Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 15===

With C4 in hand, Quenser’s expression turned bitter.

“…What are we supposed to do?” he muttered in a trembling voice.

The maintenance parts for the Object were just the precision equipment with no outer shell, so C4 was more than enough to destroy them.

However…

“There’s just too many of them. The amount of C4 I have isn’t enough!!”

The vast space within the building was packed almost completely full of the cylindrical parts. Quenser gritted his teeth at the overly cautious amount they had prepared.

Objects were synonymous with war.

Everyone on that base would be slaughtered if the Object ceased to function.

The massive amount of parts showed how afraid they were of that happening. The enemies were cowardly enough to leave all the killing to the Object, but they were well aware of its weaknesses.

Heivia was taken aback in the same way and he tapped Quenser’s shoulder.

“Hey, let’s just blow up the entire building. Even if we can’t blow up each individual part, we can crush it all under the rubble if we destroy one of the building’s main support pillars!!”

“Do you have any way of being sure that every single one of these thousands of parts will be unusable afterwards? And even if each individual part is unusable, they might be able to scavenge enough working components to put together a usable one!”

“But that’s-…! No, you’re right. The continued operation of the Object is a matter of life or death for them. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were that persistent. But what else are we supposed to do!?”

“Shit!!” Quenser swore and ran through the storehouse.

He looked at each of the shelves made of the metal framework to see if he could find any useful information. As he read the displays, his impatience increased, preventing him from actually comprehending any of it.

At the same time, Heivia glanced toward the exit.

“Hey, this is dangerous. We should really finish up in here! If we can’t take out the Object’s undercarriage, there’s no point in staying any longer!! We need to get out of here!!”

“Wait just a bit longer!! There has to be something!!” replied Quenser as he flipped through a turbine maintenance manual he had found.

When he then heard a low sound like thunderclouds spreading across the sky, he thought his heart would stop.

It was the sound of the Water Strider moving.

“Oh, shit!! Why didn’t the princess warn us over the radio!?” Heivia yelled, but Quenser paid him no heed.

After coming that far, they would die a vain death if they did not retaliate in some way.

(Wait a second. This combination of a four level sensor and automatic switch…)

Quenser looked back and forth between the maintenance manual and the shelves.

(What’s the number!? If I know the leading number…!!)

“Time’s up, hero!! If we don’t get out of here in 30 seconds, we’ll be trapped!!”

“Give me one more minute!!”

“What are you messing around with!? Didn’t you conclude we couldn’t blow them up!?”

“45 more seconds!!”

Heivia heard a great number of footsteps approaching. Quenser had likely lost his ability to make rational decision due to the hope he thought he saw before him. Just as Heivia was thinking of kicking Quenser’s ass to make him leave, Quenser finally returned to Heivia.

“Let’s go. Can we still make it!?”

“Because of some idiot wasting time it’s gonna be pretty thrilling, but hopefully! This way!!” Heivia said as he ran toward the back entrance.

He opened the door a crack and peered outside just in time to see the giant Object cut across nearby. It was likely headed for the maintenance area. The maintenance soldiers were following behind it.

“Can we make it?”

“It’ll be like cutting across a bee hive, but we won’t get another chance. The radar facilities will be on highest alert when the Object is undergoing maintenance. We need to get out of the base before they switch over the mode.”

They then heard a clanking noise.

It was not coming from the back entrance. The personnel door next to the giant shutter on the front was opening.

“Dammit, let’s go!”

Quenser and Heivia were almost pushing each other as they charged out of the storehouse.

It seemed the enemy army had lowered its guard quite a bit since the Object they felt was the sole threat had been destroyed. A great number people were gathered around the returning Water Strider as if it were a triumphant parade.

“Hey, you aren’t going to be using that C4, right? Stick fuses in it and throw it all over the area.”

“Are you going to use it as a diversion?”

“Once that damn Water Strider’s maintenance is done, we’re going to need some kind of plan to buy us enough time to escape. If they get a report of explosions all over their base, they might assume it’s being bombarded and turn the Object back to deal with it!!”

Quenser went along with Heivia’s idea and tossed the small pieces of C4 around as he ran. It was true that they were not going to need the C4.

After ridding themselves of all the C4, they headed back for the hole they had cut in the barricade.

That was when Quenser noticed something.

He suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong, hero!? Did you leave something behind!?”

“Yeah! The princess has been captured!!”

Heivia’s expression turned to one of shock upon seeing the serious look on Quenser’s face.

They headed behind a nearby building rather than for the hole in the barricade and then peered around the side so they could see the center of the base zone.

In the distance, they could see the Elite girl in handcuffs being forced to walk near the Water Strider. Their triumphant mood had not simply been due to the return of the Object. They were in high spirits because they now had a chance to lynch the person who had been threatening their lives.

Quenser looked back and forth between the hole in the barricade and the Elite girl in the center of the base zone.

“God dammit. What are we supposed to do!?” he asked.

“''What are we supposed to do''…? Oh, no. While I admit you’re a knight, you can’t possibly be thinking of trying to save her in this situation!”

“So we should just abandon her!? I’m not saying we have to take on the Object. We just scattered that C4 around, remember!? If we can confuse the enemy with that, there might be enough of an opening to save her!!”

“With just the two of us!? They have their Object. And even if they didn’t, how many soldiers do you see out there!? Do you know just how many reinforcements we would need to break through all of them!?”

“But without the Object, things would be different, right?”

“What?”

“If we can take out the Water Strider, we could manage with normal reinforcements like tanks or fighters, right!?”

Quenser gritted his teeth and operated the radio in his hand.

He was not detonating the C4.

He was trying to contact Froleytia and the other fleeing soldiers, but Heivia frantically grabbed his hand upon realizing that.

“You idiot!! Their base is mainly radar facilities! If you send out a radio signal, they’ll find us in no time at all!!”

“But…!!”

“There’s nothing we can do. Even if we could contact Froleytia and the others, do you really think they’d come!?”

“So we should just abandon the princess!? Do you remember why we split up with the main force and came here in the first place!? It was because we couldn’t abandon her!”

“Dammit,” Heivia said and quietly clicked his tongue.

He seemed to hesitate over something, but finally made up his mind and spoke.

“My military instructor taught me a secret trick back when I was trained.”

“?”

“If you raise the output of the infrared seeker on an 8th generation portable anti-tank missile as far as it will go, make a few special modifications to the aiming computer, and then connect it to the radio’s port, the high power military satellite will pick up the infrared signal, completing the transmission.”

“Wait, you mean…!!”

“But there’s no guarantee those in control of the radio facilities here won’t notice a trick like this and the chaff missile shot in to the clouds is obstructing any transmissions or signals. The instructor who taught me this said it should only be used as a last resort to get an SOS out. It’ll be a miracle if the transmission lasts even for a whole minute.”

As he practically spat out that explanation, Heivia put down the missile and started making the necessary preparations. Quenser removed the cover to the missile’s aiming computer.

“Do you know where and when the satellite is going to pass by overhead?”

“Look at the timetable in File 399 on your handheld device. If it’s on its standard orbit, you should be able to check it there without having to check online.”

Heivia connected the radio and portable anti-tank missile with a cable and slowly moved the barrel through the sky based on the data on Quenser’s handheld device. As he did, a bit of static ran through the radio’s speakers.

“There, Heivia. …Okay, it looks like we’ve got the satellite.”

“Hurry up and secure the transmission line and then connect to Froleytia’s laser satellite communication device! I have no idea how long this manual method will last!!”

Despite the jury rigged method, they were using the proper military code, so the satellite actually relayed their signal. After getting the signal indicating the access had been a success, Quenser spoke into the radio.

“This is Quenser. Can you hear me, Froleytia? We are currently near the enemy base zone!!”

“…!?”

They heard the sound of someone’s breath catching in their throat come from the radio.

Due to forcing the signal through with the portable anti-tank missile, the signal had a lot of noise mixed in. The static was louder than the voices, but they could barely manage to get their words across to each other.

“The princess was captured by the soldiers at the base. We are about to go save her. Could you lend us a hand? The base is mostly made up of Object maintenance facilities and radar facilities, so they basically have no tanks or fighters. If we can do something about the Object, we can easily defeat them!!”

“Do you know how dangerous that Object is? Give up on the princess. There is no need for you to die and, Quenser, you aren’t even an actual soldier. No one will blame you if you run away!!”

“We will deal with the Object,” said Quenser plainly. No one thought his words could be anything but a bluff. “Froleytia, you can wait until you see the large flash of the Object blowing up, but the instant you think we could win at least send a single tank our way! That alone could completely change this situation. Please consider it!!”

“Okay, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I were you.”

“I’m free to get my hopes up over whatever I want,” Quenser said before switching off the radio.

He then turned toward Heivia.

He forced down the trembling of his body and said, “Now we’ve done everything we can.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think there’s really any chance of Froleytia coming back. For one thing, your request was not based on military regulations. She isn’t going to put her subordinates and units in danger for that.”

“Now we just need to resolve everything by praying for a miracle and destroying the Object on our own.”

“Don’t say that like it’s easy. And I never said a single word about helping you save the princess.”

“I see.”

Quenser did not speak ill of Heivia for wanting to flee. He had forcibly gotten him involved before, but there was no guarantee they would survive the next time. Also, what Quenser was going to do next was not a proper military action. In fact, he was thankful that Heivia had stuck around as long as he had.

“…Sorry for making you tag along for all this. You leave through the hole in the barricade and escape into the forest over there. I’ll do everything I can to draw their attention while you do.”

“Wait, damn you. Don’t leave me with some horrible trauma! You’re not going to give me any choice are you!?”

Heivia was still stubbornly glancing back toward the hole in the barricade, but when Quenser dashed out from behind the building and headed for his next piece of cover, Heivia chased after him.

Quenser and Heivia headed out alone on a mission that had almost no chance of succeeding.



And of course, no miracle occurred.

After only 10 minutes, they were spotted, warning shots were fired at the ground near their feet by a sniper, and they ended up surrendering with their hands raised above their heads.