Press the 【P】!

 

「Aimer. Sending coordinates where enemy forces are deployed.」

「Understood. —Analysis complete. Initiating combat maneuver.」

Receiving intel from Kou, who was out on reconnaissance, Aimer immediately analyzed the disparity between their forces and the enemy’s.

「They’ve spread out farther than I expected.」

The Eustitia raced across the wasteland toward the enemy lines.

「What about the Silhouettes?」

「All Silhouettes have launched. The Workers are locked in place.」

「Thanks. —It’s finally time.」

Before Aimer loomed the massive 【P】 button.

—With something like this sitting here, who wouldn’t want to press it?

The moment had finally arrived.

「You’ve been dying to press it, haven’t you?」

Astraea noticed the look on Aimer’s face.

She was clearly itching with anticipation.

「T-That’s not true!」

Even as she protested, her gaze never left the button.

「This Eustitia is the pinnacle of Prometheus and Arima’s mischief—further tampered with by Eirene and Abel while I wasn’t looking. Let’s give Greisen a proper demonstration.」

「Astraea, sounds like you’ve got more beef with the latter two.」

「That is absolutely not the case.」

And yet, Astraea’s voice sounded faintly hollow.

Aimer made a conscious effort not to press her further.

「Well, anyway. Time to give ‘em a good wallop.」

「Agreed. Aki and Nyanta have already launched, after all.」

This would also serve as a live combat trial for the Eustitia.

They needed to confirm its ballistic resilience and other specs. Eirene had overseen its final construction—everything should be flawless, but there was always the gnawing doubt about what else she might have snuck in.

Astraea would have preferred to entrust this task to Eunomia, but her Development Engineer had vanished, and without a compatible partner, her capabilities had been drastically reduced.

Development Engineers who could develop a perfect synergy with their partner—like Kou with Astraea or Eirene with Abel—were exceedingly rare. Eunomia, truth be told, was even more rigid than Astraea herself.

「This might be the flashiest attack we’ve ever pulled off.」

Aimer fixed her eyes on the display, gauging the distance to the Argo Army.

「Accelerate from combat speed 200 km/h to full throttle. Hold course.」

「Acknowledged. Five minutes until Point Alpha. Beginning countdown.」

The Eustitia began its charge toward the enemy formation.

At this range, there was no avoiding it.

The enemy, perhaps in panic, unleashed a barrage of fire—but the Eustitia was accelerating so rapidly that none of it landed meaningfully.

They reached the red marker.

「Ground anchors—deploy the mooring!」

「Roger!」

The Familias sprang into action, slamming control levers as the ground anchors were fired.

The Eustitia lurched into a braking halt, tethered hard to the earth by massive anchor chains.

The entire ship shook as it screeched to a stop.

「Here we go.」

At that instant, Aimer calmly smashed the protective case and slammed the 【P】 button.

Armor plating on what had appeared to be the tailwheel detached—revealing a massive spinning wheel.

Harnessing the accumulated inertial energy, the enormous mechanism hurled the wheel like a discus toward the enemy’s flagship: the land cruiser Landkreuzer P150 Gespenst.

The wheel that had been disguised as the Eustitia tailwheel until now struck the P150 Gespenst dead-on.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

The P150 Gespenst vanished without a trace. A shallow crater now marked the point of impact.

The massive walker’s four legs had been blown off spectacularly.

「So that’s the power of the Eustitia’s exclusive Panjandrum [Justice], huh…」

「It’s still only provisional armament.」

Astraea cut in, sounding like she was denying the comment outright.

For the Argo Army, it was a waking nightmare.

The wheel that had made impact showed no sign of damage—instead, its rocket nozzles flared all at once, and it began a wild, uncontrollable rampage.

「Loosen the tether!」

「It might get tangled!」

「It’s fine! If it does, I’ll just burn it off and reattach later!」

「Understood!」

The Familias caught Aimer’s drift, feeding out more and more of the tether connecting the Panjandrum to the Eustitia.

The massive spinning wheel tore through the Eber IIs as it rampaged.

「We could just leave it, honestly. But for the environment’s sake, we’ll have to retrieve it eventually.」

Astraea sounded less than thrilled as she watched the devastation.

Next to her, a dog-type Familia was already sweeping up the shattered remains of the button’s protective casing, while Aimer placed a new one over the button with practiced ease.

「So that’s what they mean by scattering like baby spiders. —Those tanks are bailing as fast as they can.」

The Eber IIs had all begun fleeing at top speed to escape the rolling rampage of [Justice].

Silhouettes that were late to flee were flung aside in the chaos, even Strelites and Kazakhs were run down by the powerful Panjandrum without mercy. The only consolation they could have was that, being lighter and less stable than tanks, they might actually stand a better chance of surviving.

「Now that’s a Justice worthy of Astraea.」

「Aimer, please stop casually dragging the concept of justice through the mud. —Since ancient times, the mechanisms of the spinning wheel and the scales have been inextricably linked. In that sense, Eirene insisted that Justice was the perfect match for the Eustitia.」

「You definitely still hold a grudge against Eirene, Astraea.」

Astraea didn’t answer.

「What you’re seeing is merely a ground-deployed autonomous rolling mine thrown by a hangar carrier. The enemy will regroup soon enough.」

「Might take some time. I’d like to hit them again before they regroup though—wait, it’s still going?! As expected of Justice!」

「We’re continuing to supply it with metallic hydrogen via the tether. Unless we reel it in, it’ll just keep going.」

「The flagship has been destroyed. Maybe we should roll it back.」

Just then—

「Aubade Force units detected. We have detected Edge Swifts and the Pleiades team commanded by Yasuyuki—four Buzzards from BAS Corp too?! How did they get here?!」

「They were probably sent by George-san. Abel-san’s off scheming with Eirene in the underground factory.」

「Pulling up unit info. —What are they thinking…?」

Astraea covered her face.

「What’s wrong, Astraea?!」

「That Buzzard squad forced their way here with repeated aerial refueling. It’s utterly reckless.」

Astraea didn’t even try to hide her exasperation. It wasn’t just Abel pulling ‘British antics’ today—this was humanity’s pride and stubbornness in full form.

It likely wasn’t just George’s decision. The pilots themselves must’ve had iron resolve and elite skill.

「Wait, really?」

Aimer hadn’t factored BAS Corp’s Buzzards into the operation.

They hadn’t been within the operation range—meaning they must have arrived from beyond it to aid them.

「They probably flew over ten thousand kilometers across the sea. Apart from the old Misumaru Heavy Industries at J006 Fortress Area and the nearby Gogyou Forces, the Gracious Queen, ten thousand kilometers away from us, is the closest Aubade Force unit.」

「That’s insane!」

「Inefficiency at its peak. But even so, they forced their way through to reach us.」

「For our sake…」

「—Not something to be praised. And yet, perhaps it should be. They never fail to surprise me.」

It must have been a grueling, endless journey. And yet, the Buzzard squad showed not a hint of fatigue as they joined up with the Pleiades team. With perfect coordination, they began a ground assault against the Argo Army, carrying out their mission with precision and loyalty.

Astraea watched them with a quiet smile.

Aimer, stunned inside, said nothing aloud.

 

AN:

The P-button has finally been pressed. A simple mass weapon, yes—but devastating in its sheer power.

Protective case replacement is done manually. You never know when this armament will be retired…

And now the Buzzard team arrives! BAS Corp is seriously pushing their Buzzards to the limit!