Transfer of Command Authority

 

The Argo Army was, first and foremost, a military force. The loss of their flagship did not mean an immediate rout.

However, the sudden death of many officers who held command authority created chaos.

One of the commanders, Gio, one of the Lacedaemons, found himself in an extreme state of panic.

With the loss of the higher-ranked field officers, the authority of command was abruptly passed down to him—a mere captain.

The machine he piloted was the Bivoi Ohotnik, a high-end Silhouette even within the Argo Army, equipped with an internal metallic hydrogen generator.

「To Argo Army Main Forces. Requesting instructions.」

The central command headquarters was located far away.

Gio’s voice, as he called out, was practically pleading.

「This is Central Command. Situation unclear. Please submit a detailed report.」

「This is Gio of Argo Force Fourth Battalion. Reporting in. A mass weapon shaped like a giant spinning wheel was launched from the enemy’s 200-meter-class landship. Our P150-class Gespenst flagship has been sunk. Command authority has been transferred to me.」

「A spinning wheel-shaped mass weapon?! Could it be… a Panjandrum?!」

「I am… not certain.」

Gio, unfamiliar with the Asia War, only vaguely knew of the Panjandrums by rumor—weapons so feared they were called a nightmare. It was said that Marujin, the Development Engineer who had designed them, carried the highest bounty within the Stones.

「However, the enemy flagship does not appear to be a space vessel. It’s a 200-meter-class vessel. It is probable it was launched from a larger vessel.」

「Indeed. A 200-meter-class space vessel is virtually unheard of. They’re at least 300 meters or more. That’s been the rule since the Interplanetary War Era across the entire Nemesis System.」

In space warfare, where Silhouette-size units were the standard, vessels of at least 300 meters were necessary.

Survival in space demanded sufficient autonomous navigation capabilities. Supplies could not always be expected, and vessels might easily become scattered.

During the Interplanetary War, it was common sense that 200-meter-class ships lacked the ability to survive space travel and thus designing them was considered pointless. Small ships simply weren’t viable in space combat.

「What’s the extent of the damage?」

「The flagship was destroyed by the mass weapon, and the escorting tanks and Silhouettes were caught up as collateral. The mass weapon is moving erratically, but as it’s sticking close to the enemy vessel, it poses little threat if distance is maintained.」

「What’s your casualty rate?」

「Less than ten percent. There are several enemy Silhouettes deployed from the ship. Our patrol unit was wiped out.」

The senior officer on the other end of the line hesitated briefly before making a decision.

「Then it would be quicker to capture the defense dome first. A 200-meter-class landship can’t carry that many Silhouettes. Gio. You will continue to lead the operation!」

「Understood!」

Thus, the order to continue the operation was given. The Argo Army units began maneuvering around the Eustitia, heading for the L451 Defense Dome.

Watching this unfold, Gio nervously kept an eye on the approaching enemy reinforcements from the Aubade Force, the Pleiades Squad.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Around the L451 Defense Dome, pillars of fire shot into the sky.

The invaders had stumbled into high-powered metallic hydrogen mines—the handiwork of Fuyuki and his combat engineers.

「Mines?! And they’re powerful enough to pierce high-dimensional armor?!」

「Retreat! Use the bypass route—ugh!」

The Argo Army’s Battle Silhouette units, attempting to flee, triggered yet another trap—a pitfall.

The Silhouettes, stepping onto optical camouflage sheets, fell through the disguised surface, their lower halves sinking into the ground. Yet another of Fuyuki’s unit’s nasty tricks.

「What the hell is this… Geh! Metallic hydrogen!」

「We’re screwed! We’re gonna die—」

Pillars of fire erupted from the pitfalls, and the Strelite Silhouettes were blown apart, melting in the inferno.

Voy and Flack had also been busy, digging impromptu pit traps and flooding them with metallic hydrogen.

「Voy-san, please move out with us next.」

Fuyuki called out.

「Leave it to me!」

「Good luck. I’ll head to repair the damaged Silhouettes.」

With that, Voy and Fuyuki disappeared into the earth.

Elsewhere, the Trooper unit, led by the two Eponas, was fighting against enemy tanks.

The enemy tank unit that had circled around into the wasteland was ambushed by the unit commanded by Nyanta and Aki, and tried to flee.

「Don’t let them get away, nya!」

「Don’t chase too deep, Nee-san!」

Nyanta destroyed a retreating Eber II with her D-Rifle.

「Even if they spread out, they’ll still converge on the L451 Defense Dome eventually.」

 

Checking the map and troop movements, Aimer opened a line to Fuyuki.

「The invasion routes are limited. Easy to set traps, huh, Fuyuki?」

「No need to chase them individually. If their entrances are limited, we just concentrate our forces there. Either deploy troops or lay traps. The Defense Force of L451 Defense Dome doesn’t have the manpower to sortie.」

「Are the choke points you are creating also designed to trap Greisen’s forces when they try to flee from inside the L451 Defense Dome?」

「Exactly. Two birds with one stone. Minimal effort, maximum efficiency. In operations, the key is to be lazy whenever possible.」

「I’m learning a lot.」

「It’s nothing special. I’m only trying to secure an easy job for me and my troops.」

「The Pleiades Squad will harass any stragglers from above. Let’s keep swatting the enemy away.」

「Roger. We’ll continue laying traps.」

Ending the call with Fuyuki, Aimer sighed while staring at the screen.

「If it’s one of Fuyuki’s setups, it could really turn the tide. But first, we have to deal with that thing…」

That thing—of course—referred to the rampaging Panjandrum, Justice.

「Prepare the tether ignition. Keep an eye on the surroundings!」

「Area clear!」

A Familia reported back.

The enemy forces had long since fled in terror from Justice.

「Understood. Cut the tether. Ignite!」

The tether linking the Eustitia and Justice was severed, and flames burst forth, incinerating the line in an instant.

The wild movements of Justice came to a halt.

「Launch recovery tether!」

「Firing!」

From the spot where the tail wheel had been, a new tether shot toward Justice, striking cleanly at the joint. Recovery commenced.

Within moments, Justice was reeled back into Eustitia’s tail section.

「I’ve never heard of a space ship with a tail wheel…」

「It’s completely unnecessary. Large land vessels could simply be wiped out by the charged particle cannon.」

「Well, yeah. But if we did that, they’d realize that the Eustitia is a spaceship.」

Aimer soothed the grumbling Astraea.

「Hopefully they fall for the disguise.」

「Even the Argo Army wouldn’t anticipate such a small space vessel. Any analysis will just sow confusion.」

「We just launched a mass weapon anyway…」

Thus, Justice, safely reeled back in, returned to the Eustitia’s tail without incident.

 

AN:

Even after losing their landship and commander, the Argo Army did not collapse because, as a formal military organization, they have codified rules for transfer of command.

However, as Vasa pointed out during the Asia War, the Stones, who profess absolute equality and reject hierarchical structures, are terrible at training leaders, and leadership is not part of their evaluation system.

This is a critical flaw in military operations, but ideology has taken precedence over organizational efficiency.

Still, within the Argo Force, things are improving since Hermes is the supreme commander, with Vasa directly under him.

In individual skirmishes, the Helots, the low-ranked soldiers, are left paralyzed without orders, making them no match for the seasoned veterans of Nisos.