3: Pale Horse (Continued)

Kaname was deep in the last stages of her work when the ceiling above the outer control room began to shake, causing a nearby support beam to rattle. The battle must have started on the surface, its reverberations reaching her despite the distance.

She’d received a report that they’d engaged the enemy, but the underground cave housing the TARTAROS had been built to withstand most artillery fire, so she knew she’d be safe. There were dampers installed in the equipment’s foundation, too, so any issues that did come up would likely remain within a tolerable range.

When the shaking died down at last, the only sound left in the room was that of Kaname’s typing. This was soon interrupted by a knock from outside. “Come in,” Kaname said shortly.

It was Leonard who entered. “How are things coming?” he asked.

“Almost there,” Kaname replied, her eyes locked on the screen, fingers flying over the keys. “Should I hurry?”

“I think telling you to do so would be rather unseemly, since you’re clearly already hurrying,” said Leonard, with a hint of self-deprecation in his voice. “The enemy has made landfall and destroyed the Behemoths. It’s only one machine, but it’s a formidable opponent.”

“The Arbalest’s successor, I assume?” Kaname asked.

“The ARX-8,” Leonard confirmed. “It’s apparently called the ‘Laevatein.’”

The successor machine and the remnants of Mithril had been making trouble all over the place, which was part of why their own resources had become so limited. Kaname wasn’t sure why, but she felt no curiosity whatsoever about the identity of the pilot. “You can’t stop it?” she asked.

“Of course I can,” Leonard responded quickly.

Kaname stopped typing and turned back to look at him. He was dressed in his arm slave operator’s uniform, likely about to sortie in the Belial. “If you can stop it,” she said pointedly, “then why do I need to hurry?”

“I’ll be frank,” he told her. “There’s... a ninety percent chance I’ll stop it.”

“I see.”

“But still, ninety percent.”

“Are you less than confident, perhaps?” Kaname questioned.

At this, Leonard smiled; not his usual half-smile, but rather a broad smile tinged with aggression and madness. It was the smile of a wild beast—a smile similar to Gauron’s. “I’m perfectly confident,” he said. “I’ll tear him to shreds.”

“Then why should I hurry?” Kaname asked again.

“Our opponent has a system for nullifying lambda drivers, and its pilot is one of the best in the world,” Leonard reminded her. “And in a way, Merida Island is their home turf... Objectively speaking, there’s still a chance I could lose. If we fought ten times, he might win once.”

“You’re surprisingly humble today,” she observed.

“I’m always humble,” Leonard said mildly. “But with that in mind, you should still hurry up. Even if it’s only a ten percent chance, it could still happen, and we should be ready.”

“Don’t worry,” Kaname told him. Then she turned back to the screen and resumed typing... a second row, and then a third. All the necessary equations and values. Then she put in the final command: Execute. “I just finished,” she said, restoring the headset she’d thrown onto the table to her ear. To the head electrician, who was waiting nearby, she said, “Hook us up to the grid.”

“Thank you,” said Leonard. “You know what comes next, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she affirmed. “I’ve memorized the list of executives Kalinin-san brought me, as well as the other ‘baggage’... Now I just need to change and hook myself up to the device.” She stood up and stretched a little. “It’s almost here,” she mused. “Soon we’ll have a peaceful, easy world to live in.”

“Yes...”

“We’re going somewhere very different,” Kaname continued. “Somewhere far away. Passing through Tártaros, the world of the dead, to the infinite sky that lies beyond... I’m sure I’ll see you there, too.”

“The ‘infinite sky,’ eh?” Leonard thought for a moment, then closed his mouth. He seemed to be unsure whether he should say what he was thinking.

“What?”

“I want to see you, even on the other side,” he finally admitted. “No matter what form it takes.” Even on the other side... He meant the new world she would be creating.

“Sure thing,” Kaname told him. “We’ll grab tea together. In some peaceful city, under clear blue skies.” She smiled at him, beaming and innocent. “I’ll have lots of time soon,” she went on. “I’ll go to meet all kinds of people. I’ll probably see Tessa, too. She’ll have never experienced war, and you’ll be able to be close again.”

“I’m sure.”

“My friends at school, too. And my mom. They’ll all be hale and healthy. And at last, I’ll be happy.”

“You won’t go to see him?” Leonard asked.

Kaname didn’t know what he was talking about. “Who?”

“Oh, no one... Goodbye.” Shaking his head slightly, Leonard turned to walk off as another distant explosion rattled the ceiling.

Kaname stood in the empty control room for a while, meditating on his final words. You won’t go to see him? she thought. Who did he mean? She felt like she was forgetting something... Something very important.

After a moment she said, “Oh, Sousuke...” It was strange that she hadn’t remembered him right away. He’d been important to her, hadn’t he? When she’d killed him in those ruins in Siberia—Yamsk 11—she’d felt as though she might die of grief... But she’d completely forgotten about that by now. A result of her guilt, maybe? Perhaps a part of her was trying to forget the painful path she’d chosen at that crossroads in the ruins.

Get a hold of yourself, Chidori Kaname. Killing Sousuke was just a temporary thing, she thought. Once you’re on the other side, he’ll be fine and whole, and you’ll be able to see him any time you want to. Really, this just makes it all the more important that you don’t let them stop the plan. If they do, the two people you killed will stay that way forever, and your plans to save and see them again will be down the drain.

“Yes, I have to hurry...” Go on, get changed, she told herself, opening the bag she’d tossed into a corner of the control room to pull out the data suit she would use to connect directly to the TAROS.

She removed her jacket, camisole, and pleated skirt, and as she was reaching for her underwear band, she heard a voice through the wireless headset still attached to her ear.

“Chidori Kaname, can you hear me?!” It was a man’s voice, mixed in with static. “I’m calling you on an open channel. If you can’t answer, just listen! I’m here. I’m right nearby!”

She put her hand to the receiver and checked the band on the LCD panel: it wasn’t encrypted. The speaker was calling on all channels, and her receiver was automatically picking up the signal through the emergency band.

“Sousuke...?” she whispered dubiously.

“I came to bring you back,” he insisted. “You hear me? I came to bring you back!”

It wasn’t a trick of her ears. That was really Sousuke. How? Isn’t he dead? I shot him right in the forehead... How can he be here now?

I’m glad he’s alive—was not what she felt. He’s come all this way for me—was also not how she felt. All she felt was confusion, and the sense of wrongness grew stronger until she couldn’t even read the nearby screen. Kaname’s eyes grew unfocused, and she struggled to think clearly.

“I tried to think of some kind words to say, but it’s going to be blunt and crude instead. That’s just the kind of man I am,” Sousuke admitted. “So, listen closely: what I want to say is, I thought you were a stronger woman than this. You hear me?”

What is he talking about? she wondered. If he was saying this all on an open channel, he’d be heard all over Merida Island. His pursuers would track the source of the transmission and surround him. Nevertheless, Sousuke didn’t stop talking. To the contrary, he began rattling off a litany of complaints in a disgusted tone that she’d never heard from him before.

“I’ll be honest,” he was saying now. “I’m disappointed in you, Chidori Kaname. I always thought you were so impressive. No... I didn’t, actually. You got on my nerves all the time, too. You smacked me around, you rejected my carefully considered arguments, and you frequently tried to control me. You never showed any consideration for a poor fish out of water in your peaceful homeland. When I think back now, that wasn’t fair. You can be very cruel,” he accused her.

“But that’s not what I came to say,” he went on. “That all just occurred to me, so I wanted to bring it up while I was here. What I really came to say is, are you really worthy of all I’ve done? Is saving you really worth everything I’ve thrown away to do it? It seems a little twisted, if I’m being honest. The year I’ve spent chasing after you has been one of incredible frustration. I almost had you in Mexico, and again in Yamsk-11... but I always failed, because you always hesitated. Were you ever even taking this seriously? Do you even really care? Or are you crying now because I said all this to you?” he demanded. “What kind of a spoiled princess are you? Are you just some stupid girl waiting for some stupid man to comfort you?”

Kaname was initially surprised by the change in his usual demeanor—this man of so few words launching into a diatribe—but then she realized what was going on. They’re so stupid. They think they can shake me like this?

Her sense of wrongness was increasing, as was that displeasure she found it so hard to articulate. But she pushed all of that aside as she turned over the enemy’s apparent plan in her mind. A challenge? A play at my sympathies? It’s pathetic, whatever it is...

“Well, Chidori Kaname?!” Sousuke said, almost screaming. “You said we’d go back together, but I guess you’re just a liar and a whore! If I’m wrong, come and hit me! Come smack me on the head with your slipper or your fan like before!”

She wasn’t sure why, but the sense of wrongness was growing stronger. Her chest grew hot, her vision blurred, and, feeling annoyed, she felt a growing urge to scream back at him.

“Answer me, Chidori!” Sousuke demanded.

Kaname tore at her hair as if to drive away the strange feelings welling up inside of her. Then she flipped on her headset switch, chose her band, and opened a channel. “I can hear you,” she told him.

Sousuke’s monologue stopped immediately.

“You’re using a synthesizer to imitate Sousuke’s voice, aren’t you?” she said accusingly. “Did you think that would be enough to shake me?”

“Sorry to inform you, but I’m the one and only Sagara Sousuke,” he retorted.

“All right, let’s assume that’s the case,” she agreed coldly. “Your efforts are still in vain. The preparations for the TARTAROS are complete. I’m going to create a new world. Everything you’re trying to do... it’s too late.”

He didn’t respond. He was listening to her words, carefully and silently.

“Leonard and the others will have you cornered soon. There’s... There’s nothing more you can do,” she declared. “I don’t know who you are. But if you really care about what I want...throw down your weapons and back off. Soon, we can all say goodbye to this cruel—”

“Shut up,” he interrupted her, his voice quiet but certain. “You be quiet. I’m talking to Chidori Kaname.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I am Chidori Kaname.”

“No, you’re not.” The man calling himself Sousuke laughed at her over the radio, a soft, mocking laugh. “You’re not her. You are Sofia.”

Sousuke waited for a response as he continued on through the jungles of Merida Island.

“Sofia?” she questioned after a pause. She seemed to find his words genuinely baffling. “What are you talking about?”

He felt no hesitancy or surprise there; just suspicion, as if she was questioning his sanity. It was the reaction he’d expected given Tessa’s pre-mission briefing, which suggested that they weren’t going to be able to talk this out. But then, Sousuke had never intended to convince her...

“I am Chidori Kaname,” she insisted. “Sofia is dead. You failed to play to my emotions, so now you’re trying to shake me? That’s pathetic.”

“Shut up,” snapped Sousuke, feeling irritation and anger rise inside of him as he continued to talk over the open channel. “Did you think I came all the way here in a fully loaded AS to plead for you to stop being stupid? Please, I came here to stop your plans cold. But as long as I’m here, I might as well say something to everyone listening in on this channel. Listen closely...”

He stopped for a second, then took in a deep breath. “I’m going to put this all to waste,” he declared. “Arson and destruction are my specialties, so whatever stupid occult device you’ve been worshiping? I’m about to turn it into a mountain of scrap. Plead with me all you like. I can’t wait to hear you scream and whine, ‘No, stop it. This is our last hope!’ By all means, cry too,” he said mockingly. “Pour your heart out. ‘No, we’ve been through too much pain, we want to erase this world.’ I’d love to hear it. I’ll record it all and play your pathetic words to the world. I’ll make you a laughingstock for a century to come. Get ready!”

It was maybe the most he’d ever said at one stretch. Even Sousuke was surprised by how easily the words came to him.

“You don’t understand anything, do you?” the girl whispered sadly, breaking her silence. “All we want is to make a kinder, gentler world. A world of comfort and balance and ease. A brighter—”

“Shut up, bitch,” he snarled.

“What...”

“Comfort? Please. Ease? I’ll smear that all over with bacteria-ridden shit. I know exactly what it is you want, and I’ve long since made up my mind about it,” he told her coldly. “I’m going to do everything I can to stop you. That’s the nature of war: simple applications of force and retaliations thereto. It’s what I love best. So let’s get started!”

Sousuke got a reading from one of the decoys’ vibration sensors. Al announced, 《Eight o’clock, distance three, two ASes!》

“Try me!” he yelled, hurling the invitation at both pilots. These enemy ASes were most likely the lambda driver-mounted Codarls. They’d already detected him and were heading in for the attack, so swiftly that the decoy had only just barely detected them. No need to talk to that woman anymore, then. The enemy were likely still somewhat divided among his decoys, but they would have caught on to his trick by now and begun their encirclement.

“Keep an eye on the western slope,” Sousuke ordered. “There are three good ambush spots there.”

《Yes, I remember.》 Al knew the jungles of the Merida Island practice grounds well.

Sousuke selected his weapons while still on the move. First, the two Zeloses on his hips. He engaged them at maximum firing speed with no particular regard for accuracy, which sent hundreds of 20mm bullets tearing through the jungle. Trees collapsed, causing leaves and branches to scatter.

The two Codarls must have decided that using ECS would be pointless, because they showed themselves from the get-go. They came charging in, kicking up mud as they immediately opened fire with their carbines.

The Laevatein took a few steps to dodge and then returned fire with its 40mm assault rifle. Five shots landed on one Codarl’s right side, but the Codarl blocked with its lambda driver to avoid the fatal blow. It stumbled, righted itself, and was about to attack again, when—

“Hah!” said Sousuke, pouring on more shots as if to assert his dominance via pure brute force. Overwhelmed by the torrent of 40mm and 20mm shots, the Codarl eventually fell over, riddled with bullet holes.

“I’ve had enough of these games!” Sousuke declared. He blocked another machine’s attacks with his force fields, then dropped the 20mm cannons as they ran out of bullets. He then ran at his opponent, exhausting the last of his remaining 40mm shots. The enemy pulled away, hopping left and right evasively while returning fire. The enemy’s 37mm shots bounced all around the Laevatein as he continued to charge until his rifle’s clip was empty.

《Remaining GEC-B bullets, zero.》

“I know!” he told Al. Then he snatched the rifle out of the sub-arms that held it to swing at the Codarl like a baseball bat. The air distorted between them, and there was a smack of contact as the rifle hit the enemy’s head and spun it hard into the ground.

As he was about to hit it again with the now-bent gun, Al blared another warning, 《Four o’clock!》

Sousuke grunted as he rolled forward to shield himself with the defeated Codarl. At almost the same time, a new enemy machine attacked from his four o’clock—coming in from the west, just as he’d predicted. He didn’t know how many; most likely three or more. Rounds of enemy fire peppered the Codarl he was using as a shield.

His other GEC-B was out of bullets, so he tossed it. While still blocking fire with the enemy machine in his left hand, Sousuke used his right hand to draw his Boxer-2 shotcannon and return fire. The enemies scattered.

《Incoming from the south as well, 》 Al reported. 《At least four.》

That meant they’d be taking fire on two fronts. Sousuke tossed aside the shredded enemy machine and, while using force fields to mitigate the damage, moved behind cover. The enemy was focusing their fire on him sooner than expected.

《The first two were likely there to delay you,》 Al observed.

“I agree,” Sousuke said grimly. “It’s the major commanding them.”

The major wasn’t going to let him pick them off one by one, and the decoys hadn’t bought Sousuke as much time as he’d hoped. He’d managed to overpower two of the enemy Codarls already, but it didn’t change the fact that he was at a clear disadvantage. There were at least eight enemy ASes out there, Leonard could be anywhere, and the major was commanding them... On top of which, the TAROS would be activating soon.

Major... He must have overheard Sousuke’s transmission before. Leonard likely had as well. His final declaration of war hadn’t actually been meant for that woman; it was meant for Kalinin and Leonard, as both a challenge and an insult: I won’t hesitate any longer. I’m going to crush you all with everything I have. You’re all weaklings, clinging to your shady devices and foolish ideals. I don’t care about your logic. It’s your twisted methods I object to. I’m going to meddle in your plans as long as I can. I’m going to spite you with everything I have. Just wait until I get there...

Were they laughing at him for his claim? No, they weren’t laughing at all. They knew they had to take him seriously. Anyone who would laugh him off wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

Sousuke let out a shout as a rocket detonated at close range, causing rocks and earth to shower the Laevatein’s armor.

《Three Codarl-types, en route to 21D.》

The enemy operators were setting up their encirclement. None of them seemed to be especially skilled, but their placement and the timing of their fire were extremely well coordinated. It was completely unlike the Codarls he’d faced in the past.

“Anything from the de Danaan?” he checked.

《No. Current status unclear.》

“They’re herding me northwest.”

《Right into enemy crossfire, I’m sure.》

“But we’re sitting ducks if we stay,” decided Sousuke. “Let’s go!”

The Laevatein dove out from behind the rocks and ran into the line of fire.

The mountains were eerily silent, a stark contrast to the pummeling anti-air attacks of moments ago. Mao’s M9 moved through the mountains, rendered invisible via ECS, her sensors all on passive mode. With her joints silenced, she snuck along like a stray cat down a back alley.

They’re not attacking, she thought, but that stands to reason. The enemy had no reason to be aggressive; their priority was to buy time. Even so, they had to know that the mountain facility was vulnerable to an M9 infiltration. They couldn’t want to entertain even the possibility of damage to the nuclear firing mechanism.

Setting up an ambush, maybe? Or have they really not noticed me yet? The latter seemed unlikely. It had been over two years since the M9’s ECS had made its live combat debut, so it was no longer the all-powerful stealth device it once was. It was still a powerful piece of equipment, but there was no reason that a cutting-edge Amalgam machine wouldn’t already have her rough location and heading.

Biting back the urge to use active ECCS, Mao continued moving forward. She wanted to be cautious in her approach, but also knew that she was in a race against time.

She came to the foot of the mountain’s south side, which would lead to the base’s entrance. Then she began to search the area around her. She picked something up: a faint heat source, hidden in a hollow behind the brush near the rocks to the southwest. Its infrared pattern wasn’t something you’d see in the natural world.

“Mao?” Clouseau’s voice came to her over a short-range signal. The heat signature she’d picked up was his Falke.

She lowered the gun she’d pointed at him and responded on their shared encrypted channel. “Where’s the infantry?”

“Yang is gathering them five hundred meters to the northwest,” he answered. “Only one light injury, apparently a sprain during landing.”

Mao realized she must have been the one who’d fallen the farthest from the group. “And Wu?” she questioned, asking after the soldier injured in the anti-air barrage just before they dropped. All she’d heard was that he was unconscious.

“I don’t know,” Clouseau admitted. “They left him in the plane. All I know is that he was pretty badly off.”

“I see... Is Yang okay?” She was asking if he was in psychological shape to lead his unit. Yang was good friends with the injured Wu.

“I only talked to him for a minute, but he seemed fine,” said Clouseau. “He’s moving them along the planned route, so we’ll come in from the northeast. Let’s go.”

“Understood,” Mao said shortly, casting a glance at her clock. Twenty minutes left to the expected launch... They didn’t have time to argue. She’d have to rely on Clouseau’s instinct.

Her AI traded data with Clouseau’s machine. Despite their invisibility, they could exchange location information in real time. The target symbol for Clouseau’s machine, labeled URUZ1, appeared on an otherwise blank location on her screen. She engaged all of her passive electronic warfare devices, then followed Clouseau up the slope.

“You don’t think it’s a little too quiet?” she asked.

“I do.” Clouseau knew that Mao’s machine had superior sensors, so after receiving and considering the data from her machine, he agreed.

“No sign of any traps, and less resistance than expected,” she pointed out. “That means...”

“Tessa was right?” he guessed.

“Yes. They’ve concentrated their remaining forces on Merida Island. This isn’t their main priori—”

Just then, music began to boom around them. Not an explosion—music. The mountain setting meant that all she could hear was the scratchy treble, but she could still tell just what song it was: Mussorgski’s Night on Bald Mountain, a symphony about evil spirits at play the night before the Festival of St. John. The source was immediately obvious: there were speakers installed all around the base, playing at a volume that would put a rock festival to shame.

“Reminds me of Fantasia,” Clouseau whispered.

“What’s that?” Mao asked.

“The first movie shown in stereo... ah, but never mind. Anyway, this screams Fowler to me.”

Fowler... Yes, this is just the kind of thing that wispy pretty boy would do, she thought. If this was part of a strategy to annoy the hell out of them, she had to admit, he knew what he was doing. And he’s a skilled operator on top of that. While we’re distracted by this...

An alarm sounded out, and Mao picked up a faint heat signature from the north slope at ten o’clock. She turned her gun towards it and backed up. She didn’t have to warn Clouseau; he would already have her data. Her AI’s ID system determined the heat source to be “within the margin of error,” but Mao disagreed. There was no question in her mind that it was an enemy machine.

But it wasn’t firing.

“It hasn’t noticed us yet?” she wondered.

“No—behind us!” Clouseau shouted, and at the same time, an enemy approached from the opposite direction. This one was still cloaked with ECS, too, so its form couldn’t be seen. All she could see was something coming out of the rocks five hundred meters behind them, beaming active radar in their direction—a pincer attack. It was impossible for their machines to collaborate under these conditions; they’d just have to go one-on-one.

“I’ll handle the front!” Clouseau yelled, his machine immediately turning with a leap to the side.

Mao turned in the opposite direction, dropped her now-useless ECS, and turned on almost all of her active sensors instead. It would be like beaming floodlights into the air around her, but the sensors quickly flooded her with information.

The enemy machines, which were previously just faint heat sources, were now plainly both Eligores; an improved model of the Codarl with advanced power and maneuverability. During their first meeting—the battle in Mexico—a surprise attack from one of these things had demolished her machine’s head, and it had taken everything she had just to keep up evasive maneuvers.

Clouseau was facing the black Eligore, which likely contained Fowler. Mao was facing off against the white Eligore, the one she’d first met in Mexico. This mountain wasteland would be the site of their final reckoning.

She’d managed to avoid a surprise attack this time, but they were still at a disadvantage. Their opponents had lambda drivers, and they didn’t; the two-on-two setup meant they wouldn’t have the means to use decoy tactics or set traps; but most importantly, the enemy pilots were at least as skilled as Mao and Clouseau were, if not more so...

Mao’s opponent, the white Eligore, had also dropped its ECS to attack. While tearing across the slope at high speed, it pointed its gun at Mao’s machine.

“Raring to go, huh?” Mao observed, and put out a powerful jamming burst to temporarily interfere with her enemy’s targeting. The enemy fired a burst shot regardless; it missed. Slipping through the shots, Mao leaped in a chaotic pattern while keeping the enemy machine in her sights. The moment she landed, she aimed and fired. She felt sure the shot would bounce off the lambda driver, but she checked to be sure, and...

Her jaw dropped. The white enemy machine hadn’t used its lambda driver. Instead, it had put out a similar jamming wave to throw Mao’s own targeting off. For a second, Mao’s screen blinked wildly, but it immediately recovered.

The Eligore shook its head slightly and then took off for its next attack position. It was like it was mocking her, saying, I don’t need a lambda driver. I can beat you with electronic warfare alone.

“Why, you...!” Mao fumed. Just who was that operator? She had no information to go off of, but... Could it be... a woman? she wondered. Mao wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was. It was pure intuition, but there was something about the white Eligore’s movements—the slight arch of its back, the bend of its knees, the flow from its jumps to its landings—that gave it a sense of elegance.

It was possible that Mao was overthinking it. But these machines did reflect the body language of their operators, after all. The motion manager translated all the personality, the humanity of its operator into the machine. With her allied machines, Mao could tell who was in which one just from watching them move.

Sousuke’s machines were always slightly hunched, head snapping side to side cautiously. Kurz’s M9 kept its chest puffed out, slowly and haughtily turning its head left and right. Clouseau’s machine was always ramrod straight, its stance like a martial artist. Mao was a practiced student of those motions, and her intuition now told her that her opponent might be a woman. Would knowing that give her an advantage somehow?

Hell no, dammit! The enemy shot at her again, and this time hit her left shoulder armor. Mao grunted. The damage wasn’t bad, but the impact had cracked one of her ECS lenses... That would make it harder for her to disappear again if she had to.

Shaking off the distracting train of thought, she fired a series of blasts from her assault rifle at the swiftly-moving enemy machine. The white Eligore integrated usages of its ECS with chaotic maneuvers and taunting shots. It would be difficult for Mao to land a clear hit from her current position.

She didn’t have time for this. And even if she did, was it even possible for her to beat this opponent?

●

One Codarl was gliding over the ground, ready to crash hard into Sousuke’s Laevatein.

《Proximity alert!》

Sousuke blocked the enemy machine’s strike with his left hand, then fired at another with the shotcannon in his right. Then, from behind, another enemy charged him, brandishing a spear-shaped monomolecular cutter.

“Knee cutter!” he yelled to Al.

《Ready.》

The blade of one of the Laevatein’s knee-mounted GRAW-4 monomolecular cutters activated while jutting out of his knee sheath. He just dodged the tip of the charging enemy machine and then, from a seemingly impossible position, unleashed a knee-jab. The cutter protruding from the knee skewered the incoming Codarl, causing sparks to fly from its armor.

Sousuke grunted as, at the same time, another enemy fired at him from a different direction. He twisted his upper half to use one enemy as a shield while swinging his right leg out. This cast the skewered enemy aside like a doll, sending it bouncing away through the mud. He then turned the shotcannon in his right hand against the enemy he’d been holding back with his left, blasting it to pieces at point blank range.

“That’s right, keep coming at me!” He felt alive. He was moving with a skill and efficiency he hadn’t felt since the barely remembered days of his youth. And there was one other thing that he realized...

I’m making trouble for Andrey Kalinin. He could identify the man’s strategy. He could imagine what he’d order his men to do based on Sousuke’s actions. They’d been together for so long, and he knew him all too well. Will this decision make trouble for you? Will this action make things harder for you? Sousuke mentally taunted him.

This wasn’t your standard rookie confidence; it was completely unemotional. The major was still unquestionably more intelligent, but the fuzzier factors were on Sousuke’s side. The Laevatein was a wildcard, raging with power that even its operator couldn’t fully predict... It exceeded the common sense ideas of an old veteran like Kalinin.

But no matter how strong it might be, it would hit its limits eventually. The difference in power, thought Sousuke. The mounting fatigue. The ticking clock... Even as hard as he was fighting, it would be difficult for him to defeat all their opponents and still make it to the TAROS in time. Maybe he could destroy most of the enemy forces, but it would still be over, sooner or later. The Laevatein’s power would eventually reach its limit...

Well? Is that what you’re thinking, Major? he paused to wonder. But it’s too late for you...

《Signal from TDD-1 received. Shall I make the prearranged support request?》

“Do it!” Sousuke ordered.

《Roger. Executing. Launch detected. Displaying now.》

Ten symbols appeared over the ocean at the edge of his tactical map: the de Danaan had received their request. It had reached the shores of Merida Island, and from nearby periscope depth, launched ten cruise missiles all at once. He couldn’t see them from here, but distance-wise, they were right under his nose.

《ETA thirty seconds,》 reported Al.

The Laevatein moved westward as enemy shells rained down around it. Sousuke avoided them with evasive maneuvers and use of cover, but still took a hit in the thigh. The wound wouldn’t be fatal, but it slightly reduced his output.

Regardless, he ran on and eventually came out in a clearing in the jungle. It was a grassy spot, about three hundred meters wide with good visibility. Theoretically, this was terrain you wanted to avoid in an AS battle. But the Laevatein plunged right into it.

《ETA, fifteen seconds. Executing terminal guidance of TRAM 1 through 10.》

Sousuke blocked the enemy attacks and fired back, blowing one Codarl’s arm off. Without flinching, the enemy tightened their encirclement, bearing down on him from three directions.

Eight enemies... He was literally surrounded on all sides. It would be impossible for him to handle them all at once. “Leave the guidance to me,” Sousuke ordered.

《Roger, 》 said Al. 《ETA, five seconds. Four... three...》

“Let’s do this!” Sousuke crowed as the Laevatein squatted down to activate the Fairy Eye. Power flowed into the wing-like units protruding from both shoulders. White particles danced from the blades, and a muffled hum echoed throughout the area.

The Fairy Eye was a lambda driver canceler, capable of neutralizing the lambda drivers of all machines within range. The nullification field instantly expanded to encompass the Codarls. At the same moment, the ten cruise missiles arrived overhead. Al provided the terminal guidance, and arrows of flame rained down at subsonic speeds from the dim sky above.

《Impact.》

A hit. A hit. A hit. A hit. A hit... A storm of explosions raged up around Sousuke. Some of his opponents didn’t even notice the surprise attack; some noticed and tried to use their lambda drivers to defend. Nevertheless, they all ended up the same way; over half of his enemies were speared by the shaped charges. Some were blown to smithereens, while others caught fire.

《Five units destroyed, 》 Al reported. 《The rest dodged.》

“Great work,” Sousuke told him. The activation of the Fairy Eye ceased, and Al folded up the unit’s heat sink plate as they moved in to clean up their remaining enemies.

They’d destroyed five of the eight Codarls, and the three remaining seemed to have just barely dodged or avoided fatal blows. One had actually lost a leg and was trying to crawl away... Sousuke unceremoniously fired his shotcannon at its back, destroying the Codarl instantly. The remaining two recovered from their panic, and after waffling over whether to continue attacking or run, they turned to face him, apparently having chosen the former.

“Get out of my way!” Sousuke snarled at them. He pulverized one with a shotcannon blast, then bisected the last in a vertical slice from his monomolecular cutter. All units destroyed.

Now... Major, I’ve polished off your lackeys. Did you plan for this, too? If so, what will you have in store for me next? Have you prepared a welcome committee of traps? Or are you planning to lure me towards the base, to attack me when I disembark to save Kaname?

Well, bring it on, Sousuke thought. I’m on my way. The Laevatein sheathed its monomolecular cutters back in its knees and dashed towards the center of the base.

Kalinin wasn’t at all surprised by the news of the destruction of his entire Codarl squadron. To the contrary, he felt a certain sense of inevitability about it.

It wasn’t a failure of his leadership, by any means. He’d told them to watch out for the Laevatein’s lambda driver canceler. He had even expected to see it used in tandem with cruise missiles. What he hadn’t anticipated was such deft coordination; Sousuke and Tessa were both far more skilled than they had been a year ago. They’d been through countless trials and had come out stronger and sharper on the other side.

They might be too much for me after all, he thought. If only the Belial had coordinated with the Codarls, the outcome might have been different... “But it was never going to happen,” he whispered to himself. Leonard’s pride wouldn’t allow it; he wanted a one-on-one fight. His superiority was his weakness, in a way.

He called Leonard on the radio and received no response. He probably couldn’t expect one. But a dispassionate analysis still gave Leonard a ninety percent chance of victory; even with the lambda drive canceler in play, the Belial was still the superior machine.

Kalinin would just have to leave the Laevatein to Leonard while he focused on the placement of his infantry. If the de Danaan were to break through their defenses and make landfall, it would be on the base’s north shore. He could set up a careful ambush there and deal a decisive blow to the amphibious invasion. No matter how hard the enemy tried, he could buy his people all the time they needed. Kalinin sent out a few secondary orders, and then began to instruct the infantry squadron on countermeasures.

As he ran through the jungle, Sousuke used an encrypted channel to call the de Danaan. “Uruz-7 here,” he reported. “I’ve destroyed most of the enemy ASes. No sign of the Belial yet. The TAROS must have entered its final activation stage.”

“This is... the de Danaan. Thank you,” Mardukas’s voice responded. He was breathing hard, and the static was severe. Sousuke could hear shouts and alarms blaring out behind him on the radio. They must have taken some serious damage.

“Colonel?” Sousuke questioned. “Where’s the captain?”

“She was thrown from her chair when the torpedo hit,” Mardukas told him. “She’s getting first aid now.”

“A torpedo? How bad is it?”

“It’s all right. We can still function, and so can she,” said Mardukas. “We’re going to try entering through the underground waterway. Our latest satellite information confirmed that the TAROS was built in our old underground dock. Sagara, you try to infiltrate from the surface.”

Through the underground waterway? he thought incredulously. It was a dangerous move. Reckless, one might even say.

You can stop pushing yourselves and just wait in the ocean... he was about to say, but then realized he couldn’t: they didn’t have that luxury. The TAROS would activate soon, and he wasn’t actually sure if he could make it there all by himself. He didn’t have time to clean up everything here before making his own run at it, either. Their best plan was to divide the enemy, with him attacking from the surface and the de Danaan from underground.

“Understood,” he said at last.

“Put me on!” It was Tessa’s voice. He could hear the headset being ripped off of Mardukas’s head. “Sagara-san,” she said. “The Belial... you haven’t seen it yet?”

“Affirmative.”

“Be careful. Leonard will try to buy time. He doesn’t have to beat you, just hold you in place until it activates.”

“Understood. But—”

“Don’t hold back. Do whatever you have to do to stop my brother. Dead or alive,” Tessa declared, seeming to realize what Sousuke was about to say. “I’m going to tell you something that might just faze him, all right? Memorize this.” On the other side of the radio, her voice took on a hesitant tone. Then, with the reticence of someone about to drink poison, she managed to spit out the words.

It was a single, short phrase. Sousuke didn’t understand what it meant, but he didn’t have time to ask for clarity. His response was short: “Understood.”

“Please, do it. End communication!” The call cut off hastily.

That was the entirety of his conversation with Tessa. The enemy still had some surface aquatic forces, after all... they didn’t have time for a leisurely, careful exchange in the middle of combat.

The Laevatein ran in the direction of the base. Once there, the plan was to head south, enter Elevator No. 16 in the practice grounds, reach the basement, then charge straight down Corridor No. 0, the passage that served as the underground base’s backbone—that would be the shortest route. Corridor No. 0 was wide enough that even ASes could pass through easily.

As the jungle rushed by in his vision, it occurred to Sousuke that there was still a tiger on the island. He’d saved a Bengal tiger from a poacher while living in Tokyo, and with nowhere else to keep it, had brought the animal to live here.

That white tiger might still be here in this jungle.

I wonder if he’s safe... Sousuke had tried to keep it in his apartment, but this idea had been met with violent objections from Kaname. He’d ended up setting it free in the jungles of Merida Island instead, and despite his protestations that it would be useful in controlling the wild boar population that ran rampant on the practice grounds, she’d still looked worried.

《Sarge? Your focus is dropping,》 Al told him. He’d probably picked up on his emotional state through the machine’s mini-TAROS.

“No... I’m all right,” Sousuke told him, and shook off those idle thoughts. Elevator No. 16 was close, but Leonard still hadn’t shown up. There was no activity from Kalinin, either. He didn’t mind, though; perhaps they’d just suffered an equipment malfunction. Stopping Sofia had to be his priority right now.

Then he was forced to stop with a gasp. Ah, of course, he thought. I should have known. There was an AS lurking on the crest of the hill that contained Elevator No. 16, blocking his way. The unblemished black and silver armor; the elegant curves; the asymmetrical head, which gave it an imposing, demonic aura. It was Leonard’s Belial.

The rain was still falling lightly around them, so Leonard wasn’t bothering to use his ECS. The Belial had some kind of weapon in its hands; as long as the machine was tall, and shaped like a sliver of a crescent moon. This it rested on one shoulder as it looked down at Sousuke haughtily.

Is that... a bow? Sousuke wondered incredulously.

“I expected you’d make it this far,” Leonard said over his external speakers. “Though I thought Kalinin’s leadership would hold you off a little while longer... Never trust an old man to do a young man’s job.”

“I wonder,” Sousuke replied. “If you had been in command, I might have arrived here five minutes earlier.”

“Well met.” The Belial’s shoulders bounced once, but it was more of a shrug than a laugh. “I heard your little speech earlier. Very entertaining. So, you know she’s really Sofia?”

“Of course. Tessa told me.” Sofia—the original guinea pig who had been ripped apart mentally and physically in the Yamsk-11 experiment eighteen years ago—had materialized as another consciousness within Kaname via the omni-sphere.

The worst part was that she didn’t even realize it. Sofia wasn’t controlling Kaname; she thought she was Kaname, acting of her own volition. Furthermore, she had all of Kaname’s past memories and believed them to be her own. That made it pointless to try to reason with her, or to appeal to her past.

Sousuke knew that Kaname’s will—if it was still in there somewhere—was the only thing that could fight that fight, which left the question of what he should say to spur it on. Go for it? I’m coming for you? I’m still thinking of you? Of course not; such words rang hollow. What stronger words did he know, then? The answer to that question was the rant he’d ended up with.

Sousuke didn’t know how to profess his love to somebody, but he knew how to jeer and provoke. When someone was struggling on the ground, there were ways to help them besides kind encouragement.

“I see,” Leonard mused. “You thought that would be an effective method of calling to the real her. How typically straightforward of you.”

“What about you?”

“What?”

“You appear to have some special feeling for Chidori as well,” Sousuke pointed out. “But that isn’t her, not really. How can you be all right with what’s happening?”

“I believe you know,” Leonard replied.

“You still intend to reject the world we live in?”

“To restore it to its proper shape, you mean.”

“We’re going around in circles.” Sousuke stopped speaking and began to load a magazine of armor-piercing rounds into his shotcannon, feeling that there was an emptiness to the whole affair. There was no particular animosity between himself and Leonard, and that itself was a problem; the lack of any strong feelings towards his opponent left him with no real investment in the upcoming fight. This wasn’t some kind of predestined battle. It was just two people who wanted different things, each trying to clear the other from the board. Sousuke just had to beat Leonard and then proceed onward. The other man’s philosophy was irrelevant to him.

It would be the same if they met in another world, whether they were enemies or allies. They were fundamentally irrelevant to each other, with nothing to build on, no basis for developing a strong bond of hatred. You couldn’t change a person’s nature, and some people would never mix, no matter how you played with destiny.

The realization was simultaneously crushing and amusing. He could feel it in his bones. Leonard, thought Sousuke. Maybe if you’d felt like a mortal enemy to me, I might have been able to agree with you. But out loud, he said, “There’s no time. Let’s begin,” and then fired.

The Belial didn’t move. The armor-piercing round stopped en route as the air around it warped severely, force field meeting force field. The round itself was no more than an intermediary to both parties; a vehicle for the images of destruction their minds could conjure.

At last, the shot was blown apart, scattering like confetti as the air compressed and trembled from the shockwave that shattered the ground below.

“Yeah, thought so!” Sousuke clicked his tongue and began to prepare himself for what was coming, fully aware that Leonard wouldn’t settle for a similarly mild greeting.

The Laevatein was a powerful machine, but the Belial was inevitably superior. Now it came tearing through the smoke to dance in the dawning sky above. “You made quite the speech before, Sagara!” Leonard jeered at him. “‘Put it all to waste’? ‘Foil our plans’? Well, do it, if you can!”

The Belial assumed an attack stance, confirming that its weapon really was a bow—an enormous longbow, eight meters tall. Leonard held the weapon in its left hand, elegantly pulling the mechanical string taut with the fingers of its right.

There was no arrow to be seen, but Sousuke could tell that it was there, invisible, and pointed at him. I can’t block it, he felt, and instinctively threw himself to the side in order to dodge. Then he sensed it as the Belial’s bow fired something that pierced through the Laevatein’s shotcannon and left shoulder. The shockwave washed over him, and Sousuke felt the explosion ripping through the air before he heard it.

But if the sound of the bow’s firing had come after its destructive effects... “A railgun...?” Sousuke exclaimed, sensing that this was something fundamentally different from a shell.

《Unknown,》 said Al. 《The shot hit as soon as it fired. It was hypersonic, or even faster.》

Sousuke didn’t have time to consider Al’s observation. The weapon’s speed wasn’t as dangerous as the fact that his force fields didn’t work against it. The attack had taken out his shotcannon and destroyed the fairy wing on his left shoulder; if he hadn’t dodged, it might have also skewered his torso.

“Excellent instincts,” Leonard taunted. “But what about the next one?!” The Belial flew freely, readying its second arrow.

While we’re fighting, Kaname—rather, Sofia—is activating the TAROS, Sousuke thought. I don’t have time for this. And time wasn’t his only concern—he was at risk of total destruction.