「To all people living on Planet Asia. I am the admiral leading this carrier strike group affiliated with Metal Iris, Aimer.」

The broadcast had begun.? An eight-year-old girl had begun to address everyone who was watching her broadcast.

「Currently, Fortress Area P336 is being repressed by the aerial power of the Argonauts and is in a dangerous predicament. I arranged for a force in secret without informing Commander Barry and am now leading Familiars and Therianthropes to participate in the battle.」

Aimer acted in an imposing manner while sitting in the captain’s seat.

She wasn’t alone. She had Master, the Familiars, and Therianthropes with her.

「You are free to think of this as a child’s naive request.? But I still want to implore you to help Metal Iris in case I fall in battle.」

The footage displayed Aimer once more, and she called out to the entire world through the screen.

She wasn’t reading a prepared script.? Aimer was simply baring her thoughts to the world.

「I want to protect them. The person important to me who came from a distant star system – from the Earth of the far past. The Nereids and Familiars who’ve constantly watched over me. And my home, Metal Iris. That’s why if I fall here, please help the people important to me.」

She didn’t display any sadness. However, that just made everything seem even more tragic.

「I’m expecting to face about a thousand enemy units. The carrier strike group only has 200 fighters available.? But I’m not going to lose. To have everyone from Metal Iris come out of this war alive. That is my victory condition. I would like to prove that in today’s battle. –That is all from me.」

The broadcast had ended.

Afterward, the only image being displayed was that of the sky above Astraea.

The expressions of the Metal Iris members who watched the live broadcast displayed their frustration and helplessness.

Nyanta was close to tears with her ears drooped down. Aki continued staring hard at the screen.

Kou had no choice but to endure inside his MCS as well. He was barely suppressing his desire to rush out and head to Aimer’s side.

Some of the Familiars were already in tears.? Voy had barely held back his own tears, but his eyes had already turned crimson.

「This carrier strike group will now engage the enemy forces in combat. Aerial corps, emergency deployment. Escort ships, get into formation and prepare for anti-aircraft combat!」

Aimer issued commands in succession.? The Familiars swiftly acted according to her commands.

Its aerial squadrons launched from Astraea.? The machines were aircraft with distinctive variable wings.

The escort ships spread out with Astraea as the focal point.

「What’s the position of the surveillance aircraft that we launched ahead?」

「It’s currently at an altitude of 25,000 meters. The three recon planes have gone into their respective positions.」

The recon planes were flying high-altitude surveillance aircraft equipped with large radomes.? They had a compliment of 20 escort planes accompanying them.

「We won’t use the catapults. Have the planes perform simultaneous vertical take-off and match their timing as much as possible.」

The carrier-based aircraft had the ability to take off vertically.? 12 fighters took to the sky at the same time.

「Don’t break formation! First, let’s hit the enemies flocking toward Fortress Area P336 from the side–Once we’ve done that, they will rush toward us instead. We will then intercept them.」

The Familiars inside the combat command center of Astraea relayed Aimer’s commands steadily.

After receiving observation data from the recon aircraft squadrons, the first fighter squadron that sortied launched a salvo of anti-air missiles.

It was the start of a fierce aerial battle.

The Argonaut fighters heading toward Fortress Area P336 got shot down one after another.

They took hits from missiles that suddenly came at them unexpectedly from a completely different direction than the Fortress Area.

They didn’t have time to launch chaff and decoys. There weren’t any high-end units that managed to put up their plasma barriers either.

「Where did that attack come from?!」

「From the sea. It’s anti-air missiles. They’re coming at us from a distance of hundreds of kilometers at Mach 10– Gyaa!」

The fighter that was transmitting information was also shot down.

The attack didn’t let up.

The Argonaut commanders were watching such a situation play out intently.

They were the demigod wearing a gray cloak, Vasa, and Alberto.

They were within their flagship’s combat command center.? The demigod was the one sitting on the commander’s seat. Vasa was sitting next to him. Alberto sat on an auxiliary seat beneath the two.

「Long range air-to-air missiles?? They sure prepared something good. They have an advantage in beyond-visual-range combat.」

Vasa muttered under his breath. He acknowledged the enemy weapon’s performance.

BVR combat required excellent surveillance aircraft.? The enemy had an advantage in an aerial battle.

However, the Argonauts have enough numbers to make up for their lower performance.? There was no need to worry.

They had also watched the previous broadcast.? The demigod sighed.

「They even used a crying child as propaganda. Pretty good.」

「Indeed. They even have a clear victory condition.? That girl didn’t read her speech from a prepared script. It’s best not to think of her as a mere child.」

Vasa agreed to the demigod’s mutters.

Victory condition. It wasn’t something third-rate commanders who were only obsessed with achieving an overall victory will employ. Instead, a commander will achieve the goal they’ve set even at the cost of sacrificing themselves in the process.

If the condition ensures a more favorable situation for their allies, they will consider it a victory.? A commander who has a clear objective in mind was a tough opponent.

The girl had presented an easy-to-understand victory condition.? The Familiars were all fighting their hardest in order to achieve that goal. They were terrifying enemies.

The girl’s determined eyes were innocent yet housed a strong will.? If raised properly, she would become an excellent commander.

「3rd Pack Squadron, 40% lost. They are retreating.」

「Tell the 4th Squadron to quickly engage the enemy fleet.? I don’t mind if they get annihilated. Anyway, just quickly locate that enemy fleet.」

「Sir!」

The 4th Squadron’s planes were also shot down one after another.

When some of them made it through the air-to-air missiles fired by the variable-wing fighters, anti-aircraft missiles immediately came at them.? They were fired by Astraea’s escort missile destroyers.

They were truly worthy of being called a carrier strike group.

Only one aircraft managed to reach the fleet’s position, but it was also shot down immediately.

「That ship’s figure.... Don’t tell me that’s Astraea? Hey, control AI.? Perform a database search immediately. Cross-reference that ship’s figure with Astraea that was active during the Interplanetary War era.」

The demigod ordered the flagship’s control AI.

He recognized the enemy ship’s figure. He had experience fighting against it over a thousand years ago.

『Inquiry complete. Just as you expected, Castor, that ship is the Mobile Arsenal Platform Astraea that was active during the Interplanetary War era.』

「So, that ship really managed to survive after all.... This is bad, Vasa. That ship is equivalent to a Fortress Area. No, it’s probably greater than one.」

The man called Castor warned Vasa. It was rare for a demigod like him to reveal such recognizable emotions.

「What kind of ship is it?」

「It’s a mothership with weapons manufacturing and carrier capabilities. And, above all, it’s the main terminal of the Super AI Astraea that has the most control over the weapons development of the entire Nemesis system. It had provided weapons to all sides during the Interplanetary War era. It’s an unreasonable warship that’s able to head to the front lines, formulate, and then manufacture the most optimal weapons for each situation it finds itself in.」

「Hou.」

「The core programming of the Murders also came from Astraea. It’s impossible for AI to fight if they’re all beholden to humans after all. We’ve further developed it and it’s still being further improved on Planet Libya.」

「So, it’s the terminal of the Super AI that created the foundation for the manufacture of Murders huh? If that’s the case, then we must prioritize destroying it.」

Vasa ruminated aloud. He had analyzed the current situation.

「Indeed. It seems that it can only produce fighters due to technological limitations. However, I believe we still have to prioritize Fortress Area P336 first.」

「No. Let’s prioritize taking that fleet down first instead. That carrier strike group is a definite threat.」

Their aerial formations were gradually getting destroyed.

At this rate, they will completely crumble from the side. Aside from the girl, the Familiars are able to operate without any need for sleep.

「All Pack squadrons, head straight for Fortress Area P336. Coulson squadrons, target Astraea.? Have the squadrons employ anti-ship weapons.」

「Hou. You are actually sending in the Coulson squadrons. Do you consider that ship as that much of a threat?」

Alberto inquired.

The Coulson was a twin-engine delta-wing fighter aircraft that was designed by Vasa. Its performance was one level higher than the single-engine Pack.

They had managed to produce about 2000 Packs and 3000 Coulson for this operation.

It was only natural for Vasa to prioritize the more excellent aircraft he designed instead of one designed by another.? Alberto, who was also a Development Engineer himself, understood the younger man’s thoughts.

It was not only a matter of sending out their entire Coulson compliment to deal with Astraea.

「Even then, I’m still not sure that’s enough to bring that ship down. Depending on the situation, we’ll also send out the Arular.」

「You’re also sending out those transformable Silhouettes!?」

「That Astraea is akin to a mobile Fortress Area powered by a high-output A-Carbuncle.? We might need to infiltrate it and destroy it from within.」

The Arular was a transformable Silhouette model that can be said to be Vasa’s trump card.

Its speed, maneuverability, durability, and mass production compatibility were all excellent.? Alberto had recognized that he was incapable of creating such a machine with his abilities.

The transformable Silhouette didn’t employ a metallic hydrogen generation reactor but a storage type instead.

So, A-Class Development Engineers go this far, Alberto inwardly thought.

Vasa also acknowledges Alberto as well. Even though the older man was fixated toward tanks and artillery, he did indeed possess skills to make things Vasa was unable to.

Their trains of thought oftentimes didn’t match with others.? That’s the big difference between those who were Development Engineers and those who weren’t.

「First, we’ll have to see if we can break through the enemy’s defense network. We will not hold back. We will hit them with all our power right from the start.」

Vasa was also a man who believes in doing what he should do.

Through his terminal, he gave orders to the aerial squadrons one after another.