16 Just a forward engagement 1
Planet Mercury. Satellite orbit.
The Second Fleet's deployment force flagship cuts through space at high velocity.
Lombardia-class "Liza."
On its catapult, 250 Griffons stand ready for descent.
Five battalions await the moment.
The operation is straightforward.
Rather than breaking through the swarm head-on, land directly in the center and strike the Queen.
Easy to say. A textbook example of how easy it is to say and hard to do.
"Acceptable margin of error... almost none."
Among them, Second Lieutenant Chi Nakagaki frowns at the input data.
Hitting a Queen-type demands precision.
Even a slight deviation means landing alone in the heart of the enemy swarm.
That is immediate death.
It is precisely because of this that such reckless tactics are normally impossible.
Yet the Second Fleet Cybernetic Combat Unit is an exception.
For them—modified to exceed normal human capabilities—this data set represents a task easily within reach.
The issue lies afterward.
The extermination of the Queen type.
Indeed, the Second Fleet has conducted Queen-type eliminations via the Gryphon Unit.
Yet, no prior experience with a Queen type of this strength has existed.
"Jin is here. Can't afford to show weakness."
A personal adversary with deep roots, and one not to be ignored as a member of the Cybernetic Combat Unit.
Jin holds the all-time record for kills.
Meaning he remains the top active pilot.
While other aces compete with totals of three or four hundred, Jin alone exceeds a thousand.
Among those other aces are members of the Cybernetic Combat Unit.
Despite being flesh and blood, he achieves greater combat results than the cybernetic squads.
Hearing this, one cannot remain calm.
In the Second Fleet, cybernetic surgery is legal, so aversion to it is minimal.
Yet when enhancement must sustain combat endurance, the scope becomes extensive.
Not everyone eagerly undergoes the procedure.
They possess skill surpassing their own modified bodies, without having made the same choice.
To claim they should not feel rivalry is unrealistic.
Ordinarily, they are from different fleets.
And now, retired from active pilot duty.
Still, a desire lingers—should opportunity arise, to settle the score.
This engagement, in a sense, fulfills that desire.
Jin, who once defeated the Queen Type, will now be defeated in return.
Furthermore, this battle marks the first step of the Laitera Project.
All personnel here are under Harold's influence.
They know what the Laitera Project is, and they yearn to achieve it.
Their morale is high.
——All units focus. Commencing descent. Enemy Queen's processor location confirmed. Verify the data.
"Head... and one around the waist as well."
Chi clicks her tongue. An inconvenience.
The processor—the core of the ASID—is a weakness second only to the Ether Reactor.
Destroy either one, and the ASID will cease functioning.
And this time, since they have business with the Reactor, they have no choice but to destroy the processor.
Two processors, however, were not in the plan. A large body, even for an old Queen.
Perhaps the emergence of a secondary brain should have been anticipated.
The processors are expected to regenerate unless both are destroyed simultaneously. Alter the operation plan.
The original plan had envisioned a coordinated assault, destroying the head with a single point strike from all units.
But that would require dispersing firepower.
If one is intercepted, the operation must be restarted.
A battle requiring careful coordination, it seemed.
‘Trigger link timing will be issued from my end. Fight as always. Win as always.’
Even as Jin thought their squad leader was being reckless, he waited for the descent signal.
And then—
‘All units descend! Repeat. All units descend!’
From orbit, the griffons launched in unison.
◆ ◆ ◆
‘They’re here!’
Jin’s Raven and seven Leopard units from the trainees.
Eight units moved simultaneously.
Only Jin’s Raven was equipped with a ground package.
Its lower body replaced with hover propulsion for surface mobility, carrying heavier armaments than standard, a ground combat configuration.
"Understood? Do not approach the swarm under any circumstances. Engage only from a distance—draw their attention, nothing more. Fire one shot, then retreat immediately."
"Y-Yes, sir! Understood!"
The fourth-year’s voice trembles.
First combat in gravity.
First engagement with a Queen.
Tension is unavoidable.
And yet—
"U-Um, drawing attention is fine… but is it really okay to kill them?"
"...What’s that imitation now?"
"If they close in, can I engage in hand-to-hand combat, Instructor?"
Why do they always act like this? Jin thinks, irritation rising.
He doesn’t want panic himself.
But—this calmness… it’s different.
The composure feels unnatural. The fear in the fourth-years’ eyes now seems pitiful.
Or rather, their gaze toward the juniors already resembles that of someone observing something abnormal.
Why aren’t you two tense...?
No, well...
We’re not fighting all of them at once.
There is merit to that.
Even Jin wouldn’t want to face them all simultaneously, but on the ground, the number one can confront at once is limited.
Merit exists, but whether that’s enough to satisfy is another matter.
Besides, they’re not stronger than the Instructor, are they?
Mm.
Then it’s fine.
Jin accepted Kou’s words.
Too many unrealistic simulations had been forced upon them.
Their sense of threat had grown numb.
The gaze the fourth-years had directed at their juniors now turned toward Jin.
A silent voice seemed to echo: These ones are abnormal.
Fine. Let’s go. Don’t die.
No—Jin reconsidered.
I’ll bring you back alive, no matter what.
Not here. Not like this.
Eight units launch the diversionary assault.
A formation of ASIDs heads straight toward the cruiser's crash site.
Attack from the flank. Draw them in, even slightly.
Caution is required.
If too many are drawn in, there will be no choice but to flee desperately.
But—
‘H-hold on, Instructor’s changed! They’re not even looking this way!’
‘What is this…?’
Jin himself draws breath at the unnatural scene.
The behavior of non-humanoid ASIDs is simple.
They move directly toward the nearest enemy.
They turn toward any target that attacks them.
They display no other actions—truly simplistic.
That is precisely why the current situation is strange.
Jin feels it too—something is wrong.
They ignore attacks entirely, advancing in silence, without pause.
‘Continue the assault as planned! Reduce their numbers in coordination with their movement!’
Shooting while maintaining distance.
The enemy numbers are too great—like pouring water on a hot stone—but their count is undoubtedly decreasing.
“Queen…?”
Using long-range optics, Jin observes the battle between the Queen and the Gryphon unit.
The situation there is similar.
Even the Queen cannot remain passive, yet she shows no sign of halting her advance.
She flicks her nose-like organ with irritation, attempting to dislodge the Gryphons.
Still, she moves forward.
The red ASID eyes gaze fixedly at the distant cruiser, far ahead.
Something is wrong.
And what is fatal for Jin is this:
the swarm shows no indication of slowing its pace.
“Damn it! Move toward the front of the swarm! Use their corpses as obstacles!”
It’s unclear how effective this will be, as they are already being crushed underfoot, but it’s better than nothing.
The current state is nothing short of a full-scale shooting drill.
Jin found it both welcome and infuriating, having anticipated a brutal close-range engagement.
(If I’d known this would happen, I should have brought the entire trainee cohort!)
Shooting while moving—anyone could manage that.
Right now, firepower was essential.
Of course, expecting the ASID to suddenly pivot toward us was nothing short of wishful thinking.
Attacking the lead unit made no difference to the group’s response.
“Instructor! Instructor! If we push through like this, can we get through?”
“Can we close in and strike?”
“Not yet. Watch them.”
He also wanted them to notice the senior officers’ gaze.
He recoiled at the younger trainee’s deliberate provocation of close combat.
Jin understood the sentiment.
After seeing this scene…
The ASID were biological.
At least, the migrant fleet had defined them as such up to now.
But—
“What the hell are these things?”
Not sparing a thought for oneself.
Ignoring injuries sustained by comrades.
Forward.
Forward.
As if guided by something, forward.
That form was nothing more than a machine following some command.