Tankette

 

At the head of the formation was the Kashas, followed by Unit 5 straddling Bastet, Arthur, and a small squad of Silhouettes.

「Enemy presence detected. Stay alert.」

From the shadows of the forest, several massive quadrupedal Teras emerged. Jet black, with glowing red eyes—their very appearance was ominous, more demonic than canine.

Some of the beasts were even airborne, cloaked in plasma.

「What are those…? Kin of Cerberus or perhaps Orthrus?」

「If they’re based on the Cerberus myth, maybe they’re variants of Black Dogs or Hellhounds… demonic beasts wreathed in lightning. I see… Blackjacks!」

「They’re generating plasma directly and firing it… they must be based on Antique Silhouettes.」

「No doubt about it. Don’t let your guard down.」

「Got it!」

It wasn’t even a proper skirmish yet. Alongside the Blackjacks were standard Silhouette-type enemies—likely scout-class Teras.

「Scouts are in the mix too, huh.」

One enemy resembled a humanoid Silhouette, but with a massive boar-like head, its enormous tusks pierced its cheeks, giving it a fearsome and grotesque appearance.

「That too is kin of Echidna. The boar monster known as Paea. Legend has it she was a fearsome bandit queen—and the mother of the Calydonian Boar.」

「The Calydonian Boar?」

「A monstrous pig from Greek myth. The Argonauts had to put it down. Honestly, I’d love to sic one of those on the Stones.」

Asia let out a light laugh. There was little chance they would bring a Mythology Weapon onto Planet Asia—it was far too dangerous.

「That earlier shelling must’ve been thanks to the Paea guiding the attack.」

「Even if their numbers are few, we should eliminate any Paea we can see. But what do we do about the Blackjacks…?」

Before they could decide, the Kashas charged straight toward the Blackjacks.

「Here we go! Releasing mode: P-Original!」

「What the hell is that?!」

Kou gaped in shock at the unexpected shout.

「Wait, how do you not know?!」

Kasha’s design was a joint creation of Kou, Marujin, and Morgan.

「We never included anything like that. They are already equipped with P-MAX to lift their limiters. What exactly are they ‘releasing’…?!」

The answer became clear instantly.

The Kasha charged into the enemy swarm and began bouncing around chaotically.

The Blackjacks, confused and terrified by the erratic movement, tried to flee—only for one unlucky Blackjack to be launched into the air by a ricocheting Kasha.

「P-Original… So they shut off their gyro sensors. The original Panjandrum didn’t have any to begin with, so that’s what they meant by ‘original.’」

Asia quickly deduced what had happened.

「That got Abel-san’s handiwork written all over it…」

The Blackjacks tried to retaliate with plasma, but the Kasha were wreathed in plasma as well.

It was a futile effort.

Even with their stable quadrupedal forms, the Blackjacks stood no chance against the massive rolling wheels of the Kashas. One that had been flung aside was promptly run over by another Kasha, its legs torn clean off.

In a head-on clash between legs and wheels, the matchup was abysmal. Worse yet, both sides had plasma barriers.

「As far as Mythology Weapons go… the Kasha are pretty damn impressive.」

Flack murmured. They couldn’t shoot or bombard, and they didn’t have anti-air capabilities. They just rolled. But in battles between Mythology Weapons, which relied mostly on lasers and optical weaponry, and did not need resupply, its shape was remarkably efficient.

「The Kashas are amazing. We should really deploy more of them on Planet Libya.」

「P’s planet, huh? Not a bad idea.」

Arthur responded to Flack’s awed remark with a note of approval.

「Please don’t…」

Libya protested from the back seat with a hollow voice. The thought of her planet being full of Panjandrums was terrifying.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

「Enemy forces identified. Shapes are inconsistent. Low output readings suggest they’re Kakodaimons.」

「Mass-produced weapons based on land-dwelling creatures of the Phanerozoic Era… how annoying.」

Kurose muttered. Hayatarou and the Cú-Siths had formidable combat strength, but struggled against large numbers. Their last battle at the Fortress Area ruins had shown these issues.

Against the oncoming horde pouring from the forest, the Agathodaimon biplanes didn’t have enough numbers, and the terrain didn’t favor their combat style.

「This time, we are defending Realm. We’ve taken appropriate measures.」

Morgan, resolute in her will to hold the line, gave the order.

「Awaken, new Agathodaimons!」

From the sheds in the refugee-built farming zone came strange mechanical sounds.

The machines slowly stirred—tracked vehicles with curious designs.

Too flat to be tanks. They looked more like tractors.

「Tractors…? No, that’s not quite right.」

Kurose watched them with a puzzled expression.

There were so many of the newly appeared vehicles, it seemed like they outnumbered the residents themselves.

「Normally, they function as cultivators—but they’re combat-capable as well. These were built under Marujin-sama’s proposal: we call them tankettes.」

「Tankettes?!」

Kinukawa, listening in on the comms, let out a shocked shout.

「Now that’s a throwback. Abel—er, Mr. Marujin really dug that one up.」

「I think using his name is fine; everyone already knows that he is Marujin. Tankettes… weren’t they small tanks from the first half of the 20^th century?」

Kurose didn’t bother correcting himself anymore. He remembered the term from somewhere.

「That’s right. As you can see, they’re basically MCSs with treads slapped on. The original Tankettes were themselves stopgap mass-production models used to bolster numbers. The Soviets even had a one-man version based on a farming tractor. They weren’t meant for direct artillery exchanges.」

「Wait, they’re pulling something.」

He pointed to what the tracked vehicles were towing.

「Those are small-caliber plasma railguns. Easy to supply, and each unit has its own MCS and Whis reactor. In emergencies, they can double as evac transports.」

「So on this planet, the Agathodaimons take on the support role that Familias fill on Planet Asia. Makes sense. MCS are plentiful here—even more than in Planet Asia.」

「Marujin-sama said, ‘It’s in our national character to pursue both efficiency and tradition’, and laughed.」

Marujin had been mass-producing these tankettes, which would also be in high demand as cultivator vehicles.

「In peacetime—or rather, under normal conditions—they’re meant for farming. But now they serve to protect civilians.」

「Their dimensions match the MCSs almost exactly… though as weapons, they’re fragile.」

「I heard the Japanese army used tankettes in Southeast Asian jungles. The problem was their armor—thin enough that rifle rounds could pierce it.」

「Indeed, they lack any kind of electromagnetic armor. At best, they have nanoceramic plates bolted onto the frame of the MCS. They’re good only for mopping up Kakodaimons.」

「That’s all we need right now. Even a small reduction in enemy numbers helps.」

The tankettes plunged into the forest to meet the Kakodaimons head-on.

「Just look at them—tiny bodies, but incredible mobility. Not bad at all.」

「That takes some pressure off the Cú-Siths and the others.」

The tankettes opened fire. Their mortars were designed for low-angle fire as well.

The Kakodaimons, surging through the forest like a tide of insects, were torn apart in moments by the bombardment.

The humble machines—built for tilling soil—had now become the harbingers of counterattack.

 

AN:

Yes, they’re tankettes. Those mini tanks mass-produced by the old Japanese military. They’re back as Mythology Weapons alongside the biplanes!

Civilian: 「Wait… weren’t those just autonomous farming machines?」

Kryptos: 「You’re not the only one surprised. We thought so too.」