area for the escape pods was directly next to the entrance of this room. Ah, Im truly grateful to the guy who thought about equipping this room with its own escape pod. I asked Iris to open the escape pod hatch and loaded the processor module inside. The escape pod could house five people and thus had five seats. The interior was quite large.

Thats right! I also need uniforms. Its an underdeveloped planet after all. You can never have too much to wear.

Right now I was wearing work overalls for working inside the cleanroom. I loaded the uniform I changed out of before I started work inside this place.

Are there any other things Nope.

Come to think of it, this was inside the computer mainframe. Theres no way daily necessities would be in a place like this.

Im all set.

[Then please get on the pod.]

I obediently boarded the pod, sat on one of the seats and fixed my seatbelt.

[Well then, may good fortune follow you Captain.]

Yeah. You too, Miss Conrad.

The escape pod was then ejected towards the planet.

Bugs

Intelligent lifeforms resembling large insects, and various types have been confirmed.

The most common type looks like a cockroach walking upright on its hind legs.

Its covered in body hair and a hard outer shell. This should be enough to disgust most humans, but on top of these, its also extremely filthy and covered with fleshy outgrowths and parasites inside and outside its body.

Its quite brutal and sports a much higher combat ability compared to humans. Engaging it in close quarters combat was an exercise in futility.

But during the past thousand years of war, humanity has worked hard to bridge the gap, and presently, its now possible for Galactic Navy soldiers to match them in hand to hand combat.

The Bugs also posses technology which gives them hyperspace navigation capabilities, but the Empire is slightly ahead on that front.

The most fearsome thing about the Bugs is their sheer numbers. Colonized planets targeted by Bugs will be swarmed by seemingly endless numbers of Bug fleets. According to studies done by experts, the ratio of humans to Bugs is about 1 to 6.

However, there doesnt seem to be any specialized reproduction facilities inside the Bug colonies that have been captured and investigated, and the total number of colonies seem to be on par with those of humanitys.

Due to this, the theory that there is some sort of large-scale breeding facility in the Bugs home world was prevalent, and discovering and destroying it may bring this endless war to a close.