Inside the Dahlia mercenary ship's hangar, the Gold Raccoon was secured, its cockpit connected to a myriad of cables.

Sirena, dressed in her pilot suit, returned to the hangar.

“How long until launch?”

A mechanic, floating in the zero-gravity hangar, flew towards her. She caught him and replied, “We’re ready whenever you are."

“Thanks.”

The mechanic seemed uneasy as Sirena entered the cockpit.

“Are you really going through with this?”

Sirena answered with a stoic expression.

“It’s for the revenge of my fallen comrades—not that I’ll say that, of course. I need to let out some steam before we back down, or it’ll affect our future jobs.”

She wasn’t acting out of vengeance.

It was all about business.

But Sirena thought it was perfectly acceptable to avenge her fallen comrades.

Besides…

“I want to test drive this thing too.”

The mechanic looked exasperated.

“Regardless of its appearance, it’s a fantastic mobile knight. The cost is far too high for a custom mass-produced machine.”

“I wonder who it was supposed to be for.”

The hatch closed, and the mechanics moved away from the Gold Raccoon.

When the launch preparations were complete, it was catapulted into space.

“This time, I’m going to kill you,” Sirena muttered.

She was more interested in Emma, the knight, than the Atalante.

Sirena had allowed her personal feelings to influence her mission.

...

Inside the Atalante's cockpit, Emma, dressed in a Seventh pilot suit, sat in the seat, gripping the control stick.

Percy, acting as an operator, explained the situation.

“The machine is fine, but the software is hastily made. It’s best not to expect it to work properly.”

“Understood.”

“You just need to focus on meeting up with your allies. If you encounter enemies, just escape.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Alright, then let’s release the hangar’s lock.”

Percy said this, and the Atalante, which was secured in the hangar, was released.

As soon as it could move, Emma began to walk the Atalante. Its movements were awkward.

“It’s fine. We just need to meet up with our allies,” she reassured herself.

She headed for the hatch leading outside, to space.

The hatch opened, and the Seventh’s defense force was waiting.

Apparently, they were escorting her to safety.

“Lieutenant, the Seventh’s defense forces will escort you. Continue on to your allies.”

Emma was relieved. She thought she would finally be able to safely meet up with the Banfield family's fleet. But an alarm sounded in the cockpit.

“Enemy!? Above us?!”

She looked up and saw small mobile knights approaching from above.

They attacked with their weapons, firing bullets and beams.

Emma also saw a ship.

The Seventh’s defense force’s destroyer was hit by a beam and exploded.

The Atalante was blown away by the shockwave. It was struggling to regain its position.

She moved the control stick and foot pedals, but the Atalante was still struggling to control itself in space.

“Until our allies arrive…”

Emma decided to evade the enemy. As she tried to flee, the small mobile knights flew towards the Atalante.

They were ignoring the Seventh’s defense force, so it seemed they were targeting the Atalante.

She used the twin boosters in her backpack, activating gravity in the cockpit.

As the Atalante fled, the small machines pursued it.

But the Atalante, which was still not properly under control, was just flying erratically, zig-zagging through space.

As a result, the enemy machines caught up.

And then…

"Damn! You punks!"

Mass-produced mobile knights appeared.

They had the Banfield family’s insignia, indicating they were allies.

Emma saw a familiar face leading the group: the captain.

“Captain!”

“Emma, how are you? Wait right there. We’ll take care of this soon.”

The twelve mobile knights of the four platoons under the captain’s command launched an attack on the small mobile knights.

The enemy machines, despite being excellent small machines, seemed to be lacking in power compared to the mass-produced machines.

One of the small machines was destroyed, and the rest of the enemy fleet retreated.

Emma sighed in relief as she witnessed this.

"Thank you for the help."

"Don’t let your guard down in battle. You need to stay alert until you reach the mothership.”

Emma, escorted by twelve mobile knights, thought that she’d be safe as long as she reached the allied ship.

As she tried to keep an eye on her surroundings, the Atalante’s sensors detected an enemy.

“Captain, enemy!”

"C’mon, our machines aren’t even responding yet—"

The captain, noticing the enemy’s approach, turned his machine towards the ground.

“They're coming from below! Wait… what?”

But there was no enemy there.

Emma was the one who was surprised.

“It’s not right! The enemy is—"

One of the mass-produced machines exploded, pierced from behind.

The allies turned their attention to the source.

A gold-painted Raccoon was there. The report about a machine being stolen from the Seventh had come through, and it had already been flagged as an enemy.

“Where did it come from?!”

The captain aimed his rifle and fired. The bullets passed through the Gold Raccoon.

“No way.”

The other allied machines attacked, but their optical weapons also passed through.

Percy’s voice appeared on the comms.

“That machine has a function that disrupts sensors. Get out of there, or you’re dead!”

Hearing this, the captain immediately ordered his subordinates.

“Scatter!”

The captain’s mobile knight grabbed the Atalante and flew away.

Then the cries of the allies came through the comms.

“H-help!”

“Don’t come any closer! Don’t come any closer!”

“Where are you, you raccoon bastard!”

Emma, inside the cockpit, watched the explosions and listened to the cries of her allies.

She couldn't stop trembling as she saw her allies disappear.

“What am I supposed to do?”

She knew there must be a solution, but it seemed impossible in this situation.

Emma was left alone with the captain.

The captain threw the Atalante towards their allies’ direction and aimed his weapon.

“Emma, try to get to your allies.”

“Captain?”

“I need to avenge my subordinates.”

The captain was going to fight the enemy to allow Emma to escape.

The Gold Raccoon, seemingly eavesdropping on their conversation, reappeared.

It opened a comm channel.

“You’re not the target, so I’ll let you live.”

She recognized the voice.

“Is it...you?”

She remembered the woman who had scolded them outside the model shop.

“Finally, you noticed. You’re really slow. You’re not cut out to be a knight.”

Emma clenched her teeth. The captain attacked the Raccoon.

The machine dodged easily, deflecting the captain’s attack.

"I’m your opponent."

“Why are you attacking when you can just run away?”

“I’m a knight!”

The captain’s answer was a non-answer, but it was enough for the enemy.

“I don’t understand you. I can understand seeking revenge for your subordinates. But you’re challenging a fight you can’t win, because you're a knight? You need to take care of your life!”

"Get away from me!"

The captain discarded his rifle and charged with his laser blade.

The Gold Raccoon destroyed his arm with a kick.

He then used the axe in his hand to cut off the captain’s arms and legs, and slammed his left arm into the cockpit.

The B-ranked captain had no chance against this opponent.

"Captain!!"

Emma screamed, but there was no answer.

Instead, the enemy responded.

“Knight? What a ridiculous notion. You're just a pawn for the nobles. They’re disposable, you think you have pride? You're all such idiots. I don’t understand any of you.”

The woman kicked the captain's machine away and aimed the rifle she was holding at the Atalante.

“Do you agree?”

Her voice was low and cold, suggesting that she would kill Emma immediately if she disagreed.

"You’re a knight, right? Just a pawn, a disposable life for the nobles. You agree, don’t you?"

"N-no."

"—"

"At least, that’s not true for my lord. He fights with his life to protect his people. He’s amazing. He’s the kind of strong person I aspire to be."

Emma refused to agree. She gripped the control stick tightly, trembling.

The woman spoke in an icy tone.

"Then die a pathetic death for your pride."

Just as the enemy was about to pull the trigger,

"Lieutenant Emma Rodman."

Nias’s face appeared on a portion of the monitor. Suddenly, the Atalante’s behavior changed.

Small windows appeared, showing information about the software update that was in progress.

“Major Nias?!”

Emma was surprised. She stepped on the pedal, and the Atalante flew in a tight spiral.

This maneuver helped her dodge the bullets, but the enemy was still pursuing her.

"I'm sorry, but I don’t have time. I’m adjusting the software right now."

"What? Huh?”

Emma was surprised, as was Percy, on the other side of the monitor.

“You’re rewriting the system in the middle of a fight?! That’s insane!”

“I’m just rewriting it for the lieutenant.”

“That's unbelievable. That’s what a fool would do.”

“At least, I’m better than you. Can you do it, Lieutenant?”

Nias stared at Emma through the monitor.

Emma nodded.

"I can. I'll do it!”

“Good answer."

The monitor disappeared, and a temporary system version appeared.

“This system…”

“I’m using the special machine system as a base. I’ll adjust it for the Atalante.”

As the system started, the Atalante changed.

Its twin eyes glowed, and the machine, which had been flying in a spiral, began to fly straight.

Emma was amazed by the change.

(Wow. It’s completely different.)

It felt familiar to her.

The enemy sensed this change as well.

“You rewrote the system during combat? That’s why you’re a genius. It’s so annoying.”

As the Gold Raccoon drew closer, Emma stopped fleeing.

She turned to face the enemy and grabbed her laser blade.

She was about to strike when the enemy hastily dodged.

“That little…”

Apparently, the enemy was surprised by Emma’s speed.

Emma was figuring out her next move.

“You dared to hurt the Captain."

The tables had turned. The Gold Raccoon was the one fleeing now.

She fired her rifle, but the Atalante was too fast for her.

“Damn it!”

It seemed that she had rushed into the mission, and the adjustments weren’t complete.

As the Atalante closed in, Emma swung her laser blade.

But...

“Ugh!”

The Atalante immediately distanced itself.

The enemy machine tried to block with its arm, which was probably the right thing to do.

“Haha! This is hilarious! This machine is something else. I heard it has a special armor, but it’s completely unscathed after being cut. It's amazing."

The woman in the cockpit was laughing gleefully because Emma's laser blade hadn’t been able to pierce the armor.

The Gold Raccoon’s armor was completely untouched.

"I’m going to break it while I’m warming up.”