Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  The lower door opened and a rope was lowered.

  “Damn! What is this while we’re trying not to die? Change it once you return to Turan!”

  Slayer shouted irately as he looked at the rope.

  …..Ark was also seriously considering it. Anyway, the team members didn’t have a problem getting on the Silver Star. First it was Ark and the Royal Guards, Slayer, Leon, Sadain and lastly the gunner. Milan who had sat in the cockpit of the Silver Star as soon as he entered shouted.

  “Hyung-nim, everyone has boarded!”

  “Okay. Close the bottom doors. All injured people should head to the infirmary! Hegel, calculate the energy required to enter the atmosphere and how long it will take to charge.”

  “It will require 30 minutes!”

  The time needed for the enemy’s ship to restore power was 20 minutes. Meanwhile Ark and his companions had taken 15 minutes to board the Silver Star. If they broke through the atmosphere immediately then they couldn’t escape pursuit. However the Silver Star needed to recharge the energy required to break into the atmosphere. Hegel calculated that the recharge time would be 30 minutes. That meant the enemy’s ship would recover faster!

  ‘If we’re forced to fight then we’ll be stuck while those guys can move!’

  “Milan, turn in the direction of the enemy! Hegel, switch the Silver Star to combat mode. Set the turrets to semi-automatic, load the warheads and calculate the angle. Kalliben, Leon, take the left and right turrets respectively. Smash them before they recover!”

  Woong woong woong woong! Woong woong woong woong!

  The Silver Star rotated. At the same time, dozens of information windows opened in front of him. Shield related information, number of shells stored in the gun turrets, energy and balance graphs and various information about the targeted enemy ship. This was the view after the Silver Star had switched to battle mode. The front window zoomed in on the ship spewing black smoke. Several red aiming pointers overlapped on the ship and Hegel shouted.

  “Enemy ship, targeting is complete!”

  “Attack!”

  Ark stood up and shouted.

  “Hyung-nim, an energy reaction! A massive amount of energy is condensing in front of us! The amount of energy indicates that it is a 3rd grade battleship like the Silver Star! The energy is facing the enemy ship!”

  Hegel shouted with surprise after manipulating the dashboard. At the same time, the clouds above the ship the Silver Star was targeting started to whirl and a white light shot downwards. The enemy’s ship didn’t work so the wings started to melt and caused a chain explosion.

  “What the hell? All of a sudden……”

  Ark raised his head and exclaimed. A spaceship was slowly descending from the purple clouds. The spaceship had a bright red hull! One man was laughing inside the spaceship.

  “This is the 2nd competition Ark!”

  The man inside the ship was the Red Slaughterer.

  TO BE CONTINUED

  Ark

  The Legend

  (아크 더 레전드)

  Volume 11

  Yoo Seong

  (유성)

  Space 1

  Silver Star VS Asura

  “What on earth?”

  Ark looked out the window with a flustered expression. Slayer, Kaya and the team’s expressions weren’t that different. They were all driven to confusion by one spaceship. An unidentified red ship had smashed the ships of the black helmets then leisurely descended.

  “Dammit! What else if there? Isn’t our mission to investigate the planet? Some guys appeared to shoot us and the moment we are about to escape, a red ship appeared? Is this a joke? Why are there so many problems for a simple investigation mission?”

  Slayer snapped angrily at Ark.

  “Why are you such an unlucky bastard?”

  “……You’re blaming me?”

  Ark asked with an amazed expression and Slayer nodded naturally.

  “Yes! Who else in this party has been as unlucky as you? The fate of the party depends on the leader. We had to meet a leader who is so cheap he doesn’t want to pay the cost of repairing equipment! The evident is that Melina-nim died as soon as we joined your team! We also suffered in the laboratory! Melina-nim is also dead! And those black helmets appeared! I blame you for this!”

  “Shut up!”

  Kaya kicked Slayer’s ass.

  “You know the value of X so why are you whining so much?”

  “Value of X…..”

  “And why are you assuming that the red ship is an enemy? It smashed the ship of the black helmets that attacked us. So isn’t there a high probability that they are friendly?”

  “Haven’t you noticed yet?”

  The gunner answered Kaya’s question. He was the man who defeated to Ark’s side.

  “Look more carefully. That red ship, doesn’t it look a lot different?”

  “Different? What, what the?” That disgusting ship?”

  Kaya’s forehead wrinkled as she turned her head. The red ship was floating a few hundred metres from the Silver Star. It didn’t look much different from a general ship. But when the Silver Star’s screen zoomed up close to it, there were some parts that looked significantly different. The ship seemed to be made of biological tissue that wriggled like real flesh. It was a ship with mechanical parts and biological tissues combined! That’s why Ark and Slayer concluded that the ship was an enemy. Kaya had never been off Istana but Slayer and Ark had fought in the Bellin battlefields. There was only one species that combined mechanical and biological tissues in the entire galaxy!

  “That is the ship of the Rama.”

  ”R-rama?”

  “In that sense…..”

  The gunner looked at Ark and said.

  “That friend called Slayer’s words isn’t exactly unfounded. The Rama’s ship. In addition, it is red. Doesn’t looking at it remind you of a person?”

  ‘Who the hell is this guy?’

  Ark narrowed his eyes like a hawk. Ark had felt an awful feeling since the unidentified ship appeared. The word ‘ASURA’ was carved on the side. He didn’t like that name. But the thing that scrapped Ark’s nerves even more was the red colour. He didn’t dislike the colour red. However it changed when he was talking about ‘red + Rama.’

  The sum of those two words naturally reminded him of someone. But only people who had been on the battlefield like Ark, Slayer, Leon and the Royal Guards were aware of this fact. Kaya and Sadain didn’t know about it yet the gunner did.

  ‘Where does he know me from?’

  His suspicions deepened. However Ark couldn’t think about it for long.

  “Hyung-nim, we are receiving communication from the red spaceship!”

  “Communication?”

  Ark turned his gaze at Hegel’s words. He thought for a moment before nodding and replying.

  “Allow the connection.”

  A new screen was created on the window and one person appeared. Ark’s face warped the moment he realized the man’s identity. His premonition was correct. The man floating on the screen was who Ark was expecting. The man wearing red armour……

  “The Red Slaughterer!”

  -Ark, it’s been a while.

  “Why are you here?”

  –You’re asking something obvious. Shouldn’t we conclude our fight?

  “I don’t care about that. Did you become so confused that there is an error in your memory? You can’t gloss over the fact that it is a draw! Then do you want me to prove it again?”

  –It is your idea.

  The Red Slaughterer on the screen laughed and replied.

  –And I don’t care what you think. The important thing is my opinion. And you’re one of the reasons I started Galaxian. I can’t concentrate on my work until the match with you is settled.

  “Your work?”

  Ark’s eyes narrowed.

  “Are you talking about your ultimate goal?”

  The Red Slaughterer’s lips curved upward
s like a bow at Ark’s question.

  –Didn’t I say it before? I’m curious about your skills.

  “So I’ve stepped on you! Let’s keep our promise like men.”

  –That was your thought?

  “This bastard is just like Kurakan!”

  Ark frowned and cursed. The listening Kurakan said ‘No Hyung-nim, I’m not like that……’ However Kurakan’s complaining didn’t enter Ark’s ears.

  “This is really convenient for you. You just immediately delete any shameful memories. Indeed, if it’s you then it wouldn’t be too difficult. You just need to press the Del key several times. An artificial intelligence is upgraded but you’re still shameful. If you learned through imitating someone then shouldn’t you learn some shame? Red Slaughterer, no Lucifer!”

  Lucifer! This was the other name Ark knew the Red Slaughterer as. The identity of the Red Slaughterer was the artificial intelligence made of ‘01010001010……’ that took over the nuclear power plant and got Ark into Galaxian, Lucifer! Of course this information was a state secret. Therefore openly saying the name Lucifer wasn’t a problem. Slayer, Kaya and general users were unaware of Lucifer’s existence. He called the name Lucifer without any specific ideas……

  “Lucifer?”

  There was a user who reacted violently to that name. It was the gunner who had been observing from a distance.

  “And artificial intelligence? Does he had something to do with the Lucifer from New World?”

  “Eh? H-how do you?”

  Ark was confused by the gunner’s reaction. Once again, Lucifer was the final boss of New World. Ark was the user who defeated Lucifer and became the director of Global Exos. Therefore Ark was a well-known user. But Lucifer’s identity wasn’t just a monster. The fact that he was an artificial intelligence created by Park Woo-seong wasn’t known. It was natural.

  The event was caused by the game’s creator trying to destroy it! Some users even fell into a coma because they were caught in the incident. There was no way the game publisher could announce such events. Lucifer had been buried in the darkness until the government’s greed released him. Naturally Lucifer’s real identity wasn’t recorded in Ark’s autobiography. That’s why Ark mentioned artificial intelligence to the Red Slaughterer. It was impossible to connect artificial intelligence to the Lucifer from New World.

  Red Slaughterer= Lucifer= artificial intelligence.

  It was impossible to realize this formula without knowing the inside facts about New World. The only ones Ark knew who would react to the name Lucifer were the government agents and the 50 gamers the government hired. Then the gunner’s identity……

  “Are you one of those 50 people?”

  “One of the 50 people?”

  But he just received a question mark in return. That answer was also wrong. Therefore Ark’s brain became even more confused.

  ‘The level of skill, the way he approached me in the laboratory and his reaction to Lucifer’s name……if he isn’t part of the 50 users then what is this reaction? It isn’t like that? Then who is this guy? How does he know about Lucifer?’

  “Ark, answer me! What did you say about Lucifer? I clearly heard it. You mentioned the artificial intelligence and Lucifer! That person is clearly associated with Lucifer! And where did the 50 people come from? Tell me! What is going on here? Don’t think about moving before you tell me!”

  The gunner grabbed Ark’s collar.

  –Is this the time for small talk?

  The Red Slaughterer said with a laugh. Then Hegel cried out in a desperate voice.

  “Hyung-nim, attack! Shells are heading towards the Silver Star!”

  “What?”

  Ark suddenly raised his head. Dozens of lights could be seen on the window.

  –Now Ark, it is the beginning of the 2nd round.

  The Red Slaughterer disappeared from the screen with a laugh.

  Pepepepeng! Pepepepeng! Pepepepeng!

  -You have received enemy fire!

 

  -You have received enemy fire!

 

  And the red messages flashed on the screen. As soon as the bombardment from the Asura was confirmed, Milan immediately opened the shield and started evasion movements. But the shells caught up with the Silver Star’s movements and the shells hit them. At the same time, sparks flew from the Silver Star’s shields!

  “Heok! Why is the shield falling so quickly?”

  “It is EMP shells!”

  “EMP? Damn, he is very determined.”

  Ark cursed with an annoyed look. Just like Galaxian had different types of bullets for firearms like the Freezing and Flame Bullets, the shells for the ship’s guns also existed in a variety of different types. The EMP shells emitted an electromagnetic pulse that could inflict deadly damage to shields or equipment. Air battles were often decided by how quickly the enemy’s shield could be removed.

  When considering that point, the EMP shells dealt two times the damage of a general shell to the shield so it was the optimal weapon for air battles. However, the price of the EMP shells was double the price of general ones! It was like they were shooting chunks of money. The ship shook and flashing lights occurred on the bridge.

  “Damn Ark, you should do something!”

  And the passengers like Slayer started complaining.

  “Hey! Don’t you really the atmosphere? We’ll talk about it later!”

  Ark pushed the gunner away and sat in the captain’s seat with his eyes glued to the monitor.

  Ship’s Basic Information: Silver Star

  Hull: Medium-3 Classification: Battleship

  Firepower: 25,000

  Speed: B Turning: A

  Shield: C Energy Efficiency: B

  * Defense: Shield Gauge: 86%

  Hull Armour Durability: 100%

  * Attack: Gun (Thunderbolt) Charge Rate: 100% (4 shots available)

  Bullets for Manual Shooting- Full, Condensation Energy Particle Cannon Charge Rate- 100%

  * Special: [Optical Scanners x 15], [Chaff x 5]

  * Skill: [Photon Movement], [Warp Navigation]

  This was the Silver Star’s information window when it switched to battle mode!

  “Shall we do this?”

  Ark browsed the information window before shouting to Milan.

  “Milan, increase the engine output and use irregular movements to evade!”

  “I’m already doing that! But the accuracy of their bombardment is beyond imagination! They’re hitting 50% of the time despite my evasion movement at top speed!”

  “They must be using the automatic targeting system.”

  Ark looked at Hegel and shouted.

  “The Chaff is ready! Make the Silver Star fly in a 1 km circle. Hegel, prepare to launch the Chaff in 30 second intervals!”

  “Understood!”

  The Silver Star accelerated and made a huge circle over Impeltus. All ships had gravity devices so the crew members didn’t feel any change in despite the angle of movement. But if they ship turned 360 degrees while accelerating then Slayer, Kaya and the Royal Guards would lose their balance. However Hegel just checked the stopwatch and pressed the launch button in rapid succession.

  “Chaff launched!”

  Pepeng! Pepeng! Pepeng!

  Silver capsules exited the upper doors of the Silver Star and exploded! In moments the Chaff (in order to disrupt radar detection) scattered around the Silver Star. Then the shells that had been concentrating on the Silver Star started flying all over the place.

  ‘It is good that I’ve learnt this.’

  He had spent 4 days in S-20 before joining the team. This was one of the reasons why Ark had been busy. It was likely that a fleet battle would occur on this mission. But Ark didn’t have experience in this.

  He had experienced aerial combat in New World but that was completely different from a large scale fleet ba
ttle. This time he wouldn’t have Tori to control the Silver Star so he needed to learn about ways to win fleet battles. This was the defense method he learnt!

  Originally Chaff was an equipment used to disturb the radar of guided missiles. But the automatic targeting system also predicted the movement of the enemy using radar. This was the reason why the Asura’s high accuracy shells suddenly flew to an unexpected place. The Chaff covered a 1 kilometre area so the radar of the automatic targeting system failed to detect the Silver Star. The passengers gave thumbs up when the constant hits stopped..

  “Ohh! Ark, great! Great!”

  “Now Kalliben, Leon! Shoot!”

  The Silver Star’s radar wasn’t operating normally thanks to the Chaff but the turrets were set to manual mode. Before the Asura showed up, the enemy was just a ship without power. He didn’t need to use the auto-targeting function. Fortunately they could start manually shooting without any preparation!

  Kwa kwa kwa kwa! Kwa kwa kwa kwa!

  The Silver Star’s turrets starting firing. The difference between the Silver Star and the Asura was 1 kilometre. It wasn’t a close distance but the Asura was confident from their pre-emptive strike and didn’t feel the need for evasive movements. In other words, it was a stationary target. And the people sitting at the Silver Star’s turret were Leon and Kalliben who had a natural talent as a sniper!

  Pepepepeng! Pepepepeng! Pepepepeng!

  Sparks sprung from the Asura’s shield. The Asura started its evasion movements one step late but the speed and turning power was slow compared to the Silver Star. But it was a Rama battleship so the Asura possessed tremendous firepower. Unlike the Silver Star that had turrets on each wing, the Asura had a total of 4 turrets. They didn’t dare use the expensive EMP shots so they switched to manual shooting mode.

  Kwa kwa kwa kwang! Pepeng! Pepeng!

  -You have received enemy fire!

 

  -You have received enemy fire!

 

  The firefight continued for 5 minutes. The shield’s durability had fallen below 30% so the shield turned red. But the Asura’s shield had also turned red. The Asura was definitely ahead in firepower. But the Silver Star was superior in manoeuvrability and turning power.