Internal Repairs

 

The Enyo’s upper body exploded before the eyes of the Defense Force.

The defenders stood frozen in shock. Some even doubted what they were seeing.

「Is that… even possible…?」

Fran was just as stunned. Even if it were the result of a battleship’s main gun, the destructive power was absurd. A hangar carrier should never be equipped with that kind of weaponry.

「It’s a high-powered laser. But stay sharp! The reactor in its midsection and that tail are still active. That thing’s not biological. Losing its upper half won’t stop it!」

Kou barked at those around him. The Defense Force had been more rattled than expected—their Silhouettes had ceased all movement.

The loss of Enyo’s upper body did not mean it had been neutralized. It was a mobile mass weapon, designed to destroy shelters fortified with Whis.

A single footstep or a flick of its tail could easily crush a Silhouette.

「Y-Yes, sir!」

Fran responded hastily; the man before her wasn’t letting his guard down, and the battle hadn’t ended yet.

As Unit 5 sliced off one of Enyo’s legs with ease, it moved to cling to the side of the gigantic Murder, aiming to destroy the reactor at its core. Approaching from the back, where the armor was thinner, came with the risk of a counterattack from the tail.

「Unit 5 and Unit 6 will keep attacking Enyo’s legs. Lanius Squad and the Defense Force sweep up the surrounding Keres. After that, it’s all yours, Aki.」

「Good luck, nya! Your weapon is the most reliable for this, nya!」

「Understood!」

Unit 6 joined the battle alongside the Lanius Squad, engaging the Keres. The Lanius squad focused on the ones equipped with higher-dimensional projection armor—Mantis-types and Ant Commander-types.

The Quattro Silhouettes began breaking through the encirclement of Murders. Fuyuki and his field engineers were using explosive charges to destroy the Keres directly.

「—!」

Fran, too, boldly closed in on the Enyo and slashed down. She managed to sever its left leg.

「Nice work, Fran!」

Unit 5 had been watching her. The brief praise, concise yet sincere, brought a faint smile to Fran’s lips.

Still cautious, she immediately withdrew to avoid being caught by another limb.

From afar, Blue’s sniping and Eustitia’s support fire rained down. Even the airborne Type-0s joined the ground assault.

The moment the Keres guarding the Enyo thinned out, Aki’s Epona launched into a sprint.

「I’m going in!」

Aki charged, driving her lance into Enyo’s side. It pierced the midsection reactor with pinpoint accuracy.

The goddess of ruin slowed… and finally fell still.

「Who are those people…?」

Nate’s mutter echoed the thoughts of the entire Defense Force.

「A laser? That wasn’t just a laser. It pierced Enyo’s armor. That kind of output… you can’t get that output from a hangar carrier.」

「What are you saying, Nate?」

「That ‘hangar carrier’ is probably a type of spacecraft. During the Interplanetary War Era, beam weapons like that did exist.」

「No way… Keres’ laser beams barely scratch higher-dimension projection armor. For something to pierce Enyo’s plating…」

「They’re probably operating a small battleship like a hangar carrier. That cannon could be one of those rumored charged particle cannons.」

The power was simply too great to explain otherwise. Even Nate could hardly believe what had happened.

「Before the Asia War, there were barely any successful kills on Enyos. I think Metal Iris was the last one… and they later became the core of the Trireme forces. Is there a connection?」

「Good thing they’re on our side.」

「No kidding!」

Despite the celebration, Nate felt a quiet despair.

He murmured, almost involuntarily—

「So this is the strength of Trireme’s forces from the Sheelite continent… These are the people loved by Asia… compared to us…」

He shook his head.

「No. The fault lies with us, for doing nothing. They saved Asia. They earned that right. Then what we must do… is forge a good relationship with them. That is my role to play.」

The man who bore the weight of a single Defense Dome arrived at a grounded, realistic conclusion—refusing to give in to envy.

◆　　◆　　◆　　◆　　◆

After destroying the Enyo and wiping out the remaining Murder units, the Arsenal Carrier Eustitia entered the L451 Defense Dome.

Nate, the Defense Force leader, stepped away with Fuyuki for a discussion.

「Alright. Let’s get to repairs.」

Guided by Voy, Unit 6 was brought into Eustitia’s hangar. Next to it sat the returned Unit 5.

Arges approached Unit 6 and began inspecting its condition.

Kou was speaking with Blue when an unfamiliar red-haired girl descended from Unit 6. She clearly wanted to approach Kou but didn’t know how to do it.

Blue noticed immediately, whispered something to Kou, and stepped away.

「Um… Are you Kou-san? The pilot of Unit 5?」

「Yeah, that’s me. You’re Fran, right? Let’s talk in the lounge—this isn’t the best place.」

「This ship has a lounge…?」

Ordinary hangar carriers only had basic rest areas. Internally, Fran wondered if they could even call this a ‘hangar carrier’ when it was more like a 200-meter-class landship.

Ponko noticed the two and began preparing light refreshments.

「Thank you again for everything. But… about the repairs on Unit 6… we, uh… we don’t really have any money…」

Fran hesitated, clearly uncomfortable revealing that fact—especially to someone who had just saved her life.

Her sincerity was apparent in that alone.

「Don’t worry about it. Not that the repairs are free—but you’ve already earned a fortune.」

「Huh?」

「You destroyed an Enyo, didn’t you? That counts as a victory for the L451 Defense Force.」

When a major Murder is destroyed, Okeanos provides a sizable bounty. That’s what Kou meant.

「But that can’t be… It was mostly your—」

「We were just passing through. You can check the combat logs Okeanos maintains.」

This had already been coordinated with Fuyuki. In fact, both of them had silently rejoiced at the Enyo’s presence.

Helping out a dome that had no funds would have been a serious burden. But by treating it as their achievement, they could earn the rewards they needed.

They were no charity—neither was any Trireme-affiliated corporation.

「…Understood. Thank you!」

Voy plodded over and sat next to Kou.

「I checked Unit 6’s condition. It’s been overworked. Let’s proceed with the plan, Kou.」

「Got it. I’m counting on you, Voy.」

「Leave it to me.」

With that, Voy lumbered off. Fran watched him go, visibly uneasy.

「Is Unit 6… in that bad of shape?」

「I had a hunch. —Ah, don’t mind the bear. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been looking after Unit 5 for a long time.」

「Is he the one in charge of Unit 5?!」

「That’s right. Unit 6 is in rough shape. We’ll need to restore it completely.」

「Restore…? Not repairing?」

「We need to change most of its parts for new ones similar to the ones used in the earliest production batch models. That’s how worn down Unit 6 has become.」

「Ugh…」

Hearing that straight from Kou, Fran turned beet red with embarrassment.

The Nereids passing by looked alarmed and immediately started eavesdropping while pretending not to.

「After intense combat, an overhaul is necessary to look for any possible abnormalities. You’ve never done one, have you? If you had an E-Rank Development Engineer, you could easily do an overhaul with your Defense Dome facilities—but it’s probably hard to find one around here.」

「No one’s going to come out to a backwater like this…」

Kou nodded. Planet Asia was still engulfed in conflict, and even E-Rank Development Engineers were in high demand.

「I’ve got spare parts left over from when I started to use Unit 5, so we’ll use those. Specifically, they’re prototypes prepared for modifying Unit 5. —Sorry they’re not brand-new. It’s just a budget consideration.」

Kou’s words downplayed them, but the parts he was planning to use were part of a massive cache of early-stage parts developed during the original overhaul of Unit 5. They could be repurposed for Unit 6 easily enough.

Though TAKABA-brand spares were also available, Kou had chosen these after getting to know Fran.

「No, thank you! Really!」

They didn’t have the infrastructure to operate newer A1-type models with metal hydrogen reactors anyway. The ‘within earliest lot specs’ line was a relief to Fran.

Though the phrase ‘spare parts from Unit 5’ bothered her somehow, she wouldn’t understand the reason until much later:

Those weren’t spare parts from TAKABA—they were components Kou had personally designed and stockpiled.

◆　　◆　　◆　　◆　　◆

「You helped us in our darkest hour, and you are even crediting us for the Enyo’s destruction as well. We’re deeply in your debt.」

「Not at all. You fought to the end. We merely supported you.」

Nate and Fuyuki were holding an informal meeting.

For Fuyuki, this meeting served mainly to better understand the power balance around the L451 Defense Dome.

「By the way, may I ask… the young captain who commanded the hangar carrier—was that Admiral Aimer?」

He recognized the girl who had appeared on comms.

「Yes, that’s her.」

Fuyuki answered without hesitation.

A girl who had once led the Astraea in the Asia War would not be visiting a place like this without reason. Nate was convinced that the people before him were significant figures.

Fuyuki continued, unfazed.

「The situation’s worse than we expected… You said the Stones’ forces here are called Greisen? And behind them is the Argo Army? A single Defense Dome couldn’t handle that.」

「Correct. But it seems the Argo Army’s main force is engaged elsewhere, so for now they’re just watching.」

「Then their goal must be to dismantle the old governance system on this continent. They’re probably using the Murders and Greisen to form their own affiliated organizations.」

「We suspect this latest Murder assault was on Greisen’s orders as well.」

「No doubt. The Stones likely want Greisen to dominate this region.」

Fuyuki fell into thought.

「When you say ‘organization’… you mean a nation, don’t you?」

「If we’re to defend ourselves, the Defense Domes will have to cooperate. Our L451 Defense Dome has already received feelers from various groups. Greisen has control over one Fortress Area and four Defense Domes.」

「That’s enough to be considered a nation…」

Nate watched Fuyuki’s contemplative expression with growing concern. Was he going to abandon them?

「Expect another assault soon. Do not lower your guard.」

「What? But we just repelled an Enyo…」

Nate was visibly shaken by the unexpected warning.

「Murders are just tools for attrition warfare. The Stones surely know they were defeated. Next, Greisen’s main forces will come to suppress you.」

「Then… by that logic, we can’t expect further help from your group?」

Nate was a calm and intelligent man. He understood that claiming credit for the Enyo’s defeat was just a pretense for Nisos—they had supported them, but they didn’t want to do so overtly.

Without that pretense, there’d be no way they would relinquish credit for such a massive victory.

Even that one battle had been more than generous aid.

「That’s right. —But I have some ideas about that. Let’s speak again tomorrow, same time. That’s when we’ll decide whether to pull out or continue to support you.」

「Understood. If there’s still a chance, I’ll do all I can to meet your terms.」

By now, Nate understood.

These people were likely Trireme’s upper echelon—or perhaps the top itself.

The value of the L451 Defense Dome was now being weighed.

Even if Nisos joined their cause, it could still lead to being burdened with an overwhelming debt they might never be able to repay.

「No need to be so tense.」

Fuyuki offered a few words to the visibly worried Nate.

 

AN:

Due to recent changes, here’s an updated setting reference for the real-world carrier inspirations and the Eustitia.

Feel free to skip if you’re not interested!

The Arsenal Carrier was resized from 150 meters to approximately 200 meters. The inspiration comes from modern amphibious ships, namely the San Antonio-class and the Italian carrier Cavour.

Fun fact: the San Antonio-class was the first American ship designed using the metric system! It’s a ship surrounded by wild design choices, over-spec’d for its mission.

It was built with a ‘Mobility Triad’ concept in mind, adjusting to three different transport types. While its carrying capacity was reduced, it could handle everything from helicopter support to armored vehicle assaults.

It could, theoretically, support Harrier IIs from its deck and came with vertical missile launchers and 30mm cannons. Its new advanced mast consolidated functions into a sealed system for stealth—though later units abandoned the mast due to cost.

The LX(R)-class, based on the San Antonio Flight II, was a budget-cut redesign. Even the 30mm cannons were downgraded to 25mm, and the stealth mast removed. The logic? The U.S. Navy has control of the sea and air anyway, so stealth wasn’t needed.

The ships also featured high-temperature superconducting degaussing systems to reduce magnetic signatures—despite the cost-cutting theme.

As I was writing this, news broke that the 12th San Antonio-class ship, Fort Lauderdale, just completed its first trials. The mast’s back to a standard one…

The Italian light carrier Cavour can carry 60 Centauro IIs or 24 tanks, or 16 Harriers (or F-35Bs). It’s a true multi-role platform with 76mm cannons, 25mm turrets, and vertical missile cells.

For comparison, the Wasp-class assault ship (250m) can carry 6 Harriers, 10 helicopters, or 22 fighter jets in max loadout—or launch 5 tanks, 25 armored vehicles, and 3 LCAC hovercraft for land assaults.

Italy’s upcoming assault ship Trieste follows the Cavour concept but is even more heavily armed: three 76mm/62-cal guns and 16 vertical missile cells.

Now, on to Eustitia’s revised specs. Arges has transferred to it. Steropes remains on Planet Libya.

The whole design is new—drafted by Polymetis using design requirements from Prometheus and Arima, then built by Kou. Compared to Interplanetary War Era ships, it’s a bit lower-tech—but it incorporates tons of components from destroyed Colossal Mythology Weapons, so it’s no slouch.

It has factory functions and can support 50–80 silhouettes in combat operations (Epona and Epos count as two units each). Volume is the constraint, not weight. With maintenance silhouettes also needed, the original 150m size was too small—thus the change.

It can technically carry tanks, but none are aboard currently. The force is silhouette-focused, aside from a single drill-tank used by Voy. The tank can carry one silhouette.

Weapons include a positron cannon meant to serve as Astraea’s main gun, rotary laser turrets for anti-air, and optical weapons made with parts from the colossal creepy Mythology Weapon destroyed by Kurose. Eustitia’s ammo storage has been minimized.

Railguns may be used in some scenarios, but…

The other Development Engineers are mostly using salvaged parts for silhouette-focused systems.

Eustitia is capable of land, sea, air, and space navigation—with special emphasis on underwater performance.

The tail wheel is a temporary fixture, not counted. It’s about 40–50 meters in size. Astraea wants to jettison it ASAP.

Removing the massive hangar dock that once housed three carriers freed up space, reducing Astraea’s capacity by only 20%. Still, the move was tough.

Eustitia now launches from a flat flight deck. During combination, only the gun is exposed.