-------this is a summarized version of what happen's in this chapter reworded to make it read nicely but briefly, except where the machine spat out good English It's not a direct translation------------
3 "Melancholy"
On that day, Ryoko · Balta 's ship was carrying out periodic maintenance at a private maintenance dock in a space not far from the academy.
It was located in a small relay point where GP and major regular flights passed through regularly.
"Captain, the maintenance is ... ...."Ryoko's adjunct came into the captain's room,and noticed Ryoko,was distracted, he stopped reporting.
"What's the matter?"
"... .... Oh.... I've been thinking about this new type of ship"
"The ship Yamada Seina is captaining?"
"Yeah"
"Its weird that we had such a thing leaked to us by a spy, You'd think Airi's workshop would have better security"
"Are you suggesting it was intentionally leaked?"
Ryoko smiled wryly at the adjunct.
"This ship is certainly a groundbreaking thing to say the least, its mass-producible and it's cost-effectiveness is ridiculous."
A three dimensional figure of the Kamidake was displayed.
"But this ship wasn't intended to act as a single ship ... it was built to be a part of a fleet.
"yeah, but it's a bit small, isn't it?"
"well that is true, its only a quarter the size of our ship. if we were to use it as our only ship, it would be quite difficult. It can attack well, but it's too small to drag the containers used by the GP ...."
A container was displayed next to the Kamidake. It was about twice as long in length.
"I see what you mean."
"most other commonly used non GP containers are about 80% larger too and there's no custom engine on the market that can fit in such a tiny specialized hull form to overcome that."
a map of the inside came up
"There seems to be plenty of room in the internal structure here, couldn't it be modded to put it there?"
"If we did that, Then no one would have any living quarters."
"What if there was a way to keep it usefully for daily life and mod it when during work"
"Even then it would be difficult to operate to for a long time and take a lot of time to set that up, it's a bad idea. "
"I see.... that's pretty troublesome ...."
"The Kamidake is the epoch of making a ship, but technically there is nothing remarkable about it, its strength and balance are wonderful, but this size and shape makes no sense."
"What if we just make it bigger?"
"Well, if you change the size even a bit, at the worst, you will need to change the fundamental design itself. We made a simple trial calculation, but with just a slight size change We wouldn't be able to use standard sized parts mass produced by the Federation - if we change or customize it in any way we would have to custom make the parts and we couldn't mass production it."
"So it's kind of just like an expensive toy, isn't it?"
"Even if we leave this shape the size it is though, it should be able to bear having a considerably high-powered engine ... it could withstand one even with the output of the Daedalus's engine."
"really!? ... ... but what about the size?"
"At the moment I can't find the answer ...... ugh it's just like a bad puzzle.maybe we can develop an engine with an output of a Daedalus class ship that is miniaturized enough to be mounted on this ship. I wonder if anyone at the academy is developing a compact, high power engine... "
"Even if they were how would we get our hands on it?"
"You're right, security there is ridiculous and strict too, so far we haven't found any trade-offs, even if that information we obtained, but we have the technology to manufacture it and a plan to manufacture it we just also need the technology to build it well. "
"Well it's going to be mass-produced maybe some will end up on the second hand market?"
"It's Jurai's next major ship, I don't expect that."
"... ... So it's effective for the enemy, a ship that can't be used for piracy ... ... how troublesome....."
"Well ... there's a possibility that is even more troublesome."Ryoko's expression became more severe.
"What's that?"
"Did you forget? the terrible energy generators and computer units Jurai has?"
"The royal trees? ...... But aren't they a bit too big as well"
"It would be impossible for the higher generations, but would it be sufficient to install a lower generation in there, ones past the 3rd generation probably... "
"We should rush this and notify the higher ups ..."
"It's necessary to investigate the intentions of the other party a little more, and since Seina Yamada is still bug checking it, it's possible that any changes needed to such a mass produced ship would require a crazy amount of design changes for even a minor change. As soon as the maintenance of our ship is over, let's go on a raid. we can see about acquiring new info. "
"Well we've received Several repair notices, so I'll let you know later"
"I got it"
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----------This is novel version of the opening to episode 11 ---------
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Ten hour's later Ryoko Balta was raiding a GP transport caravan with a joint Pirate Fleet.
"Energy reaction! someone is jumping out in front of us!"
This was a raid of with different pirates so Ryoko didn't have command of this fleet at this time.
Normally a ship like the one they were going after would have an escort ship and they wouldn't have bothered going after it. but the economy was booming and there weren't enough escort ships to handle the volume.
"30 medium-sized civilian shipping ships, and 30 escort ships, confirmed! "
"Begin attacking."ryoko noticed something odd about the report.
"The Transport ship is detaching! Ah this is a camouflaged ship!"
"What!?"
"Don't wait around to confirm it. That is the Kamidake!Jump immediately!"
ryoko cried, the next moment the kamidake jumped out next to the fleet.
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"Enemy jumping out at us at three o'clock! Avoiding!"a big shock hit the bridge.
"Are they Stupid! We could've been killed?" "Sir the ship is opening fire!"
Both the kamidake and the ship the pirates were suprised when it began It's a surprise attack.
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"The Kamidake Is approaching!"
"What is the squad signal from the commander?"
"I told you to jump! hurry up!" The ship shook.
"We've been hit!"
"I don't care just get us out here!"
"Is the hyperspace jump ready yet?"
"Alright! Jump program is loaded, we're Ready!"
"Jump!"With Ryoko 's signal, her ship disappeared into hyperspace.
-------
"Weren't you just here yesterday... ...." the guy at the dock said
Ryoko 's ship was again housed in the private dock that had been servicing them yesterday.
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In ryoko's quarters her adjunct sighed after finishing the report.
"Even though I suspected it from the schematics, that ship has outrageous performance in person, maybe the engine performance isn't an issue after all..."
"... Hey look at this."Ryoko magnified the previous battle record.
All attacks on the fleet from the Kamidake hit directly near the engine units.
"Wow that thing must be insanely accurate."
"It's more powerful than I thought ... even for that scale of a ship ... ...."
"They managed to hit all the ship's key points... but don't forget they have you Kiriko Masaki piloting, and the targeting is done by Amane Kaunaq, and the rest of that crew is from the crew of the devil princess herself. "
"So it's skill might just be due to it's crew?"
"It might be, The Kamidake's attack power and exercise performance are beyond the specifications presumed from the data"Ryoko said
"I once encountered a small Juraian fleet vessel a long time ago and it was nothing even comparable to the Kamidake, It's scary to think that small of a ship with that small of a crew did this much damage. We should send the Kamidake's data to the higher ups immediately! "Ryoko's adjunct pleaded
"............"Ryoko thought about it
"Captain?"
"I'm worried that might be what they want."
Ryoko stood up frustrated and began walking around with her arms folded.
"After the Erma called for the final check of Kamidake, there was a gap in monitoring due to security changes by Yamada Seina's escort ship ... All of this seems too well timed.... .... "
"... Did erma find something?"
"She found out that they plan to give these to smaller countries to alleviate their fears of protection from the pirates."
"Do you think they know erma is a spy?"
"We're talking about the demon princess of jurai and Airi... I wouldn't put it past them."
"Do you think there going to use it to go after the Big Daruma?" "well that would be the best use ... once they have a fleet of these, its only a mater of time before they find it even if they keep it camouflaged."
"Then shouldn't we take this information to the higher ups?"
"No. I will be discarding this data"
"But captain!"
"Once a technology like this exists there is no stopping it. "Trying will only lead to our doom."
"But captain!"The adjutant looked at Ryoko with confusion.
"Don't you understand? Knowing about the Kamidake won't help. We're screwed."
"...... but maybe we can use it to get the upperhand ..."
"You should this know since you've been with me to the executives meetings for the Daruma guild, but there's no way they can do anything now but be destroyed by Jurai. They can't even put up a unified front."
the guild was built through the charisma of Mr. Daruma but recently that had faded, they got too big. now it was too factioned for him to lead effectively.
"Besides... there's one very problematic member who's a loose cannon"
"Tarrant ......"
"Giving them this information will only tear the guild apart." Ryoko said. Her adjutant sighed. He was convinced.She was right.
"If you think about it ...that time we met him, you should have offed Mr. yamada"
"I stand by my decision not to"
"But he is a really annoying opponent"
"I feel bad for him. It's not his fault he has the power to attract us, from Erma's report I've found out that he just has terrible bad luck "
"Is it really that terrible?"
"I'm amazed at first I thought it was intentional, but then I concluded it was real after a while, he has horrible luck but surprisingly little damage is ever done to him. "
"What does that mean? "
"One day Erma reported to us that his luck caused 851 cases of minor injuries and 688 cases of serious injury ''
"............"
"And it's not as if he is doing anything risky. on the contrary, there were three cases of injuries in areas where accidents were completely unlikely to occur at all."
"...... Wow ... ... That's amazing, so we were just pulled into his bad luck."
"That seems to be the case, Our best course of action would be to not get too close to him... but I got off topic, for now the best thing for the guild would be to try to mass produce the " Daedalus " class ships."
"Captain!"
"……sorry"Ryoko apologized like a child scolded by his father.
There was an implicit rule within the Guild. Many executives advocated the mass production of Daedalus, they all ended captured by the GP or died in a mysterious accident.
"Better yet ..."Ryoko tried to talk about a certain possibility, but since it was impossible for them to do, she shook her head and cut herself off.
"Anyway, let's get back to work, we have to account for these unexpected expenses."Ryoko said brightly. However ... ....
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The bridge of Ryoko ship was wrapped in tension.
"A ship is jumping out! It is very close to us!"
such an occurrence was an astronomical impossibility even when one gathered intel on someone's route
"Captain, it's a GP cargo ship judging from the energy mass ratio!"
"Okay, get ready for capture!"
The kamidake emerged from hyperspace.
"AAAAH THAT'S THE Kamidake !?"
"Captain! Preparing jump as soon as possible!"
The operator screamed to match ryoko's screams as pirate ships came one after the other out of warp nearby
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"Why? How? We need to gather information to make sure where absolutely no where near Seina yamada ..."There was no power in the voice of Ryoko · Balta anymore,she slumped in her chair.
This was the fifth time her ship had been docked in the private dock for repair this month. and every time it was because she encountered the kamidake.
"... ... Fortunately, all damage this time is minor, so repairs will be completed later today."
"Fortunately?!" Ryoko looked crankily at the adjutant.
"Sorry, my bad..."
"Well ... I have some bad news... this is the estimate for repairs....."
"... ... Haha.... is this a joke..."
"Nope I'm afraid not... ... ... ... ... Maybe we should consider working for the GP"
"..............."Ryoko wanted to cry out loud. Ryoko got up from the chair swiftly, and began swinging and striking a cushion for a while.
"How can they ask for that much money! This has to be 200 times what the repairs cost!"
"Well that's just the estimate the shop gave us we can speak to the mechanic when he returns."
"What the heck is going on! .... Maybe we should just work for the GP."
"Well... The economy is booming right now..."
Sshe wasn't joking, Space pirates could work at the GP with fake IDs of course they were limited to working for the courier service, but even if their identity was somewhat suspicious, once they registered and showed a good work aptitude and seriousness for the job, they wouldn't be interrogated further. It was a good part-time job with plenty of pay raises and frequent payments. For some of the pirates it was actually their main job.
"It would allow for us to do some reconnaissance and we could pick up the needed money from the GP ............ huh" Ryoko was getting a call.
"Excuse me."The adjutant left.
A secret wall surrounded ryoko making the room dark. Komachi · Kyo appeared.
"Ryoko, an urgent meeting of the executive committee is being convened in three hours."
"Why...?"
"It's probably because of that Boy."With that Komachi disappeared.
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The meeting was just like last time; a bunch of stereoscopic projections of the executives were projected in a u shape in a room that seemed to float in space. A huge silhouette of Mr. Daruma was at the top.
"Is it just me or are things getting worse instead of better?"Da Ruma's asked violently.
"Yes ... ... There are still various measures to be taken ... but ... his ability to attract pirates is getting in our way... ...."
"It's almost supernatural, like Mitoto Kuramitsu."
"Speaking of Yamada... how did your plan go Tarrant?"
"Hmm, yes you've been bragging about your plan for some time..."
The executives directed their attention towards Tarrant all at once with mockery and a tone similar to contempt.
"Huh?"Ryoko didn't realize that Tarrant was even there. As usual, Tarrant, was barely dressed in thin tattered clothing that was not suitable for participating in important meeting and he had a bad attitude and a bad injury.
"I bet he had his ass handed to him." Komachi said in a personal communication to Ryoko .
"Jeeze from how he looks maybe he encountered the devil princess herself. "
"If he had there would be no way she would have let him live.
In the information I read, it seems that his ship, the Daedalus was destroyed, but there were no fatal injuries."
"The Daedalus is gone!? But only Juraian ships can do that ..."
"Well, I don't know who did it, but I defiantly don't want to meet them ."the executives ridiculing of Tarrant continued as they talked in private.
"I heard that you went to the planet Seina Yamada came from on based on a story you heard."
"And then he failed to capture yamada's parents and take them hostage ."
"chh... remind me to kill whoever gave you that information." Tarrant was angry.
"I'd like to speak chairman!"A young man who was waiting next to Tarrant cried out. Normally, other people weren't allowed to enter the executive meeting, but they were permitted on behalf of executives. and it wasn't uncommon for them to speak directly like this.
"I don't mind. I allow you to speak"
"Thank you. I think it's best to we deal with Yamada Seina directly." The voices of the executives rose all at once as they talked to each other.
"There is the academy and Jurai all around him, how can we assassinate him?"
"Do you know how many people have been captured trying to assassinate him?"
"Not even tarrant could kill him!"
"Should we wage all out war with the Galactic Federation?"
"I have a solution...Ryoko Balta!" A groan came from all of them when they heard that.
"Fuck off! It's unbelievable that you would try to force your grudge against seina on others!"
But Tarrant 's man ignored Komachi and kept talking
"There is a trump card in Ryoko's hand ... ... It's called Erma ..."
"That's not information someone of your level has any business knowing!"
Komachi shouted angrily. Erma was super confidential information that only the highest people knew of.
"Stop it!"
The chairman glanced at Tarrant and then at Ryoko.
"It's certainly the most probable way ... what do you say Ryoko · Balta?"
"Let Erma do it."with that Daruma's silhouette stood up.
"Ryoko Balta ... ... I'm expecting results" Da Ruma disappeared and so did the rest of the room.
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Light returned in the captain's room of Ryoko's ship, as the secret wall was released. Besides Ryoko there was a stereoscopic picture of Komachi and her deputy manager.
"That asshole... fuck tarrant ..."
"I'm sorry.... ...." The deputy manager tightened his lips.
Prior to the executive meeting, the deputy manager had been informed of what Tarrant knew and also his family was taken hostage. A small colony where the family of Ryoko's crew lived was taken over, and they and several others were taken away. As a result of that, they had a lot of spies all over the place.
"I have to do it" Ryoko muttered.
"Are you aware of something? ...... Does it relate to those who were taken away? "
"……"Ryoko silenced her self
"I have to do it I have to fulfill my mission."If she didn't they would be killed.
"Maybe I can pull some strings with the executives. No one likes Tarrant, they may cooperate. "
"Please don't"Ryoko begged Komachi.
"Oh ... .... He's the one who kidnapped them isn't he... that bastard."
"I can't let him kill them. Everyone else in my crew should evacuate to the Big Daruma soon. I have to do the responsible thing." With that the stereoscopic image of Komachi disappeared.
"I wonder how Tarrant knew about Erma..." Ryoko collapsed, down into her chair.
"Huo Balta was the only one who knew anything about it besides me..."
Huo balta was a former student of washu hakubi's, Erma was able to get into the academy and become Airi's secretary under the pretense that she had been taught by Huo since childhood.
"Is it because of ... .... no... then what is it... is Tarrant really targeting me over that? Even if my name is Balta, I have nothing to do with the Balta Guild... although knowing him he probably just wants to watch me suffer.... I can't believe he tried to take Seina's family hostage like that.... ugh.... well... it's been a long day.... I should rest... " ryoko sighed and went up the spiral staircase to her bedroom.
The bedroom illuminated by indirect lighting felt like a large attic. Ryoko took off her cloak and mantle and her boots and gloves and threw it into a laundry closet. And finally she took off her body suit.
"Damn it!" She screamed, as she threw her clothes in the laundry closet.
She missed the laundry closet..., she got into her big bed that seems to be six tatami mats long and got under the covers.
"... ... ..."Ryoko breathed in and out as she laid in her bed, taking off her tight constricting clothes calmed her down a little. she launched a terminal and looked at the pictures she taken with her crews and their families. Ryoko's pictures decorated the large bay window in front of her.
"............ Seina Yamada." Suddenly, Ryoko locked her eyes on one of them, she stared at it, and approached the bay window. It was the group photo she taken with Seina and Alan when seina had first come to the academy. Seina who seemed to be uncomfortable, was mixed in with the excited and happy crew, and Ryoko was smiling as she looked at him.
"……Oh" At that time, Ryoko noticed that she was the happiest in that picture when compared to the other pictures that decorated there, it was rare for her to show any emotions as a captain. Since she had become one she had a lot to protect, and Ryoko had always fought to keep emotions from getting in the way.
Seina's image began to blur as tear drops fell on them.
Ping ─ ─
Ryoko hid the picture with Seina from her sight as her face burst into tears. Dhe went and laid back in bed.
Ryoko didn't understand the meaning of her tears.
End of chapter
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