Chapter 3: Deaf to the Songbirds’ Lament

Chapter 3: Deaf to the Songbirds’ Lament

CHAPTER 3

DEAF TO THE SONGBIRDS’ LAMENT

Catastrophe struck all too suddenly.

“Tch…!”

As their armored transport vehicle was advancing deep into the contested zones, Shin picked up on that sound and raised his eyes. They were currently en route to the Dragon Fang Mountain capture operation. The United Kingdom military’s armored corps had commenced the diversion operation the night prior, successfully drawing out the Legion’s units, forming a gap on the battlefield.

In the distance, a new group of Legion was on the move. But the route they were headed on was odd. They moved neither in the direction of the enticement force nor in the direction of the Strike Package. The moment Shin realized an indistinct, artificial howling was mixed in with those forces, he was filled with an ominous premonition and activated his Para-RAID.

There was no logic to the warning bell that went off in Shin’s mind, only the warrior instincts honed by years on the battlefield.

“All units, hold your position. Raiden, you’re still at the base, right? Stay where you are.”

“Ngh, roger.”

“Captain Nouzen? What’s…?”

They were a brigade: a line of several hundred vehicles. Along with Raiden, who’d stayed behind to secure the rear, there were still several squadrons left dozens of kilometers behind, waiting for their time to head out of the Revich Citadel Base.

Raiden realized something was wrong and replied immediately. On the other hand, Lena wasn’t used to Shin’s ability, and her reaction was frustratingly slow. The Legion forces who were supposedly being stampeded and destroyed by the United Kingdom’s enticement force were turning the tide and pushing back. Legion were moving in from the depths of the territories, closing in on the United Kingdom’s forces, and beginning invasions of the United Kingdom’s own territories.

They were feigning retreat and circumventing the United Kingdom’s forces to invade.

We were the ones being baited!

As if matching the mechanical wailing, the Legion’s screaming picked up in volume, coming from a position distant from any unit, be it the United Kingdom’s or the Strike Package. A shout reminiscent of a Skorpion’s, but one Shin knew belonged to a different type.

And as that all-too-quick shout drowned everything out for an instant, Shin futilely traced its trajectory—delivering a warning that came far too late.

“It’s pathetic that we failed to respond in time despite your warning, but…I’m sorry, Nouzen. The Revich Citadel Base has fallen.”

They had shut themselves in the depths of the command ward, which was now dark due to their having shut off most of the electricity. This was the Revich Citadel Base’s underground command ward. It was in the fourth underground level—the lowest one—and had been built to be partially independent from the other wards. Vika spoke from the command post situated at the center.

The composite sensors set up on the outer circumference of the canopy in the highest level of the base were still functional. The command personnel eyed the luminescent view of the snowy scenery before them with strained expressions. The Processors stood silently in steel-blue uniforms, as did the silver-haired girl clothed in Prussian blue who served as their master.

The few base personnel and maintenance crew members who had survived were sealing the corridors’ bulkhead partitions while the Handlers stayed behind in the control room.

“To be more exact, they wrenched the base’s functions away from us. The entire surface sector and eighty percent of the underground sector are under enemy control. The only parts under our control are the command ward and the eighth underground hangar, the lowest one. Currently, we’re holing up in the command ward with all our lockdown mechanisms activated… Oh, all the Federacy soldiers successfully evacuated to the ward as well, so you have nothing to worry about in that regard.” He added the last part after remembering he was speaking to a soldier affiliated with the Federacy.

Shin, who was currently on the snowy plains ten kilometers away from the citadel base’s walls, replied without a hint of discomposure.

Being an Esper with an ability to pinpoint the locations of all the Legion on the battlefield, he already had some grasp on the situation, but he hid his anxiety regarding the survival of his comrades still in the base.

“It’s as much my blunder as it is yours. It never occurred to me that they’d be able to launch the Phönix given the Zentaur’s estimated specs.”

Even with that warning, what attacked them was undetectable to both the radar and their optical sensors, so their inability to do anything was perhaps unavoidable. Shin and Vika weren’t directly linked in the chain of command, and that brief lapse in communications brought about ruin.

It apparently landed atop the canopy protecting the base. The set antiair/anticannon radar failed to detect its presence, and so antiair autocannons could only fire blind barrages in odd directions. When those were destroyed, the alarm finally went off, and shortly after that, the hatch connecting the canopy to the observation tower was ruptured from outside. It invaded, and the base’s defensive forces were ordered to dispatch to the observation tower upon receiving news of the attack, where they encountered it—and were one-sidedly slaughtered.

It traveled freely through the citadel base’s cramped corridors since no one was capable of seeing its form. Picking up on the situation, Vika operated the installation’s buckshot mines manually and successfully stripped it of its optic camouflage, revealing its shape. Within the flock of destroyed Eintagsfliege appeared the form of a black Legion.

The High-Mobility type, Phönix.

At that point, the observation tower had already fallen. The base’s defensive forces were cut in half, and taking advantage of the ensuing chaos, Legion airborne forces descended on the canopy, whose autocannons had been destroyed, and began invading the watchtowers.

Upon receiving those reports, Vika ordered that all surface and underground sectors, with the exception of the command ward, be abandoned. The corridors leading to the surface were systematically blockaded via bulkhead partitions, and all surviving personnel and Feldreß were evacuated to the command ward and eighth hangar respectively, entering a state of protracted war with the Legion unit, which suppressed and took over the rest of the base.

After hearing the summary of the situation, Shin sighed.

“What the Sirins encountered during our earlier recon run was an enemy recon squad… If there’s a suitable path to invade the Dragon Fang Mountain base, it means it can also serve as an invasion path for them. I…should have picked up on that. Not to mention our current situation.”

A single-soldier invasion rush on the enemy base, executed by way of the Zentaurs’ launching. It was fundamentally an impossible tactic. The cruising speed would be too slow, and the gliders would greatly increase the unit’s silhouette, making it easier to detect. In addition, the Zentaur’s launching limit was an estimated ten tons… Which meant it was capable of launching only self-propelled mines and Ameise, which wouldn’t be able to seize control of a heavily protected base.

But if the Zentaurs were to launch the Phönix, which was lighter than the Ameise, possessed more combat potential than the Grauwolf, and employed the Eintagsfliege to reflect all light and electronic waves…it would result in the perfect surprise attack.

It was an unprecedented assault. Yet, all this information was known beforehand. They could have predicted this.

“—Analyzing and predicting the enemy’s tactics is my…the commander’s job. You shouldn’t let this bother you, Shin.”

A thin, silver-bell-like voice joined the conversation, and Shin found himself gasping inaudibly. Lena. He’d only just heard that everyone had evacuated in time, but…

“This shouldn’t be bothering you either right now, Milizé… And I get the feeling this is something none of us could have done anything about. It may have been technically possible for the Legion to do this, but this base doesn’t have enough tactical or strategic value for the Legion to attempt it, and neither Nouzen, myself, nor you have lived through a war where one is attacked from the sky.”

The Legion didn’t employ aerial weapons. And while Shin and his group, who knew nothing but the war with the Legion, understood that the sky could be a route of invasion, they had never truly perceived it as such. And those who did remember a war that made use of aerial weaponry—the regular soldiers—died in the war.

After heaving a single sigh, Vika continued.

“Now, then. Since you can hear them, I imagine you have some grasp of the situation, but I’ll explain it. Firstly, there likely won’t be any further launching of Legion airborne troops. Our military artillery annihilated the Zentaurs, and all other possible launch points are within their range. They’d be taken out as soon as they were to launch any more forces.”

According to the Federacy military’s estimates, the Zentaur’s launching range was an estimated thirty kilometers, which just fit into the howitzers’ effective firing range.

“Next is our army’s status. The enticement force we sent into the Legion territories was intercepted and wiped out. On the other hand, the Legion forces that invaded our territories are currently being stalled by divisions of our remaining corps.”

Shin furrowed his brow.

“…Wiped out?”

Even if they had been complacent due to the advantage of strong defensive facilities and an advantageous geographical position, these were still the soldiers of an army that had pushed back the Legion for over a decade. They weren’t so weak that they would be wiped out simply because they fell into a trap.

“According to the final transmission the commanders who encountered them sent, the Legion had a concentration of heavyweight types hidden in the depths of their territories. They encountered an armored unit consisting of Löwe and Dinosauria.”

Shin closed his eyes involuntarily. Dinosauria, of all things. This type was a metal monstrosity with an immensely powerful 155 mm tank turret and a massive frame with a weight exceeding a hundred tons, coupled with unreasonable mobility. If they were up against a group of those machines, which no Feldreß in existence could match up to…Shin could easily imagine those forces being crushed like ants.

“They were likely mixed in with the supply lines from the rear and gradually switched places with the lightweight types. Which would mean the Legion have been planning this operation for a long time.”

Shin’s ability allowed him to trace the numbers and positions of the Legion but not to distinguish between their types. This meant that if they were switching their forces deep within the Legion’s territories under the Eintagsfliege’s jamming, it would be impossible for him to know.

“Military headquarters was informed about the base’s situation, and they have reserve forces prepared to set out at any time, but the corps themselves are surrounded by the enemy, too. Apparently, it’ll take at least five days for them to break through the enemy and reach the base.”

“………”

In other words, the situation was that both the Revich Citadel Base and the Strike Package were currently cut off from their friendly forces, isolated, and surrounded by the enemy.

“…I’ve got bad news from our end, too. The Legion armored units that wiped out the enticement force are headed for Revich. Their numbers are estimated to be eight thousand. What’s left of the enticement force is trying to stall them, but they won’t last long. Even adding in the time they’d need to regroup and restock…they’ll reach the base tomorrow.”

Vika heaved a deep, utterly unpleasant sigh.

“Yes, I figured this might be the case… Your ability’s tendencies to smother any prospects of wishful thinking can be unpleasant at times like this. A Cassandra that can only make ominous but accurate prophecies will only be met with hatred and scorn.”

“The Legion in the base right now number roughly one thousand…”

“Enough.”

Shin ignored Vika’s dejected plea and continued.

“I think most of them are self-propelled mines, but…what else was there? Just Ameise?”

Those were the only types they’d seen being launched in.

“As far as what the cameras that still function can see, yes… But we’ve confirmed they’ve also launched in multiple impact-buffered containers. We don’t know what they contain at present. If we’re allowed to be optimistic, they’re just ammunition and energy packs.”

“No way of sending out scouts, is there…?”

“Sorry. The upper underground sectors are under Legion watch, and any scout would be taken out before they could make it to the surface.”

“How long until they break through the command ward’s partitions?”

“They may be old, but they’re still made for siege. You’ve got nothing to worry about…is what I’d like to say, but we’ll hold on for now.”

“We’ve got the Brísingamen squadron and the four squadrons led by First Lieutenant Shuga with us. They should be able to hold the fort… Don’t worry.”

Hearing Lena be concerned for him when she was in no position to worry about anyone else seemed odd to Shin. She and the others back at the base were the ones who were in the most danger right now.

“I understand the situation… So what do we do?”

Vika scoffed.

“Isn’t it obvious…? There’s only one thing to do.”

Shin felt a cold smile spill from the other side of the Resonance. A slightly bitter smile, mixed with equal parts fear and ferocity.

“We hold a siege battle.”

Owing to the Strike Package’s armored unit’s nature of being a dispatch unit and to most of its combatants being Eighty-Six who were familiar with fighting only in a squadron-size force, it was divided into a special structure of fourteen battalions, consisting of squadrons as its basic units.

The battalion captains were, excluding Shin, who served as the total commander, the fourteen most veteran members, including the Spearhead squadron’s lower-ranking officers and Bernholdt, the oldest noncommissioned officer. The Sirins’ representative was Lerche, and on the other side of the Resonance were Lena, Vika, and Raiden. The battalion captains had set up camp in a forest overlooking the Revich Citadel Base and were currently in an armored vehicle’s container, which served as an impromptu conference room.

In hindsight, Shin realized that Anju and Dustin becoming stranded three days ago had been a stroke of luck for them. Searching for the two of them had delayed their maintenance time, and as such, their departure had been postponed from early this morning. If that hadn’t happened, Raiden’s group would have left the base before the Legion’s attack, making it harder to defend the side that remained besieged. Also, their noticing the trap had allowed them to disable the other ones ahead of time and prevent their path of retreat from crumbling behind them.

Shin looked over a map of the battlefield laid out on a collapsible table and overlaid with a transparent cover, which detailed both their positions and the enemy’s, as the fourth squadron’s captain, Second Lieutenant Yuuto Crow, whispered, “…This is the worst possible situation.”

Their main base had fallen, and they were isolated in the middle of enemy territory. Friendly reinforcements would arrive only in five days at the earliest, and the enemy’s reinforcements would arrive sooner than that…

“According to your recon, the Legion’s reinforcements number eight thousand troops, set to arrive tomorrow at the latest… Which means tomorrow we’ll be pressed between the base’s walls and two heavily armored units of eight thousand Löwe and Dinosauria.”

“Our forces number six thousand, counting the Alkonosts. And on top of that, the Phönix even Captain Nouzen couldn’t beat is sitting inside the base…” Second Lieutenant Reki Michihi’s tone was rife with suppressed anxiety as he continued, “Since they’ve got us beat in numbers, we should avoid fighting them on two fronts… Should we set out to engage the enemy’s heavily armored units and try to destroy them or force a retreat?”

“Quite the opposite, Second Lieutenant Michihi. We can’t focus on intercepting the heavily armored units.”

Michihi’s eyes widened at Lena’s response from beyond the Resonance.

“Defeating the enemy’s reinforcements would be meaningless if our goal is to overcome this situation. It would contribute little to our goal of breaking the enemy’s siege. We wouldn’t just be whittling down our forces for naught—it would also prompt the Legion to send in more forces.”

Rito knit his brows.

“Our goal…? Shouldn’t we just defeat the Legion, and that’s it…?”

“No. The enemy’s objective is occupying the Revich Citadel Base, and it’s for this reason that they’re shutting out the surroundings and sending in reinforcements. In which case, our objective should be to prevent that… In other words, retaking the citadel.”

Theo spoke, and the sensation of him tilting his head quizzically transmitted through the Resonance.

“So…you’re telling us to attack the base, Lena?”

“Precisely, Second Lieutenant Rikka… But in this situation, there’s only one basic siege strategy we can adopt.”

Fundamentally speaking, in siege battles, the side holding the castle had the advantage. Fortresses were military installations built and designed to prevent an enemy’s infiltration. They were meticulously constructed on specific battlefields that would put the side being sieged at an advantage. Castle walls were one such example, as they deflected enemy arrows while being equipped with many devices and schemes to allow the side holding the fort to rain concentrated fire on the enemy.

This meant the side performing the siege had to adopt tactics that ignored the walls. Like schemes that drove the occupying force to come out. Or starvation tactics, though those often put the side holding the siege at a disadvantage if the other side had stores of goods hauled inside. Other tactics included destruction of the walls, digging of tunnels to burn down the ramparts, and using battering rams and counterweight-type trebuchets to crush the walls.

But none of these tactics were viable in this battle, and the Legion were immune to all negotiation and intimidation. They would ignore any provocation and would never succumb to war weariness. Since neither side had a line of supply to support it, relying on attrition would be a double-edged sword, and they lacked the time to do so, anyway. Finally, burrowing their way into a base protected by granite, and placed on top of a cliff at that, was impossible.

And with all that in mind, only one method remained. Picking up on what Lena was about to say, Shin answered with a slightly stiff voice:

“…We have to charge the fort.”

Forcing their way through the ramparts. Flocking their way up the walls like ants charging a source of food. The easiest, most utilized…most unskillful tactic, which would claim the greatest number of lives.

“Yes… I’m going to have you scale a one-hundred-meter cliff as well as twenty-meter-tall walls.”

A heavy silence fell over the improvised conference room for a moment. Be it the Republic models or the Federacy ones, the Eighty-Six’s Juggernauts were meant for battle in urban or forested areas. They were used to vertical movements using wire anchors. But…an ascent of over one hundred meters. Even a Juggernaut wouldn’t be able to climb that distance in a single bound, especially when exposed to enemy fire and self-propelled mines attacking them on the way up.

“That’ll be…”

“Hard. We’ll take considerable losses.”

An ashen-faced Rito moaned, and Yuuto agreed with a severe expression. Raiden then said calmly from beyond the Resonance:

“How about you forget the base and retreat?”

“Out of the question. Even if we retreat, we don’t have the supplies to regroup with the main force.”

Shin cut off his proposal. That exchange of question and answer was meant to inform the Processors of the situation. The Eighty-Six fought in an unusual environment for soldiers, and the concept of lines of communication and supply was unfamiliar to them. They didn’t have any experience marching through battle for days. Nothing good would come of having them fight without understanding why they needed to retake the citadel base.

Shin ignored the intent hidden behind that question. On the off chance they might abandon the base. But they wouldn’t ever do that, no matter what.

“We’ll make retaking the base our priority and buy time against the heavily armored Legion units with stall tactics. About right, Colonel?”

Stall tactics. A strategy that involved impeding the enemy’s advance while avoiding direct conflict and slowing their movement. Since it was based on repeating hit-and-run attacks, it required a good deal of distance between the enemy and the target they would be defending, but based on the enemy reinforcements’ current position, they should be able to buy a few days.

“Yes.”

“Master Sergeant, I’m putting half our Juggernauts and the artillery battalion under your command. Handle the enemy reinforcements, all right?”

“Yeah, I figured that was how it’d go.”

Bernholdt nodded indifferently. The Eighty-Six were technically officers and were placed under the command of a noncommissioned officer. This was a situation that wouldn’t be possible in a normal military, but the Eighty-Six only ever saw ranks as decoration to begin with, and so did the mercenaries. The gathered squad captains gave no objections, either.

“Five days. Aim to buy time until reinforcements arrive and nothing else. Don’t even think of trying to take them out.”

“That goes without saying, chief… You guys don’t rush in all gung ho like idiots and get yourselves killed, either. Otherwise, we’d feel like dumbasses for protecting you.”

Perhaps it was because of the nature of the situation they were in that Bernholdt allowed himself to say that. Shin shrugged at the veteran noncommissioned officer, who’d cracked a joke that bordered on the disrespectful, and moved his gaze to the other squad captains.

“The remaining Juggernauts and Alkonosts will all participate in retaking the base… Our side can’t let this last five days. We have to recapture that base before the people in the command ward get wiped out.”

With the operation’s details decided, both Lena’s group inside the citadel and the Strike Package outside set to work. Taking nighttime shifts into account, the base’s command personnel mixed in with Vanadis’s control crew. The Handlers Resonated with their Sirins in the control room, and any surviving soldiers set out to secure the corridors. Raiden’s group was on standby in the hangar, which stood as the largest and most probable invasion route.

Grethe Resonated from the capital, informing them that preparations had been made to send in the reserve forces.

“The Legion have started closing in from all over on the second southern front, which is where you all are. His Majesty and the crown prince have decided that this isn’t a situation where they can afford to be stingy with the reserves.”

“Thank you, Colonel Wenzel.”

“…We appreciate the message, but…I’ll make sure to scold Father and Brother Zafar and tell them off about using military officers from another country as their lackies just because they’re busy, Colonel.”

Outside, the Juggernauts had begun moving out, be it to intercept the heavily armored units or to surround the base. With the climbing irons attached to their feet adding a distinctive sound to their footsteps as his backdrop, Shin said:

“Colonel Milizé. Vika. Can I leave command of the full force to you? I only know a few strategies when it comes to siege battles. It’s probably beyond me, to be honest.”

“…Yes, you were a special officer academy child, come to think of it. A quickly promoted officer wouldn’t know.”

As Vika spoke, he left the command ward’s ammunition depot, checking the operation of a spear-like heavy firearm with practiced movements. The thought occurred to Lena that the Idinarohk royalty truly were a militaristic bloodline. It was a 20 mm anti-tank rifled cannon, one of the older anti-tank weapons for infantry use, equipped with large amounts of propellant and a long barrel to grant its warheads the supersonic speed needed to penetrate armor. It was discarded due to the strengthening of tank armor and the introduction of lighter and/or more powerful recoilless rifles.

But unlike said recoilless rifles, which couldn’t be used in confined spaces unable to accommodate the several-dozen-meter-long flames they ejected, it didn’t disperse anything but a loud bang. This weapon was still usable here in the command ward, with its many cramped corridors.

After finishing his inspection, Vika handed two of these fifteen-kilogram rifles over to one of the royal guards and continued speaking as he saw him carry them off from the command post to set them up in the corridors.

“True, I may have studied on a bit more of a systematic level, but I don’t have any experience in siege battles, either. Though I have more experience than I wish I did when it comes to nesting up.”

“If you’ve studied it on any systematic level, you’d still know more than me. I have experience with holding down positions, but I can’t imagine being on the other side.”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“…But—”

Lena noticed something and parted her lips to speak. If even Shin, who had the most experience out of all the Eighty-Six, didn’t know much about this topic, that would mean…

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean…that the Legion don’t know how to fight within this fortress?”

A violet right eye turned in her direction.

“Including the ones inside the citadel, most of the Legion are presumed to be Sheepdogs, though.”

“Yes. Intelligent soldier types made by assimilating the neural networks of Republic citizens.”

Republic citizens who couldn’t fight back and ended up being taken by the Legion, thus involuntarily bolstering their ranks.

“But that would mean civilians without any combat experience were made into soldiers. Their intelligence may be equal to the average human’s, but if that’s the case, they shouldn’t be able to properly perform anything they don’t know.”

The Republic citizens had sequestered themselves within a false peace, treating the war raging outside the walls like a movie at the cinema. Even most of the Republic’s soldiers had never so much as fired a gun. And the majority of the Shepherds who led them were likely Eighty-Six, as well.

The Republic was the only nation that left corpses unattended, allowing them to be collected in the Legion’s Headhunts. The Federacy, the United Kingdom, and the Alliance had all taken considerable measures when they realized the Legion were taking in their war dead.

To begin with, those countries poured all their strength and energy into valiantly resisting the Legion, even outside of battle, and took the bodies and those injured back at all costs. It was easy to imagine, then, that the Eighty-Six, who never received aid and were lacking in manpower, and had been forbidden from collecting their corpses at that, were the key ingredient that went into producing Black Sheep and Shepherds.

And these Eighty-Six were child soldiers who had never received elementary education, to say nothing of a soldier’s training. Rich as their experience in the field may be, they wouldn’t have any knowledge of laying siege. And the same held true for the Legion in their natural state, which were only soldiers obeying the Empire’s orders. They may have gathered and analyzed eleven years’ worth of combat experience, but they wouldn’t be able to analyze a form of combat they’d never experienced.

And siege battle was a military tactic that hadn’t been employed in over a century, with the growth of long-range artillery and the introduction of airborne weapons. It would only be registered as knowledge of something that had once existed.

“…I see. So in terms of knowledge, we still have the upper hand.”

His eyes narrowed in the darkness, and he broke into a ghoulish smile. A despotic tyrant’s pleased grin.

“It may be a golden chance to teach these peaceful, common citizens the inherent vileness commanders can have. In which case, leave the nasty job of commanding the defense of the command ward to me… Milizé, you take command of the siege outside. I’ll transfer total command privileges over the Sirins to you.”

“Right. Captain Nouzen, you heard him.”

“Roger… Thank you very much.”

Grethe then said, “We can handle simulations and investigations on this side, so send any query you need our way… And also…” She seemed to hesitate before speaking again:

“A message from His Majesty… There’s no need to rescue Prince Viktor. Should you have to abandon him, he won’t hold the Federacy or the Strike Package accountable…”

Lena was momentarily shocked. Impossible. His Majesty—that is, the king—was Vika’s father. Vika, on the other hand, shrugged as if this was obvious.

“Makes sense he would say that. I’m a soldier, and this is the United Kingdom’s battlefield. If he would hold you responsible, he’d be a laughingstock for ages to come.”

“I think this is kinda strange,” Annette said as Grethe turned off the Para-RAID. They were in a room in Roa Gracia’s royal castle. It was so extravagant and comfortable it made them feel guilty being there while Lena and the others were in the middle of a crisis.

“Their objective aside, they managed to pinpoint and attack the Strike Package again,” Annette continued. “It feels like they’re reading our movements a little too well.”

Grethe nodded. The Revich Citadel Base was a United Kingdom forward observation point that overlooked the lowlands. It had no value that would justify the Legion attacking it. In which case, their objective here was the Strike Package, but that was weird in and of itself.

“What are the odds of the Para-RAID being intercepted?” Grethe asked Annette quietly.

“Slim to none… I can’t say it’s impossible for the Legion to Resonate, given that the Sirins, who are also made with copies of human neural networks, can. But you need to have your settings aligned to Resonate with a particular target.”

“Maybe the Legion can trace the captain’s location, same as how he can hear their voices?”

“That’s unknown at the moment… But there’s a simpler explanation.”

“Yes.”

Grethe heaved a single sigh heavy with depression and a soldier’s coldheartedness.

“We can’t rule out the option…that someone’s been leaking information from within the Federacy military.”

Lena entered the room that had been allotted to her as living quarters and, after undoing her blouse and stockings, looked down at the thing in her hands. The Cicada. The Thought-Support Device Vika had given to her to lighten the strain of Resonating with over one hundred people. She hadn’t used it during the recon mission. It was too short, and her only Resonance targets were the several captains.

But this time, she couldn’t afford not to use it. She needed to have the entire brigade out there under her command, which made the number of Resonance targets that much larger. With the siege battle predicted to be particularly savage, if she were to pass out, there would be no one to command the Strike Package outside. And while he might be willing to take her place, it would put considerable strain on Vika, too.

Lena braced herself with an “okay” and drew up her long hair, placing the Cicada on her neck so that it came in contact with her RAID Device. She felt the cold of the quasi-nerve crystal against her body heat and the bioelectric current running through her skin.

The Cicada—the Thought-Control Device—came to life.

The silver threads that made up the ring of the device unfurled, going from a solid, unified state into what seemed like luminescent snow. Countless strings, like a silkworm moth’s strands or a spider’s thread, became a torrent of light and trailed down Lena’s white back. The silver threads lit up with faint-violet light. They propagated with explosive speed, like a tangle of rapidly spreading vines, crawling and coiling over her shoulders, back, and arms.

“Ngh…”

She felt a peculiar, almost ticklish sensation of touch over her skin. As if she were being caressed with the tip of a feather, as if her skin were being lightly traced by a person’s finger.

“Unf… Ah…!”

And as the threads continued their self-propagation, they crawled all over her, enveloping her entirely from the neck down before stopping. The end result was an outfit that covered up her whole body, like a tight bodysuit of sorts. The silver threads were made of quasi-nerve fibers with a self-propagating feature, their surface having an intertwined, almost organic sort of appearance. The device employed the wearer’s bioelectric currents as its power source, forming a quasi-nerve network that covered the body by way of the fibers—a supplementary, full-body brain.

Perhaps it was part of the boon of its supportive powers, but when she opened her eyes, her field of vision felt slightly clearer than before. Taking a single breath, Lena raised her head in the dimly lit room.

With the added thickness of the device wrapped around her like an outfit, Lena wasn’t able to comfortably get her arms through her uniform’s sleeves, and it felt tight around her shoulders, so she put on only her pumps and returned to the command post. The deployment of the device was thinner around her legs, which were farther from its point of origin, so they were about as thick as her stockings, allowing her legs to fit into the shoes without issue.

Hearing the clicking of her heels, Vika turned his gaze in her direction. Frederica, being a child, relinquished her seat and stood by the vice commander’s. They both looked at her with a peculiar expression and fell silent for a moment.

“Yeah… Hmm……… I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”

“……!”

Hearing the prince act politely only now, after apologizing this late in the game, made Lena glare at him. Uncharacteristically, Vika was desperately looking away from her in a cold sweat.

“To be honest, I have Lerche use it, too, when necessary… But hmm, yes, indeed. I realize now it was only fine by virtue of her being a lot more… modest than you are…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You’re…very well-endowed.”

“Endowed with what ?!”

Even Frederica looked at them with pity and a complicated expression.

“It seems even this imbecile is at a loss due to how…er… tempting this appearance is to the eyes of a man.”

She tried to pick her words carefully, which only served to make Lena more shocked. It felt as if she’d just been told to her face that she was walking around indecently.

The Thought-Support Device—the Cicada. A bodysuit-type computation unit made up of quasi-nerve fibers.

However, since it operated by using the wearer’s bioelectric current as its power source, and since the quasi-nerve fibers had no means of maintaining their posture, they had to deploy over the skin. Which meant aside from adhering to a form, the material also had to support itself against her body tissues.