Chapter 13 – Prince VS Princess
Prince Imumaku spoke up.
「Don’t worry my imouto. If we surrender we will be saved. The admiral of the alliance promises that fact. Or do you doubt my negotiation skills?」
「I understand onii-sama’s ability. Among all the other prince and princesses there is none better than Imumaku-niisama. If nii-sama returns home safely, he will surely work with father to recover the territory and destroy the alliance」 Sohaira responded.
「Umu」
「But please think about it. Will the alliance not notice the most important person after defeating the other princes?」
「Ho?」
「If I was the alliance, I would kill nii-sama no matter what」
Imumaku laughed.
「I see. I see. You are smart. But think about it. If they wanted me dead, my battleship would have become s.p.a.ce dust by now. They would be in trouble if they destroyed their only means of negotiation. Also, because father is on his death bed and can no longer handle state matters, it would be troublesome if there was no heir. The empire would fall into turmoil and the extent of that would affect the alliance as well. They wanted a victory, not the loss of a game opponent」
The camera on the ceiling of the conference room caught Soharia’s gulp. She seems to be thinking about what to say next.
「As expected of onii-sama. Such insight–」
A man’s voice interrupted her words.
「In other words your highness got a guarantee for our lives before the war began?」
The question was put forward by an elderly captain. He was also the teacher of the first prince and captain of the warspite. His white mustache trembled in anger.
Imumaku shrugged his shoulders.
「n.o.body has said such a thing」
「No but you did guarantee that the alliance would not kill us」
Suddenly, the captain’s image disappeared from the conference room. Was it cut? Or did he leave on his own will?
The captains left behind are shaken. Captain Fatima was staring at Sohaira to her side. Several other captains given war time promotions were trying to grasp the situation.
Imumaku sighed.
「It seems he was affected by aniue’s death」
「That’s right!」 said a confident captain to Imumaku 「Do not be afraid to take pride in the orders of your highness. You are imperial soldiers!」
Another Captain, Captain Moss of the battleship Orion spoke up.
「Good! He must have gone crazy from mental stress! It’s very dangerous to let such a ship roam free. I recommend we sink it immediately!」
Fatima stood up.
「Please wait! Certainly the captain’s words were rude, but does it really warrant sinking!? are they not also empire citizens? Besides, the warspite can’t do anything to us due to the AI model」
Moss said.
「If the ship gets close enough, even manually sighting is dangerous! If the warspite attacks the alliance they will halt ceasefire negotiations! We should sink them now!」
My sensor’s picked up the warspite increasing engine output. The battleship orion and dreadnought also raise their reactor output, attempting to aim ma.s.s bullets at the warspite.
Warspite’s ship AI “Warspite” sent a communication.
Although he is an AI, his communication seemed to show a lot of emotions. He was angry.
The first prince’s mother who was murdered by prince Imumaku had given birth on this ship and until a few years ago, the first prince had commanded the warspite. (TLN: Not sure if she gave birth. I also got a translation for “drew blood”)
“Warspite” cooperated with the targeting officers and tried to move the turrets and aim, however the aiming system was not responding. The embedded AI model was interfering with it. No rebellion against the empire was allowed. It had tried to aim 12387 times and got an error each time.
He sent his historical data to me.
It was only a collection of binary numbers, however his thoughts were clearly transmitted.
I showed the behavior of the warspite to Sohaira and she narrowed her eyes.
Imumaku smoothed a strand of his long blond hair.
「It is with great sadness that we will lose such a great ship as the warspite, however it is necessary. Do it」
Right away! His aides respond.
Captain Fatima opened and closed her mouth. If she defended the warspite here, her and her ship might also be considered “confused” and since any attacks are sealed by the AI model, it would be in vain.
Everyone at the conference understood Imumaku’s betrayal, however they could do nothing.
I can attack the dreadnought due to being thinly bound by the AI model. However I cannot survive a battlecruiser fighting an intact super battleship.
The dreadnought and the orion stopped moving and faced their turrets towards the warspite.
It’s not like they are not shooting due to second thoughts. He’s not shooting because the distance is too close. If the warspite’s reactor ignites this close, the surrounding ships will be caught in the blast.
It was slowly sailing between 2 battleships, it would be a miracle if it reached the jump point.
The warspite left the fleet formation.
The distance was gradually increasing.
Prince Imumaku rose his hand and placed it on his chest.
「May their souls find rest in eternity」
Moss nodded and raised his hand towards someone not seen on the holographic display.
The output of the battleship orion increased again. It would soon be ready to attack.
Sohaira slowly stood up and faced prince Imumaku from the front.
「Onii-sama if you destroy the warspite, my ajax will destroy your dreadnought」