TSW-R1A Lanius Kai
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Silhouette Base. It was finally decided that the huge base within the mountains was going to be called that.
It was registered with the Mercenary Association under the names of Jenny and Metal Iris. Dike had just completed the procedures.
A new base of humanity was built, and a large-scale Underground Force that owned a base and a spaceship was born.
「All this stuff about inspections and audits. The Mercenary Association huh. It looks like we got their attention.」
「I wonder if they’re gonna revoke our registration.」
「I think that’s not likely since we’re recognized as being directly under Asia’s control.」
Kou, Jenny, and Fuyuki were having a meeting in the combat command center.
「It seems we really made the Mercenary Association panic. They’re especially concerned about the Cimon-class.」
「It’s not like we poached their men or steal resources. They’re being overly sensitive.」
「C’mon. It’s only natural to panic when a high-performance ship from the Interplanetary War era that should have been lost to time and a completely unregistered base suddenly appear within an area controlled by the Stones without any warning.」
「Right. We’re right in the middle of enemy territory after all. We have Familiars out on patrol constantly.」
「We need to take control of the entire sector as soon as possible.」
「We’re not gonna take over everything y’know?」
「What do you mean by that?」
「Dike, display a map of the surrounding terrain.」
Dike promptly displayed a map of the surrounding areas.
「This is a mountain fortress, so there’s no worry if being invaded from our flanks. The locations under our control are also far apart. There are a total of seven enemy-controlled Defense Domes around us. There are also three enemy-controlled Fortress Areas.」
「We’re deeper in enemy territory than I expected. Launching a careless offensive is dangerous huh.」
「There’s that, sure. But we have a very solid and defensible base. Many of those Defense Domes are also functioning unmanned. If Murders come for recon, it would be the perfect situation to train up new recruits.」
「Using infinitely spawning Murders as training opponents huh. What a bold idea. It might just work.」
「Kou-kun, haven’t you played video games a little too much? This ain’t like power leveling some newbies in an MMO y’know.」
Jenny displayed admiration while Fuyuki retorted in exasperation after realizing what the source of Kou’s idea was.
He displayed an awkward smile.
「We definitely can’t let our guard down. But the number of our bases is small, and I want to train skilled veterans. It’s better than forcibly expanding the front lines. Of course, I’d like to take down Fortress Areas whenever possible. But right now, we don’t have a stable supply line.」
「To get a safe and stable supply line, we’ll have to take over at least two Fortress Areas.」
「Even one will make a lot of difference.」
The three people continued their discussion for a while and moved to the selection of good targets for capture.
「But this might be good timing. Just in case, we’re building a garrison outside. We’ll be using a cheap A-Spinel to power it. I assigned a platoon to keep watch. It’s perfect for the rookie recruitment drive you mentioned, Kou.」
「Is it about a tenth of the size of a Defense Dome? It’s like a village huh?」
「Something like that. I’ve already assigned supplies to it. Since it’s near the mountain base, we can quickly reach it when needed.」
Jenny immediately displayed her skills as a leader and organizer.
「The Stones shouldn’t be able to detect the Silhouette Base. You can only enter and exit using the underground waterway. This place was just registered as a residential area after all.」
「So they can only find out by going through Okeanos.」
「They shouldn’t be able to obtain any detailed information about us. And we’re building a garrison, so it can serve as a nice distraction to the enemy scouts.」
「Got it. So let’s focus on having the Familiars conduct constant patrols for now. Depending on how the recruitment goes, we’ll eventually assign this mission to them. Until then, we’ll each take turns to eliminate enemies as soon as they are detected.」
They confirmed their current situation and decided on their next courses of action.
The Silhouette Base had enough facilities and weapons, but there weren’t enough personnel and pilots.
Thankfully, there were plenty of funds. They were paid handsomely for rescuing Asia after all.
「It looks like Benshin-san will be coming over via transport plane tomorrow.」
Fuyuki reported after checking his data terminal.
「Mr. Benshin is making a move fast huh. It’s just been two days since you contacted him, right?」
「That’s just how general trading companies are like. Depending on how the talks go, they might actually decide to set up a branch here.」
「Is that so? I think it would be nice for us organizers to show off a bit, don’t you think?」
Kou had a headache because he also needed to consider stuff like city planning.
It would be better to pull in a person that was good at it from the outside, he thought.
「It’s because there is no supply line. It looks like we need to continue relying on the Cimon-class for the time being.」
They could also make use of the Astraea ship, but according to Astraea herself, it would be better to keep her existence a secret and just go with the Cimon-class.
The Cimon-class had a high carrying capacity after all.
The amphibious assault ships handed over by Asia were being kept secret as well. The Cimon-class had already caused such a commotion.
If the two ships also got revealed, Kou’s cheeks would probably fall off from all the stress.
Looking at the list of things he needed to organize, he could only let out a sigh.
「Kou, it’s just about ready.」
Kou and company moved from the sealed area to the underground arsenal and were now staring at a recently completed machine.
The remodeling of Unit 5 was finally complete.
「So this is the new Lanius huh.」
The new appearance of Lanius hadn’t changed much compared to the time Kou used it to fight Bardo.
The additional armor did look more detailed and sophisticated though. The armor covering its limbs resembled the aerodynamic form factor seen in cars. They were intake ducts. The thrusters on its back also looked larger.
「This will be the TSW-R1A Lanius Kai. We’ll only refer to Unit 5 as ‘Kai’. And a mass-production version of Lanius will be built based on it. The type that’s equipped with a metallic hydrogen storage type reactor will serve as the base of the standardized mass-production version, and that version will be designated as the A1.」
「Oi, Kou, where did that ‘A’ come from all of a sudden!?」
「It’s ‘A’ for alteration. I came up with it a while back……」
「It’s the Lanius Alter huh!」
「It’s Lanius Kai! And why’d you shorten alteration anyway, Voy?」
「Huh? But in Japan, doesn’t turning something into an alternate version kinda make it fall to the dark side or something like that? It’s cooler that way.」
「So it’s like you’ve fallen to the dark side huh, Lanius Kai!」
Nyanta and Aki gazed at the two men from behind.
「Those two really are in sync.」
「It’s easier for men to get along after all nyaa.」
「The problem is how to push our advantage as the opposite sex……」
「Wow! Aki, who hasn’t made any progress even though she spent lots of time alone with Kou, is now acting desperate nyaa!」
Aimer passed the two ladies and walked up to Kou and Voy.
「Kou, I also want a Silhouette of my own.」
「Ah. Please wait a bit more. I’m gonna design one for you properly.」
Aimer lightly nodded in response. It was fine with her as long as Kou didn’t plan on not making good on his promise.
「I’m planning on making the next modification of the Lanius my main loadout. I’m in the middle of researching the TSW-R1B right now you see. The next prototype additional armor system will be implemented on the B type.」
「Why didn’t you make them together?」
「The ideas haven’t come along together nicely yet. The main differences between the A and B armor systems are the back of the torso and the power pack.」
「What’s the difference between the previous version of Lanius and this Lanius Kai?」
「We adopted new armor materials and artificial muscles. We also employed next-generation tech that we plan on unveiling to the other Development Engineers around the world soon.」
「I’m planning on making Aimer’s Silhouette according to that standard. It’s progressing well, so don’t worry.」
「Looking forward to it.」
Aimer and Kou looked up at Unit 5 which has now become the Lanius Kai.
「The basic structure remains the same despite the major modifications. The torso’s armor materials have been changed. We did tinker around with the back a bit. The limbs were designed to be quickly swapped out if needed. We’re gonna remake it again anyway.」
「Hyoue-san really left a lot of room for modification, didn’t he? It looks like he also anticipated different variations.」
「Is the katana that Arges is forging right now for Type B?」
「That depends on how the katana turns out. It looks like we’ll finally get to see a Silhouette-use katana in action soon.」
「Speaking of which, you wanna head out tonight?」
「Oh.」
「Where are you planning on going?」
「It seems like an enemy patrol is coming tonight. They’d be perfect for testing this guy out.」
「Please be careful.」
Kou nodded and placed his hand on top of Aimer’s head.
This was the first machine Kou had made as a Development Engineer.
He was looking forward to its maiden battle.
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