Editing City Series:Volume6e Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

The giant metal sheet floating in the sky had two long rails attached.

The metal sheet spanning the rails had the letters USIF written in white.

It was an aerial aircraft carrier belonging to the US branch of the AIF.

At the base of the runway, a preparation crew of around a dozen was moving around the flight deck and a single catapult platform was about to be launched.

A black-winged Heavy Barrel stood atop the metal platform.

The sleeves of its pitch black armored clothing bore the AIF’s world map emblem and its shoulder armor bore a drawing of a black lion.

That was Neue Schwarz. It had a more angular shape than its predecessor Schwarz Löwe and its two wings were longer and larger.

The weapon from which Heavy Barrels got their name had been attached as well.

A long barrel and an extra tank had been attached to the exterior of the secondary cockpit.

The barrel was around 4 yards long. It was attached at the center of the secondary cockpit and it stuck out past the right side of the head to help balance with the rear magazine.

Both the barrel and the magazine had their inertial control emblem panels activated and they were making several small metallic noises.

Similarly, shimmering heat was rising from the wings and the thrusters within them.

Its entire black form looked ready to take flight at any moment.

It was kneeled in preparation for launch and a woman stood to its right.

The large middle-aged woman looked up at the glowing sight device she could see from her side.

“They explained how that Word Rifle works, I hope? It will take four hours and an extra tank to negate the inertial weight. The bullet takes an entire extra tank per shot. You have four tanks, but the barrel probably won’t survive the second shot.”

“It’s an unboosted miniature Babel Cannon, right? Can’t I break through the dome or Tristan with this?”

“Didn’t they explain that? That thing applies damage to a single point, but the dome distributes that across the entire surface. And Tristan isn’t just the framework used to support that stupidly tall structure – it has a defense barrier similar to the dome set up along its surface. Your job is to blast all the enemies that might stop the others, Berger.”

“So I’m just there to set the stage, huh?” said Neue Schwarz in Berger’s voice. “But, Corelle, everyone keeps secrets these days. That idiot Hazel said she took my blood to have a prosthetic arm made for me…but when was this made?”

“The AIF helped dismantle and work on Schwarz Löwe in Germany at the end of ’39. Hazel was only trying to get you an arm made initially, but one day she went to M. Schrier with a different request.”

“And he had this made? He spoils her.”

“Isn’t it a lovely present? All the steel was made with your blood mixed in and the design was reworked from the ground up. Also, Schwarz Löwe’s memories of the battle against Neue Kaiser were included along with Schwarz Löwe’s High Organ prototype device.”

“Wait, what? Why don’t people tell me these things? That explains why the stomach feels kind of heavy. Y’know, mechanic teams aren’t supposed to modify people’s gear without permission.”

“If they weren’t that way, they never would have made an experimental Heavy Barrel on some girl’s request. Oh, and she paid for the development fees and everything else with a long-term loan. I believe she only has around 800 monthly payments left now.”

“Hah. It’s true what they say about war being an economic activity. I see. So everything about it is top class: power, reaction, and the debt behind it. Why’d she have to give me the best when I’d prefer second best?”

Corelle gave a toothy bitter smile and kicked Neue Schwarz’s right knee.

“Your heart’s not in your bitching today, Berger. Is it that disease’s fault? I mean, you even volunteered to join the fight.”

“I just want off this damn carrier. Before the new captain knocks out my back tooth on the other side this time.”

“This mission is being led by Pale and our new captain – Oscar Mirildorf, a man who put together a plan that sends his own daughter to the front lines.”

“He’s just a doting dad. A guy like him? Sees the front lines as center stage, right under the spotlight.”

Part of the crew checked the time and waved to Corelle. She checked her own watch.

“Three more minutes. Time for the final route check.”

“I fly too high for their radar to see me and then I drop straight down on the target. I land in the rain before they can even notice me. The same technique you’ll be using tonight. …What about you? Can you handle it?”

“Except for Coolers, our select team is already over there. That just leaves half of the people here to descend near some other cities as a diversion.” Corelle put her hands on her hips and breathed from the corner of her mouth. The ends of her eyebrows rose slightly. “Make sure you get Hazel from Borderson to Germania. You owe her at least that much after she healed your right leg.”

“Yeah, but I’ve gotten the short end of the stick more often than not.” Before Corelle could say anything more, Berger continued in a disinterested voice. “Corelle. Did Hazel read my Lives when she healed my leg?”

“I told her to, but she said it would be wrong without your permission. You know how she is.”

“That explains it. And it’s moving so well now. How many times do I have to tell her second best is good enough for me?”

His right knee shifted a bit on the catapult, making a metallic scraping noise.

“Hey. If we do stop the Wheel of Destiny, then the world will be remade to not include the Messiah at 4:42 tomorrow morning. But what do you think she would do if she knew there was a way to avoid that?”

“Eh?” said Corelle, her eyebrows rising somewhat. “What do you mean? Pale and the others have accepted that the world will be completely remade.”

“There is a way to stop the Wheel but keep the Messiah around. It sounds like a joke, though.” He kept his voice low. “And it’s a dumb joke I doubt would actually work.”

The black Heavy Barrel raised its head somewhat to face dead ahead.

Corelle started to say something, but took a few steps back instead.

A launch crewmember in the center of the runway waved a flag down.

That wave was the signal to go.

“I’m off.”

With that, the wind blew.

In an instant, the two-winged black Heavy Barrel raced across the steel runway floating in the sky.

Divine spell gunpower burst to provide the initial acceleration, producing smoke and bursting sounds behind it.

The dark ocean reflected the afternoon sun below the runway. Thin clouds blew in the wind of the blue sky above.

An Allied high-speed aerial bombing fleet was spread out to either side.

The Barrel slid forward in a crouching start position and it silently waved back to the crewmembers waving up from the runway, but then it looked to the right where the fleet’s flagship flew somewhat further back from the rest.

The long, white, streamlined shape of an ACBS was attached to the belly of the flagship.

That unmanned ship had no windows or bridge.

It had small wings, rocket nozzles for attitude control and thrust, and noticeable power points across its hull.

It was only marked with its numeric designation: ACBS-M0-001.

The black Heavy Barrel faced forward after its sight devices caught the letters ACBS.

Then it arrived at the launch point and the runaway abruptly ended.

Only the sky lay ahead.

So it spread its wings with a roar of splitting air and flapped them.

Those two simple actions propelled the nearly 40ton mass of metal through the sky.

It used another flap to accelerate beyond the initial acceleration that launched it into the sky.

Water vapor exploded around it while it rolled to the right and then took a somewhat rightward ascending trajectory.

The tips of the wings briefly drew out lines of cloud, but the clouds vanished once it altered the angles.

By then, the entire fleet had been left far behind and below it.

It used its wings to further accelerate. A black band was visible at the horizon ahead.

Those were the rainclouds hanging over Europe. Its destination was below the dark rainclouds of northern Germany.

The black Heavy Barrel said nothing. It only began its ascent along a ballistic trajectory to achieve the altitude it needed.

It accelerated.

It accelerated in order to pierce the sky.