Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume16 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 1===

The November sky felt more like winter than fall.

Gentle sunlight shined on a grassy land of rolling hills. The vast land was surrounded by cobbled-together wooden fences and it might have looked like a golf course at first glance. But it was not. Busty, silver-haired Major Frolaytia Capistrano lay face down on a picnic sheet while wearing her tight skirt military uniform and with a teriyaki burger and matcha latte next to her. She was peering down the scope of a semiauto sniper rifle supported by a bipod.

A few 7.62mm shots rang out in quick succession.

“You’re really going for it, aren’t you?”

“Speaking to me now is rude, colonel.”

“You’re only doing this to blow off some steam. That gun is a Technopics model, isn’t it? Really, I’m not sure you should be wielding a gun as casually as a bat in a batting cage. Oh, and feel free to keep smoking. I’ll be smoking too.”

An old man was crouched down next to her.

Smoking and sniping was the ultimate luxury only possible in training. Even the civilian hunters who helped eradicate harmful animals on the weekends had to pay attention to the wind direction. Another scent mixed in with that sweet aroma which would be taboo during a real battle. This was likely a thick cigar from Central America.

Instead of a sniper rifle, the old man reached for an observation device that was like a monstrous pair of binoculars with other electronic devices attached.

“After all, this is the perfect way to have a private chat.”

“Out in the open like this? There are satellites spying on every part of the world these days.”

“Ha ha ha. Satellites aren’t as all-powerful as they might seem. A parasol lined with a thin layer of lead is enough to block them. Although satellite avoidance can get addictive if you start getting paranoid. Also, you never would have agreed to meet me in some closed room somewhere. Although if you would prefer, I could fill a hotel bar with bodyguards in black.”

“…”

Frolaytia fell silent for a bit.

Her irritation did not come from the deer that walked calmly by the paper target, oblivious to the danger.

“But don’t worry. I’m not about to make a serious pass at someone young enough to be not just by daughter but my granddaughter. So let’s get down to business.”

“Very well.”

“I want to use your 37th. It’s an urgent matter, but I want to keep that fact hidden to enemy and ally alike.”

“My 37th is a 1000-soldier mobile maintenance battalion with a 50m Object, colonel.”

“Yes, and that’s what I want. Trying to sneak around would only stand out in this case. It’s a delicate matter that is bound to leave some noisy footsteps even if you tiptoe. So I would prefer to just make a complete mess of things. Those footsteps will go unnoticed in the roar of the stadium, right?”

…In other words, it was yet another dirty job. It felt like reaching into the campfire and burning your hand just to grab the pile of shit someone else had squeezed out.

Frolaytia sighed.

“If you can promise me one thing.”

“Sure. I quite like how you ignore our hierarchical society to worry about your subordinates’ lives.”

“We will handle everything from beginning to end. Do not send in an assassination team behind our backs.”

“So you want to keep your territory clean, hm? Fine, but this is not going to be an easy one. Let’s hope your subordinates aren’t the ones who have to pay the price for your convictions.”

“So what is it?”

“Simply put, it is a retrieval operation. I want you to take back something that was stolen. The culprits are a local criminal organization named Ivory Garden, but the details are unknown. They might actually be something else in sheep’s clothing. Also, failure here would be an international incident. The stolen item is extremely valuable, you see. If you were to rent it out to another country, it would probably be…yes, I think 2 or 3 million euros a year. Your 37th is performing scheduled military exercises that double as a show of force to maintain our influence in the Eastern Europe area, so make it look like you happened across the item by chance.”

The military brought together the government and private sector, so everything tended to come with a high price tag. Still, this was unusual.

Both the price, and…

“Rent it out? It’s a rental item? Like an anti-air radar or datalink server?”

“No. I joined the military when I was much younger than you. It’s been 50 years since then, but this is a first for me as well.”

For the first time, Frolaytia removed her eye from the scope for something other than tending to her long, narrow kiseru.

“It’s a first for ''you'', colonel?”

“Yes.”

“Then is it something Object related? Or one of the nukes that long since fell out of use?”

“No, it is a panda.”

Time stopped.

She thought this had to be a code word, but apparently not. She froze there with her mouth hanging open, so the serious man explained.

“A baby panda. For the culprits, it is a valuable political tool and a stable source of money from renting it out. This is a painful blow to us since it belongs to one of our zoos, I would like for you to rescue it. No matter what.”