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Operation ‘Mozu Drop’ part 1

「Twelve hours have passed.」

Oedipus, the director of the Mercenary Association Headquarters, muttered to himself.

「Who knows how many they’ve become now?」

Standing beside him was Raimund, the captain of the underground force Roche Phalanx, a middle-aged man of imposing demeanor. Roche Phalanx was one of the largest mercenary organizations on the planet Asia, boasting a significant fleet of spacecraft and commanding tens of thousands of mercenaries.

「Twelve hours isn’t enough time for anyone to make a decisive move. Most will be playing the waiting game.」

「However, something unexpected is happening.」

Raimund’s group operated directly under the Mercenary Association Headquarters, and he was one of the few individuals who could speak to Oedipus as an equal. The Association’s Headquarters was established aboard his massive space carrier, Gorgias.

「What do you mean?」

「A large number of our fleet’s Familias, Therianthropes, and Nereids, along with many of our Transferees, have withdrawn. Most have refrained from joining the enemy, but they’re claiming neutrality.」

「What? Why… No, don’t tell me—the humans who have bonded with those artificial beings have left us?」

The Artifact Consciousness had the tendency to create an extraordinary connection with humans, forming bonds so deep that both entities—Artifact Consciousness and humans—became indispensable to each other, even closer than family. Some humans had formed romantic relationships with them too, or even taken them as life partners.

「That’s correct.」

Nearly all their Artifact Consciousness—Familias, Therianthropes, and Nereids—had withdrawn. The number of those remaining could be counted on one hand. Oedipus had overlooked that just as the Familias had bonded closely with humans and needed them, humans had bonded equally closely with them. Whether they were Transferees or natives of planet Asia, all those who considered the Artifact Consciousness as family had made the decision to leave.

Their departure highlighted just how integral they had become—so much so that their presence was taken for granted, to the point of negligence.

「Will this affect our combat strength?」

「Of course it will! Especially in areas like repairs and maintenance. The only silver lining is that our supply stock was already low.」

It’s often said that logistics requires ten times the personnel of the soldiers on the frontlines. Even with Silhouettes and the automated systems aboard their ships, a substantial number of workers was still essential.

Worse, the chaos was likely spilling over into every aspect of fleet operations—arranging meals, cleaning the ships, and maintaining daily life. Such menial tasks, though often overlooked, were critical to the fleet’s functionality. It was rapidly becoming a full-blown crisis.

「So it’s nothing more than a temporary setback. We just need to crush the enemy swiftly and decisively.」

Oedipus said, maintaining his optimism. He believed that the defectors would return once they secured victory and distributed the promised rewards. Oedipus prided himself on his ability to wield both the carrot and the stick effectively.

「Right now, personnel are being reassigned across the fleet. Those who can’t participate in aerial combat, like the pilots of the Bears and other low-performance silhouettes, are being transferred to the maintenance teams.」

「That’s fine. The forces we deploy in the landing phase are what truly matter. Once we achieve suppression, the rest will fall into place.」

Oedipus replied confidently. For them, retreat was not an option. To be precise, it was technically possible, but no one wanted to return to the sea floor where they had fled months ago.

「You shouldn’t be so optimistic. The Familias and Therianthropes will likely side with  Trireme till the end. Our organization has now become exclusively human.」

「We could consider policies to favor those who keep Familias or Nereids. As for the Therianthropes, they’re irrelevant. They are failures that can’t even properly handle Silhouettes. Are you dissatisfied?」

Oedipus thought that as long as they achieved a decisive victory, many defectors would likely return. Once the Familias’ human partners returned, the Familias would follow suit.

「…The disappearance of the Familias, what you might call a ‘proletariat without property,’ means we’ve lost a critical part of our labor force. In that sense, Outis has a point.」

The so-called proletariat Raimund referred to consisted of the laboring class—those without significant assets. As AI entities, the Familias operated without property of their own, which made them an ideal workforce. While they were paid, it was minimal and handled individually by Okeanos. Moving forward, the organization would need to employ humans without assets and pay them regular wages. This would make them no different from the current Stones.

The upper class and the middle class, who owned assets often failed to recognize the significance of the lower classes’ existence. Oedipus was no exception.

Outis’ strategy had effectively split humanity into factions: those aligned with human-centric ideals and those who sought coexistence with the Artifact Consciousness. The divide was now clear.

This battle, regardless of which side emerged victorious, would no longer result in the eradication of either faction.

「The authority to command the Familias is one of the core powers of the Mercenary Association Headquarters. Abandoning it entirely is out of the question.」

「Indeed.」

Surrendering their command over the Familias was unthinkable. Ultimately, a confrontation to determine victory or defeat was inevitable.

Oedipus, as if struck by a sudden thought, turned to Raimund for confirmation.

「There’s no chance of the defectors’ ships suffering an… accident, is there?」

It wasn’t concern; it was anticipation.

「We considered that option, but the risks are too high. The only way to ensure we aren’t caught would be to eliminate every single one of them without exception. Creating more enemies unnecessarily is unwise. It’s best not to leave behind seeds of future conflict.」

「Hmm.」

Raimund himself considered Oedipus’s negotiations to have been a failure. Rather than consolidating their forces, they had solidified the enemy’s resolve and triggered a mass defection within their own ranks. While Oedipus spoke with logic and reason, humans were creatures of emotion.

He understood all too well the frustration many felt toward the rebellious Artifact Consciousness. No doubt many of the Asian pilots had thought, ‘Why can’t they just quietly follow orders like they’re supposed to?’

But Outis was a clear anomaly, an irregular existence. No one could have foreseen something like him, nor could they have reasonably prepared to negotiate with such a being. It was an impossible expectation.

For now, the only viable strategy was to minimize further damage and losses.

「The fifth-ranked Storm Seeker has submitted a request to withdraw, along with their entire underground force. I approved it on the condition that they remain neutral until the conflict with Outis is resolved. I’ve consolidated the defectors aboard their 400-meter-class assault landing ship.」

「They were an elite unit despite their small numbers. As long as they’re not turning against us, that’s a relief. You’ve handled this well.」

Oedipus said, offering rare praise despite his aversion to detailed military planning.

「I didn’t expect them to agree to neutrality. Whether it was out of goodwill after working alongside us, or a calculated decision, I can’t say.」

「I am unable to understand their thought process. Either way, they are going to lose a great amount of money.」

「The only groups joining us have primarily come from the other two continents. Most are either desperate drifters or former mercenaries from the Stones. Only two corporations have aligned with us.」

「Far fewer than I expected.」

Oedipus admitted, displeased. He had believed that the incentives offered were more than generous.

The corporations in question were technically part of the Mercenary Association, but their involvement was limited to economic oversight. Of the companies declaring allegiance to the Headquarters, only two had committed: small operations run by C-class Development Engineers with just a handful of employees—hardly a reliable source for strategic or logistical support.

「Nearly all personnel from Metal Iris and Ulysses have shifted allegiance to Trireme. At this point, about 90% have joined them.」

「Ten percent defecting is more than enough.」

「But the defectors are nobodies, most of them don’t even have their own Silhouettes. They’re newcomers, the sort who joined Metal Iris either during the final days of the Great War or after it ended. They’re useless.」

「So, those who had spent a certain amount of time in Metal Iris didn’t defect.」

「That Outis might possess a certain kind of charisma.」

「His name sounds like an alias, I checked the records from the Asia War, and there was no mention of anyone named Outis. Even the Stones had no information on him.」

The Mercenary Association Headquarters had sufficient connections to request intelligence from the Stones, but not a single piece of information about Outis had surfaced.

「The Asia War was settled while we were still in the depths of the ocean. Perhaps we should have scrutinized it more carefully. It’s highly possible they’ve bolstered their strength significantly.」