novelA Three Legged Race Up a Mountain is a Matter of Life and Death >> Battle of Shells in the Iguazu Mountains (2)
| ← Ch.011 | Ch.013 → |
"It may have just been luck." Froleytia hesitated for a second."But we know the enemy's shells use a high-angle trajectory. They are shot high into the sky so as to aim for their target in a parabolic trajectory. It is possible the shell has to be fired up to a set altitude regardless of the distance to the target. If so, the parabolic arc must be more steeply curved the closer the target is. That may have led to the shells breaking up in midair for the princess."
It made a certain amount of sense.
But...
"If that's true, that Object has even less reason to approach. In fact, moving further away would allow it to more safely and more surely destroy the princess."
"It does not need to use a high-angle trajectory, " replied Froleytia immediately."The Mass Driver conglomerate cannot be resupplied, so they want to keep this short even if it is more risky. Heading forward and targeting the princess with a direct line of sight will end this much more quickly. Just before the base zone was destroyed, I saw the data on the damage to the princess. She will have difficulty participating in a high speed battle like that, so if an undamaged Object arrives, she will be unable to resist."
A railgun shell's speed was directly linked to its power, so the closer the target, the more destruction it could cause. If one of those Mach 25 shells was fired from close range, the princess's Object would not fare well.
Quenser audibly swallowed.
He recalled the huge explosion from earlier.
"Will she be okay? Even the shockwave from a failed shot is enough of a threat..."
"But that shockwave is not enough to be decisive against an Object that can withstand a nuclear weapon, " said Froleytia."Since the Mass Driver conglomerate Object has not continued with a second and third wave, its main cannon must have relatively little ammunition. They are on the run, so they may not be able to resupply whenever they want. They want to finish this while they have the advantage and they do not know if a chance like this will come again, so they have no choice but to approach. If they get close enough to take out the princess's Object, she will not be able to escape."
Froleytia placed her hand on Quenser's shoulder.
"I am calling off the mission. I hate to admit it, but we have completely lost our ability to fight. We have no choice but to accept it. From now on, we should focus on evacuating with as few losses as possible. The wounded will be loaded aboard the hydrofoils and escape to the sea. You get aboard one as well. We are retreating for now. We have little chance of winning in this situation. We need to get far away from them and reorganize."
"..."
"I will search for the missing soldiers up until the very last second.... The princess has not been found either. She is not even responding to our transmissions. I doubt she had ejected from her Object, so she might be trying to fight somewhere, but we cannot locate her via satellite due to the chaff missile."
"No." Quenser forced his battered body to speak."It may be true that we can escape a land-based Object's direct attacks if we head out to sea, but the assault landing aircraft carriers that will pick us up move so slowly. I doubt we can escape that Object's main cannon."
"I know that. It accurately blew away the Bright Hopper at a distance of 500 kilometers. And that was against a Second Generation Object that was moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour. It might be able to hit a slowly moving ship at even greater distances. We have no guarantee that all the shells will break up in midair."
"Then..."
"I said the injured would head out to sea in the hydrofoils. I never said they would be meeting up with the Charlemagne, " continued Froleytia in a bitter voice."Since the hydrofoils keep most of the boat above water, they can exceed speeds of 100 kph. If all of them spread out as much as possible, that should keep the losses down to a minimum."
"But what about the Charlemagne... ?"
"Unfortunately, their fleet is not mine to command. They will have to decide what to do for themselves.... A few hydrofoils should be left aboard the ships, so I hope they decide to abandon ship."
Quenser could tell Froleytia was gritting her teeth a bit.
It was her unit's fault that the fleet had been brought into such danger. She may have been feeling the weight of that responsibility.
"Luckily, a fleet under the command of the Legitimacy Kingdom flagship Sigmund has been deployed to the Atlantic Ocean about 700 kilometers away for a different mission. I'll have them retrieve us even if that leaves me in their debt. That is best."
"Best... ? But will even half of us survive that? And we don't even know if the hydrofoils have enough fuel to make it 700 kilometers..."
"I know it isn't a pleasant option." Froleytia scratched at her hair with one hand."But there are no pleasant options here. This is the best option available to us. If we stay here on land, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object will eventually approach. The best way to escape a land-based Object is to head out to sea.... Even if that leaves a high risk of being sunk."
A heavy silence fell over the area.
What Froleytia was telling him to do was turning tail and fleeing.
"Can you stand?"
"Ow!! My right ankle..."
Quenser grimaced as he tried to slowly walk. He looked down to find the area around his ankle inflamed and swollen. He could not freely move the joint.
Froleytia crouched down and checked his leg.
"It isn't broken. It looks like just a sprain."
"Th-that's great."
He could manage to slowly walk while dragging his leg along, but he could hardly run at full speed.
Froleytia silently took Quenser's arm and wrapped it around her neck to support his weight.
"F-Froleytia?"
"Didn't I tell you I was searching for the missing soldiers until the last possible moment? You're one of those."
It seemed she intended to take him all the way to the hydrofoils at the beach. Not only had he sprained his ankle, but the plain's ground had been split to the point of creating a huge height difference. The terrain of the beach may have changed considerably from the way Quenser remembered it.
Just as they set off, an electronic tone sounded from Froleytia's uniform. She pulled out her radio with her free hand and brought it to her ear. Since they were pressed together, Quenser could hear the voice coming from the radio.
It was a female voice he did not recognize.
"This is Corporal Bilany Saronno of the front lines scouting unit of the 52nd Mobile Maintenance Battalion."
"?"
"She's at the bottom rungs of Major Halreed Copacabana's unit. They head to the battlefield before the Object to gather intelligence and set the foundation for the base, " explained Froleytia.
That meant they had been left with nothing to do after the Bright Hopper had been incapacitated. If they had headed to the battlefield first, they might be nearby and hoping to be picked up by an assault landing aircraft carrier.
However, Corporal Bilany's view betrayed Quenser's expectations.
"We have managed to contact the Baby Magnum of the 37th. We propose that the most effective means for us to survive is to work together to destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate Object. Unless we do something about that main cannon and its tremendous range and power, we cannot even flee."
"How is the Baby Magnum and its Elite, Lieutenant Milinda Brantini?" asked Froleytia.
Without hesitation, Bilany replied, "The Object is hidden in between two mountains. We have no idea how effective it will be, but she has predicted the Mass Driver conglomerate's movements and seems to be planning to keep multiple mountains between them at all times. It seems the predictions were made based on analysis by Private First Class Heivia Winchell."
"Thank goodness. So both the princess and Heivia are okay for now, " said Quenser in relief.
"Given the emergency situation, I hope you will forgive us for proposing a strategy to Baby Magnum without going through you first. We should have done this earlier, but may we propose the same plan to you, Major Froleytia Capistrano?"
"Go ahead, " Froleytia responded.
"Currently, the damage taken from the enemy railgun has left the Baby Magnum with three of its main cannons unusable and with damage to its propulsion device that will make a high speed battle difficult. As such, we recommend that the Bright Hopper's standard tactics be used instead of the Baby Magnum's."
"You mean targeting the enemy's feet and then striking with a main cannon once the enemy has been stopped?"
"Yes. But since we do not have the high speed movement expected for such a plan, we will only get one shot. Assume that there will be no way to recover if this fails." Bilany paused for a second."The Baby Magnum will hide at the site of an abandoned alpine vegetation mass production plant in the Iguazu district. It can use the ruins of a hemispherical facility used for regulating atmospheric pressure. We have confirmed that it contains enough space for the Baby Magnum. If a low-stability plasma cannon is fired through the wall when the Mass Driver conglomerate Object passes nearby, it can be destroyed."
"But how are you going to keep it in place? A surprise attack makes these complex and complicated actions less likely to succeed."
"There is a large dam in the Iguazu district where your unit is deployed, major. Also, we have received no word that the Mass Driver conglomerate Object can travel over water without swapping out parts."
Quenser had a bad feeling deep in his gut about what was to come.
But before he could say anything, Bilany smoothly continued.
"By destroying the dam, the area downstream will be temporarily submerged. That should be enough to keep a land-based Object in place. If the Baby Magnum fires during that time, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object should be unable to avoid it."
Froleytia was used to calmly planning and carrying out war strategies, but even her breath caught in her throat.
"... Are you serious?"
"Of course."
"I cannot approve that method. Destroying the dam will not merely submerge the battlefield. Tens of thousands of civilians downstream would be sacrificed. I cannot have my unit participating in an operation like that!!"
"This is within acceptable bounds. Those are not people of the Legitimacy Kingdom." Bilany's tone of voice did not change."I repeat, destroying the Mass Driver conglomerate Object by any means necessary is our best chance of surviving this. We are at war. I would hope a major who is commanding troops would be more aware of that fact."
"Dammit!! Either way, the destruction of the dam will be meaningless if the Baby Magnum does not act. What you are doing here will accomplish nothing!!"
"I could say the same thing to you, major. We are carrying out this operation regardless. If you do not want those sacrifices to be in vain, I suggest you have the Baby Magnum play its part. I will contact you again once we have a timetable for the operation."
With that, Bilany ended the transmission. Froleytia clicked her tongue in aggravation.
"Tch!! Our best chance of surviving this!? They just want to get revenge for their commander!!"
"She said they proposed this to the princess and Heivia, but did they really agree to this?"
As if to answer Quenser's question, a different transmission arrived.
"I finally got through to you. I've been trying to contact you this whole time, dammit. I don't know where you ended up passing out, but don't get blown away where I can't see you."
"Heivia?"
"I know this is a bad time, but could I discuss something with you? The Bright Hopper's unit is forcing some ridiculous proposed plan on us. I honestly don't know what to do."
"We've already heard about that, " cut in Froleytia."It's the plan to destroy the dam, right? As your commander, I order you to take no part in this operation. As originally planned, we will focus on retreating by sea. If the Baby Magnum does nothing, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object cannot be destroyed. Once they realize that, they should realize that destroying the dam is meaningless."
"... I hope you're right, " said Heivia in a strained voice "It looks to me like they only want to get back at them for destroying the Bright Hopper. All logic has left their heads. They might blow up the dam regardless of what we do.... Unless someone stops them by force."
"..."
That was the exact fear Froleytia herself had voiced earlier. She had surely realized Bilany and the others from the front lines scouting unit had lost their cool.
"Hey, Quenser. Back to what I want to discuss. I may be about to ask something crazy of you. Will you hear me out?"
"I was just feeling a desire to have a serious chat about this with you. But it seems there's not much left to discuss, so I guess I'll stick with you on this one."
Quenser and Heivia then spoke at the exact same time as if they had arranged it ahead of time.
"I'll do something about the dam. However, stopping the dam from being blown up won't finish this, so can I leave the Mass Driver conglomerate Object to you?" said Heivia.
"I'll take care of the Object. However, that means I can't do a thing about the dam, so can you stop the operation to blow it up somehow or other?" said Quenser.
The discussion was over after only 10 seconds.
Ending the transmission, Quenser looked over at Froleytia.
"... Froleytia, I have one request."
"No, I cannot help you with this." She immediately cut him off."The retreat by sea is indeed a poor bet, but your plan is much too reckless. Especially since leaving the Baby Magnum here will give some hope to Bilany Saronno's group. Also, I cannot think of any real way to destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate Object in this situation and I doubt you can either. I cannot let you do something so reckless."
"Yes, but..." said Quenser, sounding a bit discouraged.
He then removed his arm from Froleytia's shoulders. A dull pain ran through his sprained and swollen ankle, but he still took a few steps away from Froleytia.
"Then I really will ask for only one thing. Please report that you did not find me after that bombardment. I am a battlefield student. Whatever I do here will not affect the life of a soldier like you, Froleytia."
"Quenser, you..."
"Please let me go, " said Quenser as his ankle throbbed with pain."The only reason I came here was to learn about Objects. This is not my job. But even so, I cannot bear to just retreat. Saronno's group is planning to blow up that dam no matter what. If the Mass Driver conglomerate Object settles here, we have no idea how much cruelty and violence will occur in this government-less blank area until an Object from some world power arrives to blow it away. We have no idea if any civilians were harmed when those shells broke up in midair.... Someone has to do this, and we are the ones standing here. I don't know whether I should call it fortunate or misfortunate, but we are here!!"
Froleytia silently listened to his words.
She thought, looked down, chewed on her lip, and then looked away from Quenser.
"No, I can't go along with that. I am the commander here. I am the one with the authority to give orders."
"... !!"
Quenser suddenly became intensely aware of the plastic explosives in the bag on his back, but then Froleytia continued speaking.
"I could not find Quenser, so I had no choice but to continue my search. That is what I will go with. I will have the assault landing aircraft carriers ensure all but one of the hydrofoils evacuate. Will that suffice?"
"Froleytia?"
"What can you do with that ankle? If you aren't at your best here, you'll be killed, " continued Froleytia with an awkward expression."Once I have decided to do something, I go all out and take every option into consideration. And if that means I have to act as a crutch for an incompetent subordinate, so be it. In Alaska, Gibraltar, and that Oceanian military nation, you showed your ability to destroy an Object as a flesh-and-blood soldier. I would like to see that skill firsthand."
Part 9
"Quenser, do you have your survival kit?"
Froleytia was asking about the small set filled with medicines for first aid and tools meant to acquire and prepare food in the wild.
Quenser searched through the pockets of his military uniform.
"Are you going to fish for a quick meal or something?"
"The items in the survival kit have been designed so they can be used for more than acquiring food." Froleytia checked the contents of the small box her subordinate had handed her."In other words, they can be used to kill."
Quenser recalled how the princess had used the metal skewer meant for cooking to stab an enemy soldier in the gut back in Alaska.
"The skewer can be used for stabbing or throwing and the fishing line can be used to strangle or as a wire trap. Combine it with the weights and it can be used as a blunt weapon."
"What about the miniature fishing pole?"
"It works as a carbon fiber whip. It's more convenient than a knife in close quarters combat. It can take out the trachea or an artery in a single strike."
Having explained herself, Froleytia armed herself with the "weapons" she thought she could use and then tossed the kit back to Quenser with only the first aid medicines remaining.
"Of course, once the commander is relying on things like this, the unit is pretty much done for."
She then headed back alone to the ruins of the destroyed base zone. She was hoping to find a military vehicle they could use to travel.
Quenser checked his leg, but he could still only manage a slow walk. However, he hardly had time to complain. If the Mass Driver conglomerate Object continued on it would blow everything away. Also, Bilany's front lines scouting unit was going to blow up that dam to stop it.
They both had to be stopped.
With that thought in mind, Quenser looked around the area. It would likely have been better to set his sprained ankle, so he was trying to find a branch or something. However, he found something else instead. Much to his surprise, he spotted a gun. It was a Legitimacy Kingdom military PDW.
(Was this blown from the base all the way here by that railgun blast? It's like a volcano erupted. )
The PDW was like a shortened version of a submachine gun, so it was only about 20-30 cm long. The gun was small enough that it was actually difficult to carry in both hands, but a complexly folded up stock was located at the bottom of the grip, so it would likely be difficult to fire one handed for someone with the arm strength and grip strength of Quenser.
So it could be used in the right hand or the left, it was made so the shell cases passed through the grip and fell out the bottom.
The magazine was inserted parallel to the barrel, so it could actually hold around 70 shots. The magazine was actually longer than the gun itself. It seemed to be made for a maintenance soldier who would never stand on the front lines. They wanted plenty of ammunition to stop any spies they might run into on the base.
Froleytia had said someone who had not finished their training could not be given a firearm, but Quenser figured it was best to have as many weapons as possible in an emergency. For that reason, he hid the PDW in his uniform. He would never be able to defeat an Object with something like that, but he might run into enemy foot soldiers.
Froleytia then arrived in a military off-road vehicle. The body was horribly dented and it looked like it was barely running.
"Sorry about all this trouble I'm putting you through."
"You'd better be. Afterwards, I'm putting you through a hell of giving me shoulder massages, " said Froleytia as Quenser climbed into the passenger seat.
However, she somehow seemed to be enjoying herself. She might have gotten over something.
The Iguazu district sloped upwards as one moved inland from the coast. The slope continued forever as if the entire continent was tilted.
"... It's gotten a bit cooler."
"That's because of the change in elevation. The inland area is over 900 meters up. We're still relatively low here, but the temperature should be even lower up at the dam Heivia is at."
"With Antarctica, the Iguazu coast, and now this mountainous area, the earth's temperature is really all over the place. Will global warming just cancel itself out in the end?"
As Quenser was chatting mindlessly, a transmission came in over his radio.
"Charlemagne to Froleytia. We doubt you are still planning to fight, but we have learned some things from the analysis of the Mass Driver conglomerate's main cannon."
"So how many people do you think have seen through that façade?" asked Quenser quietly.
"All of them, of course. Otherwise, they would have abandoned ship long ago given the situation. Legitimacy Kingdom troops aren't that stupid."
"I see, " replied Quenser tonelessly.
That must have been why the bridge of the assault landing aircraft carrier sounded so happy.
"Froleytia to Charlemagne. We have a general idea that the enemy's main cannon fires a railgun using a large scale high-angle trajectory. It uses the clouds created by the chaff missiles to reflect the locking signal from the sky in order to accurately aim in this mountainous region. If you have any information beyond that, I would like to hear it."
"The enemy main cannon seems to actually be a combination of a railgun and a rocket. First the giant shell is fired by the railgun and immediately afterwards, the shell splits into three parts. This focuses all the kinetic energy on the center rocket, accelerating it further."
"So it's like a tank shell. Then the real shell must be rather small."
"Just before hitting, ten or so smaller shells made of tungsten or something spread out in a ring shape. That must come from the interception missiles from the age of the Aegis ship. That is supposed to ensure the destruction of the target even if there is a slight targeting error, but it does not seem to be too effective. It fails to spread out properly more often than not."
"Even so, if even one of those smaller shells hits... or if you are even in range of the blast, you will be instantly killed."
"At least it isn't using any kind of bacterial weapon, " commented Quenser.
"Also, about the high-angle trajectory of the shell, " continued the Charlemagne."Its trajectory is rather unusual. Unlike the parabolic arc of a thrown ball, it travels to a point almost directly above the target and around 2500 meters into the sky, and then rapidly descends."
"Is it forcibly changing its trajectory using tail fins? That's less a high-angle trajectory and more a dive bomb, " added Quenser.
"That may be an attempt to more consistently avoid any objects in the way in a mountainous area. However, that sudden curve will create tremendous inertial force. They must have wanted to make this dive bombing a reality even if it presented the risk of having the shells break up in midair, " said Froleytia.
"We analyzed a video of launch, but no tail fins were seen. The small trajectory corrections are likely carried out by changeable grooves on the side of the shell or by intentionally damaging the side of the shell with special explosives to alter the frictional forces. However, we would need to analyze an actual sample to know more.... And that is only if there was enough left to analyze, " continued Charlemagne."After splitting apart to concentrate the kinetic energy, the shell finally accelerates to the monstrous speed of Mach 25 by firing the rocket engine at the bottom. This seems like one of the world's fastest prototypes. If it was launched from an already accelerated aircraft, it would probably set a record for the greatest instantaneous speed."
"What about the cooling system? It has to have some kind of system to deal with the issue of heat from air friction, " asked Quenser.
The Charlemagne controller responded, "It seems to have a complete cooling system that uses liquid nitrogen. Its effective time seems to be directly linked to the distance of the target. The premature detonations when it attacked your base seem to be due to an error in the cooling system causing the shells to melt."
"So is that contrail-like line you see after it fires due to evaporated nitrogen?"
"While we might find a way to use this to our advantage, even when the cooling system fails, it still causes such a massive explosion. It seems avoiding the Object and keeping it from finding you would be the best strategy."
"I see. I will take that into consideration, " said Froleytia politely before ending the transmission.
She put both hands back on the wheel and looked forward before saying, "A mass driver, rockets, and the cluster technology of Aegis ship ICBM interception missiles.... This really is the monstrous weapon you would expect of a space development conglomerate. I have commanded units against Objects for a long time, but I have never seen anything that attacked like that."
"With the method of aiming by reflecting off the clouds created by a chaff missile, this really is no normal layout. Whoever came up with this has to be rather eccentric."
"As a future designer, are you jealous?"
"I'm more worried about my life right now. If that main cannon was beyond the prototype stage, we would have been completely wiped out."
"It may be a bit soon to be using the past tense. If it gets close and targets the princess directly, she will be defeated. She will have a hard time evading at high speed with the damage done to her Object."
As usual, the princess was in grave danger.
And her survival was directly linked to the survival of the rest of the unit.
Quenser fell silent, and Froleytia spoke to him as she pressed down on the accelerator.
"Now that we have officially confirmed the existence of the Object, we need to give it a tentative codename. It would save us some effort if the Capitalist Corporations would share their official information with us, but I doubt they would be willing. Maybe we should call it Break Carrier or something like that, " muttered Froleytia.
Break Carrier, the one that carries destruction.
That unpleasant name was perfect for that giant spherical body with the ridiculously high output railgun twice as long as it was. Quenser was not exactly pleased with the cynical naming.
"By the way, do you have an actual plan?" asked Froleytia.
"I'll get the princess's help. That would be fastest."
"Oh, you're relying on someone else from the get-go?"
"Bilany Saronno may be crazy, but the general form of her idea is good: hide somewhere the enemy can't see you, and destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate Object in a single strike. That much is a good plan." Some of Quenser's focus was taken by the pain in his ankle."To do that, we have to know what route the Object will take. Thanks to the chaff missile, we can't use the satellite surveillance network. We need to give her a location and have her fire on it, and we need to prepare for that."
As he spoke, Quenser took out his handheld device. The GPS map was still covered in clouds, so the details could not be seen. He switched modes and called up an offline map filled with data. That display showed the area better, but it was just like a paper map in that it showed no real time information.
"If the enemy is just going to pass through the canyons between mountains, it has more or less 3 routes it can take."
"We don't need to check out all of them, " quickly concluded Froleytia."We can figure out its general direction via sound. The Object cannot hide the noise it makes. Let's stake things out at the center route. If we hear it coming from ahead of us, it's going through the center route and if we hear it from the right or left, we know which other route it is taking."
Froleytia stopped the off road vehicle in a thicket just off the road and they covered it in fallen branches and dried grass to hide it. Quenser and Froleytia left the camouflaged vehicle and headed for the mountain slope. Since the Object had sensors and radar, it would be safest to distance themselves from the mass of metal that was the off road vehicle. Since a single shot would be enough to blow any kind of armor away regardless, they didn't have to worry about defenses.
The mountain was over 500 meters tall, but they did not have to climb all the way up. They just had to stop somewhere high enough to hear the noise of the Object but where the Object would not notice them if it passed by, so they stopped a few dozen meters up.
The dark soil at their feet was damp and it seemed to be expelling thick hot air.
The slope was covered in foliage, but it had a manmade feel to it. The plants were likely there due to forestation rather than there naturally. There were a lot of short coffee and fruit trees. They were all sorts of plants that were useful to people.
(Did people replant trees after continually destroying the mountains for the mines?)
Quenser and Froleytia hid down in the plants and sat next to each other.
Quenser operated his handheld device with both hands.
Froleytia peered in from the side and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, just bookmarking this. The mountains around here have a lot of tunnels through them for the mines and for transportation. I thought putting the maps of all those a click away might be useful."
"Well, keep it short. If the Break Carrier picks up on the signal, it will all be a waste."
Quenser frantically cut the device off from the internet. He made sure the bookmark in the military database could be accessed by everyone in the battalion and switched it off. With a bored expression, Froleytia watched Quenser's panicked actions and took a sip of water from her water bottle.
Their ambush was set.
The wind blew a bit and the short trees rustled around them. The crying of an unfamiliar bird echoed. The slope was more dark soil than it was green, but it also had concrete in places. They were the entrances to tunnels. Apparently, a lot of iron ore was buried there, but the map said that mountain had also been scheduled to have a geothermal power plant built on it. However, he could not hear any sounds of people working. The project may have been shut down due to financial troubles or something.
All they had to do was await the coming of their enemy, but that enemy was the monstrous weapon that had ended the age of the nuclear missile. The intense pressure seemed to increase with each second that passed. Quenser almost felt charging out while yelling at the top of his lungs would be preferable to just waiting.
"This waiting is nerve-wracking. Maybe that's why my throat is so dry. Quenser, I don't care what, but we need to start talking about something to get my mind off this."
"Please don't say that like some company boss demanding her employee show off some hidden talent."
"You're just a student, so don't act like you know what you're talking about. What a boring guy."
Froleytia sighed.
Quenser munched on a flavorless ration.
"Come to think of it, I did hear that you're a noble, Froleytia."
"Nn..."
Froleytia seemed hesitant to reply to that comment.
Quenser thought he had brought up something he should not have, but then Froleytia nodded.
"The Capistrano family has an attractive – and rather famous – characteristic. It is really mainly suited to nobles. I suppose it would not sound all that valuable to a commoner."
"A characteristic... ?"
"We are a male family. No matter who we marry or how the child is made, the child has almost 100% odds of being male. It does not matter much to commoners, but in noble society, that is quite important. Especially when it comes to matters of succession and inheritance."
It was well known that the royal and noble societies were highly biased toward men. Whether the ruler of the kingdom was male or female could create major changes to the very era itself, but the fact remained that kings were much more common than queens.
Froleytia commanded multiple units be it locally or remotely, but that was usually a job for someone with a rank higher than a major. Regardless of what she actually did, it was possible there were those who did not wish to give her a higher official position. There were those who did not view being protected by a woman as a virtue.
"As a commoner, does it seem rather trivial to you, Quenser?"
"Well, I suppose. The social standing for both men and women is relatively equal for us. Also issues of family or bloodline don't quite click in my mind. It seems to me that people should be able to marry whoever they want.... Well, I am just a kid, so I guess even the idea of marriage doesn't seem real to me."
"I see. I'm jealous, " replied Froleytia offhandedly."At any rate, my family has that characteristic. Whoever we marry and however the child is made, it is almost assured that a boy will be born."
"??? You say males are born with almost 100% odds in your family, but you're pretty clearly female."
"That's what makes me so attractive."
Quenser did not understand what she meant by that.
It must have shown on his face because she laughed.
"I am a female noble who has an almost 100% chance of giving birth to a boy. Men who want to leave a male heir but have not been able to desperately want someone like me. After all, if they do not create an heir, their family will die out and their assets will be forfeited. By having negotiations related to having children, the Capistrano family can have the advantage while speaking with noble families so influential they would normally be well out of reach. Those other families want to borrow my womb no matter what."
"You mean... like a political marriage?"
In a West European island nation, a king had split the country apart from a worldwide religion in order to leave the queen and marry his maid, but examples like that were the exception. In the Legitimacy Kingdom, nobles preferred to marry someone of a lineage of equal or greater standing to their own.
"Even if it is officially treated as marriage, I would be nothing more than a tool used to solve their problem of creating an heir. Due to the pride of nobles, the womb has to belong to a girl of the same social class as them."
Quenser had thought his commander had a relatively angry personality.
However, Froleytia was thinly smiling at that moment.
Was there something different about that problem?
What had it taken to extinguish the raging flame that usually lived within her?
Wasn't her family supposed to protect that flame and ensure it was not extinguished?
"But it could be worse. For a noble heir, it is best for both families to have legitimate bloodlines and personal histories. If that was not the case, it would not get as far as a political marriage. I might end up with a revolving door of men wanting male heirs coming for me. After all, we already have mountains of requests coming in wanting a surefire chance at a male heir."
Froleytia had said that the Capistrano family created males with almost complete certainty and that she was the irregular girl born to that family.
That meant she certainly had brothers who could carry on the Capistrano family. Since her family was looking for the best possible terms, they were in no rush to marry her off. Her political marriage was not something that the family felt a pressing need to do. Since the issue of the family's succession was already taken care of, her marriage was nothing more than a means of extending their power.
If it was something absolutely necessary, she might not have been able to make an excuse to get out of it even if it turned out to be a tragedy. However, not even consolation from that fact could be heard in Froleytia's voice.
Even in the Legitimacy Kingdom that had influential royals and knights, that type of story was not often heard.
It seemed the Capistrano family was especially cold to women.
That may have been due to the family being almost entirely men.
Or perhaps it was because their lack of women led them to feel a need to construct a world where men had the advantage.
"But anyways... At some point, the rumors gained some strange embellishments. I have heard that the daughter of the Capistrano family will give a male heir even to the most impotent of men or that the daughter of my family is so good in bed that powerful nobles are desperately seeking her out. Besides those selfish people worried about an heir, some horrible dilettantes have also set their sights on me. Now even old men who have long since lost the ability to perform and horribly perverted men have joined in this auction to see who gains the right to have their way with me."
Quenser had gone well past the point of being at a loss for words.
He had happily thought that nobles had their own worries and problems to deal with, but this problem was so much greater than anything he had imagined.
"That is why I prefer being out here on battlefields rather than in a safe country. If I leave the military, all that is waiting for me is the #1 candidate and a large bed. It would probably be some old man who I have never seen before in my life.... Remember that Halreed Copacabana man who piloted the Bright Hopper?"
"Yes..."
"He was the #3 candidate or thereabouts. Depending on how the situation regarding money and conditions developed, he might have ended up in the #1 spot. There are around 10 official candidates, but he was probably on the kinder side of those. Some of the candidates only want me to give birth to a proper heir while some want to try some Russian roulette-like game where they give me multiple partners and see whose child I give birth to."
That was more than enough to make Quenser grimace.
That example was simply too extreme to compare. Then again, an example that extreme may have been necessary to show how Halreed qualified as one of the "kinder" marriage candidates.
Quenser could not imagine just how twisted their view of a family was compared to his as a commoner.
"When his Object was more or less destroyed, I was actually relieved. Maybe there is something wrong with me. After all, losing one or two means nothing because there is a line of other candidates waiting behind them."
The person before Quenser's eyes was an 18 year old girl.
She had not come to the battlefield only recently like Quenser or Heivia. He had wondered before when she had first arrived on the battlefield.
Now he really wondered when she had.
How long had she been hiding on the battlefield in fear of the auction selling off her very own body.
It was not about love. It was not even about lust. How much had she suffered in that situation where she could be dragged off to a bed at any time in order to carry out her function as a means to assuredly produce a boy.
"Well, don't get so uptight, " said Froleytia indifferently."It isn't like I have no way out of this. If it was that bad, I wouldn't have brought it up so easily. Basically, I just have to keep fighting on the battlefield until I am some old woman who has lost her value as a woman.... Well, even then there might be some people seeking my body to leave an heir for their family. It may be that I will have the most freedom in my life if I both live and die on the battlefield."
Quenser did not know what to say.
He could sense that this was not a situation where he could get by with cheap words.
Froleytia would probably smile and ignore it as the opinion of a child, but Quenser knew he could not let himself hurt her like that.
So instead of trying to console her, he muttered his honest thoughts under his breath.
"(... Y'know, Froleytia smells really nice. )"
"To say that after what I told you, you really are some kind of genius." Froleytia's eyebrows moved up slightly in surprise."Wait, be quiet."
Quenser pricked his ears up too.
He could hear it.
A low rumbling was coming from the distance. It sounded something like approaching thunder clouds. It was the sound of the type of Object propulsion devices that used static electricity to hover the giant 200, 000 ton form off the ground. It seemed the enemy Object used the same type of propulsion as the princess.
Yes.
The Mass Driver conglomerate Object was approaching.
"Where is it coming from?"
"I can't tell. The sound seems to be echoing through the mountains..."
Quenser concentrated even further in an attempt to determine where the noise was coming from. If they misread which of the three routes the Object was taking, the Baby Magnum would be in danger. With the power it had, the enemy's railgun could destroy the other Object even if it had to fire straight through a mountain.
The direction the noise was coming from was...
Part 10
Heivia arrived at the Iguazu Dam.
The foliage was much thicker there than at the coast where they landed. It seemed more of the trees were natural than not. The solid plants with large leaves that were characteristic of tropical countries grew thickly around the area. Heivia had the feeling the area was crawling with giant rhinoceros beetles.
However, that noble heir had not come there to catch bugs.
He looked at the dam.
It was 40 meters tall, about 30-40 meters across, and slightly curved out from the reservoir lake. Supposedly, it could store over 800 million tons of water. That water that had been blocked from its natural flow would cause great damage to the natural world if it was let loose.
(Dammit. There are already off-road vehicles parked here!!)
Heivia carefully looked around the area as he ran while crouched down.
The Baby Magnum and the princess were not there. He had asked her to go help Quenser and Froleytia. He had had two reasons for that. First, the Object could easily destroy the dam on its own, so she would be dangerous help when it came to protecting the dam. Second, he had made a joke about Quenser getting along well with Froleytia and the princess had fallen into a very bad mood.
(... Oh, god. It doesn't matter how many lives you have, fighting alongside an Object piloted by a distracted Elite is just too dangerous. It's 100 times better to just do it on my own. )
Heivia held up his rifle and ran so as not to shake his upper body. When he arrived, he pressed up against the wall next to the door into the dam. Other than the dam itself, there was a facility that opened and closed the flood gates, a facility that checked on the water quality, a facility that held the hydroelectric turbines, and more. Heivia was approaching the flood gates facility.
The door was unlocked.
That actually made him uneasy, but he still slowly opened the door and cautiously entered. Just inside, he spotted two workers tied up. The fact that they had not been killed must have been a way of showing that killing was not their intention. However, the massive amount of water released when the dam was blown up would likely kill them anyway.
Heivia concisely told them that a group was trying to blow up the dam, that he had to stop it, and that they shouldn't panic. He then cut their ropes with his military knife. He told them to evacuate to the mountainous region. Just to be extra safe, he told them to climb up higher than 100 meters.
(... This sure is selfish of us. I'm working with Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers to fight Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers. )
He very nearly spat out that comment, but instead headed for the stairs leading to the higher levels of the dam. On the way, he munched on a cookie the old coffee plantation couple had given him.
(Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers fighting each other is ridiculous, but I at least have to pay them back for these cookies. )
As he moved, he contacted Quenser via radio.
"Hey, Quenser. I sent the princess your way. I made sure she was in a wonderful mood, so could I ask you some things?"
"The Object might be able to detect our location from the radio signal, so keep it short."
Heivia did not know much about explosives, so he wanted to get some advice from Quenser.
"In movies, blowing a small hole in a dam is enough to have the entire thing crumble from the water pressure. How do things work in reality? Is one of those clay-like bombs enough to destroy the dam?"
"It is true that the water pressure might destroy it once a hole is opened, but putting a crack in walls thick enough to hold all that water would take quite a blast. There's an easier way."
"?"
"Dams deteriorate and they will be scrapped if the repairs can't keep up. They're made to later be demolished. They create several bypasses, use several small dams to hold back the water, and blow away a few premade checkpoints in the empty dam to demolish it. A few dozen years ago, the issue of dam deterioration came to the forefront and they started being made like that, " explained Quenser.
Heivia frowned.
"How many checkpoints are there and where are they?"
"It depends on the design of the dam. If you check the control room or find some documents... no, wait. If they kept that information where someone could easily find it, it could make a terrorist attack easier. It's probably hidden deep down in the construction company's offline database. And there won't be any obvious signs."
"You're useless!! How am I supposed to protect an unknown number of points at unknown locations!?"
"Whether there are 20 or 30 of these checkpoints, I think all of them have to be destroyed to demolish the dam. For safety reasons and to help with repairs, the checkpoints will be in the places where any single one can support the dam. That way the dam won't collapse if one is destroyed. In other words, you just have to find one bomb and cut the cord so it won't detonate. Then you just need to defend that point to stop Bilany Saronno's plan."
"This bomb isn't going to be some complex monstrosity like in the movies, is it?" Heivia clicked his tongue."So I have to search at random. I can't do a single thing if the bombs are detonated before I find one. I just wish I knew exactly how many there were."
"How about you jam them?"
"You mean use a jamming signal? What for?"
"A massive amount of water will be released when the dam is blown up. I doubt Bilany and the others are opting for a noble death, so they'll get far away and high up before blowing up the dam. In that case, they'll be using a radio signal to detonate the bombs, right?"
"I see." A powerful smile appeared on Heivia's face."In that case, I can buy time without knowing how many there are."
The top portion of the dam making a gentle curve along the reservoir lake was like a giant castle wall. When Heivia grabbed the railing and leaned over, he spotted something like clay attached to the center of the thick wall.
It was a bomb.
Perhaps to regulate the destructive force, a number of bombs were set up in some kind of pattern. Something like a metal sheet was set up on one side of the bombs to focus the blast on the dam.
The area of the wall looked no different from the rest of the wall, but since the plastic explosives were set there, that had to be one of the checkpoints.
How had Bilany and the others known where the checkpoints were?
They must have had some kind of data on the dam. Or perhaps they had gotten someone who knew to talk.
(Shit, how did they get those there!? Did they tie a rope and jump down like in some action movie!?)
However, he could jam the detonation signal to the bomb, so it would not explode. That just left confronting Bilany's unit...
"Wait a second, " muttered Heivia all of a sudden.
A thin bundle of cords extended from the bombs attached to the side of the dam. It was not just a meter or two long. The long cord hung down to the bottom of the dam and then continued on into the thick forest.
"Shit!! They're doing a wired detonation!! Now I can't jam it!!"
Heivia frantically held up his rifle, but then he stopped. There were two types of cords for wired detonations. One was a normal cable that sent an electric signal. The other was like an old-fashioned fuse. A fire was set that caused a small explosion in the plastic explosives fuse which detonated the explosive itself.
The cable type would be no problem, but the old-fashioned fuse type held a risk of catching fire if he severed the cable with his rifle.
But at the same time, the bomb could be detonated at any time with the cord connected. He did not have time to sit around thinking.
Suddenly, Quenser's voice came in over the radio.
"Fire!! Don't worry. That's a cable for an electric fuse!!"
"How can you tell? It isn't something you can tell just by looking!"
"The old-fashioned fuse type is used like a timer. It's just like dynamite. The plan here relies on perfect timing between the flood caused by the dam and the Baby Magnum firing, right? They need to be able to blow up the dam at any time in order to get the perfect timing. Why would they use a fuse that can't be changed once it's lit!? This has to be a cable for an electric fuse!!"
"!!"
Heivia brought his rifle back up, aimed it straight down, and pulled the trigger.
Multiple bullets flew and one of them severed the bundle of cables. The bombs did not explode. Quenser had been right.
Now that the cables had been severed, the detonation signal could not be sent to the bombs.
However, there was someone who was not pleased with that.
A female Legitimacy Kingdom soldier had come back up to the top of the dam to set bombs on another checkpoint.
(... Is that Saronno from the front lines scouting unit!?)
"!!"
"!?"
At that moment, Heivia and Bilany Saronno were at the entrances near opposite ends of the gently curving dam. The two leapt into the doors at almost the exact same moment and stuck only their rifle barrels back out.
Multiple streams of gunfire rang out.
(Dammit, she's actually pretty good looking!! I don't want pretty girls turning their guns on me! Why couldn't she have been so hideous she was hard to look at!? Although while I'm at it, I might as well wish she was downgraded to a guy or even a Martian. )
Meanwhile, he could hear multiple voices coming from his radio. Since Bilany's unit was from the Legitimacy Kingdom too, he was picking up their transmissions.
"Corporal Saronno, we're headed your way. Do we need a rocket launcher?"
"We need to get the signal in to detonate the bomb. After taking out Private Heivia Winchell, we just need to reconnect that cable."
"Circle around from the other side. Meet up with another group and head up the stairs. We'll catch him in a pincer attack."
"If necessary, we can treat Private Heivia Winchell as a traitor for getting in the way of our operation, so do not hesitate to shoot him. Continuing the operation takes top priority."
"Dammit!! Why does everything have to be such a pain in the ass!!" shouted Heivia.
Heivia leaned just a bit out from the door and aimed at a soldier at the bottom of the dam who was aiming a rocket launcher at him. The rifle bullets struck the ground near the soldier. He had not shot him in the head or chest, but that may have been due to the fact that he was a fellow Legitimacy Kingdom soldier was affecting him more than he thought. The soldier's aim was thrown off in shock and the rocket flew off harmlessly.
When Bilany and the others saw that, they increased the intensity of their firing. Heivia frantically hid behind the building, but then he heard footsteps coming from below the stairs.
(We've all received the same training, so is this a case where the winner is decided by numbers!?)
Meanwhile, the female soldier who was likely Bilany called out.
"Private Heivia Winchell!! Lay down your weapon and surrender!! It is not right for fellow Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers to be fighting each other!!"
"(Liar!! She was clearly fully intending to kill me!! Does she not know I can hear their transmissions!? Dammit, she's both clumsy and a tsundere. This is making it harder and harder to kill her!!)"
"What will you do!? If you do not respond, I will take that silence as your answer!!"
A temporary calm from the gunfire accompanied Bilany's voice. She may have been giving him his last chance to announce his intentions. Heivia had a feeling he might end up full of bullet holes depending on his answer.
Whatever the case, he was cornered.
If he was attacked from more than one direction simultaneously, he would have no way of dealing with it. If more than one explosive weapon like a rocket launcher or grenade were used against him, he could do nothing about it.
Heivia gave the issue serious thought.
(I only have one chance at victory. )
"Corporal Bilany Saronno!!" He shouted back."The Baby Magnum has already gone to help the battlefield student named Quenser who is studying with the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion! She has not gone to the remains of that abandoned alpine vegetation mass production plant as you suggested!! If you blow up the dam now, it will accomplish nothing!!"
"Is that your final answer!? If you do not prove you no longer intend to fight, we will be forced to shoot you!!"
"That's not what I mean!!" Heivia shouted forcefully."Your plan is to destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate Object with one of the Baby Magnum's main cannons, right!? Then what about this? If Quenser and the others destroy the Object before you blow up the dam, you will no longer have a justifiable reason to cause that flood!!"
"That's... !?" Bilany trailed off, but she gathered her thoughts soon thereafter."How are we supposed to trust you!? That monstrous weapon destroyed the cutting edge Bright Hopper in a single blast from 500 kilometers away!! Are you saying a mere student will take out something like that!?"
"... Yeah. I am!!" Heivia replied without hesitation.
He abandoned the option of giving up peaceably and pulled the trigger to a deadly battle once more.
"So I need to buy him enough time to do it!! I'm gonna be firing like crazy, so don't mess up and get yourselves killed!!"
Part 11
Quenser and Froleytia hid behind the short trees on the mountain slope.
They could hear multiple sounds.
They could hear the sound of the leaves of the trees rustling and they could hear the sound of large, richly colored birds flying through the sky.
However, those sounds seemed to be forced away by another sound.
That was the sound of an Object travelling in the distance.
Quenser and Froleytia strained their ears to pick up exactly where the low, echoing noise was coming from.
"Is it coming from the right route?"
"Sounds like it."
The echoing made the noise sound like it was coming from every direction, so it was difficult to pick up on the precise direction. However, when they listened closely, similar noises were slowly building up in order. The direction they heard it from first had to be the direction the Mass Driver conglomerate Object was coming from.
They had only one chance.
If they chose the wrong route and failed in their surprise attack, no one could stop the advance of the Break Carrier.
Baby Magnum and the rest of Quenser's unit would be slaughtered, Bilany and her unit would blow up the dam, and countless civilians would be sacrificed downstream.
Froleytia grabbed her radio.
"It seems the princess is headed our way. She wants to know which of the three routes to lie in wait along. I'm going to tell her the route to our right, is that okay?"
"No..."
Hearing that, Quenser stood up in a sudden realization.
He called up the offline map on his handheld device.
"Something isn't right. We're surrounded by Object noises. This isn't just an echo."
"?"
"... It's Baby Magnum, " muttered Quenser in a daze. He looked back toward Froleytia."Both the Baby Magnum and the Mass Driver conglomerate Object use static electricity to hover off the ground! Baby Magnum is approaching to prepare for its attack, so the sound of both Objects approaching is mixing together!! The noise we've been hearing was not just the Mass Driver conglomerate Object. We were hearing a mixture of both Objects, so we can't accurately determine the direction from this!!"
In a normal room, a human would be able to distinguish between two noises coming from two different sources.
However, if the noises were almost identical and then echoed again and again and again, no one would be able to tell the accurate source of the noises. They had no hint.
Sounding impatient, Froleytia said, "We have no time! If we let it get too close, we won't have time to hide and prepare for the surprise attack. If it spots the Baby Magnum, the Mass Driver conglomerate Object can just fire that high power railgun straight through the mountain!!"
"But we can't do anything if we can't tell which way it's coming from."
Quenser thought for a second and then raised his head once more.
There were three possible routes and there were two of them.
"Let's split up, " suggested Quenser immediately."We'll both wait at separate routes. If the Mass Driver conglomerate Object passes by one of us, we're set. If it doesn't pass by either of us, we know it's taking the third route. We'll be sure to know which route it's on that way."
As he spoke, Quenser manipulated the offline map. The mountain slope they were currently on was along the center route. A geothermal power plant had been scheduled to be built on that mountain, so a few tunnels had already been dug. A tunnel just a bit up the slope led straight through to the other side of the mountain which was the left route.
After a short silence, Quenser said, "Froleytia, you head through the tunnel. Equipment for construction of the power plant should be there. According to the data I have, one of those is an electronic slide lift, so it should only take a few minutes to reach the other side of the mountain."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay here."
That was partially due to his sprained ankle. However, he secretly also wanted to send her to the left route because it was the least likely route for the Object to take.
However, Froleytia shook her head.
"No, I can't approve that. With that ankle, what are you supposed to do if the Object passes by? Even if it doesn't notice you, the shock of it passing by could cause a landslide. You could be killed needlessly just because you can't move. I can't allow that."
"Ha ha. I had a feeling you'd say that, " Quenser laughed weakly.
Even standing was painful, so he sat back down on the mountain slope.
He rubbed at his swollen ankle and asked Froleytia, "Sorry, but I'm about at my limit here. It might help with the pain if I set it so the joint can't move. Could you grab that thick branch over there?"
"Honestly..."
Froleytia turned in the direction he pointed in, but she could not see a branch.
With a puzzled look, Froleytia turned back toward Quenser.
"Hey, Quenser. Where is this branch you-... ?"
Froleytia trailed off.
Quenser was nowhere to be seen.
She could only hear a slight crunching noise a bit away. Then she realized what had happened. Quenser had rolled down the slope to get away from her. By heading for the center route himself, he was forcing her to head to the left route.
He would be easier to spot on the flat path at the base of the mountain as opposed to hidden in the forest on the slope.
And that was likely exactly where the Object would pass through.
Quenser had put himself in unnecessary danger to force her hand.
(That bastard... !!)
Froleytia gritted her teeth, but it was too late. Even if she headed down after Quenser, it would be difficult to drag him back up. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object would pass by while she was trying.
She had no choice.
She headed for the tunnel about 10 meters up from her current location. She could teach that insubordinate youth a lesson afterwards.
Part 12
He slid down a few dozen meters.
The fact that the slope was primarily made up of soft black soil, the fact that the slope was not too steep, and the fact that his military uniform was relatively durable all worked in his favor.
Quenser managed to survive.
However, he was not unhurt.
He was collapsed at the base of the mountain. Even with the previously mentioned factors in his favor, pain ran through his entire body. His uniform was designed to have a certain level of durability, but it now had scratches and tears all over it. The mountain slope had not been smooth, so painful scratches from dirt and rocks covered his body.
(Dammit... !!)
He tried to stand up, but pain ran through his leg. This was not the leg he had sprained. Now he could use neither of his legs. He could no longer move from where he was.
(That doesn't matter. I'm lucky enough to have survived. Even if I could run, it wouldn't be enough to escape an Object. As long as I can get the location of the Mass Driver conglomerate Object to the princess, it doesn't matter. I just have to focus on that. )
He tried crawling along with just his arms, but it was no use. Luckily, there was a thicket nearby, and the angle was such that he might be hidden by it.
Had Froleytia made it through the tunnel and to where she could check on the left route?
Where was the princess's Baby Magnum?
Was Heivia still fighting at the dam?
Many questions floated up in his hazy mind, but then he heard the sound of the Object even louder than before. It was the approaching thunder cloud-like sound of massive amounts of static electricity being produced to make the Object hover.
(It's coming!!)
It took him a few seconds to realize why the sound was so much clearer than before. The answer was simple. He was hearing the sound directly rather than with a mountain in between, so it sounded much louder and more distinct.
Which meant...
(It's taking the middle route!! This is the one!!)
As Quenser had that thought, a group of large birds took flight from the nearby mountains. Afterwards, a mountain-like form filled his vision.
It was the Mass Driver conglomerate Object.
From what he could see, there was nothing stealth-like about its design.
The reason the Legitimacy Kingdom's Second Generation Bright Hopper had not seen it until the Bright Hopper was destroyed was likely due to the mountainous region. The 900 meter mountains had hidden the Object's giant form and the iron ore in the mountains had lowered the accuracy of the radar. And they had used a meteorological weapon on top of that. It was possible they had produced something like a manmade fog to cover the area between mountain peaks like a lid in order to hide the Object from satellites. The Mass Driver conglomerate was experienced with anything related to space development, so they likely had the knowledge and technology needed to enact numerous countermeasures.
Quenser looked up and gulped as the giant weapon drew near.
The Break Carrier.
Its spherical body was supported by three leg-like parts. The ends of those had ski-shaped planks attached to slide smoothly over the ground.
The most noticeable feature was probably the giant cannon attached to the right side of the Object. Near the end of the 100+ meter main cannon, it was supported by two leg-like parts similar to a sniper rifle's bipod. It was probably so large that it would bend under its own weight if not supported.
At the back of the main cannon was a rotating part similar to a revolver. However, giant magazines stuck out from five evenly spaced points to the sides of the cylinders.
The shells must have been stored there.
A normal magazine would have been too large, so the design was made more complex in order to split the magazine up.
From the size of the barrel and magazines, it likely held around 25 shots.
Elsewhere, the Object had giant missile launchers attached. Missiles were exceedingly rare as Object armaments, but these were likely for the chaff missiles used to reflect the targeting signal. And their number matched the estimated number of shells.
However, this meant the Object had the ability to assuredly destroy 25 Objects from a distance of over 500 kilometers. If the liquid nitrogen cooling system was used at full ability and the top altitude reached in the parabolic arc was altered, it might even be able to reach 1000-3000 kilometers away. Also, if it had the ability to replenish its supply of shells mid-battle, it could continue fighting even longer. This meant the Mass Driver conglomerate had a legitimate ability to announce their ownership of a certain area.
Quenser audibly gulped once more as he stared up at the giant form.
He then realized the enemy's threat was not just in the form of long distance bombardments.
(The barrel can extend and retract like a police baton? They can strengthen or weaken the voltage to freely change its power. Is that so if an enemy Object does get near it, the length of the cannon can be reduced to lower the inertial force and allow it to fight at high speed!?)
The Charlemagne had said the Break Carrier's shells broke apart shortly after being fired in order to focus the kinetic energy on the smaller core and increase its speed.
However, it was possible they could use that in a different way for close- or mid-range battles.
They could keep the shell from breaking apart so the entire mass struck the enemy Object. The outer armor would be crushed and the sharp inner core would shoot out and pierce the target's armor. Normally when the barrel was shortened there would be less space for the electricity to affect it, but the shells could switch modes as well to maintain the main cannon's great power.
At long distances the dive bombing shell was used and at closer ranges it was fired directly.
By having multiple ways of firing built into a single cannon, the Object could use its power to its fullest from various ranges.
However, making the system so complex may have caused the malfunctions. A few of the shells fired at Quenser and the others had exploded in midair before reaching their targets.
(Where is the princess... ?)
Thinking that, Quenser grabbed his radio. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object was definitely taking the middle route. If he passed that information on, the surprise attack had a much higher chance of succeeding.
But then Quenser frowned.
The radio would not turn on. No matter how many times he pressed the button, it did nothing.
It had broken as he fell down the slope.
"Shit!!"
He had the information, but he had no way to pass it on. Meanwhile, the Object continued on to pass right by Quenser. Their surprise attack would fail at this rate. Baby Magnum and the rest of the unit would all be slaughtered.
(Dammit, isn't there anything I can do!?)
As he cursed in his heart, Quenser pulled out the PDW he had hidden in his uniform. It was a gun about 20-30 cm long that was a bit like a shortened version of a submachine gun. Its 9mm bullets were plenty to kill a soldier, but were of course not enough to pierce an Object's armor.
Something fell out of his pocket as he pulled out the gun.
It was a clear plastic bag filled with homemade cookies. He had gotten it from that coffee plantation.
Quenser tossed one into his mouth and removed the PDW's safety.
(... I know I can't defeat an Object with this. )
He aimed the gun at the Object's spherical body.
Still collapsed on the ground, Quenser put his finger on the trigger.
(Please don't let them figure out what I'm doing. It's all over if they do. )
There was only one thing he could do: pull the trigger and shoot the Object.
The dry gunshot spread throughout the mountainous region.
The Mass Driver conglomerate Object seemed to notice something had struck its armor. However, it did not seem worried. Of course it did not. A mere 9mm bullet could not destroy the lens of the targeting cameras linked to the Object's cannons, much less damage the armor.
Even so, the Object stopped moving.
The action felt similar to someone stopping out of annoyance because a small bug was flying around their head.
Quenser pulled the trigger again.
He let loose a small burst of 2 or 3 bullets. Sparks flew from the armor, but no real damage was done.
The Object's cannon moved.
It had located him from the sound of the gunshots.
Rather than the giant metal bridge-like main cannon, this was one of the smaller ones. Quenser recognized it. It was the same as the spare cannons used for the anti-tank position in Antarctica. This was likely their intended use. Even if it was the smallest cannon on the Object, it was still quite a large railgun. A shot from it could bend an Aegis ship in half, so there was no need to say what it could do to Quenser.
Quenser fired some more, but then suddenly stopped. He wondered what the Object thought about that. Did the pilot Elite think he had run out of ammunition or that he had realized it was doing no good?
Neither was correct.
The Object may have even realized the truth.
The railgun aiming at Quenser did not move any further. It was possible the computer aboard the Object or the Elite's brain was analyzing the gunfire.
If they were doing that, they might realize that there was regularity to Quenser's gunfire. If they realized it mapped to a certain information transfer code made up of simple 1s and 0, they would find the following message.
Object.
Middle route, point 391.
Passing by.
Low-stability plasma cannon.
Prepare immediately.
The Mass Driver conglomerate Object had over 100 weapons both large and small, and each of those had targeting cameras attached. The sound of the lenses focusing came from all of them at once. The other sensors were likely activating as well.
However...
Part 13
At that moment, the princess and the Baby Magnum were waiting along what Quenser and Froleytia had designated the right path. This was simply because it was the only place the giant Object could hide.
The Baby Magnum was hidden in the valley between two mountains. The valley was a few dozen meters deep and the arms of the main cannons were the only things sticking out.
While waiting there, she heard gunshots with a certain regularity to them.
The princess immediately realized what it meant, but she did not have time to move to the other route. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object would suspect a surprise attack and therefore have its sensors and radar searching for an enemy in all 360 degrees around it. It was only a matter of time before it found her. If it did, it could fire its high power railgun while ignoring the mountain between them.
However...
The princess had no reason to wait.
"..."
She called up all information on the surrounding terrain and searched for the layout of all the tunnels through the mountains.
The mountains had complex networks of tunnels through them for transportation, construction, and other uses.
However, the vast amount of information in the military database also meant it would take some time for the data she wanted to be displayed. Even a lag of a few seconds could change the outcome of the battle with the Break Carrier.
However, the princess took no time at all.
This was not simply because of her excellent information processing ability as an Elite.
It was primarily due to Quenser having searched for the maps of the area in the military database and bookmarking them such that the entire battalion could immediately access them. The princess had no way of knowing it, but it was after doing that that he had slid down the mountain slope.
Skipping past the usual searching time, she immediately called up the data she needed.
(Time to finish this. )
In other words...
There was a straight tunnel leading from where she was, through the mountain, and to the coordinates Quenser had given.
(I will not let you chase after Quenser and the others any further. )
She had no reason to hesitate.
One of the main cannon arms turned in the correct direction and the princess accurately fired the low-stability plasma cannon into the tunnel.
Part 14
The flash of light was visible even from the distant Iguazu Dam.
Heivia was utterly cornered, but he narrowed his eyes at the bright flash and shouted into his radio.
"You saw that, didn't you, Corporal Bilany Saronno!?"
"... !!"
"That was a giant firework blessing our victory!! Contact the Baby Magnum if you want! Actually, an explosion that big probably blew away the chaff missile clouds!! If you don't trust the word of our princess, you can ask the satellite observation operators!! They'll probably tell you only horrible wreckage remains!!"
The gunfire stopped.
The front lines scouting unit intended to blow up the dam to cause a giant flood of water downstream and stop the Mass Driver conglomerate Object. The Baby Magnum would take that opportunity to shoot the enemy with one of its main cannons.
Bilany and the others really only wanted to get revenge for the destroyed Bright Hopper, so any justification would have worked for them. However, this would stop them.
After all, the Object they wanted to take their revenge out on no longer existed.
"This is Baby Magnum. The enemy Object has been destroyed. The battle is over. I repeat, the Object has been destroyed."
The transmission from the princess reached all of the Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers in the Iguazu district.
As Bilany stood there in a daze, Heivia shouted at her.
"Did you hear that!? The dangerous Object was destroyed!! This dam was never ours!! I'd like to get out of here before its owner gets back, but what are you going to do!? If you want to drown yourself in alcohol, I'll keep you company. Would you rather compete with strong drinks or lead bullets!?"
Part 15
It was not simply an explosion.
The trees in the area were torn down and Quenser's body flew through the air. The Mass Driver conglomerate Object's armor plates were torn off and flew in every direction with amazing speed. The fragments rained down over the mountain like a fragmentation grenade.
The low-stability plasma cannon had mercilessly pierced straight through the center of the Object.
The reactor had exploded from within and the 200, 000 ton mass of steel had been blown to pieces along with a tremendous shockwave. However, that was the last thing Quenser saw. A tremendous flash of white light swelled up and temporarily robbed Quenser of his vision. He could hear a low rumbling noise, feel something powdery falling on his face, and just barely tell that dust and dirt was billowing into the air as landslides occurred in various places.
He had somehow survived.
Both his legs hurt and he could not stand up, but the only thing in his mind was surprise at his own survival.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his back collar and pulled. He was dragged upwards. As his vision slowly returned, he realized Froleytia stood before him. It seemed she had been the one to grab him.
Her face was covered in anger.
Quenser was shocked and she spoke in a low voice.
"The next time you give so little regard to your own life, I will kill you. Understand?"
"Froleytia?"
"Understand!?"
"Y-yes, ma'am!!" Quenser replied and Froleytia removed her hand from his collar.
Quenser fell back to the ground and she looked up into the sky.
"Then let's head back. The assault landing aircraft carrier has sent a helicopter to come pick us up. It seems everyone wants to speak with the person most responsible for this victory."
Part 16
The Baby Magnum had received heavy damage.
Three of the arms that moved the main cannons had been destroyed as well as much of the armor. It was not clear if the base zone would be enough to repair it all. It was possible it would have to be sent to a military manufacturing plant for repairs.
The propulsion device had also received damage, so the maintenance soldiers had attached the sea floats and were slowly taking it to the sea.
Meanwhile, the princess received a transmission. It was from Heivia.
"Honestly, we took quite a beating again today. What happened to the peaceful battlefield we were supposed to have?"
"... If it was peaceful, it would not be war, " she replied.
"Oh, is that how the Object-piloting Elite has viewed it each time?"
(What is he trying to say?)
The princess looked puzzled.
Heivia then said, "We did manage to destroy the Mass Driver conglomerate Object, so things here are resolved. But do you see anything about this that doesn't quite make sense?"
"..."
The princess thought for just a second.
She did.
A question had resided in the back of her mind from the moment the Bright Hopper had been destroyed, and it had yet to be resolved.
"The Mass Driver conglomerate Object headed toward our base zone from a position 50 kilometers north of us. In that case, where was the Object that powered the spare cannons that bombarded us during the landing?" asked Heivia.
Yes.
That was the question.
They had not found the Object that had powered the spares with its reactor. Only the thick power cables had remained on the coast.
Of course, an Object could travel at hundreds of kilometers per hour, so it was possible the one Object had gone 50 kilometers north after supporting the attack on the coast and then headed back south.
However...
(That would serve no purpose... )
With a main cannon that could destroy the Bright Hopper in a single shot from a distance of 500 kilometers, there was no reason to do that. It would have been more effective to wait on the coast and target the Baby Magnum with its main cannon when Baby Magnum approached over the ocean.
Most likely, the spares deployed on the coast had been a test of the Baby Magnum's specs to see if it could be destroyed by the main cannon at a distance. If that was the reason, it was even more suspicious. There was no point in bringing that Object in close for a test against an enemy they did not know if they could defeat or not.
Which meant...
"So the Object supplying power to the spare railguns on the coast was a different one?" asked the princess.
"Perhaps. Your Object is well equipped when it comes to radars, so I was wondering if you had seen anything odd."
"..."
The Mass Driver conglomerate.
It was possible they had another Object.
No one had been able to see this mysterious Object and it did not appear on radar or any other sensors.
Part 17
He had been lectured half to death.
A medic girl had suggested he be given a wheelchair since both his legs were injured, but Froleytia rejected the idea and headed straight into her raging lecture. He had been assaulted by her words for an entire hour within an officer room prepared aboard the assault landing aircraft carrier. At that point, Quenser started to wonder just how long it was going to continue, but then the lecture was suddenly cut short.
Froleytia's computer had received a video chat.
Quenser had no real intention of listening in, but an entire wall of the room acted as a screen for the computer, so he could see whether he wanted to or not.
The call was from a man wrapped in bandages and gauze.
His most prominent feature was his curly blond hair.
(Is he an injured soldier from our unit?)
Quenser quickly learned he was wrong.
"Major Froleytia Capistrano. I somehow managed to survive, so I thought I should inform you of that."
"Major Halreed Copacabana. It seems both of us are quite tenacious."
Quenser finally figured out who it was when he heard the name. He was the pilot Elite of the Bright Hopper and the #3 candidate for the assured heir from the Capistrano family.
Naturally, the situation was quite awkward for an outsider like Quenser.
This was not the same as hearing a conversation between lovers. Now that he knew that the noble men around Froleytia were only interested in her ability to assuredly give birth to a male heir for them, his feelings were darker and more unpleasant.
Froleytia had confessed to him that she had been relieved when the Bright Hopper had been destroyed.
Currently, she leaned back in her large officer's chair and breathed a small sigh.
"Is that all?" asked Froleytia.
"No, I have something else to report as well." Froleytia showed no emotion while Halreed seemed to be enjoying himself."You know that I am the #3 candidate, correct?"
"Well, yes. I don't really remember who the #1 and #2 are though."
"You may not need to. As of today, I have been raised to the #1 spot."
"..."
Even Froleytia looked shocked at that.
"It's thanks to the Mass Driver conglomerate. The Capistrano family has recognized my valor for continuing to fight for the sake of peace while faced with a dangerous Object-destroying enemy. They seem to have determined I am more useful than the #1 and #2 who are sitting around growing fat in a safe country."
"But... the Mass Driver conglomerate was..."
Froleytia glanced over toward Quenser. She may have wanted to say that, even if he had been violating orders, the credit for the victory should have gone to Quenser as well as the princess who had scored the finishing blow with the Baby Magnum.
However, Halreed did not seem to mind.
"Regardless of the specifics, I still took part in that battle. I guess I'm just trying to say that it was useful in garnering me a few points."
"I see..." Froleytia's voice held even less emotion than before. Perhaps because she had learned even better what kind of man she was speaking to."But whatever position your candidacy is in, I regret to inform you that I cannot go along with a marriage. I have my role as a Legitimacy Kingdom soldier to carry out. Rather than waiting for some unknown point in the future, you should probably search out someone better to propose to."
"No matter how good a woman I found, it would all be meaningless if she does not come with a guaranteed heir. Any noble would know that." Halreed did not hesitate to speak despite speaking to the very person in question."Also, it seems you were caught up in the front lines battle with the Mass Driver conglomerate. We can't have that.... You are to immediately return to the safe country and undergo a detailed examination. If your schedule does not allow for this, you can temporarily resign from your duties as a soldier."
"... !!"
This time, Froleytia's shoulders clearly jumped.
If she resigned from her duties as a soldier even temporarily, she would lose her justification for not marrying. She would lose any way of avoiding an unwilling marriage.
Before she could refuse, Halreed continued speaking.
"By the way, this suggestion was decided on by your Capistrano family. I can't blame them for wanting to make sure no scars remain on your body. I may not be the one to join with you as another candidate may rise up first. But whatever happens, the preservation of that beautiful body of yours is essential for maintaining your value."
He spoke as if he was worried about a scratch on a piece of art.
It was clearly not how one would speak of a human.
(... )
Quenser gave the issue serious thought.
He was indebted to Froleytia for what had happened. If she had not carried him in the off-road vehicle after he had sprained his ankle, the surprise attack on the Mass Driver conglomerate Object may not have succeeded. That meant Quenser no, every soldier in the battalion... no, given the possible destruction of the dam, every single person living in the Iguazu district was indebted to Froleytia.
That meant he had to save her now that she was cornered.
It was a delicate issue between nobles, so it would not be easily solved. However, Quenser already had an idea where to start. Halreed and the other candidates were not after Froleytia herself; they were after a male heir of legitimate lineage. Halreed had said a lot himself, but since he had admitted the issue lay with obtaining a male heir, that was a necessary requirement for him. If he just wanted to have sex and make a child, he could just hire a prostitute. The reason Froleytia was so important was because she both had an almost 100% chance of giving birth to a boy and (as ridiculous as it sounded to a commoner like Quenser) she had the pure blood of a noble. They had an odd insistence in only marrying other nobles. It seemed the king of a Western European island nation had once split apart from a world religion in order to leave the queen and marry his maid, but such things were rare. They could choose whoever they wanted for mistresses, but their wife who would give birth to their legitimate heir could not be chosen so simply. Several requirements had to be met in order to convince those around you.
Which meant... !!
Quenser circled around behind Froleytia, reached his arms below her arms, and mercilessly grabbed onto her giant breasts.
"Wha-... !?"
Froleytia was so shocked her mouth flapped open and closed wordlessly. However, Quenser looked at the small camera atop the computer and twisted the corners of his lips up as he continued to mechanically massage her breasts.
"Sorry, Major Copacabana. To be completely honest, Froleytia is in a relationship with me, a commoner battlefield student by the name of Quenser Barbotage. Ha ha ha. While she was kindly and carefully looking after me as a commander, we just grew closer and closer. If you're the #1 candidate, then sorry about that."
"Y-you idiot!! Th-that's not true. There's something wrong with hi-... ngh!? D-don't pinch there, Quenser!!"
Froleytia must have been rather panicked because she did not sound convincing despite telling the truth.
Halreed looked on in shock for a bit, but he finally started trembling. The trembling grew in intensity as time went on.
"... Y-you said you were a commoner. So... that means... Froleytia Capistrano, the daughter of a noble family, is committing adultery with a commoner... ?"
"Adultery? Wow, now that's a word you never hear anymore, " said Quenser who was a bit impressed."Y'see, I knew it was wrong, but once Froleytia pushed me down and straddled me, I couldn't help myself."
"Bfh!? Wh-why am I taking such an aggressive role in your fantas... Nn!?"
"You're free to ask whatever questions you like." Quenser squeezed Froleytia's giant breasts to silence her denial and put on the most evil smile he could muster."But if she was that important to you, you should've given her a chastity belt with your name on it. As things are, there was nothing stopping us."
What Halreed and the other candidates wanted was not Froleytia herself. They wanted the male heir of legitimate lineage she would give birth to. To be "legitimate" required more than simply being born of a noble.
In other words...
"... Heh..."
A laugh came from the monitor.
It was a thick laugh filled with something completely different from joy.
"Heh heh heh. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I see, I see. So that's it!!" Halreed said as if it had exploded out of him.
His confused mind had switched over to the gear of anger and restarted.
"Shit!! I thought something wasn't right. So the reason you never returned from the battlefield was because you were too busy enjoying the guys there. Even if you can assuredly produce a male heir, the Copacabana family cannot have an heir produced by vulgar woman that opens her legs for anyone who comes along!!... How could this happen? Now I have to start over from square one. I am going to make sure the Capistrano family hears of this!!"
With a click, the video chat suddenly ended.
All that remained was Quenser massaging a pair of breasts and Froleytia having her breasts massaged with a pale look on her face.
(Good, good. If the story spreads, she won't be treated like a source for a legitimate heir. )
"..."
Froleytia remained silent, but expressed her thoughts with her fist rather than words.
A great sound of impact exploded from Quenser's cheekbone.
He fell to the floor such that his legs were bent back and to the sides. It was a very girly way of collapsing. Froleytia looked down at her young subordinate with a deathly cold expression.
"What am I to do? According to military regulations, I have the authority to have you shot. Now, where did I leave those bullets that fragment within the body? Those lovely bullets have a way of excessively opening the wound."
"Oh, shit!! You aren't just hiding your embarrassment! You're serious!!"
"... Do you have something to say, Quenser? If so, this is your chance."
"They were so big!! I couldn't fit them in my hands!!"
"You have guts, I'll give you that!! But I don't want to hear any complaints when I stomp on you!!!!!"
Froleytia had completely snapped, so she stepped down on Quenser's face. Meanwhile, Quenser began speaking in his defense.
"B-but!! You were cornered and didn't know what to do, right!? I didn't see any other way of resolving that peacefully!!"
"Do you not realize that what you did was more or less the same just on a smaller scale, Quenser!?"
"Yeah, but my plan was to soften the blow a bit. Y'know, make things softer."
He tried to respond honestly, but more weight pressed down on the heel on his face.
"In other words, it was the exact same thing!! And what do you mean soft!? You were squeezing pretty hard! And for what!? Halreed may have given up, but are you going to squeeze me from behind every time a candidate shows up!?"
"I-I... !! W-wait, grab those tits each time? That might be a good idea..."
"No, it isn't!!" As her boot dug into Quenser's face, Froleytia brought her hand up to her chin."And if he really accepted that story, it means I coerced you using my position of authority... Wait, wait, wait! That means I'll be treated like an actual slut. What do I do? What I do?"
"Um, that's too much weight. Froleytia, that's too much weight. Your weight. That's way too much. You're crushing me. You're crushing me. You're boot is really digging in. I don't mind if you tread on me, but at least put some love into it!!"
After he let out that SOS of a shout, Froleytia finally removed her boot from Quenser's face.
As Froleytia breathed heavily, she brought her hands to her hips.
"Were you really that bothered by what I told in you on that Iguazu mountain?"
"Well, yeah. How else was I supposed to feel after hearing something that heavy? I think anyone would want to do something to help after hearing that."
"I see."
Froleytia averted her gaze from Quenser.
She then muttered something under her breath.
"(... Wanting to do something to help, hm? That's something I haven't heard in a long time. )"
"?"
Quenser looked puzzled, but Froleytia did not repeat herself.
| ← Ch. 011 | Ch. 013 → |