The pitch-black void of space. The stars shone quietly, their cold light illuminating a vacuum so cruel it allowed no living beings to survive.

It was an untouched realm, seemingly unchanging for eternity. Yet, far from Earth, in the asteroid belt, tiny lights flickered briefly in the vacuum. One after another, they blinked out as quickly as they appeared. Countless of them.

◇◇

On one of the asteroid’s rocky masses, an ant clung to its surface. No, it wasn’t a living ant. It had a metallic exoskeleton, and a long, battleship-sized cannon attached to its back via cables anchored to the rock.

Its mechanical visor-like camera eyes glowed as its multi-legged body moved fluidly, almost as if it were a living creature. But it was a combat mech, standing about 10 meters tall. Inside the mech’s cockpit sat a rabbit.

[Enemy intrusion detected in area E70-usa. 2 enemies. Ragyo squad, intercept them at once.] 

*BEEP* 

A communication sound interrupted the rabbit, who had been reading a magazine. The rabbit’s name was Roro. It let out a small yawn, lazily moving its mouth to reply.

“Ragyo squad, roger-usa yo. I would like them to think of this area as a graveyard already-usa ne.” (Roro)

Roro sniffed the air and gave a thumbs-up to the rabbit operator displayed on its monitor. Well, since it was a rabbit, it was more like a paw-up, but it was the thought that counted.

Displayed on its 180-degree monitor was the long, sprawling asteroid belt. Scattered among the asteroids were the wreckages of battleships and combat mechs, remnants of a massive war fought long ago.

Its control console used thought transmission technology, appearing as a translucent crystal-like structure. While Roro still typed out detailed commands on a keyboard, most of the controls could be handled by gripping a lever and maneuvering freely. Roro shifted in its cushioned seat, fastened its seatbelt, and sent out its orders via thought transmission.

“Enemies detected-usa. All units, prepare for battle. Rara, start searching for enemy targets.” (Roro)

A rabbit appeared on the monitor almost immediately.

“This is Rara. Initiating search for enemy units. Success. Targets identified as scout-type artificial demons, Lesser Demons: Gremlins-usa.” (Rara)

A new monitor floated up, showing a small red demon with bat-like wings.

[Gremlin: Level 6]

Roro tried to give a cool smile upon seeing the image, but as a rabbit, all it could manage was a series of sniffs. Being cool as a rabbit seemed impossible no matter how hard it tried.

“Two measly artificial demons from Harkein’s reconnaissance forces? What an insult-usa ne. All units, get ready. We’ll intercept them at the kill zone-usa yo.” (Roro)

Roro waved its tiny paw excitedly, gesturing for them to cut them down.

[Aren’t we going to shoot them down~?] (Rara)

“Big Sis said we would be on the red if we waste ammo on these small fries. She will make me eat some sour persimmons-usa.” (Roro)

[Yeah, those things are sour~.] (Rara)

[Riri dries them out for later-usa yo.] (Riri)

[Lucky! Teach Ruru how to make dried persimmons too-usa.] (Ruru)

[You need a few tricks to get it right-usa. The trick is to sneak down to the surface world with Boss’s rabbits and sun-dry them there-usa.] (Riri)

The conversation derailed into dried persimmon-making, so Roro slapped the console, bringing them back to focus. Rabbits tend to get distracted easily.

“Gremlins are nothing to worry about in one-on-one combat-usa ne. Ruru, Rere, you’re cleared for close-quarters combat. Begin the interception-usa!” (Roro)

[Ruru, roger that-usa.] (Ruru)

[Rere, roger that-usa.] (Rere)

Two red streaks of energy flashed across the asteroid belt at the same time as they replied, leaving trails of light in their wake.

It was the ant model mech units, Antlion. The Antlions, piloted by Ruru and Rere, launched from their hiding spots within the asteroids.

Their metallic brown armor allowed them to blend into the asteroid belt. Their joints were equipped with multiple thrusters, and large boosters on their sides spewed out red particles as they soared.

The Antlions flew through the gaps between asteroids and appeared suddenly, causing the Gremlins to panic and veer away, firing energy blades from their palms.

[Extreme Flame Cannon]

The energy beams cut through the ancient battleship wreckages, vaporizing them instantly and continuing toward the Antlions at an incredible velocity. The intense heat caused the wreckage to melt and scatter in an instant.

However, the Antlions didn’t even flinch, moving straight ahead with their wings flapping. 

The energy beams struck them directly, but the overwhelming power that melted the wreckage was easily absorbed by the red barrier that appeared before the Antlions.

“Your puny magic can’t break through an Antlion’s shield-usa yo!” (Ruru) 

[Sonic Rabbit]

Ruru’s Antlion gleamed white, accelerating to sonic speed and leaving an afterimage as it closed in on the Gremlins. 

The Gremlins panicked and retreated while firing energy beams repeatedly, but only hit the afterimages.

Ruru’s Antlion maneuvered sharply, narrowly avoiding asteroids as it flew, thrusters blasting, directly toward the Gremlins.

Both sides flew at sonic speeds through the asteroid belt, but Ruru’s Antlion was faster. 

The Antlion raised its front legs and activated magic once it drew close to the Gremlins.

[Blazing Twin Sword]

A twin glowing red sword connected by two swords appeared, its heat so intense that even in the vacuum of space, it was palpable. If anyone got too close, they’d be incinerated.

“Ruru is a rabbit-usa!” (Ruru)

It stated the obvious, sniffing the air and pulling the lever with conviction, as if this was its catchphrase.

The Gremlin extended its claws to slash at Ruru, but the Antlion blocked the claws with the twin sword. Sparks flew as the light of the energy reflected off the clashing forces, illuminating both of them.

The energy levels of both sides were immense, but the balance quickly shifted in favor of the Antlion’s twin sword. The Gremlin’s claws began to melt, and the next instant, they were sliced clean off.

Ruru followed through with a swift motion, cutting deep into the Gremlin’s torso.

“Become another piece of space debris here-usa!” (Ruru)

Ruru delivered a signature line as expected and pushed the lever hard, transmitting the full power of the Antlion into the twin sword. The Gremlin was sliced in half.

The moment the Gremlin exploded and disintegrated, Rere’s Gremlin also detonated, confirming the enemy’s destruction. Ruru nodded in satisfaction and pulled out a marker.

“Yay~! We defeated them~ I’m writing down another victory star-usa yo~!” (Ruru)

Ruru scribbled a star mark on the cockpit wall. Pilots aiming to become the Strike King have to draw a star when they defeat an enemy, and Ruru, striving to be the best, doodled stars whenever it had the chance. Ruru stretched to reach, but slipped and tumbled, getting stuck between the seat and the wall.

“Herupu mi~! I’m stuck between the seat and the wall-usa yo~! Can’t get out~! Halp~!” (Ruru)

Ruru struggled to free itself, flailing around helplessly.

Roro watched this foolish scene, sighed, and cut off communications with a shake of its head. No more enemies appeared on the radar, so Roro decided to leave Ruru stuck and tapped its fingers on the console.

“Why are we getting more scout ships all of a sudden-usa? This is the third time this month. It used to be once every hundred years-usa.” (Roro)

They usually stayed in standby mode, sitting motionless in the cockpit like dolls, but this month there has been nonstop action.

Isn’t this a bit strange? The rabbit tilted its head. If others heard about this, they would think it is not just ‘a bit’, but it was a bit strange for the lazy rabbits.

Just then, another communication came in. A beautiful girl with black hair and eyes, whose appearance stirred a protective instinct like a puppy in anyone who saw her, appeared on the screen. It was Mira.

[I suspect that after the Element Stream was stabilized by Player, the enemy began to sense something off. They probably realized something was wrong even with the information blockade and sent these scouts to check the colonies for abnormalities.] (Mira)

“Sharp enemies-usa. But if they keep sending scouts at this rate, we’ll run out of energy and need maintenance soon-usa yo.” (Roro)

Roro pressed a few buttons with a troubled look. The Antlions were equipped with auto-maintenance and self-recovery systems.

However, these systems weren’t fast; it takes several months for them to fully recharge. They are more of a stopgap measure than a reliable recovery system.

The Antlions were designed for rare, infrequent combat, not continuous skirmishes like this.

“If high-speed battles like that continue, we will run stiff soon and will need to replenish and get maintenance at the back-usa. At this rate, the asteroid belt defense line won’t hold-usa yo.” (Roro)

[I understand. We’re currently taking 95% of the players’ experience points (fate energy) in processing fees. We’re refining that energy at the newly reactivated docks, so we should be able to deploy supply ships soon. Hold the line at all costs until then.] (Mira)

“Roger that-usa. But there’s a limit to what we can do-usa yo. If they stop sending scouts and start a real invasion, we won’t be able to hold them off-usa. By the way, does Boss know about these processing fees?” (Roro)

[In that case, engage in delaying combat, hold the line as long as you can, scatter the decoy codes, and self-destruct. Of course, Boss knows about the processing fees. There’s no way it would be possible to reactivate the spaceport with just a mere 5,000 energy after all. He understands that 5,000 experience points is only enough to flip the switch. It’s even written in Section 10 billion and 7 of the manual, so he should have read it.] (Mira)

“Kyuu… The treatment we rabbits get is horrible-usa. Also, I don’t think a human could read through that entire manual… But I’ll just ignore it-usa yo.” (Roro)

Roro let out a sad squeak at Mira, who gave orders without a shred of guilt. But Mira didn’t seem to care. They could always revive after dying anyways, right? 

Mira also tended to reinterpret ‘secrets’ loosely, making them not really secrets at all when it came to Boss.

[Also, please collect the spirit crystals from the Gremlins you defeated. Be sure to gather all the fragments and send them to the colony. Even the smallest pieces, please.] (Mira)

Its superior’s overly detailed instructions left Roro feeling exasperated.

[Can’t I switch with one of the surface rabbits already-usa? I’ve done plenty of work.] (Roro)

[Of course, you can submit a request anytime. Just fill out a transfer form, and after it passes through general affairs, HR, and the board of directors, it’ll be easily approved.] (Mira)

Even though Mira was the only one in all those departments, she still intended to follow the official approval route. 

Hearing that, Roro sighed and wondered if it should write its transfer request on a banknote.

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