Silent Bomber
「Those fellows are just too absurd! In the first place, combat in space is a prohibited act. Battles always take place in specified areas. And they actually engaged in battle in geosynchronous orbit……!」
Even the normally composed Castor had become indignant after seeing the enemy defeat the Eris using outrageous means.
「A Murder is an unmanned weapon. Hence, it must have been outside the scope of the treaty that was drafted in order to protect the human spirit. However, we have to admit that the idea of taking the Eris to space would have never occurred to us.」
「Exactly! Just try taking on a space battleship using that damn strategy. You’d either get vaporized to nothingness or turned into quantum data and sent straight into Tartarus!」
The ban on outer space combat was enforced when the Interplanetary War era was forcibly ended.
Violators would be eliminated without question, and in the worst case, they would get turned into quantum data and imprisoned within Tartarus.
Because the Stones have been staying in space for a long time, the notion that space was an inviolable sanctuary and and absolute no-combat zone was already deeply ingrained in them. They were already present in a corner of space while humanity slept after being reconverted into quantum data in the past.
Hence, they would be unable to even entertain the idea of forcibly taking the Eris into space, let alone making use of the artificial sun to destroy it.
「Eei! Just how many spaceships do those people have?!」
In addition to Astraea, the enemy also possessed one large-class carrier. They also had two amphibious assault ships.
It was a highly irregular force. Even Roche Phalanx, the largest Underground Force affiliated with the Mercenary Association, probably didn’t have as much military power.
「It would be logical to assume that they have been bestowed such power by Asia. You can say that they are the “knights” chosen to protect her.」
「Isn’t she favoring one particular faction of humanity too much? Though we’ve also taken advantage of such favoritism, I suppose.」
「I believe it’s only natural. After all, even after we arrived on Planet Asia, the Mercenary Association has never conducted or even proposed an operation to rescue Asia. They have absolutely no record of engaging against our forces as well. So, it’s no wonder that such a faction isn’t favored by that Super AI. If I were in that AI’s position, I would also choose to bet on Metal Iris that has already proven its dedication to the rescue efforts.」
「The excessive self-protection policies of the Mercenary Association ended up backfiring against them huh? Their policies were very much to our advantage, however.」
The Mercenary Association and the Stones had a connection to a certain extent.
That’s why the Stones were also able to hire mercenaries from them. Castor readily admitted that they had indeed made thorough use of that connection to their advantage.
「I do think that those fellows are quite the ungrateful lot as well. After all, they basically abandoned their “guardian deity” for the sake of ensuring their own safety.」
The light in Vasa’s eyes was cold. Through it, one can sense the disdain he held for the Mercenary Association.
「Don’t say that, Vasa. It is also a fact that the human race living on Planet Asia was saved by the self-preservation policies of the Mercenary Association in a certain sense. No large-scale battles had erupted between our forces under their management, and only isolated skirmishes occurred.」
「True. That’s why I was ultimately able to get summoned and participate in this battle as well. I suppose I need to thank them for that.」
If the Stones had persisted on conquering Planet Asia in one fell swoop in order to capture and study its Super AI, humanity would have lost then and there, and Vasa would have never had the opportunity to come to the planet.
But since the war got dragged on, he was able to make it.
「We are now down to our last Ate. As expected, they were able to withstand the prelude.」
「I did hope that at least one would make it through. It would be over if they still had one more spaceship stationed on Fortress Area P336. If there isn’t, then I suppose we still have a chance.」
「Fortunately, the three ships that are now stationed along the coast wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the final Ate. It is also too late for that space carrier to make a move. I think there definitely is still a chance we can reach their base.」
「Let us concentrate all our remaining forces and aim for a one-point breakthrough. I do not care if our forces ultimately lose in the end. We just have to ensure that the enemy does not have a good time.」
「Right. The Ate will soon be engaging with the enemy forces. The enemy also has a considerable amount of ground troops. Our Murders still outnumber them, of course. But they definitely do not come close in overall quality. I suppose we should endeavor to inflict as much damage as possible with our current troops.」
Vasa gave the Murders on the ground some instructions.
He had already anticipated that the remaining Ate would also get destroyed through some means. However, he could not imagine what means exactly.
Currently, even Silhouettes had sufficient capability to bring the giant unmanned weapon down.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to rely on numbers to engage the enemy in attrition warfare.
In order to force out as many of Metal Iris’ hidden cards as possible, he could only gather their remaining forces and hit the enemy with an all-out assault.
Even though the Aristides had defeated the Eris in space, the troops on the surface didn’t have time to revel in the victory since battles were still ongoing in various parts of the planet.
In addition to the last remaining Ate, the tank troops in a defensive position were also busy dealing with the advance of Enyo, Philotes, and countless vanguard Keres.
However, they were just far too outnumbered.
The Murders kept attempting to circle around them in order to take them from the flank.
The legion of Ant Worker and Spider-types advancing through the thick forest was a truly eerie sight.
「We’ve already dealt with all the possible flanking routes you know?」
Fuyuki calmly smiled within his MCS. He was now piloting a new machine called the Caledonia Crow. It was a high-performance machine based on the Lanius B and had high mobility.
The forest route the Murders were advancing on was completely rigged with traps.
The Caledonia Crow wasn’t only stealthy, but also extremely quiet.
Fuyuki silently planted bombs and set up traps on the route the enemy Murders were taking. He was a man nicknamed “Jirai-ya” after all.
「I didn’t just plant ordinary mines this time around, of course. I’m not a one-trick pony.」
He then detonated the detonation cord-type ground bombs he planted previously in sections.
The interconnected network of large bombs don’t have much effect on the Keres that were equipped with high-dimensional projection armor. But they were powerful enough to deal with Ant Workers, Ant Soldiers, and Spider-types.
When the enemy thinks that the bombs would explode horizontally, they would instead explode vertically.
When Kou witnessed it, he quipped that it reminded him of a video game he used to play.
「I’m also called the Silent Bomber you know.」
He plants bombs silently in order to blow an enemy to bits. This was Fuyuki’s combat method as a combat engineer. The Silent Bomber destroyed Murders one after another.
The Murders that attempted to escape were all dealt with as well.
Fuyuki freely manipulated the vertical and horizontal explosions in order to control and crush the enemies.
Because the explosions were directed, they were highly efficient in dealing with the enemies there was little to no wasted damage.
The fleeing Ant Worker-types and the Ant Commander-types trying to make a further detour were enveloped by explosions caused by powerful landmines.
It was a type of sticky mine that jumped out of the ground. Super-high temperature directional explosions caused pillars of flame to shoot up from below.
They weren’t effective for Silhouettes, but they were certainly effective on Murders – especially those with long bodies.
Various landmines and ground bombs that have been set up in different areas gave off smoke one after another.
Through this, it was also possible to tell the exact route the enemies were taking.
「Palm-kun, do you read me? They went in that direction, just as planned.」
「Thank you for the hard work, Fuyuki-san. Trooper Squad 2, heading out to intercept.」
The Therianthropes were particularly effective combatants in forest terrain.
They were able to skillfully avoid all obstacles present in a forest environment and attack enemies from the shadows.
They were able to take full advantage of the unique topography of Planet Asia’s forests, which were filled with tall coniferous trees.
A large number of Murders were advancing straight toward Trooper Squad 2’s position.
They had already anticipated that the enemy forces would attempt to attack the tank troop’s position from the flanks.
Hence, Fuyuki cleaned the smaller Murders up with his mines and bombs, then led the rest of them to a planned ambush.
His method wasn’t particularly special, but he was definitely a veteran soldier who was very effective in supporting the front-line troops.
「Next up is the last Ate. That’s the main dish. Shall we then? Let’s begin Operation『P』.」
Fuyuki reconfirmed the various cards he prepared in order to deal with the Ate that was continuing to advance in the distance.
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