Drill Formation!
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
「Enemy forces, elimination confirmed. The follow-up troops should be arriving soon.」
Jenny confirmed the situation through her cockpit monitor.
「It’ll take six minutes more before we arrive.」
Voy’s image appeared on the monitor as he responded.
「Let’s go! Drill formation! Formation V!」
「Ok!」
Voy yelled, and the weapons he and the others in his team were driving showed up on the screen.
His Familiar teammates responded one after another.
They were driving a group of rocket-propelled drill-mounted vehicles that now switched to a V-shaped formation.
It was a team composed entirely of mechanics who absolutely loved drills. It had a raccoon dog-type, raccoon-type, red panda-type, and skunk-type Familiar as members, with the bear-type Voy acting as their leader.
The previous tunnel excavation armored vehicle model has been further miniaturized, and its performance has also been improved. The current iteration has been equipped with a booster to increase its speed coupled with wheels.
The trailer-type booster that supported the vehicle’s huge body with a total length of over 6 meters was designed based on a combination of a space rocket transport vehicle and a supersonic ground vehicle.
They sped toward enemy territory with their 20 huge wheels and huge boosters equipped on their backs. The moment they arrived on-site, they purged their trailer-type boosters and switch to their original caterpillar treads, transformed into shield machines, and then proceeded to dig out infiltration routes.
「All units spread out! Infiltrate through the designated points!」
「Roger!」
Each drill tank headed to its assigned coordinates.
「Those drill tanks sure are a spectacle.」
「You can’t really call them tunnel excavation armored vehicles anymore. They’ve literally turned into drill tanks.」
They used plasma incinerators and were even armed with plasma railguns.
This type of railgun accelerated magnetic projectiles by passing electricity through plasma gas instead of rails.
「You’re looking a bit miffed there, Kou-kun!」
Kou’s grumbling mixed with a deep sigh flustered Jenny.
「I think it’s a good move. The enemy should have bolstered the defenses of the shelter interior. And if we only sent a single machine to infiltrate, it would only become the target of a concentrated attack. But what if we sent five?」
「They can choose to either concentrate or disperse their forces. It’s a problem of balance. But both our allies and the enemies would have to read each other’s moves as a result of sending in five infiltration units.」
「It’s gonna be difficult to mount effective countermeasures against underground attacks. The enemy would probably choose to conduct a siege battle inside the shelter.」
「The next move will be executed by Fuyuki-san.」
「This is the combat engineering corps. Work is proceeding as planned.」
If the enemy opts for a siege battle, you can choose to directly destroy the base’s walls. Infiltrating through an underground route wasn’t necessarily the only method to break the siege.
Usually, this kind of method would take several hours, but the combat engineers now have many more options at their disposal. It would probably not even take an hour.
「All troops, head to Point B. We’ll instruct you on which infiltration routes to use there.」
Under Jenny’s command, the Metal Iris Asia Rescue Force began to move out.
「Simultaneous tunneling!?」
Paulos screamed in frustration inside the MCS.
『Yes. It was confirmed that the enemy forces dived underground at five different coordinates outside the shelter.』
「Where are their expected surfacing coordinates?」
『They should appear anywhere on these streets.』
The map displayed on the MCS screen covered quite an extensive area.
「That’s almost half of the entire base!」
『The five drill tanks won’t necessarily surface in the same general area.』
「We have no time to cover it all.」
『Even if each machine only makes two infiltration routes, there would still be ten such routes. Either we spread our forces to cover the most ground or concentrate them and prepare countermeasures to fight the enemy off.』
「Have them spread out! We can just regather them once the fighting breaks out. We have more numbers than the enemy!」
『–Emergency warning. The enemy force is trying to break through the shelter wall.』
「It would take them at least a few hours for that!」
『Judging from the extent of damage done to the shelter wall, they would probably break through in 40 minutes.』
「Ah…… Hah……?」
What he heard seemed so ridiculous to him that Paulos was at a loss for words.
「In other words, the underground infiltration is only a diversion. I understand. Place guards over every block and concentrate the most forces in front of the shelter wall!」
『Understood.』
However, he would come to realize too late that he’d made a mistake in judgment.
Of the five tunnels, the last two were the true routes. Metal Iris troops made it inside the Fortress Area using those two tunnels.
The two teams immediately met up and merged. They then proceeded to rush toward the now-lightly defended control center.
The Murders frantically gave chase.
The Metal Iris troops systematically eliminated the chasing Murders within the city block, and their numbers, which were formerly more than a thousand, were reduced greatly in a blink of an eye.
Paulos, who was standing by in the underground block, received news of the control center being taken down by the enemy forces and could only groan weakly in response.
While the battle in the city block was taking place, Kou and Jenny were heading to the sealed section of the Fortress Area using a secret route revealed to them by Asia.
Kou’s Unit 5 was in its B configuration. It was equipped with a rotating detonation engine backpack and had its katana on its waist. The AK2 was improved so that its barrel could be folded away, which allowed it to be securely stored on the backpack. It only takes less than a second to deploy its barrel whenever it’s taken out for use.
Since she was together with Kou, Jenny didn’t encounter any obstructions, and the two of them quickly proceeded to the sealed area’s depths.
They eventually reached an enormous underground space at the end of the passage.
A Silhouette stood between them and the deepest part of the sealed area. It was Paulos.
His machine was the Antique Silhouette Armaros. It was a beautifully streamlined Silhouette that sported long-barreled weapons Kou had never seen before on both its arms.
「Kou-kun, that machine!」
「I know. It’s an Antique. It’s probably piloted by a Stone.」
「Ah, finally. I’ve finally met one. I’ll definitely kill you…… Stooone!」
「Jenny?」
Jenny was emitting palpable murderous intent while sporting a frenzied expression Kou had never seen her display before. Her eyes were red with rage and she seemed ready to pounce on the enemy at the slightest impetus.
The Tachycineta had already switched to combat mode. Its huge backpack adjusted to a position parallel to the ground.
They were facing a Silhouette from the Interplanetary War era. Its combat capabilities should be tremendous.
「So you’re the intruders huh? Who’s the Development Engineer among you? Why don’t you just surrender? I’ll at least guarantee your life.」
The enemy sent a transmission to Kou and Jenny through an open line.
「You’re trying to capture me alive so you can take over my body, right? Sorry, but no.」
After hearing Kou’s reply, Jenny’s expression got distorted even more. She and many of the humans on the Nemesis warfront were unaware of exactly how the demigods functioned.
This macabre truth was only known by the few Development Engineers who can converse with Asia.
「I see. So you’re aware of that huh? I suppose I need to subdue you by force. My one unit is equivalent to 20 of Planet Asia’s Silhouettes, I’ll have you know.」
There was no deception in those words.
His Antique Silhouette can function as both a fighter plane, a tank, and a humanoid weapon.
「Jenny, regarding who will land the final blow……」
「What are you saying? We’ll defeat him for sure. It won’t make any difference if it’s me or you who finishes him off. That’s it.」
「Alright.」
Jenny didn’t insist on landing the killing blow but only wanted to make sure the enemy was completely obliterated.
Kou thought she must have her reasons. And he didn’t plan on denying her murderous intent.
「Now then, let us begin. I shall have you two crawling pitifully on the ground in no time. It will be an instant kill!」
Paulos’ scream marked the beginning of the battle.
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