When the report came in—"Enemy fleet rapidly approaching. Warning to all ships"—Vice Admiral Leidamang of the Angmang Grand Duchy's first reaction was sheer bewilderment.
On the battleship's alarm display, the lights representing enemy ships kept flashing, like a swarm of arrows suddenly rushing toward them. But through the viewports, all they could see was the dark expanse of space. The eerie scene was straight out of some terrifying space ghost story. The Angmang people on the bridge were instantly gripped by fear, their mouths dry and their hearts pounding.
"What's going on?" Vice Admiral Leidamang rose from the command chair and muttered to himself, "Is the radar malfunctioning? Besides, aren't the Terrans fighting our forces in a decisive battle in the Nishio System? How could their ships have gotten here?"
No one answered him, nor had he expected any sort of decent answer. After all, the Angmang general was merely an "armchair officer." He had spent nearly his entire military career in offices and at banquets, and the largest-scale combat he had ever taken part in had been fighting pirates.
The only reason he had risen to such an important position was that he came from a prestigious family and had an uncle who served as King Beduo's butler in the Empire.
He had originally thought he only needed to accompany the Empire's forces and lend them his support. Military honors and glory would follow automatically. It had never occurred to him to consider what he should do if an unexpected crisis arose.
At that moment, he was so slow on the uptake that he hardly seemed human, more like an ordinary soldier.
"Your Excellency, we..." The staff officer's voice was full of unease, almost pleading.
Honestly, when something went wrong, shouldn't it be the staff officers' job to figure