Reborn as an insect, eventually reincarnated as Galactus

Good morning. It's now the fifth day on board the ship – I've forgotten the name of the ship. Do you remember? Honey, haha. I went to look for

it, and since the charge no longer told me anything, I kept trying to do my own research, but since the political and historical information in the archives was rather sparse, the best I could do was to do my best to better understand the galaxy and its culture. You know, not the possible conspiracy behind the Empire and the Jedi and so on. Of course, I wouldn't say that learning etiquette and animals is as fun as intrigue, but, you know, there are no options.

So why do I only do anything other than eat, sleep, and study now?

Well, uh, it looks like my conditions have changed a bit. At this very moment, I was standing stupidly in the hallway while people ran by, shouting and talking about things that had made our whole small fleet buzz.

Pirates were spotted.

Space pirates.

I'm pretty sure at least that's the case. Briefing me on the situation is a bit lost in the rabble (like myself) because everyone is so focused on getting to their own station. And me? Well, I... I'm standing right here! Yes. Hope we won't be shot down from the sky? Ha ha.

A large group of soldiers, technicians and officers was coming this way.

"No, I don't understand their presence either - yes, we've never seen pirates in this area before. Ensign Fern, could you please calm down? No, our strategy is not to simply shoot as soon as we see them... Both the lieutenant and I have good reason to believe - please, it's ——," Tiffin's gaze met me. Uh, hello sir!

He nodded violently at the path they were taking, urging me to follow. Well, that's my logo!

Carefully avoiding the valiant soldiers and technicians, I joined a small group of noisy officers, trying to understand what they were saying. As has already been said, it seems that a pirate ship has been seen. The marker and manufacturer are unknown, but appear to be located primarily in the nearest populated galaxy. So far, they don't seem to be too keen on attacking. This is understandable, since they only have one ship, and we have several.

For now, it seems that the pirate ships are running away as soon as they spot us, but they are unable to completely escape us for fear of an uncertain jump in these unknown areas. Again, since our ships are not designed for speed or quick maneuvering (and we also don't have any large ships capable of carrying so-called starfighters), we don't have any good way to catch up with them. So, we just follow them.

...... They want to run away? Wait, so, we're hunting them now? They don't attack?

I don't know, isn't that a bit timid? For both of us?

"Well, sir?" Everyone in our group ignored me, except for Tiffin and Fern, who all turned to me curiously. I tried my best not to break out in a cold sweat. "Uh, can't we just let them go?"

He stared at me for a moment, then stopped in the middle of the hallway. As everyone else stopped, they all turned to me, looking confused and interested. Oh God, please don't look at me like that, I don't know how!

"You said let them go?"

"W-yes! They didn't attack us or anything, so..."I know I don't mean anything, and I may sound silly, but... Pirates or not, they didn't do anything, did they? Of course, they are running away from justice and something like that, but....

Well, listen. These ships? They certainly don't have the ability to capture just one ship. Of course not. We don't have any nets or anything like that, and that won't work in space either. As far as I know, all we have are weapons. In fact, lasers. It's really cool and great, and it's also a very simple way to kill people.

Tell me a few days before charging that one of the lasers hits your face and you're dead. When Tiffin shot me, he expected the same outcome.

That is, the empire may kill these pirates, because there is no other way. Or rather, the ship will kill them later.

I'm sure it's the laws of space, and I know I've been talking about how I'm just a little space octopus and have no say in the laws of humanity, but....

Lives are at stake here, right? A ship full of people.

Pirates or not, they're just men and women who work hard to survive. With or without space law, I don't want such a group of people to be killed for trying to escape. This is inhuman and unfair, and even space pirates deserve a fair trial and sentence.

If I can let them go... Even if they continue to steal and kill, it's worth it. I think. I'm not very good at measuring human life, so I can't say, but—

"Indeed." This is a most interesting offer, Mott. Typhin touched his chin and smiled softly.

- Now I feel stupid for everything I say. Damn it. Maybe I should let them do what they normally do? But then it could turn into a quarrel, the pirates could shoot down one of our ships, and then - oh my God, I just don't know! This kind of moral stuff is hard. One day I swear I'm going to dedicate myself to being a space octopus. No more conscious thinking. Just to eat. Eat it, haha.

When I overcame my moral bondage, we reached the cockpit, where the pirate ship was clearly visible from the window.

It's small. Yes, that's it. Of course, the boat I was on was far from huge, but somehow this thing felt small. And wobbly. It's full of small, unnecessary details and things that can be found everywhere. Compared to the clean design of the Imperial ships, it looked almost bad.

The technicians in our group quickly rushed to their respective positions and joined the ranks of colleagues who were already under pressure. The soldiers did something similar, while the three officers on duty each sat in front of the large window.

Despite the fact that the lieutenant is in charge, there seems to be an unconscious consensus that Tiffin is the one who is better suited for the job. Maybe it's a little weird, but it fills my chest with pride. Yes, that's my child!

Speaking of Téfen, he stared sharply at the ship. Every edge and detail may be analyzed. Man, he's cool.

He raised his voice so that all could hear him, and gave the order: "We will follow Mott's advice." All ships were ordered to continue firing at the target. Make sure no bolts actually hit it. Also, continue to keep a certain distance. Make it look as if we're losing them.

I jerked my head to face him. Belch? Eh!? He—He's carrying out my plan?!?

Wait, what?? I think - this is... Well, that's great news! Hooray, the pirates have won!!

He smiled faintly at me. "At the same time, I wanted to put a hyperspace tracker on them in case they tried to jump regardless of the conditions. Finally, intercept their communications. I don't care how long it takes – we have all the time in the world. "

No one responded verbally to his order, but it still seems to be being answered.

About five minutes after Tiffin gave the order, five similar missiles (space torpedoes?) were launched from one of our ships. All headed for the Corsair. For a moment, I felt my heart tremble with fear. Didn't they hear his commands? Did they deliberately choose to ignore them? Despite my efforts, will there still be blood today?

The missiles exploded at the same time, emitting a dazzling white light. And the pirate ship....

- Escape unscathed!

I opened my mouth wide. Oh, my God! Those pirates must be good at it—

"The tracker has locked on its target." The frequency of eavesdropping is 78%. A technician said mechanically.

-Yes? Trackers? How did I do it-oh

. Oooh! They definitely hid the homing missiles in the normal missiles and let them explode as some kind of distraction, while the homing missiles stuck to their hulls! Ingenious.

I would almost love it if radio tapping was just as complicated, but it looks like they've just done it.

"Plagiarism complete."

"Let's play," Tiffin replied.

There was a crackling sound from the cockpit. "-Half-way-""-amn Imperials-""-Ready to come back? - ""- not intentionally - ""- wounded abdomen - """ - send coordinates. The two voices—for there really are two—are constantly disturbed by static electricity, and their voices themselves are so confused that it is difficult to identify their genders. However, I can speculate that the person on the pirate ship is likely to be a man, and the person who responds is a woman.

I turned to look at Tiffin, who smiled funny. "As I thought – they had a base nearby."

Somehow, these few simple words filled my stomach with ice.