21 Just a Forward Outpost 6

It was a moment for cover fire, or a moment to draw enemy attacks.

Jin moves a step ahead.

He turns an action that might disrupt coordination into his own solo maneuver.

"There!"

He targets the cannon barrel aimed at another unit.

The ether round, drawn in as if perfectly tailored, pierces the Queen’s defense from within.

A portion of the anti-air fire thins.

The enemy processor location, received via data link.

And the Ether Cannon—arguably the most dangerous enemy main gun.

Which to eliminate first?—the latter.

As long as that remains, this Queen always holds the key to a single shot reversal.

The Cyborg Squadron must have thought the same.

Firepower begins to concentrate.

But it is still not enough.

The Ether Cannon’s wide range of motion makes it difficult to target precisely.

Then.

"Chi. Help me."

『I’d rather not be talked about by the others』

"Not acting like a middle school student. I’ll cut off that nose.』

『Nose?』

Grumbling about not knowing the elephant, Jin dashes forward.

The Ether Cannon is thicker than an assault frame.

To sever it at the base is beyond the capacity of a single unit.

With no other cyborg squadron willing to assist, Jin has no choice but to rely on Chi.

"Ah. Or... do you think I can dodge that shot, but you can't?"

『I’ll make you regret that boast』

Her pride is deeply wounded.

She quickly obtains clearance from the superior officer. The makeshift duo is formed.

"Simple. Strike and cut from the base."

'Very well. Synchronizing timing for dual-sided ether dagger strikes. Insane tactic, that.'

But—efficient.

At least more so than letting the griffin keep firing like this.

'Let's go. Keep up.'

'Don't joke. You keep up.'

The two machines surge forward.

A frontal assault, with friendly fire—though the trajectory of Jin’s Raven was skewed—behind them.

If the rhythm falters.

Even a minor error.

They’ll be shot down.

Yet, without a trace of fear, they press forward.

(Still… not bad…)

Of course, it’s not only friendly fire to avoid.

Enemy artillery grows ever fiercer the closer it comes.

Dancing. Slipping.

Jin’s Raven evades it with only ground skimming.

Jin’s Griffin, wielding mobility indistinguishable from open space, evades the barrage—its motion a dance of near-misses.

Flying at irregular intervals under gravity, it executes sudden stops midair.

Such precision alone demands exceptional skill.

To follow Jin’s movements so closely is no small feat.

Through the gap, emerging.

The muzzle of the Queen’s Ether Cannon, blocking the path dead ahead.

Before the shimmering light, on the verge of detonation, Jin—

“Charge!”

He shouts, refusing to retreat.

The Ether Dagger drawn.

Guiding it along the lower half of the opponent’s nose.

The blade sinks halfway in—yet that is not enough.

The cannon’s breach is damaged, but the upper half remains intact.

If left thus, Jin will die.

Consumed by the ether’s blaze.

And yet he charges forward.

Chi feels a flicker of regret.

Why would you believe that so easily?

Had Chi hesitated here. Had he not considered it at all?

He must not have considered it at all.

Without delay, Chi’s griffin slices through the upper half of the cannon’s barrel.

The Ether Cannon splits in two.

The ether, deprived of containment, detonates—blasting the Ether Cannon from its base.

This sequence of actions, too, is likely unconscious.

An outsider acting as if it were their rightful domain.

Before he realizes it, two hundred and forty units have shifted to support Jin.

And this dramatically increases the efficiency of the assault on the Queen.

With the Ether Cannon destroyed, the risk of the cruiser being targeted diminishes.

Prioritizing firepower over evasion becomes possible.

"Al! Requesting support fire! Transmitting coordinates—twenty-nine seconds! I’ll need it then!"

Furthermore, support fire from the defensive target.

Breaking through the Queen’s defense—impossible while evading—now achievable through concentrated firepower.

Distorting the Queen’s awareness, creating vulnerabilities in its weakest defenses.

It is simple to describe.

But the effort the cybernetic squad endured to achieve it.

Weakened by cruiser-class attacks, then struck by battleship-level firepower.

Unable to endure, the Queen’s legs buckle, motion halting.

The Queen visibly accumulating damage.

"...Terrifying."

The cybernetic squad commander murmurs quietly, observing.

Jin issues no command.

He speaks only through action.

I will do this.

What will you do?

The realization that such coordination arises so effortlessly when following him is beyond belief—even to the commander himself.

A natural talent... I see. It's understandable why Lord Harold would be wary.

Individually, their combat effectiveness is terrifying. — but when coordinated like this, their threat level multiplies exponentially.

The misfortune of the Third Fleet was that no one could follow in Jin's footsteps.

If his birth had been within the Second Fleet. That assumption holds no meaning—but perhaps Jin’s kill count would have increased by an order of magnitude.

A fight that suggested such possibility.

That it has not undergone any enhancement at all—such is the unfairness of the world.

And finally.

The queen's armor detonates.

Two processors exposed.

A target that must be destroyed simultaneously.

Timing synchronized—fire!

Two hundred and forty Griffons fire in unison, each targeting its designated objective.

Pour all permitted firepower into that position.

A storm of attack.

Within it—Queen’s arm, coiling like a whip, deflects several Ether Cannons.

“Reconstructed!”

The Ether Cannon just destroyed moments ago.

Its internal structure still in repair, yet sufficient as a shield against fatal damage.

At the moment of halting, it prioritized restoring maximum firepower. Glancing at it, several cannon ports on its back remain shattered and untouched.

Two processors. One still functional.

Reconstructing despite severe damage.

Twenty-four Griffons cannot fully destroy it before recharge completes.

Thus, Jin’s prepared barrage concludes.

“Reactor limiter disengaged. Ether Cannon at maximum output. Fire!”

Crush the Ether Reactor.

Channeling threefold the output into the Ether Cannon, she forces the wild, unsteady aim to stabilize, targeting the shattered processor with the full weight of the机体.

This time, the Cyber Squad’s missed target is finally pierced.

The Queen-type, its functions ceased, collapses to the ground.

Watching it fall.

The Cyber Squad commander, Grace, murmurs low.

"Indeed, you seem to be the greatest obstacle in the Laitera Project."

It would have been best if she could have been drawn in.

But the first strategy failed long ago.

And now, reports confirm the second-best option will likely end in futility.

"How regrettable, East Village Jin."

Too late to make contact.

I had hoped to wait until you had sorted yourself out, until your mind had settled. By then, the chance to recruit you had already vanished.

Perhaps it would have been better to recruit you while you were still unstable.

Yet the possibility that taking in the self-destructive Jin from that time could have become internal turmoil could not be denied.

In the end, once the first strategy failed—though it was a minor betrayal—it was already too late.

"To fight side by side with you... I thought that wasn’t a bad idea."

A hypothetical.

It is a hypothetical precisely because I know it will not happen.

"Archive all data from this combat participant. Send it to the analysis team. Valuable material."

As long as Hijiri Jin remains the guardian of the移民 fleet.

He will not acknowledge the Laitera Project—nor its preliminary phase.

Not everyone can think, as Harold Byron did, that if the outcome is favorable, everything will balance out.

Jin cannot overlook the debt incurred in the inevitable process.

All participants in the Laitera Project acknowledged it.

Necessary, if the outcome is favorable.

Thus.

Conflict is inevitable.

Suddenly, Grace recalled words spoken by a certain individual.

A farewell too gentle to be called betrayal—words left behind by someone who had departed.

“‘No matter how noble the cause, history proves that no cause can be universally accepted. If it only breeds conflict, then such a cause holds no value.’ Indeed.”

As Harold said.

When the Project succeeds—eternal peace will surely arrive.

But before that, resistance and opposition are unavoidable.

And afterward, the blood-soaked strife among humanity, greater than ever before, will finally cease.

Even so.

“Yet all of this conflict will be overwritten by the result.”

Gazing down at the silent Queen, Grace murmured.

There was no hesitation in those eyes.