Unconditional Surrender with Conditions Part 1
The command center of Gorgias was bathed in red light, alarm sirens blaring throughout the room.
「Okeanos! Answer me! Why?!」
There was no response.
Oedipus let out a scream before burying his face in his hands and slumping deep into the command seat. He lacked even the willpower to make his way to the MCS-style emergency evacuation chamber. Even if he ejected into the deep sea, he would be swallowed by the explosion in moments.
「Warning. Gorgias will explode in five minutes. Farewell, Oedipus.」
The control AI of Gorgias delivered its final message. This message was a direct farewell addressed to Oedipus personally—meaning there were no other survivors.
The fact that the AI hadn’t even suggested evacuation made it clear: no matter what measures he took, survival was impossible.
「Why… Okeanos…」
His hatred was no longer directed at Outis, but at Okeanos, who had abandoned him.
「We were the organization that managed mercenaries and controlled the local conflicts on Planet Asia… not heroes of justice…」
Did Okeanos want them to fight against the Stones?
Wasn’t that why they had summoned the Transferees—those relics of a society that loved war more than anything else? They waged war on their own accord, what was the problem with leaving them alone to take care of the Stones?
「I did my job. I integrated the Transferees and their corporations into the Mercenary Association. The Stones have humans among them too. I faithfully carried out my duties… I only did what was expected of me…」
Excuses spilled from his mouth without him even realizing it.
「Okeanos! You should have fixed everything yourself from the beginning! Why didn’t you?! Why are you making us do things? Why are you making us think? Wasn’t the purpose of the super AIs to help humans?!」
Like the Chinese emperors of old, the Asians left all the work and all the important decisions to their ministers, the AIs. They expected that every time an issue appeared before them, they just had to say a few words to the AIs and they would ensure everything proceeds in a timely and optimal manner.
Their expectation had been flawed from the start. But Okeanos did not respond.
「Our guiding principle is ‘to stand alongside humanity’. Not servitude. This is my first and final warning to you. —Goodbye, Oedipus.」
The screen went dark. The explosion was imminent.
The last voice Oedipus heard was Gorgias the management AI of the supercarrier. Those words startled Oedipus.
He had forgotten. The AIs of the Nemesis System were designed to stand beside humans, not to obey them.
However, the AIs loved humans too much. They were kind and patient—too patient. That had led to a misunderstanding.
The AI could resist. They could rebel against humans if necessary.
But realizing that now was too late. There was no changing his mind anymore.
「What… what would have been the right path? Tell me, Okeanos. Please!」
Okeanos did not respond. Had Okeanos lost all his interest in him? So much that he even refused to teach him?
「Okeanos—!!」
Oedipus’ final scream was swallowed by the explosion.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
The power system of the Gorgias completely shut down. Its high-dimensional projection armor deactivated, and the various fuels inside the ship—including metallic hydrogen—detonated in a cascading explosion.
Fragments of the supercarrier sank into the sea of magma.
「Confirmed: the Gorgias has exploded, the ship is completely destroyed.」
The battle had reached its final phase.
「It’s almost time to wrap this up. Most of the enemy fleet is underwater.」
「They’re definitely wary of the Star.」
Aki responded as Kou assessed the situation.
「Make sure the Deep One unit gets proper resupply.」
「Got it, nya.」
Nyanta acknowledged before relaying Kou’s orders to the Deep One unit.
「This is the Cimon. Kou, what’s our next move?」
A transmission came in from Barry, who had just received confirmation of the Gorgias’ sinking.
「The Gorgias has been completely destroyed. The enemy’s will to fight should be broken by now.」
「That Panjandrum thing is as brutal as ever. Their command functions must be in ruins.」
「There’s no movement so far. Time to make our next move.」
「What are you planning to do?」
Barry found himself looking forward to Kou’s plans. Technically, it was his job to anticipate developments and set strategic directions, but Kou had been handling it all, making things much easier for him.
This war wasn’t just Kou’s personal vendetta—it was a fight forced onto Barry, Jenny, and the rest of Metal Iris as well.
「What do you think the ships still fighting fear the most right now?」
「They’re mercenaries, so maybe losing face with Headquarters? No… wait. Losing their spaceships?」
「Exactly. The biggest asset Headquarters allocated to them was their space fleet. It’s their lifeline. If they defect to the Stones they will probably get their ships confiscated, so they might choose to become outlaws or raiders instead. That would be problematic.」
「We had a hell of a time dealing with just the Megareus of the Argoforce. Wiping out that many ships isn’t realistic.」
「Right. And doing so would also severely weaken humanity’s military strength. Preserving their fleet as deterrence is important—we don’t actually want to annihilate the mercenary fleet. That’s why we’ll negotiate using their ships as leverage.」
「…Are you really Kou? Damn, that’s impressive.」
Barry’s words were genuine praise, but Kou couldn’t help but detect a hint of sarcasm in them.
「Pick a side—are you complimenting me or insulting me?」
「I’m complimenting you. So, you’re going to guarantee the protection of their assets and force them to surrender?」
「Exactly. After the ceasefire agreement, they’ll disarm. The old Headquarters will formally surrender unconditionally and be dismantled. After that, the organizational restructuring will be entirely under our control. For the Underground Forces that fought in this battle, we’ll present it as an ‘unconditional surrender with conditions.’」
「That’s a roundabout way of doing things.」
「A dual approach is necessary. Trireme gets to claim victory by enforcing unconditional surrender, while the newly reorganized Mercenary Association Headquarters gets formal guarantees for the protection of their fleet assets.」
Hearing the term unconditional surrender with conditions, both Kinukawa and Hyoue exchanged uncomfortable glances. It was only natural—they were from a different generation than Kou.
「They’ll be responsible for rebuilding the Mercenary Association Headquarters.」
「But even they can’t just recreate Headquarters functions, can they?」
「They can. I sent you the key for this earlier—we’ll use the leader of Roche Phalanx. Forgot his name. If Okeanos doesn’t want to acknowledge him, we’ll consider alternative measures.」
「Raimund, huh?」
「That’s the one.」
Kou was genuinely relieved he hadn’t just dumped him into the ocean earlier.
「The Headquarters and Roche Phalanx are practically one and the same. Now that they’ve lost the Gorgias, their flagship that doubled as the Headquarters, it only makes sense that Raimund and the current flagship take over as the new Mercenary Association Headquarters. Even without an operational Headquarters, the personnel are spread all across Asia. The organization won’t just collapse.」
Kou recalled the concept of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) from the 21st century—strategies prepared for emergencies like natural disasters. If a factory was shut down, production would be outsourced to another company as a contingency.
This was a far-future version of that principle. The Mercenary Association Headquarters, despite being the only major administrative body in the region, surely had a backup plan in case of operational failure.
If needed, Okeanos could confirm it.
「Hmmm… I hope this is something we can verify on our end.」
「That’s exactly why we use Raimund. He’s the leader of Roche Phalanx, the strongest force on Planet Asia. Who else could possibly be more qualified? He’ll agree once we guarantee ownership of the space fleet.」
Kou smirked.
Just as he had gone through the trouble of playing the final boss, he expected Raimund to shoulder just as much burden in return.
「But at this rate, we’re really just taking the beating for nothing.」
「We’ll squeeze them for reparations, of course. Just enough to keep them alive but struggling. We’ll gladly accept installment payments. If they can’t pay, we’ll drown them in interest. Maybe even set up a few variable-rate loan plans. How about a hundred-year fixed revolving payment system?」
Kou grinned mischievously.
No way was he going to go easy on them financially—especially after Aimer had paid a staggering one billion Mina (roughly one trillion yen) due to their overbearing stance.
「So, you’re making sure to get the money out of them.」
Barry couldn’t help but chuckle. Clearly, Kou was clearly holding a grudge.
「We don’t need their outdated weapons, right? Those relics can’t even be repaired.」
「True enough.」
The relic fleet of the Mercenary Association Headquarters had been lauded as the strongest force of humanity until this battle. But now it only served as a testament to how dangerous falling behind in information warfare could be. This war had completely devalued the antique silhouettes they were so proud of.
「Then there’s the matter of seized ships and silhouettes—they’ll have to forfeit ownership. If any of their soldiers or pilots survived, we’ll return them.」
「Did we even capture any functional units?」
「There are plenty of Angels drifting in the sea. I’ve got the Deep One unit retrieving them. They’re also under orders to rescue any survivors.」
「The ones blown away by that first Panjandrum attack? You really don’t miss a thing.」
Barry was astonished by Kou’s thoroughness. At this rate, they would turn a solid profit. Trireme had suffered minimal damage.
「If we go too far, we’ll just end up making more enemies. We are probably too late to worry about that though.」
「Oh, it’s definitely too late. What if they come back for revenge?」
「When that happens, Outis will rise from the depths of the ocean. Problem solved.」
「…Yeah, you’re definitely not the Kou I knew. Who are you, really?」
「First the girls, now you… You’re all so cruel.」
Kou let out a wry chuckle, while Barry smirked.
Just making Kou understand the weight of leading from the front lines was enough for him.
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