novelThe Shattering of the Four-Way Deception >> Tiber District Intervention to Defend the Faith Organization Home Country (1)
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Part 1
It was February and the carnival gave them a leg up. The Faith Organization home country was usually strictly guarded, but at this time of year they had no choice but to throw open their gates and invite in a great crowd of tourists.
This was much appreciated by those plotting to sneak in and cause trouble.
"Okay, let's do one final check using this board game, Putana."
"Yes, teacher."
A cramped room was surrounded on all sides by windowless metal walls. The light hanging from the low ceiling illuminated a brown girl with her long black hair in a ponytail. She wore a green special suit designed to resemble a nurse outfit.
Her name was Putana Highball.
She had been the Pilot Elite for the Faith Organization's Second Generation Collective Farming and she had converted her scopophobia into a weapon. She was a true monster that sense any "eyes" on her to the point that she could accurately detect a military satellite's attention from 36 thousand kilometers away.
She had since joined the Legitimacy Kingdom.
The 37th's potatoes could not have asked for a better local guide.
Quenser, Heivia, Myonri, and Putana sat around a table where a few game pieces sat atop a paper map.
"The former Legitimacy Kingdom thugs known as the Electric Drills have infiltrated their old home country of Rome to have revenge. That holy land contains all the higher ups who kicked them out, so I'm sure they want to go absolutely nuts. We must stop whatever war it is they're trying to start, so we need to get into Rome too. Without permission, of course. To be blunt, we know we can't expect the Faith Organization to protect itself after they let those thugs in."
"U-um." Jack-of-all-trades Myonri nervously raised her hand."So these...Electric Drills? We know they have entered Rome, but what are they trying to do there? Not even the best fake IDs would let them sneak a 50m Object into their home country."
Quenser shrugged.
If they had all the answers, they could have stopped that shady group before they even got to Rome. The Legitimacy Kingdom was playing catch up because they had already lost on the intelligence front.
So they needed to make up for that and get ahead of their enemy.
Heivia tossed a few photos onto the map.
"Episcia Sweetlady. Sex: Male. Age: 29. The moron was captured on a livestream of the parade, so he's the only Electric Drill we know is in Rome. We have to capture him and get him to talk before they do whatever it is they're planning. That's Step 1 for us."
The delinquent noble was not done there.
In fact, he was only getting started.
"But that isn't the end of it. The Electric Drills - or really, Bad Garage who leads all those online terrorists - wants to prove their environmental destruction by Objects theory. They want a disaster so bad not even the joint efforts of the four world powers can cover it up."
"So whatever those thugs are up to in Rome, an Object will be involved at some point. We don't know how yet, but it will happen."
"You must be joking, teacher. Rome is a home country with more than 2 million permanent residents."
"Yeah, and that number goes past 10 million when you include the visitors for February's carnival. We can't let an Object rampage through such a densely populated area, so we can't just chase after the Electric Drills. We need to get ahead of them and stop them. For good. Putana, can you guide us through Rome? Even if the place is flooded with tourists right now, we want to keep a low profile by avoiding any Faith Organization taboos."
"Of course."
"That's all I needed to hear. Let's get started."
With that, they approached the double doors at the back of the room and threw them open.
The sunlight that rushed in was so bright it seemed to burn their retinas.
They were greeted by the deep tones of several church bells ringing at once.
They stepped out into a historical city of white stone walls and brick roads. Even the traffic light poles and wireless LAN antennae had been colored to look ancient. The densely-populated area was like a massive open-air museum where every house and store you found was registered as a world heritage site.
This was the Faith Organization's Tiber District.
This was their home country of Rome.
Quenser and the others had changed into down jackets and comfortable pants and they carried traveling backpacks because they weren't just in enemy territory - they were in the enemy's home country. The "room" they had just left was the long metal container on the back of a large truck parked on the curb.
Heivia, who was carrying a thin knapsack sold as a reusable shopping bag over his shoulder, did a double take at the young man who walked past him.
"God damn, that's Rome for you. The guy's listening to a hymn on his phone. Is there a monthly subscription to listen to as many of them as you want?"
"They live in the modern world too. More technology doesn't mean you have to get rid of your faith. Didn't you know phone map apps have a service where they route you through as many church pilgrimage spots as your schedule permits? There is also an AR app that lets you hold up your phone and watch the construction of Rome in fast-forward. Also, try to talk like a Faith Organization person. Avoiding 'god damn' would be a good start."
"Hey, war entertainment is supposed to be our thing in the Legitimacy Kingdom."
"Who various legends and myths belong to is a can of worms you do not want to open. Do you have any idea how many tons of relics there are out there claiming to be part of the Buddha's remains? Or how many lances out there are purported to be the original Lance of Longinus? Roman mythology adopted so much from the Greek gods that no one remembers what it was like originally. One look at the big picture tells you it can't all be true, but every temple, church, and shrine out there insists that they have the truth."
The potatoes knocked on the door to the driver's compartment to greet Millia Newburg of the intelligence division before they calmly joined the crowd of tourists. From here on, they would be following the guidance of Putana Highball who knew the Faith Organization's local rules by heart.
"Hey, Quenser, " said Heivia."I could have sworn we were with the Legitimacy Kingdom. I know we're here on that busty commander's orders, but why the hell do we need to stop this? If the Faith Organization is going to more or less destroy itself, why not sit back and enjoy the show?"
"How is a noble so ignorant of politics and war? If an enemy home country suddenly falls, the balance between the world powers goes out the window. And the distinction between safe country and battlefield country goes with it. Then we could end up with a chaotic all-you-can-eat buffet of a world war. The Legitimacy Kingdom doesn't want that. Have you checked how close Rome is to Paris on the globe lately? We're right next to each other. We don't want a ton of refugees crossing the Alps to reach us and we definitely don't want to be the Faith Organization's easiest target when they start lashing out for revenge. So we have to stop this to preserve the peace."
With so many people, the tourism business was booming. The street sides were lined with stalls selling skewers of meat or red wine. This was the February carnival, so eating, drinking, dancing, and wearing costumes was the standard set. A marching band and floats covered in decorative lights formed a parade down a blocked-off road. The carnival here didn't feature the samba and bikinis, but it was no less showy.
"Come on, Necleka, Eleanor. The concert hall is this way, so let's go get a photo there!"
Heivia whispered while stepping out of the way of a fried shrimp in glasses leading a pair of twin girls.
"Oh, god. It's her. No one look to two o'clock. It's Sarasa Gleamshifter. Those Valkyries are the divine punishment group of the Faith Organization police, so they really stand out in the crowd."
A woman with short blonde hair and cold eyes wore a skintight black combat suit. The parts worn over it likely provided some kind of muscular support, but they looked more like sexy underwear. This was the Valkyries' home, so they had no need to hide their gear. She was armed with a short-range sniper rifle designed for use on urban criminals. (Instead of shooting an enemy soldier through the head at ultra-long range, it was designed to accurately shoot a criminal and not their hostage at much closer range. ) Her presence may have been meant to show security was tight and they would not hesitate to shoot anyone who took the festivities too far.
Sarasa had not made a mistake. Heivia had only really noticed her so soon because he already knew her. Otherwise, he might not have noticed even if she was right behind them.
But that meant they needed to be careful too.
There was always a chance she would notice their familiar faces in the same way.
Putana led them through the crowd, taking a gentle turn to avoid being seen by Sarasa.
They walked through the ancient city at a casual pace while making sure not to bump into any of the passersby. No one questioned their presence here...not even the man who checked to see if he was being followed so frequently it only drew attention to him.
Putana stared at the man's back and whispered without moving her lips.
"Episcia Sweetlady sighted. Don't worry. His eyes are passing right over us. We have entered his field of vision several times, but he still hasn't noticed us."
"Even a civilian could tell this guy's bad at his job, so you focus more on seeing if any cameras or drones have their 'eyes' on us. I'm more worried about the random tourists than the security at fixed locations and on fixed patrol routes, so let's make our move when the tourists thin out."
After gently toppling a pile of trash to keep ordinary people from following, spreading out some leftover food to distract any animals, and turning the corner into a dark, narrow street, the brown girl gave the signal. Their quarry didn't even notice the sound of the trash.
"We're good. No one is watching. This is a blind spot."
"No Valkyries?"
"None."
"You're up, Millia."
With a screech of tires, a large truck cut across the street to block the man's way and slammed on its brakes. Episcia must have realized something was up because he panicked and tried to turn tail and run, but when he turned around, he found Heivia and Putana had snuck up to him. Those two sent merciless blows into his nose and gut, sending him crumpling to the ground without so much as a scream.
They covered his mouth with duct tape, copied the data from his trackable phone, and threw it out.
"All done, " said Heivia."Give me a hand, Quenser. We need to load this moron into the back of the truck."
Part 2
This had to be what it felt like to run to school with a piece of toast in your mouth.
The Princess was leaning forward inside the cockpit of the Legitimacy Kingdom First Generation Baby Magnum.
She was moving at her max speed of more than 500km/h.
"I'm late."
"Don't rush. This is the Faith Organization's headquarters, so our schedule took into account the likely possibility of a labyrinth of mines and sensors in the ocean. Human error due to rushing is the much greater threat at the moment."
Frolaytia sounded exasperated in the transmission.
The Princess was trying to enter Rome from the Mediterranean, but there was a problem. Her First Generation was an all-purpose Object capable of most any mission, but its propulsion device used static electricity. It needed to remove its naval floats when moving from sea to land, so the maintenance battalion needed to construct a bridgehead on the coast first.
The Object could resist nukes, but the other ships could not. The maintenance soldiers' lives would be lost if they hit a moored mine floating in the ocean or triggered a mobile mine that fired a torpedo up from the ocean floor.
So the Princess needed to break through with brute force. She tore the labyrinth apart with her cannons and then used the Object's own size to trigger the surviving traps, while being careful not to damage the shark anchor that extended into the sea. It was a solution only available to a nuke resistant Object.
And another Object was accompanying her.
The Information Alliance Second Generation was known as the Rush. It was equipped with two rapid-fire beam Gatling cannons, but it was an amphibious air cushion model.
A transmission arrived from its Pilot Elite, the ringlet and G-cups idol known as Oh Ho Ho.
"Ho ho ho, oh ho ho. Hohhh ho ho ho!! I pity you and your ugly low-tech excuse for an Object. Needing to expose your people to danger whenever you need those floats removed sounds like cause to declare it defective, don't you think? Meanwhile, my Gatling 033 has no need to remove its float. I can charge right up onto land and accept my first place trophy."
The Princess took a shot with one of her seven main cannons.
The Rush swerved in a sharp S-shape to avoid the low-stability plasma blast and lodged a complaint.
"Dwoh!? A-are you trying to kill me!?"
"I am not receiving a friendly IFF signal, so yes? What are you doing here?"
The Princess sounded casual, but she was actually astounded. She had used the eye movements picked up by her special goggles to make a surprise attack at this close range and that girl had still dodged it. And in a naval battle where the grip with the surface was a lot less stable than on land. Oh Ho Ho seemed like an idiot, but that cutting-edge Information Alliance Object would not be easy to defeat.
But her thoughts were interrupted by dark laughter.
"Oh ho ho. Very well. If you have a death wish, I wouldn't mind a light warmup exercise before rescuing the Faith Organization home countryyyyy!!"
"Good, keep it up, Princess. Every shot we take here is a waste of tax money, so rile her up and have her clear the mines for us."
Frolaytia Capistrano made that sound a lot easier than it really was.
Situations like this were perfect for a Gatling-style main cannon's "shoot enough and you'll hit them eventually" philosophy. The Princess only had to evade side to side to get the rapid-fire beam weapons to spray out more than 10 thousand shots a minute. Explosions and sizzling steam could be heard everywhere as the spider web of mines was rapidly cleared away.
"So the Information Alliance decided to join the Legitimacy Kingdom on this one?" noted the Princess."Rome is a lot more loved than I thought."
"Kh!! How are you still so calm when I'm starting on my third volley!? Oh ho ho. How is this outdated First Generation making a mockery of my high-tech and cutting-edge Gatling 033!?"
"No, please cool your head, my cute little chick! Please realize the Legitimacy Kingdom is using you here!"
If Oh Ho Ho heard that helpful comment from Information Alliance Commander Lendy Farolito, she might actually start to calm down, so the Princess interrupted and spoke over the foreign commander.
"Well, if you're so sure your technology is superior, then the difference must be in the specs of the Elites. Or are you too stupid for even that simple bit of logic?"
"Kiiiiiii!!!!!!"
The Baby Magnum and the Rush approached the Italian Peninsula while repeatedly swapping positions like they were drawing out the double helix of DNA. All the mines in the way were blown to pieces by Oh Ho Ho's shots when the Princess skillfully danced out of the way. Their expected landing point was the mouth of the Tiber. Once they held that sandy area, the Princess could have her float replaced and swiftly move inland. With a max speed of more than 500km/h, no one would be able to stop her.
"Do you..." started the Princess before biting her lip.
They were both Pilot Elites, so they would both be rendered obsolete before long.
But was that really true? The Information Alliance's Oh Ho Ho was an Elite, but she was also a successful G-cup idol. If Objects were eliminated from the world's battlefields, she might live a glorious life smiling in the spotlight.
She had a way out.
She had a backup plan.
There was a fundamental difference between her and the Princess, who had nothing else.
"What was that? Did you say something? Oh ho ho."
"It's nothing... Now, I have to support Quenser and the others who went in ahead of us."
What happened next was enough to drown out Frolaytia screaming, "What is wrong with you!? That's classified mission information you're giving away!"
Simply put, the Princess added to her statement.
"I don't have time to babysit a little kid like you, so try to behave."
"Djlahgalgh!? L-l-little kid? How do you know about- ah!?"
"?"
"I, uh, I, uh, I mean no! Forget it! Forget I said that!!! I confirmed nothing!! Oh ho ho! That was merely an insult, calling my personality immature, wasn't it!? You would say that to anyone you're upset with, wouldn't you!? So you didn't mean anything more by it! Ah ha ha. Eh heh heh. Oh ho ho. Because what else could you possibly mean by it!? I have G-cups and they are very sexy! There is no deception to be uncovered here!!"
"You're...happy I was insulting you? Gross."
Part 3
When you needed an interrogation done, it was best to call the intelligence division.
Quenser called out to the blonde woman wearing a hoodie and thin pants over a bikini.
"Millia, what is that?"
"What, you've never seen vegetable oil before, Quenser?"
His point was how she had emptied a huge 5-liter bottle when she was supposed to be getting useful information out of a dangerous terrorist, but she didn't seem to notice as she exited the back of the truck and tossed the unneeded empty bottle into a big metal trash can. That kind of trash wouldn't stand out much with all the meat stalls for the carnival. There were also lots of wooden boxes and hunks of dry ice stacked up in disorderly piles. Rome must not have been much for sorting their trash.
"It's all about experience. If you're interested, submit a request for POW training and I'll teach you the hard way that external pain from punches and kicks isn't the only way to torture someone."
Quenser vigorously shook his head.
If he went on a secret date with that sexy blonde where she tied him up and kindly taught him some new things about his body, it might just give him some new kinks to deal with. And while Quenser was interested in just about anything kinky, he didn't want to find he needed to be looking at a cold drill or pair of pliers for the blood to gather in his lower body.
Millia Newburg didn't seem to care.
"Myonri and Heivia are out shopping, right? Okay, Quenser and Putana. It's a little early, but I'll treat you to a progress report."
"Huh? Shouldn't we go in the truck to discuss this?"
"Our shoppers aren't back yet and you two are about to grab something to eat, right? You'd regret it if you stepped inside that sealed container that reeks of ammonia....Damn, I really should have stopped by a drugstore and bought some diapers even if it would have been a little conspicuous."
"(What the hell happened in there!?)"
"(Teacher, that container is Pandora's Box. I recommend heeding her warning. )"
Disgusted Quenser and the ever serious brown girl whispered to each other and Millia joined them with a smile. The three of them placed their arms around each other's shoulders to form a circle and pressed their foreheads together. Needless to say, they were creating a tiny dome where their bodies hid their lips from any possible lip readers.
A dangerous discussion was held in that wonderful dome of sweet scents and girl breath.
Quenser knew he couldn't tell Heivia about this.
Millia got things rolling.
"First, I have confirmed the enemy here is from Bad Garage. They've given up hiding under the guise of some world power's special forces or intelligence agents, so we can just follow them directly."
"That's good news." Quenser was truly relived by that."He's from the Electric Drills who work for Bad Garage, right? What are they hoping to accomplish by sneaking their entire unit in here with fake IDs? They're supposedly disguised as museum curators, but I doubt they're only interested in checking out the city's art museums."
"SM-510Gi."
They were close enough for their faces to look blurry to each other, but Putana clearly frowned in confusion.
"That's a model number for a vehicle's electronic lock. A Faith Organization model."
"You really learned your stuff in Lost Angels, Putana. Specifically, it's a model used by the partially state-owned Sol & Mani Autos, which makes most Faith Organization military vehicles. The Gi at the end means it belongs to a large cargo model weighing at least 10 tons. Since he had the decoder for one, his job must be to unlock and steal a vehicle like that. Probably 60-70% of the trucks driving in Rome would fit that profile."
"But why?" asked Quenser mostly on reflex, his forehead still against theirs.
Were they going to steal a truck in the city since they couldn't get one past the highly-secure front gate? To carry something? But if they sent their people in and stole an empty truck in Rome, they would have no way to load the cargo they had left outside. A 10ton truck could be a deadly weapon in and of itself, but if the Electric Drills saw themselves as professional soldiers, they would have snuck in more convenient weapons like guns or bombs.
However, three seconds passed without a response. Quenser frowned.
"Wait, Millia. Don't tell me you got a little too 'carried away' before getting everything out of him."
"Non non non!! He was admittedly weaker than I thought and I didn't expect him to curl up in the fetal position like that, but he isn't dead! Yes, I got a game over, but I still have a continue left! I'm a pro, remember? I'm offended you don't trust my skill."
"Are you sure? You didn't get overeager and take off a hand or a foot or something?"
"I would never! Cut off something like that and they're in too much pain to torture properly!"
"Teachers, you're making the Geneva Convention weep with this conversation."
Quenser felt Putana's sweet sigh on his face, but he didn't have time to enjoy it.
A metallic noise interrupted. He could only compare it to something comical, like a thick wok's curve being bent the other way. And the side of the truck's container now had a thumb-sized hole in it.
Just as Quenser realized that had been a long-distance sniper shot, Putana and Millia were both tackling him to the ground.
"Hwa ha ha! Am I finally getting the popularity I deserve!? Has the carnival gotten you to open up enough to express how you really feel!?"
"Have you gone insane with panic, teacher!?"
"The opposite, I'd say. What did you learn in Lost Angels, Putana? You know things are dire when this perv seriously addresses the crisis before his eyes."
The lovely brown girl and blonde young woman dragged him into the shadows. Specifically, below the truck which stood well above the ground.
There was no second shot.
And not just because their swift reaction hadn't given the sniper a chance. In fact, the initial sniper shot had been odd in a number of ways.
"What was with that first shot? Why the truck? Whoever they were trying to hit, I can't imagine why they wouldn't aim for us directly while we were chatting outside."
"Putana, did you sense the enemy's eyes on us?"
"..."
Millia's quick question belatedly clued the brown girl in.
Putana hadn't been alerted before the shot. That meant the sniper could hide from even Putana Highball's nearly psychic level of scopophobia. But if they were that good, it was unthinkable that they had screwed up and missed.
They had missed for a reason.
No, they wanted to hit the truck. That shot had been successful.
After a moment, a commotion grew around them.
"What was that? I just heard a really loud noise."
"Wait, does that truck have a hole in the side?"
"Th-that was a gunshot!! A parade bottle rocket wouldn't leave a hole like that!!"
"Damn, " grumbled Millia below the truck."A spy is only useful while hidden. Especially when holding a hostage to torture while undercover in the enemy's home country. If the Faith Organization police open that truck, we're done for. And someone set this up so that's exactly what happens."
"So the Electric Drills are letting their captured member escape?"
"Do you really think that terrorist is going to have a good time after the Faith Organization police find him? You have it completely backwards. This was probably an Information Alliance or Capitalist Corporations dog! They would rather reveal our prisoner to the authorities than give the Legitimacy Kingdom the credit for capturing him. Unfortunately, their method of choice is quite effective!!"
"Teacher, the normal police are bad enough, but that divine punishment group will pick up the scent eventually. We can't let the Valkyries get their eyes on us."
"Oh, c'mon. If we're after the same enemy, why can't we just get along!?"
Part 4
Three triplet sisters who were infiltrating Rome giggled while nestled together atop one of the church belltowers that grew from this city like bamboo shoots.
"Dry, I think they're onto us."
"Don't, Sweet. That one shot was enough. We can't get greedy here."
"Dry, Sweet. Dismantle your sniper rifle. We need to withdraw while we still can."
Part 5
Quenser clicked his tongue and reached out from under the truck. After feeling the pain in his fingers, he grabbed a piece of dry ice presumably thrown out by a food stall cooking up fresh fish. He used a cooking knife about as short as his thumb to cut a hole in the radiator pipe to sprinkle the coolant water on the dry ice.
White steam that would obscure the vision of the harmless crowd spread out from below the truck.
"Whoa!?"
Hearing a Faith Organization police officer cry out while slowly approaching the truck, Quenser and Putana crawled out from under the truck.
Several dry gunshots rang out right next to them.
Quenser looked over in surprise to see Millia sending a horizontal line of bullets into the side of the truck, pulling the pin from an incendiary grenade, and tossing it into the driver's compartment.
"We've gotta cover our tracks! We aren't supposed to be in Rome!!"
"Ugh, and that means killing the hostage?"
"Teacher. You don't sound all that bothered by it."
The truck was convenient, but it had always been meant as a temporary thing. They had to leave it behind now that it was time to abandon it. They contacted Heivia and Myonri via radio while quickly vacating the area. The grenade must have ignited either the fuel tank or pipe because they heard a much louder explosion behind them. It caused less of a commotion than expected, perhaps thanks to the tens of thousands of firecrackers and bottle rockets set off during the parades.
Quenser yelled to the others while hiding among the crowd costumed in masks and cloaks.
"Putana, you be on alert for snipers or the Valkyries. Millia, if there's anything you've been keeping from us, you need to tell us now!!"
"Why do you make me sound like the bad guy here?"
"If we get into trouble and nearly die because you forgot to tell us something, I'm giving you a spanking."
Millia Newburg looked exasperated while she flipped her reversible hoodie inside out to change its color.
"I honestly don't have much more information. Only a list of radio codes, I guess. The Information Alliance code is probably the one used by the Electric Drills, but he also had a decryption program for a Legitimacy Kingdom code. I don't know who he hoped to contact using that, though."
Quenser came to a stop.
Putana and Millia looked puzzled, but he had some extra information he had obtained with his own two feet.
This was not his first time dealing with a Bad Garage group.
In other words...
"Stick that tight ass out my way, Millia."
"Now really isn't the time for that, Quenser!"
"Dammit. They have a Legitimacy Kingdom group too: the Chain Cutters! Come to think of it, we just kind of assumed they were dead and didn't actually count their bodies or anything!!"
"Teacher?"
"Bad Garage used the internet to corrupt and recruit a Legitimacy Kingdom unit. And that godawful unit ignored their orders and fired a ton of cruise missiles in the Northern Restricted Zone....This is bad. Are they going to fire hundreds of missiles into Rome like that!?"
He heard a deep sound like several tremors occurring at the same time.
Those were sirens.
This was an air raid warning. But did all the Roman residents and tourists really understand what that meant while they were trying to enjoy the carnival? Some assumed this was part of the parade or some other event, so they threw their hands in the air, smiled, and shouted back at the disaster speakers. A lot of the others simply aimed their phone cameras at the speakers.
A Faith Organization radar station must have detected something, but they could not get through to the ordinary people out there.
The Chain Cutters had to know the Electric Drills, another Bad Garage group, were in Rome. Were they willing to blow away their own allies if it would achieve their goal?
Then it happened.
At first, Quenser thought he was seeing giant smokestacks like those found at an industrial complex. The thick metal extended more than 100m into the air. The high-rise structures looked horribly out of place in Rome since it was known as a citywide museum where individual houses and shops were selected as world heritage sites.
He thought this must be a giant cage surrounding an especially-large temple in the center of Rome.
But it was not.
They slowly slid to the side. They were moving. They had left standby mode and were taking up the optimal position to physically eliminate the incoming threat.
"Those are the defense Objects used to protect Rome, " explained Putana Highball while watching the distant movement.
There were seven of them.
And if these were the direct defenders of their home country, they would be the best of the best.
That girl had once been a Faith Organization Pilot Elite, so what did she see when she watched those 7 smokestacks...no, those colossal main cannons. Even now, the 7 Objects were moving to the outskirts of Rome. They were like a giant flower blossoming to fortify the city's defenses in each direction.
There was envy, jealousy, and even pure terror in Putana's voice as she continued.
"Septimontium. Those are the 'seven hills' that protect Rome, teacher."
Part 6
They sky was dyed pure white.
A total of more than 200 cruise missiles were all shot down in an instant.
Part 7
Out at sea, the Princess had stopped the Baby Magnum one step away from the Tiber's mouth. The Rush stopped alongside her even though they technically weren't allies.
Two or three of the many explosions were of a different type than the rest. The Princess could tell the difference since a First Generation Pilot Elite's missions often included shooting down missiles.
(Those were FAE warheads. )
She stared through her special goggles. The flammable aerosol must have burst before spreading out enough because the explosion was small and simply resembled a somehow sticky flame.
Had they hidden their precious FAE missiles among the many ordinary ones to reduce the odds of them being shot down?
Not that it mattered when all 200 missiles were shot down at once.
Septimontium.
The Faith Organization tended to name their Objects after gods, so they must have seen those seven hills as sacred. Or had a faction wanted to make their land seem sacred by naming an Object after it?
The monitor capped the brightness of the footage it showed her, but the Princess still felt a pain in her temples.
But the loud signal noise was even worse.
"Ksh, kssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!! Prin...cess. Commun...check. Ksh!! ...an eye...your surroundings...kssssshhhhhh!!!"
"Kssshhh!! This is...ksh...the same laser...as the...!!"
(No, this isn't lasers. To cause this much interference, it must be plasma or some other kind of beam. )
"Oh ho ho. The answer is laser beams." Oh Ho Ho rejected her idea over an unusually clear transmission due to their proximity."Rapid temperature changes and vaporizing the moisture in the air can cause signal interference. Do not be deceived."
Apparently the unexpected attack had not been aimed at the Princess and Oh Ho Ho approaching from the ocean. The shot passed by well above them.
And that had seemed to dye the blue sky white.
But they were not actually seeing the laser's own light. They could only perceive the afterimage created by burning the dust and moisture in the air.
The number of beams fanned out at a high density had to be more than ten thousand. Instead of aiming at the enemy and targeting a specific point, they used a massive wall to tear through the entire space. It looked like the 200 cruise missiles had been hit, not any kind of aircraft, but it was still astonishing to see. The Faith Organization had responded faster despite being further inland than the Princess and Oh Ho Ho. They knew exactly what that meant: the Faith Organization's radars were vastly superior to theirs.
A dull rumbling followed.
It came from near the Tiber's mouth. Several colossal structures slowly moved along set paths. An Object's reactor and cockpit were contained within giant main cannons standing more than 100m tall.
They really were colossal gun emplacements at that point.
It was unlikely a single cannon could produce such a high density of laser beams. The sides must have been covered with smaller openings that could fire their own beams.
They now slowly bent and tilted to take aim at the Princess floating on the ocean.
Oh Ho Ho actually sounded impressed by the overly simple concept.
"A railroad? Are they actually moving Objects along metal rails? Oh ho ho. Those idiots! Is the Faith Organization completely insane!?"
"They have found a loophole."
Once, there was a plan to bury a JPlevelMHD reactor below a city in the Northern Restricted Zone to supply power for its 5 million residents. They had also placed several layers of stationary cannons around the city, providing them with solid defenses....Which was why the attacking Object had no choice but to slaughter all five million civilians living in the city to blast deep enough. That tragedy was the reason behind the one area in the world where Objects were banned.
To avoid the same taboo, Rome insisted they were using mobile Objects instead of stationary cannons. Of course, Objects that could only move along metal rails at the speed of a scooter could not keep up with a high-speed Object battle.
They had to win in a single shot.
They used their wall of more than a million laser beams to tear through the battlefield and the enemy Object, slaughtering any enemy, whether they were alone, in a group, manned, or unmanned. They had created a literal defensive line that was impossible to avoid, defend against, or strike back at.
Their seven hills created the perfect seven-Object system.
By surrounding Rome from seven directions and using their deadly wall of nearly 10 million lasers to repel any enemy with brute force, they had created a true sacred ground.
And in that case...
(The Faith Organization isn't all they're cracked up to be. )
The Princess sighed while reaching that conclusion.
Whether they had noticed or not, a radio transmission arrived from the coast.
"This is Viminalis 02 of the Faith Organization Home Country Defense Force. Unidentified Objects, please respond. If you do not, we will assume you are hostile and attack. You have already entered our territorial waters and violated our sovereignty."
"What should we do?" asked Oh Ho Ho.
"I am not here to battle them, " replied the Princess while considering a few attack options."This is the Baby Magnum of the Legitimacy Kingdom's 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion. We have discovered a critical security hole in your defenses and you have ignored our advice on three separate occasions now. Are you aware of this?"
"You mean your plan to cancel the carnival and hold a mass evacuation of our home country's residents? I assumed those messages were meant as a provocation."
The response came with a snort of laughter.
Attackers were always thinking up new methods, so if you weren't willing to consider the unlikely, you made for a poor defender. If you truly understood that the residents of a world power's home country and all its tourists lives depended on your actions, it was best to take seriously even what sounded like a drunk's bad joke.
"This is an important group ritual for the Faith Organization, so we have a duty to keep the event running smoothly. Why would we listen to outsiders like you?"
"If you do not comprehend the threat, then you have no right to obstruct our actions. Now, I will translate that into terms simple enough for even your feeble mind to understand: get lost, you worthless excuse of an Elite."
"Hostile intentions detected. Now you don't get to complain when I blast you to kingdom come."
Someone panicked when she heard that: the G-cups idol Oh Ho Ho.
"W-wait! Oh ho ho. Why does it sound an awful lot like you're picking a fight with them!?"
The Princess expressionlessly stuck out her tongue.
"I am not here to battle them, but I have no choice if they insist on it."
"Y-you stupid Legitimacy Kingdom potatoes!! Is everyone in the 37th like this!?"
"Fortunately, the Septimontium system has a loophole."
"?"
How was she still confused?
Now the Princess felt guilty for expecting her to understand. Oh Ho Ho really needed to remember the Legitimacy Kingdom and Information Alliance were not allies here.
So the Princess just came out and said it.
She slid a bit to the side, silently placing the Baby Magnum behind the Rush.
"They attack with a solid wall meant to destroy everything in its path, so if I use you as a shield, I can rush in and attack them before they can charge up their next shot."
"Bwfaldfhdslf!? Oh ho ho! Give me a break, you potatoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!"
The wall of light filled the world evenly.
Nearly in tears, Oh Ho Ho fired her Gatling-style main cannons straight down. Her main cannons were rapid-fire beams, so when they hit the seawater, they vaporized it and formed a massive cloud wall at 0 above sea level.
Needless to say, laser beams were easily bent.
Their path could be widely diverted by dust, dirt, and differences in air temperature and humidity. Create a wall of steam hotter than a sauna directly above the chilly February ocean and the sudden temperature change would alter the path of the lasers.
It felt a lot like jumping into the water to avoid a hail of bullets.
Once the fanned-out volley of death wasn't quite so evenly distributed, she only had to shove her Object into the gap that created. No matter how sturdy they were, bent metal bars couldn't hold a prisoner in their cell.
The Princess followed this up with a cute comment.
This was how girls treated each other once their crush wasn't watching.
"Neat, I just found a flaw in rapid-fire beam attacks☆ You did it by firing into the ocean, but I bet a magnetic field or powerful ocean wind could alter their path too. I need to jot this down in my notes."
"I want to kill her so much more than Septimontium!!"
At any rate, they had dodged the first slap.
Now it was their turn. If they didn't silence their enemy before the double slap arrived, they would be critically damaged, so the Princess and Oh Ho Ho approached the coast. The other side was the first to abandon peaceful talking and open fire, so it was time to slaughter them in fully justified self-defense.
The two Objects raced across the ocean.
At 10km, they entered within range of direct shots instead of curved shots falling from the sky above. The Princess selected weapons for her seven main cannons. She set the odd ones to low-stability plasma cannons and the even ones to laser beams. The trick here was to fire the plasma first but have the faster laser beams hit first. And the wall of heat from the plasma would bend the light in ways the enemy would have trouble predicting.
"I hope you die a multitude of deaths so everyone can see your pathetic corpse!!"
"Oh ho ho. Your mother must be so ashamed."
That slow Second Generation could only move along its metal rails, but it was doomed either way. If it followed her main cannon's movements and responded to the first ones to fire, it would attempt to avoid the low-stability plasma cannons. Then the bent laser beams would burn right through its 100m main cannon.
And a split-second before precisely that happened, something unexpected occurred.
Part 8
Quenser's group had lost their truck-based mobile base and they were now being pursued by Faith Organization police, but what they needed to do and where they needed to go remained unchanged.
"To Rome's outer gate!! The big main gate that trucks weighing more than 10 tons can fit through!!"
"May I ask why!?"
Millia had a reason for yelling to Quenser even though she preferred covert operations and was right next to him.
A deluge of voices that were definitely not cheering rattled all the windows in the area. The tourists hadn't been shaken by a truck blowing up, but this they couldn't pretend was part of the parade or another event.
Quenser caught some glimpses of Valkyries in their black combat suits with add-ons resembling sexy underwear, but those police special forces were meant to protect the people of the city and couldn't fight their way through the crowd to reach the spies. Quenser let the crowd carry him as he spoke.
"The Chain Cutters launched hundreds of cruise missiles and the Faith Organization shot them all down with their secret weapon...the Septimontium, was it? The Faith Organization is probably mighty pleased with itself, but Bad Garage expected that. The plan was for the missiles exploding in midair to send the crowds into a panic! Including the tourists, that's more than 10 million people, right? Get that many people running around in a panic and the ordinary security system entirely breaks down!!"
They had already learned the Electric Drills had a device meant to unlock a SM-510Gi, an electronic lock for a large truck they presumably intended to steal.
Quenser could easily predict what the future held now.
"Their main force is waiting outside of Rome. That's probably Bad Garage themselves."
He was careful not to be swept away by the crowd, but he did not stop either.
The situation was pressing.
"The cruise missiles were bound to bring chaos whether they hit the city or were shot down. As the fearful people try to leave Rome, security at the gates will cease to function, which means this is their chance to break through the gate and enter Rome with their truck or whatever!!"
"We can discuss what their cargo is later, but it's suicide either way. Maybe they can slip past the human eyes, but the gate has countless cameras and sensors. Even if Bad Garage uses the chaos to break through, the make, model, and number of their truck will be known and the authorities will catch up to-"
Realizing the flaw in her reasoning, Millia trailed off and Quenser continued for her.
"Which is why they'll switch to a new truck as soon as they're inside. Truck A used to break into the city will be marked, but they just have to reload their cargo on Truck B prepared by the Electric Drills and they can vanish into the city. Then they're free to move around Rome with whatever secret weapon they have!!"
"May I ask a fundamental question here, teacher?" whispered Putana, finding two young siblings who had apparently been separated from their parents and guiding them toward the wall where they wouldn't be swallowed up if the crowd started to collapse like dominoes."What exactly is this secret weapon?"
"..."
Quenser had no answer.
He had predicted so much, but it wasn't enough to catch up with the Chain Cutters and Electric Drills. Their leaders in Bad Garage were still at least a step ahead of Quenser.
He heard a vehicle honking loudly behind him.
He looked back to see Heivia driving a humongous fire truck he had gotten from who-knows-where. When the truck passed them, Quenser's group hopped onto its side like it was a tram. It continued down the chaotic Roman street with them onboard.
This would let them escape Sarasa Gleamshifter and the Valkyrie special forces.
Myonri reached down from the top of the fire truck.
"It's a pretty bumpy ride! If you aren't confident in your grip, it's safer to climb up to the roof!!"
"Thanks, Myonri. I'm giving up first!"
Everyone knew Quenser was scrawny, so he gave up before the girls. Pretending to be stronger than you were would get you killed in war, so he grabbed Myonri's hand and crawled up onto the roof.
(Bad Garage wants to prove the environmental destruction by Objects theory. That means they want this to end with Rome being obliterated by an Object-created disaster. But what are they bringing into the city to do that? It has to be small enough to carry on a truck. I doubt they actually have dozens of trucks carrying all the dismantled parts needed to construct an Object inside Rome. That would take months undercover here. )
"No, wait."
"Teacher?"
"Damn, so that's it. They only need the one part. They don't have to construct the whole thing!!"
Putana climbed up on her own and tilted her head with her black ponytail whipping in the wind. Unfortunately, now was not the time to adore how cute that was. Quenser cautiously moved to the front of the fire truck and kicked the roof of the driver's compartment with his boot heel to get his partner's attention.
He was practically on top of Heivia, but he still shouted into his radio.
"Heivia!! What underground spaces in Rome could you directly drive a 10ton truck into? It has to be at least 60m deep!!"
"Do you have any idea how many millions of people there are crammed into this tiny area of land?"
"Including the carnival tourists, over 10 million."
"Your adoring student is right, Quenser. Everything looks all fancy and they insist on preserving the scenery, but that makes it really hard to do any construction and they're forced to keep all the ugly and dirty infrastructure underground. Really, just driving into a subway tunnel would be enough to meet your conditions, so what's your point!?"
"Bad Garage's win condition is destroying Rome with an artificial disaster caused by an Object and they're willing to do anything to accomplish it."
Quenser briefly paused for a deep breath.
And he attempted to explain once more.
"So what could that artificial disaster be?"
"The first things that come to mind are an earthquake or volcanic eruption. Because an Object's weight and footwork have a negative effect on the earth's crust." Millia must have been confident in her grip because she remained on the side of the fire truck while she gave her casual response."And luck would have it Mount Vesuvius is located on the Italian Peninsula. It's one of the world's most famous active volcanoes, right alongside Mount Etna, and it's only about 200km from the center of Rome. Mineral springs are fairly common around here, so there is a chance the same magma reservoir exists below the city. It's currently dormant, but the kind of massive energy that destroyed Pompeii in a single night still lurks below the surface."
"I had the same idea, " said Quenser."Bad Garage just has to artificially trigger an eruption. And no matter how cheap an argument it is, they'll consider it a win as long as it counts as Object technology causing an earthquake or eruption. That means they don't even need some brand new secret weapon. Existing tech is more than enough to pull that off."
"Um, Quenser? You aren't saying what I think you are, are you?" asked Myonri on the fire truck roof, hoping he would reject the idea in her mind.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. He was forced to confirm it.
"An artificial earthquake."
"..."
"Long ago, an underground nuclear test apparently caused a malfunction in the seismographs installed on the surface, recording it as a magnitude 5 or greater. So it should be possible. They don't even need a whole Object. If they carry the high-powered JPlevelMHD reactor in on a truck and detonate it deep underground, they can affect the magma reservoir linked to Mount Vesuvius. Then that magma will burst up from below Rome and submerge the city in an orange hell!!"
Part 9
Simply put, the enemy avoided the Princess's surefire attack created by combining low-stability plasma cannons and laser beams. The Viminalis 02's action itself was simple. In fact, it was so simple that she had ruled it out as a possibility because it was meaningless.
The small reactor emerged from the base of the 200m cannon.
"Wh-what!?" shouted Frolaytia.
A sphere less than 10m across was suddenly ejected. It had six parts similar to insect legs that braced themselves against the ground and used the giant cannon as a shield to escape the Princess's laser beams.
Maybe it was a weapon and maybe it was a balancing weight, but a long tail-like part swished side to side at the rear of the sphere.
"Oh ho ho. Am I dreaming? Did that Second Generation abandon its armor to prioritize evasion!?"
"This is nothing more than suicide."
The Viminalis 02 must have had special springs installed in those legs because it took quick, zigzagging evasive actions accompanied by a deep sound like a thick steel plate being sliced through. Amazingly, it continued to accurately avoid the Princess and Oh Ho Ho's attacks. Its armor couldn't have been more than 3cm thick. A single hit would cause it to explode, but that single hit never seemed to happen.
"Oh, no, " said the Princess.
The Object was only a reactor and cockpit now, but it could still use the engine that had supplied so much energy to a main cannon larger than an industrial complex's smokestack. The Princess had feared another deadly slap if it had time to charge back up and enough time had already passed for that.
Now that the reactor had separated, she didn't know if the next attack would also use laser beams, but she knew a second attack was coming. And the odds of death were even higher than before since she couldn't predict what would be coming her way.
Time seemed to slow.
And finally stop.
In a cockpit where she couldn't even trust her own heartbeat and death felt like it was physically approaching, the Princess watched the unusual situation with a weirdly detached perspective.
And a moment later...
"Huh?"
"It's running away."
Those dumbfounded comments from Oh Ho Ho and Lendy brought the flow of time back to normal.
The Viminalis 02 used its springs to leap back. It may have settled on a change of plans while contacting the other Objects because it gave up on the naval threat and rapidly withdrew toward the center of Rome.
Only after it vanished beyond the horizon did Oh Ho Ho speak up.
"Th-that was anticlimactic. Oh ho ho. Did it turn tail and run after concluding it couldn't defeat us?"
"Oh, no, " said the Princess, ignoring the other Elite.
They could not celebrate yet. Their Object landing and artillery support mission had been designed to prevent exactly this from happening. Since they had failed to hold the large enemy's attention, they had to assume their plans had gone awry.
Everything would fall apart if they didn't fix this and fast.
Or in other words...
"Quenser and the others are in Rome. If all 7 of them shed their armor for mobility, Quenser's group will be surrounded and ganged up on by Septimontium."
Part 10
Some kind of shadow fell on Quenser's group.
The battlefield student looked up without thinking because he still wasn't fully used to being at war.
The world's smallest Object dropped like a shooting star.
"Huh?"
"Teacher!!"
Putana tackled him out of the way just before an attack from above separated the fire truck's front and back halves as it raced down the street. There was no sound. The slash was met with no resistance at all, like a taut electrically-heated wire melting through a foam material.
| ← Ch. 172 | Ch. 174 → |