Chapter 4 (1/2)
Chapter 4
Part 1
The Battlefield Country of the Antsiranana District was also known as Experiascar
Baobab trees known to live for more than 5000 years rose froht The ground was crawling with insects found nowhere else in the world, but few of the soldiers realized their value
They were inside the Faith Organization’s maintenance base zone
Several large military vehicles were surrounded by barbed wire barricades Most of their base was covered by giant think tents that would have looked er than a school building
But their e scientific rapid-response materials
“Getting irritable is not going to improve the situation”
That gentle coreen special suit with a loose cloth wrapped around it like a swiolden hair was bound in a single braid which increased her overall gentle atmosphere
She was one of the three sisters who piloted the Faith Organization’s Second Generation Norn
Her name was Urd Silent-Third
She had set up a folding chair, table, parasol, and spot cooler on the orange wasteland and a variety of fruits were lined up on the table The coconuts, h, but the fon’omby and tamarind were more unusual
They seemed to be local produce, but they would not have silehandedly influenced the outcomes of modern wars, so they were too valuable for that To ensure a foreign spy had not one to a lot of effort to procure them
Another girl sighed She had a harsh look to her eyes and her similarly blonde hair was crudely tied back into twintails Instead of taking the seat her older sister had prepared for her, she crossed her arainst the thick stone wall
Her name was Verdandi Silent-Third
That girl of about 16 was also one of the Norn’s Elites
If all three sisters had been together, it would have been clear that they all used the exact same hair bands
“Is life as a vegetarian really that much fun?”
“A glance inside the bug cage should tell you what the base’s burgers and fries are made from”
But despite that gentle coer she held in its wrapper
Her food was also a special provision for the Pilot Elite, so it was a 100 pure beef patty, unlike the normal ones on base However, the nore”, so there was no jealousy there
The second sister was not leaning up against one of the school-sized tents the Faith Organization had prepared Instead, it was the kind of cathedral that one could find anywhere in a European safe country, but its majesty was not lost in Africa And that was not the only building; there were enough of thee Or perhaps it would be better to say they had chosen to build their e
The ters to ly common There were historical reasons for that, but the familiar environment was probably a comfort for the people deployed here fro for a reason as silly as homesickness
Verdandi looked at the burger she had bitten into
“Skuld had no trouble eating those things”
“I think it had side the normal soldiers That little sister of ours has always prioritized what satisfies her heart over her body”
“…”
The two sisters fell silent as they thought about thethird sister
And then they both resu
“…We can’t just leave her out there”
“No And the higher ups will kno dangerous that would be That is why I a Stress can influence our condition and that could influence this clean war”
“So do you think we can make it in time?”
“Of course”
Urd smiled
With a sticky sound, she stabbed her fork into a ripe slice of fruit
“If the alternative is allowing Skuld to escape to a foreign safe country, we ree”
Part 2
The twilight burned red
The Legitiathered outside and they were chatting curiously
“Why is thehim?”
“Because she found out he washoneycomb toffee in secret”
“Sugar is one thing, but where did he get the baking soda? Is there a hot spring around here?”
“He apparently took apart a fire extinguisher to get at the foaent”
“If you ht skirt? C’mon, hit me too!!”
Meanwhile, busty silver-haired Frolaytia must have wanted to take a break because she tossed Quenser over toward the other soldiers
“Sorry about that distraction Everyone line back up”
The pre-
“Our satellite has detected the Trinity Style starting to move”
The soldiers were gathered outside rather than in the usual briefing rooh available indoor space for the briefing They had yet to recover froenetically modified insects
The ene and that was likely intentional on the enemy’s part
“It will attack soon, but we are not yet ready to withdraw At this rate, ould be hit as we tried to leave Sending out the Baby Magnuainst the Trinity Style is looking like the more realistic option”
As the rows of soldiers listened, Heivia muttered a complaint next to Quenser
“And what are puny soldiers like us supposed to do? Go jack off in our bunks until the Princess wins?”
“I heard that, Heivia And I have the perfect job for a volunteer hero ants to stand out”
“Why’d you have to say so sent to the front line!!”
Frolaytia ignored the soldiers ganging up on Heivia and continued with the briefing
“Currently, the Trinity Style’s combat ability is an unknown The Princess had trouble last ti a surprise attack after pretending to be defeated However, we can’t be too optimistic We have no idea ill happen in a fair one-on-one battle It ht be a harsh battle If we kneould fare, we could decide howWe simply have too little inforerous situation It’s 50/50…either side could win”
The busy commander inhaled some smoke from her kiseru
“Furthermore, the Trinity Style is a Second Generation made from small work robots that allow it to use entirely different shapes, ies The thickness of its ar the position of those robots …They’re sure to create a situation we can’t read and then anization was able to put together a strategy in advance while we have to adlib, so they have a e Do you understand now that we can’t rest easy and leave this to the Princess?”
But Quenser hesitantly raised his hand because he did not want to set foot on the battlefield
“But what can flesh-and-blood soldiers do? And I’m pretty sure the Trinity Style’s acoustic scans will locate anyone who’s hiding”
“Does that e back into those athlete’s foot suits!? What a pain the ass!!”
“Anyone without a death wish, listen up” Frolaytia sounded indifferent “I’ll start with your objective The biggest problees to its ar it by satellite, but we need as many information sources as possible You will infiltrate the battlefield and use various cameras and sensors to constantly scan the Trinity Style in real tiather data on its shape, abilities, and armor That data will be sent to the Princess so she can fire her main cannons at the thinnest point”
She used her kiseru to point at the map on the whiteboard
“This tiiant river Large bodies of water are the enemy of static electricity systems, so that will function as a barricade But that’s only true if it is using static electricity If the Dvergr secretly rearrange to an air cushi+on systeht suddenly cross the river That is another reason to continue scanning and sending out the data Static electricity and air cushi+ons both have their unique traits and weaknesses If we know its e, it shouldn’t be difficult for the Princess to predict its next move and fire her main cannon where it will be next”
“Wow, setting up hidden caht I knew is cruet more than a slap if their Goddess notices”
Frolaytia responded to Heivia while placing her kiseru back in her mouth
“You don’t need to worry about the anti-personnel acoustic sensors this time This will be an all-out battle between the Princess and the Trinity Style, so the entire area will be a vortex of explosive blasts It’s going to be worse than a fireworks show, so the precision of those acoustic sensors is sure to drop and you can also set up plenty of those disturbance speakers that worked so well last time”
“And the real reason for that?”
“I said this would be an all-out battle, right? A sh soundproofed suits for all of our infantry Unfortunately, the budgets for these clean wars are heavily biased toward the Objects”
In other words, this had less to do with a safer situation andup for insufficient equiprew more disheartened
“By the way, do we have a guess as to which form the Trinity Style will use?”
“That is e need to interrogate Skuld Silent-Third about Quenser, you come withpanic, so they ence officer”
Part 3
“I don’t know”
Quenser pressed his forehead against the table when that was the very first thing she said
The student and Skuld were not speaking in specialized detention barracks meant to hold war cri the attack by the genetically modified Draupnir insects, so the infantry barracks had been divided in tith the Faith Organization occupying one half They had of course added locks to the doors and welded scrap
As Quenser slu directly on the table
Not only that, but she wore no clothes and only had a white sheet covering her
“How am I supposed to knohat exactly the Norn will try to do? I mean, there are two other Elites besides me and-…what is it?”
“…”
Quenser kept his head pressed against the edge of the table and glanced to the side The green special suit, boots, and gloves were all draped over the back of a nearby chair
After a ht on
“Is this any ti distracted?”
“It’s kind of hard not to”
“It is ht as a POW to receive the treat as an Elite”
“Well, yeah But still…”
“And in my case, that means this”
As the twintail girl lay face down below the sheet, she tapped at the corner of the table
A few aroma candle containers sat there
The hly soothing environmental music at a moderate volume
Perhaps to reap the benefit of negative ions, there were even pots withinside
Her pilloas s low-resilience material
And this riddle led Quenser to a certain answer
“Come to think of it, the Trinity Style’s cockpit was full of sleep products too, wasn’t it?”
“Honestly, I was pretty sure you wouldn’t have any of it, so I wrote down everything I could think of But look at all this You had pretty much all of it I’m not sure if that means you’re well-prepared or overrun by personal items”
Curse that busty co? wondered Quenser as a grinding sound came from his mouth
“It’s not sothe hallucinations seen on the verge of falling asleep”
“Oh, youwhere you can easily have a ht kinds of low frequency noise?”
He thought that sounded exactly like soain…
“But why are you naked?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t htrope ithout the optimum performance I can’t be awake and I can’t fall asleep either”
But Quenser had to question whether he was really close enough to Skuld for her to let him approach while she was so defenseless He had protected her fro panic had been the final push
The battlefield student coolly analyzed the situation
(H H to remove the ribbon from a present, but I am 100 okay with that!)
“?”
“Now, don’t worry about me Don’t worry about uess it can’t be helped! Yes, if you don’t do this, you’d probably get a raine, lose your appetite, or feel sick!! So we have no choice in the matter!!”
Quenser stared at the sh the sheet and did his best to activate any latent clairvoyant powers he ot back on topic with a blank sleepy look in her eyes
“So, uht The Norn has two Elites besides ht from and the way they attack are completely different”
“…The way they attack?”
“Urd fires a thorough barrage to cut off her eneoes for a one-hit kill and never wastes a shot Coht?”
“Wow…”
“Urd prefers long-range attacks because she focuses on taking no dae attacks because she tries to finish off her target as quickly as possible to reduce the overall dae But even that is only the standard It’s possible they willto be Verdandi only to attack with Urd’s tactics”
That difficulty to predict worked to the Trinity Style’s advantage A battle began before the actual fighting did, but this Object destroyed any pre-battle preparation and forced its enemies to adlib Just as Frolaytia had said
(But this tie river If the Princess can use that to keep her distance and continue fighting, she can seal off the close-range attacks That e)
“Skuld Tell e battles can take a lot of different forht?”
“Chemical warfare”
Quenser initially had trouble coirl said
But as he repeated it under his breath, he grew pale
“Chemical…warfare?”
The terh to distract him from the sheet-covered feast before his eyes
It seeue
Skuld must have felt she misspoke because she clarified
“Oh, I’h it is possible it as as a side effect”
Skuld rolled over under the sheet
She was now facing up and the curves around her chest were especially emphasized
Plus, the sheet nearly pulled back frorew toto blast off into space at this rate
“The Trinity Style’s main cannon is basically a laser space elevator tilted on its side Urd’s container-style shells tend to contain various chemicals”
Quenser replied coolly
“When you say cheas weapon, do you?”
“No e the scale is, Object armor is still essentially special steel And there are a variety of cheht? Sulfuric acid, aqua regia, liquid nitrogen, aluminum and iron oxide, etc”
“…”
This was different fro y
Nor did it burn through with tremendous heat like laser beams or low-stability plasma cannons
It used a chemical reaction
It cut through the Object ar a chemical approach
“My sister Urd is an expert at that She doesn’t just fire a chemical-filled container; she sometimes fires several containers to mix them directly on the battlefield The Capitalist Corporations fearfully nay Yan…”
Shedrowsy because Skuld yawned and twisted her body This stuck a full bare leg out in front of Quenser’s eyes The student debated whether to lightly nibble at the thigh or to see how far up to the base of the leg he could see, but heto do either before the bare leg was pulled back inside the sheet
With a smile on his face and tears in his heart, Quenser replied with a cool voice
“That doesn’t sound good… Even if it isn’ta bunch of sulfuric acid around and the dissolving metal will produce chemical smoke”
“Even if Urd isn’t after them, you should probably have your infantry prepare some chemical warfare defenses”
But could they do that?
They already knew they lacked enough soundproofed suits for everyone A sh special equiproup of hundreds?
(The gas ht? Maybe we should take apart so out)
He made a mental note of that and Skuld made a comment
“You seem confident”
“Does this tearful face really look confident?”
“It does”
The twintail girl answered his joke while squir below the white sheet
“I honestly thought you would line up the Faith Organization POWs on the front line, aie No, it isn’t just that When the detention barracks were destroyed, you didn’t build so up your own living space isn’t normal”
“There are two major reasons for that Do you knohat they are, Skuld?”
“?”
“First, soldiers who are being forced to fight are useless And if we carelessly sent the Faith Organization soldiers in front of the Trinity Style, it would probably blow up only our ar you all back to your unit Plus, an infantry charge isn’t going to change anything here We have to infiltrate the front line, so a less”
“What’s the second reason?”
Quenser grinned at that
“It’s about our barracks We’re actually quite thankful for that one After all, we’re all crairls are norether! But we have no real choice!! I ive the POWs a roof over their heads! Ah hah hah hah hah!!”
An officer like Frolaytia and a Pilot Elite like the Princess had their own private quarters and their defenses was still as strict as ever, but that was a different matter
And the twintail girl naturally looked at hi beetle
She still looked sleepy, but she grabbed the edges of the sheet and curled up like a hu roll to protect herself
“…You’re utter trash, aren’t you?”
“Bloodline is everything in the Legitido But I guess that anization and all its strict ideals that ignore our biology Wait, but isn’t Norse Mythology pretty lax about that stuff?”
Quenser did not seem to mind at all
“Personally, I find it stranger that you’re so willing to give us information on the Trinity Style”
“Does it seehed with just her head poking out of the sheet “Didn’t I tell you anization sees it that way, I can’t return to the Norn I don’t gain a thing by holding onto its secrets”
“Then are you trying to defect to the Legitidom?”
“It’s hard to say”
Skuld see her cards close to her chest
But if she really did try to join the Legitianization would never allow it Having information on the Trinity Style leaked to another world poould be especially bad for Urd and Verdandi who had to continue piloting that Object and could not switch to another variety
So they would kill her, no matter what it took
It did not matter if she was their blood-related sister
“I’ a lot from you”
That was all she said
One of the world powers that colored the map was after her life and had sent in one of the Objects that had ended the nuclear age A student like Quenser could not iirl’s chest
Part 4
The an
Before the Baby Magnum was sent out, Quenser, Heivia, and the rest of the infantry set out into the orange-dyed wasteland aboard multiple military vehicles
However, these were not normal armored trucks There was no thick hose, obvious siren, or crane-like ladder attached to the rectangular body and the color was different, but they had a familiar silhouette These were the e control firetrucks
The soldiers clung to the flat roof and even the sides It looked like the ies of trains packed absolutely full
Quenser was on the roof, but Heivia had failed to secure a spot there and was on the wall
“This is ridiculous We’re sending out cheht a war, not provide disaster relief”
“The Trinity Style’s elevator ht fire a ton of container shells Those things are worse than giant Molotov cocktails And even in this wasteland, chemical incendiary rounds will spread a fire like crazy We want every chance we can of avoiding being baked to death”
“Either way, these obvious targets will get hit as soon as the battle begins! They’ll be bloay by the Object’s shells before anything else, and it’ll be just like a well-shaken beer!!”
Just as Heivia got heated up, the firetruck drove over a large stone The vehicle shook violently and the idiot noble shut up He must have almost fallen off
And he nervously looked down below
“And what is this? We’re supposed to be using the colossal nuke-resistant weapon as a shi+eld, so why are we out front? If the Trinity Style fires a shell, we’ll be blown to pieces”
“We just have to try to stay positive If we do die, on’t suffer Think of it as saving us the cost of anesthetic and you can laugh it off”
As they joked back and forth, Frolaytia contacted them via radio
“The battle is anization’s pace this tiiant river between us, but we’re still at a disadvantage when it co our pieces on the board Simply put, our maintenance base zone is close to the front line Their top priority will be assassinating Skuld That goes for the Trinity Style too of course, but e to distract us while they send infantry across the river If that happens, you all need to fight Shoot them or hit theet close”
“How has the Trinity Style been crossing the rivers so far?”
“We don’t know Maybe they tees”
Quenser and the others’ job was to hide within the battlefield and scan the changeable Trinity Style in real ti that data to the Princess, she could locate and fire on the weakest point
That ather in one place They had to spread out as much as possible, so the chemical firetrucks would stop here and there while the soldiers set out into the wasteland on foot
Quenser and the others arrived at a river that looked 100 meters wide
As far as they could tell with the fla off the water, it did not seeh to stop the Princess’s static electricity propulsion device
When the firetruck stopped alongside the river, Quenser and soiant vehicle was folded up like an accordion, but then it extended forith a crane-like sound
It slowly but surely forh for a truck to cross the river
“Since she sent that bridge truck with us, it looks like that busty co field trip”
“But we only have the one, so they’ll have to swim back if it’s destroyed”
The two idiots watched the chemical firetrucks cross the river and disappear Since the battle would take place with the river in between the Objects, they needed more soldiers on the other side if they were to scan the Trinity Style
And that was of course Faith Organization territory
“Did you see the rifles the POWs had? They had a long staff-likethe side With that, they can fire 200 ti out for a new one I don’t want to even think about running across some of them”
“Yeah, their infantry are called berserkers, right? But didn’t the old lady say the grouping was pretty bad and they’re essentially useless beyond 300 meters?”
“So you think we can push them back with a sniper rifle? Their fear has been deleted, so they’ll just gather together and climb over their coe, all hell will break loose against us They’ll take us all out with reinforced rifle rounds that can punch through bulletproof armor”
They could use the river as a natural barrier to keep the Trinity Style back, but if the bridge truck was destroyed, the retreating soldiers would have nowhere to run The thought of being ordered to infiltrate eneuarantee of a way back sent a shudder down their spines
“I’lad luck was on our side this time,” commented Quenser
“Ksshh Are you sure about that, Quenser?” said Frolaytia over the radio “The Trinity Style will be stuck at the river, so near the river where you are is sure to have the strongest stench of death”
“And that’s why it’s the best place to observe the Trinity Style!! Oh, to hell with it! I’ll just have to steal a ton of lucrative tech from that pile of treasure!! Yes, I really was lucky! The Goddess of luck is on my side!!”
“Hey, you positive SOB,” interrupted Heivia “If you really want to survive, you need to do ive you some of the disturbance speakers, so help us set them up all around here”
Heivia handed hian, they did not want to be anywhere near that noticeable e truck’s driver and crew had likely left and gone to hide somewhere
And their lives were reliant on the disturbance speakers A ser than a baseball was supported by a small tripod and it came with a remote device that sent commands wirelessly
They spread out the tripods and set up the speakers at 50-100 meter intervals but with some level of randomness
“Honestly, can’t they scatter these from the air like with landmines?”
“Do that and they’ll figure out e’re up to right away”
There was no clock tower on the orange-colored wasteland, so so
“Here they come,” said Heivia once they had set up all of the disturbance speakers
One was the Baby Magnum which approached from behind them
The other was across the river
Now that they could see it, their lives were reliant on the disturbance speakers The speakers produced the chirping of insects to e, and joints from the soldiers
From what?
The ansas simple
Like a trendy laiant form’s propulsion device was shaped like an Island Nation azine on the left and right were connected by a belt
Quenser stared at itsto use binoculars
“So we ain, Trinity Style!!”
Part 5
It was a hellish exchange from the very first shot
“…!!!???”
Quenser and Heivia dropped everything and dove down onto the orange-dyed wasteland The Baby Magnum and Trinity Style fired shell after shell from several kilometers apart
Froht show
They used low-stability plasuns, and rapid-fire beam cannons
But for the people there, they were like the fingers of death itself
If one merely stroked their back, they truly would lose their life Merely being exposed to the tingling shockwaves felt like having years worn off their life
As soon as a soldier frantically jumped out of a chemical firetruck’s driver’s seat, a laser beam pierced it
The long bridge truck that crossed the 100 meter river was more melted than broken when a shot hit it
“What are we supposed to do with all this going on, dammit!?”
“At least we’re not the Faith Organization soldiers on the other side of the river Looks like they were trying to cross the river too, but the Princess’s Killer Squall made short work of them”
The Killer Squall was a laser beam weapon shaped like a planetarium lens and it was the kind of anti-personnel weapon not seen on more recent Objects It fired more than 100 lasers at once and they scattered like an actual squall to vaporize the waves of approaching people The First Generation Objects had been built on the multi-role concept, so they were built for anti-Object, anti-encampment, anti-vehicle, anti-shi+p, anti-air, and anti-personnel purposes
The single-focused Second Generations were certainly terrifying, but it was the older First Generations that made the puny soldiers’ throats dry up
“Hey, what’s going on? The Princess is falling back as she fires Is she leaving us behind!?”
“Have you already forgotten our strategy, Heivia? Urd prefers long-range and Verdandi prefers short-range, but with the river blocking their way, they’ll be forced to use Urd if the Princess falls back We’re li them away”
And the Trinity Style’s do If the Trinity Style did not take the bait and they silared at each other froe, but that was fine
If they could buy some time, they could finish their withdrawal preparations
And that made it more likely that Skuld would escape
So the Trinity Seven would rush things
It would approach as close to the river as it could