Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space? - Chapter 5

Dimus was the first to begin his report. “Most of the drifting parts seem to be broken. And I found a large box that was fixed to the floor.”

This report seemed to pique Valbo’s interest. “What was inside?”

“It’s a small shuttle.” Dimus said it was a six-person shuttle about fifteen meters long.

“Can it move?”

“I don’t know. Even if it appears to be new, we wouldn’t know exactly how old it is.”

Berta, Liet, and Sario seemed to have found nothing. When it was my turn, I reported first about the safe.

“I discovered a safe fixed to the floor at the back. And…” My report was interrupted as Valbo grimaced and asked, “Wait, a safe? Did you check inside?”

“It was locked, so I couldn’t investigate.”

“Tch, useless. We’re going to check that safe.”

“Um…” As I tried to continue my report, Valbo glared at me.

“You just need to shut up and follow orders. Lead us to that safe.” I guided them to the safe, and Valbo grinned when he saw it.

“Open the safe with explosives.”

Dimus set explosives on the safe. We then evacuated outside the warehouse. The explosives detonated, and various items flew out from the entrance.

We waited for the explosion’s effects to subside before entering the warehouse. The safe’s door was open, and metal ingots were floating in the air. However, the entrance to the room with the maintenance robots was blocked by debris from the explosion.

Valbo grabbed one of the floating metal ingots and let out a scream. I thought it was a creepy sound, but it seemed to be a cry of joy. The ingot was apparently a metal called “Galichium.”

Galichium, a metal that does not exist on Earth, can only be mined in special space regions. Ten tons of it would be worth enough to buy a medium-sized sub-light transport ship.

“Oh!” Dimus exclaimed. The small shuttle he had found was now broken, having collided with debris from the recent explosion.

“Tch, that small shuttle was already broken. More importantly, collect the Galichium.” We gathered about two tons of Galichium floating in space and returned to the reconnaissance ship Gyogal. Valbo apparently reported to the ship captain with pride.

Such acquisitions would become the property of the reconnaissance ship Gyogal, and the profits would be split among the captain and Valbo. However, those of us who actually found the loot, like me and Sario, received nothing. We were still only given ration tubes.

At that moment, I thought about killing Valbo and escaping. However, the conditioning terminal buried in the back of my neck could inflict pain severe enough to kill me with just the push of a button.

We continued exploring the Ponce Spaceport. Time passed without me having the opportunity to report about the maintenance robots.

Around that time, a swarm of Space Jellyfish approached the Ponce Spaceport. I thought Valbo would halt the exploration, but we received orders to exterminate the Space Jellyfish instead.

“Why us? Isn’t there the Mobile Space Force?” I asked Sario. The mobile space force was like the space version of the Marine Corps. They also use something similar to power armor, but it’s even more advanced than ours and armed with weapons more powerful than space machine guns.

So, I thought it would be better for the Mobile Space Force to handle the jellyfish instead of the reconnaissance team. “It’s pointless. The Goblin Army always has the lower-class subordinate soldiers fight first, and only when they are decimated do the actual Goblin soldiers step in.”

This method was implemented throughout Earth’s history as well and basically remained unchanged. So, we armed ourselves and headed toward the Ponce Spaceport. The other reconnaissance teams should also be arriving.

We made our way from the corridor to the space port, where cargo was loaded and unloaded. The space port was a place for handling cargo, and this one was spacious enough to accommodate five spacecraft loading and unloading said cargo. The entrance was an airlock, which we passed through to enter the space port itself.

“Hey, there are no Space Jellyfish here!” Looking around the vast space port, I saw no sign of the jellyfish. Part of the outer wall was destroyed, leaving a large hole, so they might be coming and going through there.

As I pondered this, Space Jellyfish began to enter through the hole. They were monsters about eight meters wide. I aimed the barrel of my space machine gun at the core of one jellyfish and pulled the trigger.

The recoil from the shot hit my shoulder, pushing me backward. Damn it. I had forgotten to activate the electromagnets in my soles. I activated the electromagnets and secured myself to the metal-rich floor.

When I turned my attention back to the jellyfish, I saw that it had been killed by an explosive round that penetrated and destroyed its core. Just as I felt relieved, more jellyfish began to pour in through the hole.

“Attack! Annihilate them!” Valbo commanded in a grating voice. We continued to pull the triggers and fired at the attacking Space Jellyfish. After I took down a fourth one, I noticed that my remaining ammunition was running low. The same was true for everyone else.

“Captain, we’re running low on ammo,” Dimus reported to Valbo. Valbo looked around nervously, confirming that many jellyfish still remained before he ordered, “You all fight to the end; I’m going back to report.”

“What… are you telling us to die?” Dimus protested. Valbo showed the controller for the conditioning terminal. “I can kill you with this, you know.” With that, he fled. Valbo left, and only we, the subordinate soldiers, remained. Moreover, it seemed Valbo had sealed the airlock entrance.

“That bastard sealed the airlock. Is there another escape route?” Dimus barked. Meanwhile, the Space Jellyfish continued to attack, and I took down a sixth one.

“Look over there!” Sario’s loud voice came through the communicator. There was something resembling an air duct in the direction Sario was pointing at. We started running toward the air duct.

The Space Jellyfish were chasing after us. Damn it, it seemed like it was only a hundred meters away, but it felt so very far. Dimus’s space machine gun ran out of ammo first, and a jellyfish’s tentacle caught him.

I aimed for its core and pulled the trigger, but I missed. Hitting a target while running is difficult. Bl**d spewed from Dimus’s mouth. He had been crushed by the tentacle.

Next, Berta and Liet were caught by the space jellyfish. “Help!” Berta’s voice echoed through the communicator. I stopped and aimed my gun at the jellyfish. The explosive round hit its core, and at that moment, strength drained out from Berta and Liet’s bodies. The jellyfish had crushed them the instant it was hit.

“Damn it!” I repeatedly pulled the trigger at the jellyfish that had killed Berta and Liet.

“Zen, the two of them are dead. Let’s run!” Sario’s voice urged me to start running. A swarm of Space Jellyfish was closing in behind us. Sario fired his space machine gun at the air duct. The explosion blew away the dust cover that had been blocking the entrance to the air duct.

Sario was the first to jump into the air duct. I followed him, moving deeper inside. The jellyfish extended their tentacles toward us, but after advancing about ten meters ahead, they could no longer reach us.