MG - Chapter 399: [Wushou Mountain] Commander (Patreon)

“W-what...?”

Carter stood frozen, his lips trembling.

“Didn't you fail? Didn't the Hunter warship escape through a Boundary Void Tunnel?!”

“You're a commander, Carter, and so am I. Why would I be obliged to tell you the truth?” Tania regarded him coldly. She had known the Techmasters’ Alliance would do everything possible to save him, so she'd made sure to keep something in reserve.

After destroying a Hunter warship, many commanders avoided searching the wreckage. Lingering inside a collapsing Boundary Void Tunnel was simply too dangerous.

Tania, however, was different. Thanks to her ability to sense danger, she had managed to retrieve the warship's core and the hearts of several [Star Drivers] before the tunnel collapsed. She had also intercepted a beacon the enemy had launched into space just before their deaths.

The beacon contained information the Hunters had gathered about Earth. By intercepting it, she had prevented those findings from reaching the Hunters' homeworld.

Without a Void Colossus standing in her way, she had made short work of the warship. When she returned to the Serpens Space Station, she deliberately pretended to have come back empty-handed, both to lower Carter's guard and to set a trap for him.

“N-no, wait! How do you prove those Void Hearts came from that particular Hunter warship?” Carter protested, still searching for a way out.

Tania had anticipated that too. She picked up one of the hearts and presented it to the presiding judge.

“I request a memory analysis of this Void Heart!”

“Th-that would consume a Void Heart. Surely there's no need...” Sweat gathered on the judge's forehead, and his eyes darted behind his glasses.

Had this been a dispute involving only the Techmasters’ Alliance and Mecha Island, he would have refused outright. But the commanders of the other space stations and representatives of the Human Federation were also watching. If he showed his bias any more openly, what would be the point of holding a military tribunal at all?

In the Techmasters’ Alliance section, Auburn pressed his lips together, looking grimmer than ever.

He hadn't expected Tania to hold evidence in reserve. He'd heard that the commander of the Pegasus Space Station was close to Eden. Judging by today's events, those rumors were true.

“I'll donate a Void Heart from my private collection to replace this one,” Tania declared. “So I ask the presiding judge to uphold justice and authorize the memory analysis.” Her voice was firm, and her expression left no room for argument.

“Very well...” The judge sighed. With so many people watching, he could hardly keep refusing.

Memory analysis was a method of extracting and decoding memories from members of the Void race. It required a sophisticated device called a [Psychic Energy Vibration Analyzer], another invention of Mecha Island, designed specifically for intelligence gathering.

Void Hearts were extremely difficult to acquire, however, and most came from ordinary Hunters. The information they yielded was often limited to details that battlefield investigations could establish anyway. Over time, researchers and frontline soldiers had come to prefer using the hearts as research materials instead of spending them on memory analysis. That was generally a better use of such rare resources.

The [Psychic Energy Vibration Analyzer] was soon wheeled into the courtroom.

Tania personally lowered the Void Heart into a chamber filled with pale-blue solution. Submerged in the liquid, the heart became noticeably more active. It beat faster and expanded and contracted more forcefully.

A screen was connected to the other side of the machine. Once activated, the analyzer would display the memories it extracted as images.

“I'm starting the analyzer,” Tania announced calmly.

Every eye settled on her. Carter's glare was especially intense, as though he wanted to tear her apart and swallow her whole. She paid his hatred no mind and pulled down the operating lever.

Bzzzz!

The black screen flickered to life with static. Images began flashing across it, initially so fast and distorted that they were impossible to make out. Gradually, the pictures steadied and slowed.

The interior of a warship. Dark corridors. Other Hunters with hideous features. Short, large-headed Star Drivers. Then a barren stretch of land.

A huge number of Serpens's Psychic Energy Mechas had assembled there, almost the station's entire fighting force. They were surrounding a group of Hunter warships carrying out suicide attacks.

“Is that... Ring-3 Satellite?!”

“What in the world was Carter thinking? He sent every mech squadron to Ring-3?!”

“No wonder a Hunter warship managed to approach Earth! With the Serpens Space Station's entire defense force deployed elsewhere, getting past the station would have been easy!”

The commanders weren't fools. One look at the images was enough to understand what had happened.

The enemy hadn't broken through by virtue of overwhelming strength. The Hunters had used a simple diversion to draw the defenders away, and Carter had fallen for it completely, sending all of Serpens's forces to Ring-3 Satellite.

“When was this?”

“The day before yesterday, I think... Carter even invited me out for drinks that day.”

“He was drinking while on duty? That fucking lunatic!”

The mood of the courtroom swung decisively against Carter.

Many commanders had risen through the Techmasters’ Alliance themselves, but as space station commanders, they now operated independently and had reputations to protect. None wanted to be associated with such a blatant failure of duty.

There was now clear proof that Carter bore responsibility for the Hunter warship reaching Earth. Naturally, they had no intention of sharing the blame for him.

“Lies! This is all slander!”

With his misconduct exposed, Carter was beside himself. Unable to think of an argument or an excuse, he could only shout the same accusation over and over.

“Carter, commander of the Serpens Space Station, neglected his duties and must bear primary responsibility for allowing the Hunter warship to invade Earth. In light of these facts, he should be sentenced to death,” Tania declared.

No one could dispute her conclusion. What Carter had done was beyond merely serious.

As he realized nobody would defend him, panic overwhelmed him. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor with a thud. He looked instinctively toward the Techmasters’ Alliance seats.

Speaker, save me!

His desperate gaze at Auburn said everything.

“I still believe executing Carter would be a rash decision,” Auburn said at last.

He loathed Carter by now, but for the sake of his authority and the confidence of his subordinates, he had little choice but to intervene.

“The Techmasters’ Alliance trained Carter to become a commander. He has made considerable contributions to our campaigns against the Void. Even if you disregard his achievements, you cannot deny his years of service.

“No one is a saint. Everyone makes mistakes. Are we truly going to execute him over one mistake?”

“Speaker,” Eden interjected, “why do we have laws in the first place? Does being a space station commander put someone above them?”

“Then answer me this.” Auburn tugged at his tie, his voice cold. “If Carter is executed, who will command the Serpens Space Station? Who is qualified to take his place? Have you trained someone capable of commanding it?”

Eden narrowed her eyes.

A figure appeared in her mind, a young man with a confident smile and a white-haired Mecha Girl at his side.

A commander?

As it happened, there was someone she intended to train.