The signal flare that lit up the pitch-black universe was spotted by a nearby warship. After seeing it, the ship's captain gave an order.
"Fire the retreat signal flare!"
"Yes, sir!"
The tactical commander answered.
The order was carried out, and the warship fired a retreat signal flare.
As one warship fired a retreat signal flare, the others that saw it followed suit.
Before long, the surviving Earth Alliance Forces warships on this front had all fired their signal flares.
On the front line
Although the Moebius pilots couldn't establish communications with the warships, they could see the flares through their optical sensors.
After seeing the retreat signal, they didn't hesitate. They piloted their Moebius units toward their motherships.
In an instant, the Earth Alliance Forces' front line began closing in on the World Tree International Space Station.
Inside the White Ginn's cockpit
Felix watched the signal flares light up across the universe. Without hesitation, he took aim at the enemy and began pursuing them relentlessly.
The Heavy Assault Machine Gun in the White Ginn's hands opened fire.
Bullets poured from its muzzle.
They streaked through the silent universe, eventually striking a Moebius unit's propulsion system.
The propulsion system exploded, and the Moebius instantly lost its ability to accelerate continuously. Though the inertia of weightlessness in space allowed it to keep moving forward, it could no longer gain the acceleration needed to increase its speed.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
The pilot flew into a helpless rage inside the cockpit.
No matter how frantically he worked the controls, he couldn't change what had happened.
By then, the White Ginn piloted by Felix had closed in on the Moebius. He gripped the Heavy Slash Blade and brought it down in a single strike, instantly blowing the unit apart.
After destroying the Moebius, Felix piloted toward the other Moebius units and warships.
Explosions kept flaring along the White Ginn's path. Each flash marked another Moebius blown apart.
After maintaining his assault for some time, Felix was about to continue when he noticed the energy readings on his screen.
The high-energy battery pack was nearly depleted.
"If only it were nuclear-powered!"
He sighed.
Felix looked ahead, fired the Heavy Assault Machine Gun until he had emptied the magazine, then piloted the White Ginn toward the Sebastian.
Aboard the Sebastian
Seeing the returning MS, Yalik knew it was running low on energy.
He gave an order.
"Open the hangar doors!"
The order was given, and the Sebastian's hangar doors opened.
Felix piloted the White Ginn back into the Hangar.
He climbed out of the cockpit and said to the Maintenance Crew members,
"Get it serviced as quickly as possible!"
"Understood!"
The Maintenance Crew chief saluted and replied.
After hearing his response, Felix headed for the MS Pilot Ready Room.
He had only just entered the Ready Room when Heine walked in, followed by two other crew members.
Seeing the three of them and the two who hadn't shown up, Felix could guess what had happened.
Heine sat down beside Felix, his expression heavy. With grief in his voice, he said,
"Doren was killed in action!"
"I understand."
Hearing that one of his subordinates had been killed, Felix froze for a moment. Then he pushed down his grief and replied to Heine in a calm voice.
After speaking, he reached out and patted Heine on the shoulder.
"Casualties are an inevitable part of war. We have to face that reality and accept it. That's the only way we can keep going."
After offering his comfort, Felix continued,
"You're a veteran, too. You should understand that."
"I know."
Heine nodded seriously.
After hearing his answer, Felix turned to the other two and offered them a few words of comfort as well.
When he had finished, Felix stayed there and waited for the MS servicing to be completed.
The intercom in the Ready Room crackled with Yalik's voice.
"Captain, please come to the bridge!"
At the sound of the voice, Felix opened his eyes and looked at Heine and the other two. Then he turned and headed for the bridge.
On the bridge
When Felix arrived, he saw the World Tree exploding on the main screen.
"Did the Earth Alliance Forces blow up the World Tree themselves?"
He looked at the screen and asked Yalik.
Yalik stood and saluted Felix, then replied,
"That's right! The Earth Alliance Forces blew up the World Tree themselves. They must have realized that, with their current strength, they couldn't keep defending it. To stop us from taking it, they destroyed it."
"How are the Earth Alliance Forces' remaining units?"
Felix gave a slight nod and asked Yalik about their situation.
Yalik reported to Felix,
"The remaining Earth Alliance Forces units regrouped their MA while our forces were returning for repairs. Their warships are fleeing the battlefield at full speed.
"The flagship just fired a signal flare. According to the instructions we agreed on, those three flares mean we're not to pursue."
"If the commander-in-chief doesn't want us to pursue, then we won't."
After learning what the commander-in-chief had decided, Felix accepted the outcome without complaint. He turned to Yalik and said,
"Let me know if anything comes up."
After speaking, Felix turned and walked out of the bridge.
Thirty minutes later,
With the Neutron Jammer turned off and communications between the warships restored, Felix, sitting in his quarters, contacted the other two warships.
Once he had confirmed the connection was working, Felix let out a sigh of relief.
After exchanging a few words with the two ships' captains, he switched the communication channel to Miles and Phipps.
"Phipps, Miles, how many MS units did your squads lose?"
"Captain, our squad lost two MS units. Two of our MS pilots were killed in this battle."
Phipps was the first to report to Felix.
After him, Miles spoke as well.
"Captain, our situation is about the same. We lost two MS units and two MS pilots."
"The ones killed were all rookies, right?"
"Both of the pilots we lost were rookies."
"The ones we lost were rookies, too."
They explained in turn.
After learning the outcome, Felix wasn't surprised or shocked. He seemed to have expected it.
"This battle was unusual. The rookies already lacked practical combat experience, and the unusual nature of this battle made that problem even worse.
"It's only natural that things turned out this way."
"Yeah! This battle was unusual. Even I had trouble adjusting at first, and I nearly got killed once."
"It was much the same for me. I nearly got killed, too."
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