24 Urban Combat
"Come on, come on, come on. This isn't funny."
Jake’s face pales at the intermittent vibrations assaulting him since earlier.
He is being targeted.
It’s bad luck that he can already deduce this from past military service.
Typically, ASIDs target densely populated areas.
On migrant fleets, the flagship—the capital ship—is most often the target.
Naturally, defensive systems are concentrated there.
Guard fleet formations operate under that assumption.
Being targeted while occupying a mid-tier ship like Ship 5 was beyond prediction.
And now, having the shelter he’s in specifically targeted—this is nothing short of a nightmare.
The only thing worth calling fortunate is that the attacker doesn’t intend to obliterate it in one blow.
He can feel it clearly—carefully, yet steadily, the outer wall of the shelter is being chipped away.
Powdered structural material falling from the ceiling.
Jake’s cheeks twitched at the implication.
Of all directions, directly above.
Damn it, girl. Running now!
Jake tries to run, pulling Mio’s hand, as if to put even the slightest distance between them and the ruin.
But Mio does not move, her gaze fixed on the hole where external light has begun to seep in.
"Hey, girl!"
What is it?
The gaze remained fixed upward.
The humanoid ASID emerges from the penetrated outer wall.
In an instant, the humans on the same floor vanished.
The way she fled was almost admirable.
Only Jake and Mio remain behind.
A hand from the ASID extends from the vacant opening.
Mio walks past Jake’s arm and strides toward him, as if following a thought.
"Hey, idiot, don't go over there!"
Reaching out toward the back, but unable to touch.
A child who isn't afraid of strange things.
Jake was caught off guard—unprepared for such initiative at this precise moment.
"Oooh."
Whether in admiration or not, unclear.
Mio, as always, spoke with her usual tone, patting the ASID's hand with deliberate touches.
Before Jake could pull her back, the ASID's hand gently enveloped her.
"Jump!"
Too late.
Her arm was wrenched free—then the humanoid ASID vanished.
"Shit."
Jake struck his own foot in frustration, paralyzed by inaction, trying to decide what to do.
But he was merely a shopkeeper—nothing more. In this situation, there was nothing he could do.
And then, before even that thought could settle, another motion began.
A shadow once more blocking the light.
That shape—the piercing aperture resembling a rifle barrel—was something the humanoid ASID carried. Jake's mind went utterly blank.
Run. That was the thought. But his body would not move.
The moment he saw the ether's glow up close again—after so long—it felt as though his body were burning.
Suddenly, the humanoid ASID vanished.
◆ ◆ ◆
Jin, having plunged into Ship 5, found himself amid a cityscape ravaged by abnormal winds.
"The air is escaping...?"
Likely a group of ASIDs that had breached the hull.
The open breach left by a group that had entered without passing through an airlock was steadily draining the ship’s atmosphere.
Fortuitous, perhaps.
The shelters each held their own air supply, and the ship itself contained a vast reserve.
Air would last for at least an hour.
More urgent: locate the intruding ASIDs.
He found a group of humanoid ASIDs attempting to flee.
And one that had inserted a firearm-like object into the shelter.
Firing from this position risked detonation—blasting the shelter's interior into flames.
Jin made the decision instantly. He raised the shield mounted on the weapon rack and charged forward without slowing.
Full-force shield charge.
Their ether coatings interfered, the shield emitting a harsh, grating sound.
Unfazed, Jin drove the frame deeper.
The shield, outmatched by the opponent’s ether, split cleanly in two.
Having successfully wrenched it free from the shelter, Jin discarded the broken half.
The car beneath it transformed into scrap metal.
“Estimated reactor output… over ten times ours. They really are elite, even among their kind.”
As expected.
That level of power was manageable.
More pressing was the unit currently attempting to disengage.
“Impossible… that’s a Queen-class.”
ASIDs formed groups centered around a Queen ASID.
The Queen-class at the peak of the formation.
Destroy it, and all ASIDs within the formation cease operation.
Its greatest strength—and its sole vulnerability.
This is the Queen-class.
Jin’s Leopard estimated its output at nearly twenty times that of his own unit.
The figure of one thousand Lamiy is accurate—this is Queen-class.
Black in color, knight-like in form.
But if it is willing to disengage, there is no objection.
The Leopard’s rifle locks onto the humanoid ASID.
Perhaps sensing the weapon by appearance.
Jin clicks his tongue as the figure evades the barrel.
“Sluggish.”
It is not uncatchable.
In fact, artificially simulated gravity prevents the kind of reckless speed seen in zero-gravity space—making it slow by comparison.
The issue lies in Jin himself not yet having adapted to the weight.
Combat under gravity is nearly unheard of in actual operations.
The gravity clinging to the机体's limbs is unbearable.
Still, the body gradually adapts.
No wasted shots.
Precise aim. Jin decides. He pulls the trigger.
"One."
The ether projectile, compressed to its limit.
It arcs slightly—nearly indistinguishable from a needle—betraying Jin’s expectation.
The shot, slightly off-target, pierces the neck instead of the head.
A projectile honed to a needle’s thinness, capable of penetrating the opponent’s ether coating.
Yet its effective range is as narrow as a needle’s tip.
Without hitting the target’s weak point precisely, no meaningful damage is expected.
"Gravity’s influence."
Spoken with disdain.
It is rare for Jin to miss a target in a single shot.
Second shot follows.
This time, with corrected aim, it pierces the head.
The damage was minimal.
Yet that single shot had pierced the processor—the vital organ that sustained the ASID as an ASID.
"…Two shots. Is it over already?"
Only two.
That was enough. Jin exhaled, watching the Ether Rifle reach its limit.
As the technician had warned, this unit was not the Raven customized for Jin alone.
Standard model could not endure the extreme Ether convergence Jin demanded.
Indeed, the excessive armament had been expected.
The remaining eight showed no intention of pursuing.
Jin maintained vigilance, watching them retreat without turning their backs.
Even so, eight against one was unfavorable.
In urban combat, stray rounds might breach shelters.
If retreat was the intent, Jin decided, he would allow it.
Jin kept watch, monitoring the enemy without lowering his guard.
A shadow darts toward the leopard’s feet.
Jin, startled, glances at the intruder and instinctively activates the external mic and speaker.
“What the hell are you doing, Jake! It’s dangerous!”
“Sorry, Jin! The girl’s been taken!”
It takes Jin several seconds to process the words.
The statement was too shocking, too inconceivable.
“Taken… by whom!”
“That one— the middle one!”
Jake points.
A group of humanoid forms moves toward the outer hull of the immigrant vessel.
Jake identifies the Queen-class— the most dangerous.
No time for gratitude.
Jin initiates pursuit.
Questions remain.
Why Mio was taken— that is foremost.
But above all.
He cannot let this continue.
That thought drives Jin forward.
“Won’t let her escape!”
He discards the scorched rifle, grabs a new one.
Camera at maximum telephoto.
Captured Mio clinging to the palm of a Queen-class unit.
Sight.
Aim at the Queen-class's head.
Jin, prepared to strike down the target in one shot and reclaim Mio, is blocked by a humanoid ASID attempting to disengage.
"Damn them...!"
Five units remain in the area.
Three, including the Queen-class, still attempt to disengage.
The intent of this humanoid ASID is unclear.
One thing is certain: a human cannot survive in space after being held within a palm like that.
"I said I wouldn't let you escape!"
Rifle in right hand. Ether dagger in left.
Jin grits his teeth, forming a defensive line across the trajectory, facing the five units.
(They really are intelligent—just like that!)
Is it because they are humanoid? Or some other reason?
Jin, not a researcher, cannot say for sure—but the intelligence of humanoid ASIDs is high.
Far superior coordination compared to the mindless, worm-like units.
The three units destroyed before the breach had attacked in scattered formation, making them easier to handle—this fact is made clear.
While struggling to advance, the Queen-class unit draws closer to the outer hull.
Jin decides that, even if risky, a forced assault is the only option.
If he retreats now.
If he loses again.
Jin does not want to consider what comes after.
Driven by fear, he fires a suppressing shot with his right rifle.
The ether rounds, unaligned from the start, do not aim to hit.
The humanoid ASID, which had initially evaded, stops dodging once it realizes the shots have no effect.
Seeing this, Jin smirks.
"Idiot."
If you won’t avoid it, then this time I’ll deliver the killing blow.
The needle strike, sacrificed for the rifle’s lifespan, pierces the target’s head with precision.
"Two down!"
The barrier between Jin and Mio.
Staring at the remaining four, Jin shouted.