Operation『P』
A recon helicopter captured the figure of the Ate with its onboard camera.
Fuyuki and the rest were watching the live feed as they ironed out their plans.
「Just a bit more and it’ll reach the specified coordinates…… Fuyuki, how are your preparations going?」
「Voy-san really did his best. It’s just about ready.」
The Ate and the Murders escorting it were advancing in a straight line.
「It’s almost time to initiate Operation P!」
Voy exclaimed excitedly.
「Operation P, huh? ……I have to ask just in case. The P doesn’t stand for Panjandrum, right?」
「I-It doesn’t! It’s P for Pandora!」
「Err, why did you just stutter? You guys are up to something ridiculous again, aren’t you!?」
Rick felt very uneasy.
After all, it was an operation named after Pandora’s Box that contained all sorts of calamities. He had a really bad feeling about the whole thing.
「Voy-san, what about the underground tunnel?」
「It’s completely ready!」
Voy replied confidently.
The Drill Formation machines have already returned aboveground.
「Enemy machine has entered the target coordinates. Combat engineer unit, begin detonation!」
At Fuyuki’s order, the other Silhouettes began operating equipment.
Within moments, the ground beneath the advancing Ate suddenly collapsed, and the hulking super-giant Murder fell into a vast chasm.
The Murders escorting it were also swallowed up.
「Here we go. Operation P, First Phase start!」
At Fuyuki’s order, a second batch of detonation equipment was activated by the combat engineer unit’s Silhouettes.
Explosions echoed out one after another from within the newly opened gigantic pitfall.
They were super high-performance bombs that made use of octaazacubane.
Vaporization bombs such as thermobaric bombs were strictly prohibited weapons due to the serious soil pollution caused by ethylene oxide and propylene oxide.
「We’ve stuffed a great number of bombs in that tunnel network that resembles an ant’s nest. We’ve sealed off all possible escape routes the Ate might take after it falls into the pitfall, and the destructive power of the new bombs is no joke. Even something like the Ate won’t be able to remain unscathed.」
「I see. That’s why it’s named after the Pandora’s Box that contains countless calamities huh? So, this is the true aim of Operation P. I didn’t expect the main point to be a gigantic pitfall trap.」
「It’s an underground tunnel network that Voy-san and the others dug away without any rest. It’s not just a simple pitfall. If the Whis supply gets cut, that thing will weigh over 2000 tons. There’s no way the tunnel network would be able to support such massive weight.」
「Ou! We’ve been digging nonstop y’know.」
「How wide is it, exactly? And how deep does it go?」
「It spans a radius of about 500 meters. And its depth is about 150 meters.」
However, in the end, expectations often didn’t correspond to reality.
Before long, the Ate’s claw appeared from below the pit as it tried to crawl back to the surface.
An explosion occurred near its abdomen once more. A bomb in a side-tunnel was detonated. The Ate fell down again.
「So, this still ain’t enough huh……」
「It didn’t even suffer a single scratch. We originally planned to defeat it by firing the ground anchor of the Aristides at it after it falls into the pit after all.」
「It can’t be helped. They needed to step up to defeat the Eris.」
「Yeah. I suppose we just have to do everything in our power to secure victory. Requesting for bombardment support.」
「Roger that! Prepare for bombardment! Fire at will!」
The artillery troops launched indirect attacks at Rick’s command.
A large ground-to-ground missile was also launched.
Within moments, a bright flash of light was emitted from the pitfall.
「It’s activating its plasma barrier intermittently huh…… The missiles and shells are all gonna be induced to prematurely explode at this rate. It looks like we don’t have a choice but to engage it in close combat with Silhouettes.」
「That’s nothing but suicide. We don’t have that many high-mobility Silhouettes available.」
「I know! But if we don’t do something fast, that thing’s gonna climb up to the surface again……」
Rick gritted his teeth in frustration.
The bombardment only served to slow the Ate down a bit. High-dimensional projection armor powered by a high-quality A-Carbuncle was just too effective against explosive ordnance.
Even though the Ate’s total length was 100 meters, it seemed that it wouldn’t be able to immediately recover from the impact of its earlier fall.
This was probably the first time in history that an Ate fell into a pitfall trap.
However, there were still two individuals who hadn’t given up yet.
「Please wait. It’s still too early to give up. We still have a trump card.」
「That’s right! We still have a card to play guys. So don’t ya all think of givin’ up!」
They then grinned widely after their bold declaration.
And for some reason, Rick got the chills.
「What card do we have left, exactly?」
The two spoke in unison as they revealed the so-called trump card’s identity to Rick.
「We still have the Wheel of Fortune Mk. II!」
「We still got the Wheel of Fortune Mk. II!」
Rick couldn’t help but yell as veins popped on his forehead.
「It’s a damned panjandrum after all!」
「Calm down, Rick! Watch your tone, alright?」
「Ugh. What a blunder.」
Rick regained his composure after being reminded by Fuyuki.
「But what can that thing do against an opponent sporting a plasma barrier?!」
「You’re looking at it wrong. It’s exactly because the enemy machine is equipped with a plasma barrier that we have to use the Mk. II. After all, only units that are equipped with high-dimensional projection armor will be able to close in on machines that have plasma barriers.」
「Ugh. A self-propelled explosive charge huh……? But that still won’t be enough to defeat that thing.」
「The Mk. II is stuffed with loads of metallic hydrogen! It’ll definitely work!」
Voy was very confident in the Mk. II.
It’s true that hitting the enemy with a sufficiently powerful self-propelled explosive charge would be the better option compared to engaging it in a near-suicidal melee battle.
Rick had no choice but to admit that fact.
「You call it the Mk. II, but how exactly is it different?」
「It’s now equipped with a gyro sensor!」
「Hold on–」
「It can now run in a straight line!」
「Stop giving explanations that only make me uneasy!」
「We have finally overcome the panjandrum’s critical weakness……」
「Its very concept was off right from the start, okay?」
「And it’s now even bigger! It’s finally worthy of the moniker “The Great Panjandrum!”」
「Please just stop!」
Rick’s anxiety only grew worse.
「Voy-san, are you ready?」
「Absolutely! Leave it to me, Fuyuki-san!」
With Voy’s signal, an 18-meter-tall Wheel of Fortune Mk. II (one size larger than its predecessors), was brought forward.
Its body was also thicker compared to the ones before.
And surprisingly, three more were brought forward, for a grand total of four units.
「Why are there four of them?!」
「Kou said he was feeling good while making them, so he kept going and ended up making four.」
「I need to have a word with you all after this is over!」
Rick finally snapped.
「They weigh 60 tons each. Something the size of an Ant Commander will easily be sent flying!」
「That isn’t how you’re supposed to use a ground-use self-propelled explosive charge dammit!」
Rick’s sharp retorts just kept on going.
「Well then, let’s go ahead and deploy them. Rick, please support the Wheel of Fortune Mk. IIs!」
「I’m still not convinced. ……Eei! All troops, cover the Wheel of Fortunes! Make sure not to accidentally hit them!」
「These are the Pandora’s Boxes filled with hopes and dreams we prepared in order to destroy the Ate. Operation P second phase, start!」
With Fuyuki’s command, the four panjandrums activated their rocket boosters and stared advancing.
They moved forward while crushing the ant-types that were massed beneath them along the way.
Carrying the people’s hopes and dreams, the ground-use self-propelled explosive charges (Great Panjandrums) rolled straight ahead.
Bravely.
Desperately.
Earnestly.
The Mk. IIs rolled ever further ahead.
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