"Do we really need to do this?"

Tsuruno asked in a semi-impatient tone of voice, but Ishimoto replied,

"Yes, we must. If we do not punish them for their rebellion, Irregulars the universe over will take us lightly."

"He's right. The glory of the empire must be made known to such, and that we would never take betrayal lying down,"

Aubrey concurred, so Tsuruno sighed as if she had given up and said,

"Do as you will."

And that was the signal for what happened next. Ishimoto gave the orders, and the anti-matter cannon unleashed its torrent of destructive energy from the new Stealth Ship.

"W-wha?"

Tsuruno and several others with her were slack-jawed at the sight. It all happened so fast. The pilots had fired the beam, and it obliterated the planet in less than a second.

"S-such power..."

Ishimoto muttered in disbelief.

"I'd never want to make an enemy out of her,"

One of the pilots spoke, and it reflected the sentiment of the entire room.

Her "warehouse" existed in a separate dimension, so it's safe to assume that she escaped unscathed,

Tsuruno thought about Lukas and looked at the mysterious brown box she gave her. An ominous energy emanated from it.

Will this really bring me to Albius?

She wondered, but the voices of her crewmates brought her back to reality. 

"The Psylink systems have been updated, sir."

An engineer was talking to Ishimoto about the recent updates.

"Oh, this looks really good. I'll be able to give orders and pilot the nanomachines remotely!"

Ishimoto said excitedly. Then, he cleared his throat and said in a loud voice,

"We've confirmed the effectiveness of the new systems in place, so how long will it take us to reach Neptune?"

"About an hour,"

One of the pilots answered, but Ishimoto didn't like that, so he asked,

"Tsuruno, can you take us there with one of your rifts?"

"Weren't you worried about traps before?"

"Yeah, I was,"

He admitted.

"But things are different now. That Lukas Schneider really outdid herself this time, and I'd love to test the new weapons against our enemy."

"Wouldn't that be reckless?"

"It won't be. According to my calculations, we should be able to punch through whatever force they have stationed around Neptune. We'll also render their interplanetary forces useless by taking this shortcut. Additionally, they won't be expecting us, so—"

"I get it,"

Tsuruno said with a tired sigh,

"Once you get like this, you never stop."

She looked into the black expanse of space and mumbled,

"Maybe I have failed as a mother..."

But Ishimoto pretended not to hear her and continued, saying,

"So, we'll need your help, Tsuruno."

"Okay."

She quickly drew her blade, and a rift was opened in front of the fleet.

"Let's go!"

Ishimoto shouted, almost sounding like an excited child as he made his way to the Psylink system. As they approached the rift, Tsuruno closed her eyes and sighed, thinking,

I hope we come out of this in one piece, but knowing him, he probably has another plan in mind.

 

***

 

Major General Lizst was in charge of the Neptunian division of the Coalition forces. He had previously failed and was at risk of suffering a fate worse than death, but he was pardoned, so he was more than eager to live up to Lydia's expectations. 

I must crush them!

He thought to himself repeatedly, but no amount of determination could prepare him for what happened next. A rift opened up in space, and the enemy fleet suddenly appeared in their midst.

What? Why would they willingly walk into our trap?

He was dumbstruck by their daring approach, but his subordinates were quick on their feet and didn't let the chance slip, so they started firing, and it didn't take long for the other spaceships to follow suit. 

The tiny enemy ships were attacked from all directions, yet they performed unbelievable evasive maneuvers that made all who saw them think,

Are those really spaceships?

They would zig-zag and change directions instantaneously, even at high speeds. They were also strangely flexible, bending to avoid attacks and returning to their original shape as needed. It was a truly surreal sight, but it couldn't beat what would happen next. 

"Are they suicidal?!"

Lizst exclaimed as he stood up from the cockpit seat to take a good look at what was happening. The enemy fleet dove head-first into Neptune to hide from enemy attacks.

As far as I know, no spaceship or starship can survive the extreme weather conditions of gas giants and ice giants. That's why we focus primarily on colonizing rocky planets.

After a few minutes of sheer disbelief, he asked one of the pilots,

"Are you reading any signals?"

"No, sir,"

He answered with a confused look on his face.

"Those fools. They destroyed themselves by implementing such a reckless plan. Let's report our findings back to—"

But his ship was destroyed before he could complete his sentence, killing him and everyone who was with him.

 

***

 

"Score!"

Ishimoto shouted with an uncharacteristically childish expression.

"I've never seen you this excited before,"

Tsuruno remarked, and Ishimoto answered,

"That's because these ships are awesome! Did you see that?! It defies all pre-existing limitations of movement! How does she come up with this stuff?! Also, the attack power is superb! It only took one bullet, one bullet, to destroy a spaceship that big!"

"Well, that certainly was impressive,"

Tsuruno agreed. 

"Now, all that's left is to mop up the confused, sorry remnants. And for that, we'll work together with the nanomachines."

The rest of the battle was overwhelmingly one-sided, with enemy ships destroyed left and right like it was nothing. The nanomachines would seize those who tried to flee and self-destruct them, and it didn't take long for the area to turn into a spaceship graveyard. This military exploit would come to be known as the Neptunian Fang, and it would go down in history as one of General Ishimoto's greatest tactical victories.