Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth1 (section)

===Part 11===

It was 8 PM.

The moon was large that night.

More and more aircraft were launched from Camouflaged Carrier Izanami and Carrier Charles de Gaulle.

The operation had begun.



“Railgun 01 to Izanami. 101 Squadron is in the air.”

“Mama 01 to Izanami. 202 Squadron has launched. And it looks like 201 has as well.”

“Silent 01 to Izanami. Same for 401 Squadron.”

“Maid 01 to Railgun 01. 301 is, no, w-wait a minute!”

Simply reporting on the squadron launches meant a lot of voices.

“Izanami. Roger. The Rafales of 301 were the last ones, correct? Then all fighters are safely in the air. Operation Giant Scramble will now commence.”

“Mental 00. Start by flying straight to the northeast. You should find the Ruler walking through the center of the Y-shaped continent.”

This time, Shokuhou had remained aboard the Izanami.

Or more accurately, she had clung to her seat in the CIC and thrown a fit until Mikoto relented. Something about “I am never again getting in a plane that will expose me to so many g’s it squashes my boobs!” Rejecting her mission at the last second showed a remarkable lack of cooperation for a supposed psychology expert.

Mikoto glanced at her radar display.

Then she looked right and left through the canopy.

The night sky was filled with friendly aircraft.



101 Squadron: Shinshin, F-2A x2, YF-22A.



201 Squadron: F-14D x4.

202 Squadron: F-15C x4.

203 Squadron: F/A-18E x3.

204 Squadron: YF-23, F-16C x4.

200 Squadron: F-117A x3, F-35B.



301 Squadron: Rafale x5.

302 Squadron: Eurofighter x5.

303 Squadron: Gripen x3, Harrier x3.



401 Squadron: Su-57, Su-47 x2, MiG-35 x2.

402 Squadron: MiG-29 x3.

403 Squadron: MiG-31 x3.

404 Squadron: Su-37 x4.



At this point, they were more than just a formation.

They were a wing of several dozen aircraft.

Mikoto found things so much more lively than when she had first taken off in the Shinshin in such a hurry.

“Railgun 01 to squadron. Tonight we will eliminate the threat of the Ruler. Let’s return the continent to its people.”

“Teleport 02. Roger that.”

“Rampage 03. Ditto.”

“Hm? But if this is our final battle…huh?” YF-22A seemed to realize something. “Brat 04 to Railgun 01. The Empire and the States are both in shambles, but won’t that mean the entire continent goes to the Republic which just so happens to have escaped all this unscathed?”

“It does.”

Mikoto wasn’t interested in a political discussion.

“It can’t be! I, YF-22A, am a stealth fighter of the everlasting Liheilstaut Empire!!”

“Silent 01. As a Su-57, I am a stealth fighter of the glorious United States of Narmeli. Are you just going to let the Republic take the entire continent for themselves just because they didn’t do anything during this entire war?”

The Rafale maids and Eurofighter princesses of the Republic groaned and shrank down.

What good was arguing at this point?

Besides.

Mikoto sighed.

“Hey, you stupid stealths, actually think about it before you complain. The Republic invited in so many foreign corporations they’re a collection of different peoples with no real sense of patriotism or national identity.”

“Gh.”

“Mh…”

“So it won’t make all that much difference if the Empire and the United States joins those other 30+ groups.”

That was probably why the Republic hadn’t done much of note during the war. The country was split along so many lines they couldn’t reach any kind of consensus, making swift and decisive action nearly impossible.

“At the very least, this won’t lead to a tyrannical rule by Cutalularia. If they do try to keep you ‘foreign groups’ down, it’ll lead to fierce opposition from the 30 peoples and massive corporations that support them. Just shove all the annoying paperwork onto the Republic, let them take responsibility for the world, and go enjoy cooking out in your yard or something.”

“Oh, could we have them take on our debts?” All of a sudden, YF-22A’s tone brightened. “Then our mutual leader will have to pay off the super nasty defaulted national debt that was causing our Empire so much trouble.”

“Silent 01. While we’re at it, we can have the world leader take responsibility for the global environment too. Meanwhile, we can build a bunch of polluting factories to enrich ourselves.”

“Maid 03 to all! Argh, you damn stealth trash! Railgun 01, you aren’t helping our Republic at all with this!!”

Again, Mikoto wasn’t interested in discussing politics.

Ultimately, it would just mean they were the Liheilstaut Empire on the overall continent of Cutalularia. If they could win their autonomy, they could keep their borders and military, so not much would really change.

“Think of it like not being able to search out a house for yourself but instead being given a rich man’s villa or second house to live in. The Empire and the States can live it up and, if any trouble crops up in the neighborhood, they can say, ‘This is a Republic mansion. Got a problem with that?’ ”

“I see.” “I see.”

“Maid 03. I do not agree with any of this. W-we will be having a meeting about this when we get back! A meeting!!”

The silly discussion ended there.

The coastline had come into view. They were approaching the continent.

She was already visible.

The 1800m naked girl had glossy skin and long, long hair that shined light pink or purple depending on the angle it was viewed from.

“Teleport 02 to Railgun 01. I see her.”

“Izanami to all fighters. The carrier has her on early warning radar. That is undoubtedly her.”

Her.

The Ruler.

The final enemy.

Mikoto squeezed the control column tight.

“Railgun 01 to all fighters. It’s time!!”