Asia Has Forgotten Us

 

A ceasefire was reached when the joint forces of Metal Iris and Ulysses defeated the Stones’ forces in the Scheelite continent—the Argoforce—bringing a measure of resolution to the Asia War.

However, conflict erupted once more when the newly formed organization Trireme, established by the enigmatic Outis, clashed with the Mercenary Association Headquarters, plunging humanity into chaos once again.

The Scheelite continent remained relatively stable. But on the Sphene continent, home to the A001 Fortress Area and the orbital elevator abandoned by the Mercenary Association Headquarters, violence still raged over control of the elevator.

Meanwhile, the vast resource-rich Pyrochlore continent saw its mountainous regions fall under the control of the Stones. The resistance of some Defense Dome inhabitants, who organized defense forces, sparked further uprisings—now, the continent is fractured into competing factions.

Low-intensity conflicts had begun to spread across Planet Asia.

Amid this, a new concept brought by the Transferees—“nationhood”—began to take hold, especially in the chaotic regions of Sphene and Pyrochlore.

A nation, they said, required people, territory, the ability to enact diplomacy through treaties, and military power to preserve its independence. In the twenty-first century, recognition as a state by other nations became a further prerequisite.

After the Mercenary Association Headquarters’ defeat and loss of influence, the independent Defense Domes that were once under its umbrella now had to build their own defenses.

Some autonomous governments emerged, managing multiple Defense Domes and Fortress Areas. Given that, it was only natural that factions aiming to found full-fledged states would appear.

「Asia has forgotten us, huh.」

Nate muttered to himself.

Trireme’s core military force—Metal Iris—and the mysterious man Outis had been the ones who rescued Asia.

Asia herself had declared clearly that she stood beside Outis. While AIs had the right to choose which humans or factions they aligned with, the emergence of Trireme had rippled through the world with more impact than anyone anticipated.

「Records barely mention the super AI who oversees the planet ever manifesting physically. To us, she was a force of nature. No one even considered saving her. We just assumed the Stones would be defeated by the all-powerful AI, or that Okeanos, the great overseer of the universe, would intervene. We were fools. This is punishment.」

Nate had been performing logistical tasks alone when a whim led him to dig through the history of the Nemesis System.

「The Stones’ Argoforce. Asia’s Trireme. The reestablished Mercenary Association Headquarters, now neutral. A simple enough diagram—but the balance is all wrong. The organization with the longest history, the new M.A.H., is now the weakest of all…」

Even the allegiances of the Underground Forces were shifting.

Both Argoforce and Trireme had received recognition from Okeanos to manage mercenaries in their own right.

「We’ve got no connections to Trireme. Even the request I sent to TAKABA was practically a desperate plea. They’ll probably ignore it. The new M.A.H. hasn’t reached out either—not that I blame them. They’ve got their hands full.」

The reestablished Mercenary Association Headquarters was, in essence, an entirely different beast. Operations had been handed over to the former Nº1 Underground Force. The old Headquarters—personnel and all—had been wiped out.

It was the result of the Dignity War. That the planet was in disarray was no surprise.

「Still, the collapse of the old M.A.H. made one thing clear. Even a mess like that was better than nothing.」

Surely, most of the people in remote Fortress Areas and isolated Defense Domes felt the same way.

Back then, the M.A.H. would coordinate Underground Forces and dispatch them to conflict zones in Okeanos’ stead.

「Minimal garrison forces were all we needed. We could just hire mercs. But the price we paid for not trying to save Asia was this—the slow, steady erosion of the planet.」

He skimmed thirty years of history with a bitter grimace. It was a kind of escapism.

News that a Defense Dome had fallen on some distant continent always felt like someone else’s problem. The locals had never even heard the sound of cannon fire, let alone experienced it.

「Muttering to yourself again? Why not call it a night?」

Nate’s wife, Zuji, arrived, setting a tray with a pot and cup beside him. She had likely just put their daughter to bed and came to check on him.

「I’ve finished balancing the books for the Defense Dome. We’re sitting at about twenty million Mina.」

「Hah. That’s all, huh. Figures.」

He smiled wryly.

「Two humans died in the last skirmish. Five Familia fell too. Twenty wounded. We recovered three cores of the fallen Familias, but we couldn’t save two of them…」

「I see… Damn it. If only we had more firepower.」

「Don’t say that in front of Fran. She’s barely holding it together as it is.」

「I know.」

Fran was like a little sister to Zuji. She’d opposed Fran going to the front lines—but Fran hadn’t listened.

「At least our basic needs are still met. That’s one of the best things about Planet Asia—we don’t need to worry about the most basic needs. But if we want to do anything, we need money. Not enough Mina.」

「This region used to rely on mining. We supported operations, earned our cut, and used that to run the Defense Dome. Now that the mines are under enemy control…」

「There’s no real domestic economy here, after all.」

「Low-grade Silhouettes are cheap. So are secondhand weapons. But that’s all. It’s a hard time to be a resistance fighter with obsolete gear.」

The Stones’ invasion began just a few years after Nate and Zuji were born.

But this was the first time the mining region had been completely overrun. Pyrochlore was in a depression unlike any before.

Mining itself was automated. But for the Fortress Areas and Defense Domes that earned their keep supporting that industry, the loss of the mines was devastating. Poverty worsened, Murders ran rampant, and with the M.A.H. out of commission, regions were forced to govern themselves.

Nation-building was born of this cycle.

「Everyone’s just dumping old stock like it’s clearance season.」

Both Trireme and the Argonautai were pouring resources into weapons development.

Trireme-aligned corporations were focusing on miniaturization and performance gains. With Asia’s support, Trireme clearly had the technological edge.

But the Argonautai weren’t far behind. They’d applied strange technologies acquired from Libya and other unknown sources, evolving in their own way.

With both sides shifting to new generations of equipment, old weapons were becoming surplus. As both organizations’ entire militaries modernized, these castoffs were shipped to low-intensity conflict zones like Pyrochlore and Sphene.

If you’re going to dump gear anyway, might as well hand it to factions who share your interests.

「There’s so much leftover Stones gear, it’s like their weapons defected to the Argonautai.」

「If you’re a lone merc, you’ll align yourself with whoever has affordable, high-performance machines.」

The Stones had seized many highly industrialized Fortress Areas. They began converting their Murder production lines into ones for Silhouettes and standard weapons, equipping the Argonautai with them.

Their generational shifts were swift. Obsolete gear piled up and was handed out en masse to other lower organizations under the Stones’ umbrella. Roughnecks who had lost their jobs flocked to the Argonautai and their affiliates.

「Do people really think the Stones have a future? Still, the difference in sheer volume is insane.」

「How can they build this much?  Even the bastards from Greisen receive stockpiles of Bisons and Armadillos; in contrast, we’re struggling to scrounge up secondhand Bears.」

The Bear was a masterpiece Silhouette built by Transferees, but now it was considered so outdated that it was treated like a utility vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Argonautai had made its successor their standard unit. No wonder Nate felt helpless.

「If only we could get parts to refurbish a Lanius A1 for her…」

「No. That’s not happening.」

「Why not?」

「Because we’ve got neither the money nor the means to get a metallic hydrogen reactor.」

「Ah…」

Zuji’s face darkened as reality sank in.

The equipment to generate Metallic hydrogen cost twenty million Mina—roughly two billion yen. A poor defense dome like theirs could never afford such a thing.

「If we had just one metallic hydrogen reactor, we could give the kids a better life…」

For the people living in the Pyrochlore continent, metallic hydrogen was like a mobile oil field.

Even hearing that a Silhouette used one seemed implausible.

「Someday, we’ll get one. We have to, for the kids’ future. Joining the Stones is not an option, though. I can’t believe joining them would lead to happiness.」

The couple looked after many orphans.

The people living in Planet Asia received their basic needs from Okeanos, but adults who would care for the children were still essential. Fortunately, a dog-type Familia had stayed behind and was acting as a teacher.

「Yeah. We can’t give up.」

「No matter how we worry, the conclusion’s the same. You should get some rest.」

「Okay.」

Zuji left the room quietly.

Nate watched her go, then poured himself some tea.

The moment he took a sip—

「To the Defense Commander of Defense Dome L451」

A message popped up on his terminal, from an unfamiliar source. He opened it quickly.

「What is this…? The Epona Church?」

He’d never heard of it before. Some kind of religion?

He read on.

Sorry for the delay in contacting you.
We are the Epona Church—faithful servants of Lady Asia, who loves all people and Artifact Consciousness.
Your wish shall be fulfilled through a gospel of grace.
The Messiah is coming. Our master shall arrive in three days.
Should you be recognized as true disciples, we will assist you in the name of Outis.
You need not convert to the Epona Church. Nor will belief be forced upon you.
Please keep this message strictly confidential.

The gospel refers to the artificial muscles for the old-model Lanius. TAKABA Corporation’s production and supply windows are still valid. Rest assured.
It will surely be delivered by our master.

Nate stared, dumbfounded.

「A message can’t be fake if it’s been registered with an Okeanos ID. So what is this? ‘Messiah’—is that Earth-English? The meaning… someone who frees the oppressed. A ruler of the people. A savior, basically…」

He read the email over and over, muttering about the meaning of ‘Messiah’.

「Outis… That’s the name of the man who died in the Dignity War—the founder of Trireme. Is this church a continuation of his will?」

But he couldn’t draw any firm conclusions from the message alone.

Their emblem was attached, serving as a kind of seal: a mechanical centaur standing against a deep blue background, a shrike perched on its shoulder, brilliant stars twinkling behind it. Likely the North Star.

「Epona Church. What is this sketchy organization…? ‘Production window’? ‘Supply window’? What’s the difference?」

It was so suspicious, Nate could only stare, speechless.

AN:

A mysterious organization begins to stir—the Epona Church.

This chapter explores the chaos engulfing Asia.

While the Sphene continent is an exception, most of the planet is mired in poverty. Ironically, Sphene has ended up like Earth—where 5% of the population holds the majority of the wealth.

Maybe it’s all Eirene’s fault for preaching hegemonic peace. (Just kidding. Maybe.) Astraea always tries to maintain balance, after all. In that sense, Eirene’s cunning wins.

Supplementary note: Production windows and supply windows are auto industry terms. A production window is the period during which manufacturers are obligated to continue producing parts after a model is discontinued. A supply window is how long customers are guaranteed the availability of spare parts—this varies by automaker.

Some manufacturers make no distinction. Once the production window closes, they just keep leftover inventory. When that runs out, older vehicles become difficult to repair.

As long as there’s a minimum number of orders, parts may continue to be produced. But this often leads to a negative cycle—“Keep supplying parts for old models, but shift production of new cars overseas where it’s cheaper!” Overseas production is based on mass production, so they resist making spare parts in small quantities. That responsibility falls on Japanese companies.