Start of the Counterattack — The Ray of Hope, Pleiades
A formation of dark grey fighter planes rapidly advanced through the stratosphere.
「Can you hear me? This is Captain Kurose of the Pleiades Underground Force, directly affiliated with Misumaru Heavy Industries. You can just call me Yasuyuki. We’ll arrive there in less than five minutes. Just a bit more. Hold on and wait for us.」
The transmission reached Aimer. The one on the other end of the line was a man with a large build but a gentle temperament. He was a bit fat, but he did look like a nice person.
『Misumaru Heavy Industries is a transferee company that’s based in a Fortress Area located on the Pyrochlore continent. I estimate that they launched shortly after your broadcast.』
「They really did come right away huh.」
They had managed to nearly reach Astraea’s position in a little over an hour while flying at Mach 4. They really did rush straight ahead.
「Yasuyuki-san, this is Admiral Aimer. Thank you for your assistance.」
Aimer addressed the other party.
「You’re really out here fighting. Don’t say something sad like falling in battle. I– All of us will protect you!」
The big man declared and laughed fearlessly.
「Thank you!」
Aimer’s serious expression turned into a smiling one.
「Friendly force Pleiades. Their leading formation is approaching us at Mach 4! They number over 200 units!」
At speeds above Mach 4, aerodynamic heating will affect the performance of an aircraft.
Supersonic aerial combat is generally conducted at around Mach 1. In the 21st century on Earth, the trend of pursuing the highest maximum speed possible was abandoned, and designs that prioritized maneuverability and acceleration at lower speeds were the mainstream.
Even if the weapons of Planet Asia use more advanced heat-resistant structural materials, there weren’t many Development Engineers who design aircraft that can attain Mach 3 or higher.
『Machine analysis complete. Data regarding the relevant machines was sent over to us. Their formation is composed of two different machines that seem to be new weapons produced by Misumaru Heavy Industries.』
「I’m glad. They really came to help us!」
『Yes. This is all thanks to your hard work. Friendly aircraft confirmed. Approximately 200 units. Now, this battle can be won.』
They’ve engaged the enemy planes for quite some time now and most of them have low ammunition or have already run out. The addition of 200 fresh friendly aircraft will be able to quickly turn the situation around.
Moreover, the designer of the machines was Kinukawa Eiji, who was the A-Class Development Engineer who founded Misumaru Heavy Industries and was said to specialize in aeronautics along with his peer, Kelly Rich.
The Pleiades members were also discussing among themselves at this time.
「Did you see that, everyone? That small young girl actually took on that large swarm of enemies.」
「We will definitely protect her, captain!」
Their morale had increased. They picked up a transmission. It was from Barry, the commander of Metal Iris.
「This is Barry of Metal Iris. Thank you for your assistance! I have no words that can express just how grateful we all are.」
「This is Yasuyuki of Pleiades. Please don’t worry about it! That little girl said she wanted to protect a person important to her, and that person is even Japanese. I’m also a Japanese man. Who else will come to the rescue of our own if not us? Well, right now, Japanese can only be considered a spoken language and nothing more though.」
「Please. Please protect that girl.」
Barry was impressed. The other man rushed to their aid only with righteous intentions spurring him on.
「I’m sure that Japanese person is also dying to rush to her side right now. I just know it. Leave it to us!」
In fact, Kurose Yasuyuki was a very hot-blooded man. As soon as Aimer’s broadcast concluded, he immediately reported back to Kinukawa, formed a combat unit, and rushed over from the other side of the ocean.
「We’re currently 18,000 meters above the surface. Descend to less than 10,000 meters. Shift to combat speed.」
Kurose issued prompt commands to the rest of the Pleiades aerial corps.
「We’re about to reach the combat airspace captain. We’re finally gonna see some combat. This is also gonna be our Aello’s first actual battle.」
A fox-type Familiar announced. The aircraft he was piloting was called the Aello. It was capable of speeds exceeding Mach 4.
「I’m counting on you guys. We’ll also reach the target area soon. After that, we’ll proceed with cleaning up the pests that are swarming on our ally ship’s deck. Yoania squadron, prepare for anti-aircraft combat!」
The machine Kurose was piloting was the transformable Silhouette, Yoania.
Aello had a faster maximum speed, but the Yoania was a high-performance machine utilizing a metallic hydrogen generation reactor. It was the machine A-Class Development Engineer Kinukawa Eiji considered his best masterpiece to date.
Taken completely by surprise, fifty Coulsons were immediately shot down. An aircraft that has exposed its back to the enemy was easy pickings.
They didn’t expect the sudden appearance of enemy reinforcements that rushed in at Mach 4 from the other side of the ocean.
The Aello’s design was based on the Yoania. It was a fighter that was tailored for Familiar-use.
Upon reaching the combat airspace, they plunged from the stratosphere to the troposphere and attacked the Coulson formations from behind. They simultaneously launched their air-to-air missiles.
The Coulsons were at a complete loss, and they suffered severe casualties from the unexpected attack of the Pleiades formations. They lost over twenty aircraft in their first head-to-head clash with the Pleiades formations.
A hole was instantly opened in the previously complete encirclement.
The appearance of unexpected but welcome reinforcements bolstered the morale of the Familiars piloting the remaining Edge Swifts.
After Barry completed his transmission, cheers resounded within the Cimon-class.
Unexpected reinforcements had rushed over from an equally unexpected direction.
A corner of the enemy encirclement had collapsed, and the allied fighters pushed back the enemy fighters that have run out of ammunition.
Conducting an invasion from such a long distance had eventually backfired against the Argonauts.
There was no point of contact between Kou and Kinukawa Eiji of Misumaru Heavy Industries.
They were both Japanese, but that was it. They also participated in technical cooperation during the development of the Lanius C-type’s flight unit through Takaba Hyoue.
However, the words he heard from Kurose gave Kou a completely unfamiliar feeling.
Kou squatted inside his MCS, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
He was aware that he had been acting misanthropic for quite some time. The fact that he had almost gotten killed due to a person from the same company and was greatly helped by the Familiars and Therianthropes instead exacerbated his mistrust of other humans.
However, there was a man who took action just because they were formerly from the same country.
He felt unqualified to receive such help. It was probably Aimer’s efforts that made this possible.
Deep feelings of happiness and gratitude welled up from within Kou.
「Thank…… you……!」
He only managed to squeeze out a few heartfelt words of thanks. He decided to meet with them and offer his thanks in person once he had a chance. He had resolved himself to do so.
「Mm. It looks like they made it in time.」
A man muttered under his breath while inside his private room located within a Fortress Area.
This man was Kinukawa Eiji of Misumaru Heavy Industries. It can be said that he had already reached old age. He was an A-Class Development Engineer who came to Planet Asia 20 years earlier.
Back on Earth, he had worked in the aerospace field. His interest in the sky could be said to be higher than any of his fellow Development Engineers.
「I’m aware. The Japanese person that the young girl wants to help was the man who provided us Development Engineers with previously sealed technology. I’ve asked both Asia and Takaba-kun after all.」
He was looking at a monitor, watching the performance of the machines he’d created.
「This has been my dream for many years. I dreamt of seeing fighters flying freely in the skies of Planet Asia for such a long time. However, all my efforts only amounted to the creation of the Peregrine, a Silhouette that focused on extending flight distance to the furthest possible with the few technologies and techniques available to me.」
It seemed he was quite satisfied with the performance of his latest creations – the transformable Silhouette Yoania and the fighter Aello.
「I am the one who wants to offer my gratitude. My dreams of making a flight-capable transformable Silhouette and a high-speed fighter have been finally realized. They were made possible by the technology you provided.」
Without the metallic hydrogen reactor and electromagnetic armor, it would not have been possible for fighters to freely fly in Asia’s skies.
The railgun was fatal to aircraft, and anti-aircraft missiles flew at a tremendous speed of Mach 10. Those who conducted prohibited actions near Fortress Areas would get taken down by a rain of lasers shot by space satellites, so air power couldn’t be properly employed for the longest time.
The Familiar pilots of the Aellos seemed to be working quite well with Astraea’s Edge Swifts.
The Edge Swift which pursued maneuverability and the Aello which emphasized acceleration and climbing performance appeared to be very compatible.
「Those you want to protect will surely be protected by the guardian gods that I’ve created. I’m counting on you, Kurose.」
He left everything to his trusted pilots and decided to calmly watch over their battle.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! May God bless you!