Superweapon
After successfully defending the Fortress Area, Kou and his team immediately began their movement to rendezvous with the Astraea detachment. Voy also accompanied them and started maintenance on the units within the Astraea.
「Fuyuki-san! Thank you so much! 」
「You were a great help.」
Kou and Aimer expressed their gratitude to Fuyuki, who stood up and handed over the command seat to Aimer. Fuyuki had been leading the Astraea, holding the line in the battle.
「I somehow managed to fulfill a role I’m not used to. Next up, it’s the combat engineer’s turn.」
「Yes. The new model for combat engineer support, the Analyze Armor, is now complete. Voy will handle the support for you, Fuyuki-san.」
「The new model specially designed for the anti-Megareus operation, the Analyze Armor! So it’s finally finished!」
Combat engineers are indispensable for any operation against a Fortress Area. Kou had long been devising a weapon specifically for the Megareus operation, and now it was finally complete.
「Yes. We’ll soon start the Megareus operation strategy meeting with Metal Iris. Please join us.」
「Understood. I’ll sit in one of the operator’s seats.」
Kou took a seat next to Aimer, while Nyanta took another operator’s seat.
「Aki, I’ll be joining the Megareus operation as an operator as well, nya. I’ve assigned the trooper units to Palm and Yutong-nee.」
「Understood.」
Both of them would remain on the Astraea not only as operators but also to protect Aimer and the Astraea.
「Kou, welcome back. It’s finally time for the Megareus assault.」
「Yeah. I completely understand how you felt last time about the unexpected reinforcements, Barry. I would have liked to know about them beforehand.」
「Haha, if that’s how you feel, then you’re becoming quite the commander yourself.」
Barry was genuinely pleased with Kou’s growth. He had evolved from a Development Engineer and front-line close-combat pilot to taking on the roles of a commander and even negotiating with the enemy.
「For the Megareus assault, we’ve got this Cimon-class ship, now fully repaired, along with two Hora-class and two Aristides-class—all our spaceships are ready for action.」
「Is the R001 Fortress Area secure now?」
「Hey, Kou! We had a fierce battle here as well, but we managed to hold out. We’ve left the defense of the Fortress Area to the Souya from Gogyou Heavy Industries and the fleet of Andrea Corporation, an Italian company that came as reinforcements. We’ll be joining the operation as well.」
Despite the grueling workload, Robert remained as cheerful as ever. He was a man who took his work more seriously than anyone, having successfully defended the R001 Fortress Area with the Aristides against relentless enemy assaults.
「You did great Bob! Got it. With this, we can use our space fleet to pincer attack the Megareus.」
「This is Jialing. Resupply has begun. We’ve begun loading the forces from Kurt Company and the P336 Fortress Area onto our ships!」
「Matty here. Both Eunomia and Libya are fired up. We’re reorganizing the Therianthrope squad at this moment.」
The two newly arrived ships seemed to be in the middle of reorganizing their units as well.
Amidst this conversation, Aimer and Barry raised their voices in alarm.
「Commander Barry! Another friendly ship has requested to join the operation!」
「I see it! It just left the atmosphere.」
「What’s going on?」
Kou asked Aimer.
Another friendly ship?
「A spaceship has sailed from the Silhouette Base, through the underwater passage, and straight out into space. We’ve confirmed the designation of the ship. It’s the third ship of the Hora-class, Eirene.」
「So, the entire Hora-class is assembled for the operation. But what are they trying to do in space? A lone ship in orbit is highly vulnerable to being shot down during descent.」
Barry was suspicious. This inexplicable maneuver was sure to confuse even the Argoforce.
「The three Mobile Arsenal Platforms have come together. All our forces are assembled at last. Just so you know, I don’t have anything else under my sleeve, Barry.」
Kou, not wanting to be under suspicion of hiding another strange weapon like always, said that while giving Barry a playful smile.
「Uh, Kou… I double-checked the ship classification, and it’s not a Mobile Arsenal Platform.」
「What?」
「…」
Aimer’s hesitant response left Astraea in stunned silence. Then, Asia appeared to explain on her behalf.
「Sorry about that. The shock was too much, and Astraea just froze. It’s like a human fainting from the surprise.」
「What’s happening?!」
For Astraea to freeze like that was no small issue. Barry, who had just confirmed the allied ship classification, covered his face with both hands. Something was definitely wrong.
「The third ship of the Hora-class, Eirene… its classification has been designated as the ‘Great Self-Propelled Mine Carrier (The Great Panjandrum Carrier).’」
Everyone on board the ships that received this transmission froze in utter disbelief.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
「What are they thinking?! Are they planning to rain down a massive barrage of Panjandrums from space?」
Rick shouted in outrage, imagining a scenario he didn’t even want to picture.
「Those Jellied Eel, Jaridwheel, were really gross, they might be on our side, but I can’t bring myself to like those things, nya…」
「I have to agree… those things are a little too much.」
Nyanta and Aki, at their operator seats, also made disgusted faces at the thought. The idea of an Astraea-class spaceship designed solely for Panjandrum deployment was beyond comprehension.
「A meteor shower of those things… Wheeled explosives raining from the sky…」
Jenny’s eyes lost their light. The vision of that scene was all too vivid in her mind.
「But wouldn’t that kind of attack be relatively ineffective? It’s just an A-Spinel-equipped mine, after all.」
Even Yunlan, joining the conversation from Silhouette Base, sounded skeptical. An A-Spinel-equipped bomb would only be moderately effective against the Whis-reinforced armor of a Silhouette; it hardly seemed like a game-changer against the Megareus.
「My sister… what is she even doing… I can’t take it anymore…」
Astraea, in a rare moment of vulnerability, let out a sigh of defeat.
「Pull yourself together! How can we allow ourselves to be shaken like this? There’s only so much that a ship that isn’t even a Mobile Arsenal Platform can do.」
Eunomia sternly rebuked her older sister, Astraea.
As this intense conversation continued, a communication came in from the Eirene, the ship that had been the center of attention. The atmosphere in the room grew tense.
「Greetings everyone. This is Marujin. How are you all today?」
「Terrible. Eirene, show yourself.」
「I’m not Eirene; I am the mysterious goddess Britannia. I will not respond to that name.」
A video feed appeared, revealing a young girl holding a trident and a shield adorned with a Union Jack pattern.
「Abel, Eirene. You are not deceiving anyone, this charade has gone on long enough.」
Astraea’s frustration was plainly visible, and she made no effort to hide her anger.
「Just a little longer! The main surprise isn’t ready yet!」
The reply came back in a sweet, playful voice.
「I don’t want to see any more of this nonsense!」
「But it’s my moment to shine! How could you not support your little sister’s big debut?」
「I don’t want a little sister who unilaterally changes her ship classification to something incomprehensible!」
「You’d go that far?!」
The argument became so heated and human-like that Aimer stepped in to intervene.
「Save the sibling quarrel for later. Marujin-san, what exactly are you planning to do in space?」
Aimer, the only one maintaining her composure, directly questioned Marujin about their intentions.
「We have begun orbiting around Planet Asia. After completing three orbits, we will launch an attack. Following that, approximately a hundred minutes later, we’ll initiate a second strike. The enemy is bound to be thrown into chaos. I would like you, Metal Iris folks to launch your full-scale assault at that precise moment.」
「Understood. We’ll take that into account when organizing our formations.」
「If you’re going to send in the vanguard, please use the Albion Mark I. I believe it will prove useful.」
「Alright.」
「Six hours from now… What exactly are you planning, Marujin?」
「I’m deploying the superweapon!」
The Development Engineers at the Silhouette Base all shared uneasy expressions, as if they instinctively knew that whatever Marujin had in mind, it couldn’t be anything good.
「Wait a minute. Isn’t the superweapon supposed to be the Military Base Aircraft Carrier, the Enterprise?」
Astraea, unable to ignore that, demanded an explanation, her tone sharp and suspicious.
「Nope, that’s not it.」
「The Enterprise is humanity’s ultimate trump card, the ace in the hole. A superweapon is something different. Marujin and I poured our hearts into creating it.」
「Eirene, do you really understand the implications of what you’re saying?」
「Hehe…」
Marujin’s smile seemed to twist into something sinister, hinting at the gravity of what she was about to reveal.
「This weapon was conceived thanks to the advice of Big Boss and Mister Takaba Hyoue, and it was finally perfected by the hands of our goddess. It possesses the power to completely shift the tides of this war.」
Both Hyoue and Kou turned pale. They had an inkling of what Marujin was referring to.
「No way, I don’t know what you are talking about!」
「I didn’t do it!」
They both vehemently denied any involvement, and the desperation in Kou’s protest suggested just how rattled he was by the situation. An intense sense of dread seemed to hang in the air.
Marujin ignored their objections entirely.
「So, how exactly do you plan to deploy this superweapon?」
Aimer, never one to flinch from reality, asked the question directly, unwavering in her focus.
「Eirene is currently in low orbit. We’re positioned approximately 200 kilometers above the planet’s surface. Unlike Earth, on Planet Asia, it takes about 100 minutes to complete a full orbit.」
Marujin explained the difference between orbit types, noting that while low Earth orbit begins at about 180 kilometers with a revolution time of roughly 90 minutes, Planet Asia’s unique characteristics made its orbit slightly longer. Eirene was now traveling in a circular orbit, circling Planet Asia at the first cosmic velocity of around 7.9 kilometers per second.
「From this orbit, we’ll unleash the Panjandrum! We’ll deliver an extraordinary, powerful blow straight to the Megareus—like the hammer of god!」
Marujin flashed a confident smile as he made this bold declaration. It was clear that the Panjandrum he was planning to unleash was no ordinary one.
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