Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth1 (section)

===Part 2===

The only fighting force available to them was Camouflaged Carrier Izanami and Landing Ship Izanagi.

The remnants of the Cutalularia Republic’s invincible Offense Fleet were here too.

They were exchanging their available materials to help repair the warships.

But their preparations did nothing to make them feel better.

Not against that thing.

She was too great a mystery.

YF-22A had something to say while she waited in the maintenance hangar.

“That is the Ruler.”

“The Ruler?”

“Long ago, she ruled this planet before the humans did. But she couldn’t bear the eternal loneliness with no rivals, so she entered a deep slumber.”

She was a girl of extraordinary size and strength who far surpassed all existing military might.

Ordinarily, Mikoto might have dismissed a story like that.

But not this time.

“So the Ruler has no conception of country or military. Not even the division between army, navy, air force, and marines. She is the strongest all on her own. We are only wielding borrowed power made by stripping away her abilities one at a time and growing them.”

The girl part at the foundation of Girlish Weapons like YF-22A indicated the existence of a life form.

Yes.

This world had already possessed a method of acquiring land, sea, and air weapons in the form of tough and large biological weapons.

After fighting so many of them, Mikoto could not shut her eyes to that fact.

Mikoto left the stifling maintenance hangar and climbed to the cruise ship area.

As she was staring out at the sea through a thick bulletproof window, Shokuhou appeared.

She must have been exhausted too.

Mikoto gave her a difficult look.

“But why would she wake up now? She’s been sleeping for ages in this world, hasn’t she? It’s been so long the humans completely forgot about her and built missile silos on top of her.”

“The trigger would have to be ‘a world first’ that ‘happened recently’. …The only possibility I can think of would be the missile silos. They could have left us alone, but instead the Republic and the States launched one of the ballistic missiles that never should have been used. And that shook the Ruler as she slept directly below.”

“…”

As the Offense Fleet’s repairs continued, the entire group advanced north toward the continent.

They didn’t have much time.

Compared to fighters, warships were slow. It would take days just to reach the battlefield.



6 days remained.



If they didn’t settle things with that 1800 meter, 750 thousand ton monster, Tokiwadai would be forced to return while leaving so many civilians and Girlish Weapons in danger.

That was the same as abandoning all the people of this world to die.

If that happened, Mikoto doubted she would ever smile again. The dorm manager and the teachers hadn’t stopped the girls.

(We only have time for one more large multi-phase operation. If we choose the wrong path from the start, we’ll have a hard time recovering.)

It was evening.

Kobayashi was speaking to the people gathered in the briefing room.

She was providing a briefing.

“It took a while, but we are finally approaching the center of the continent.”

The continent was roughly shaped like a Y, so they could get quite close to the center by sea.

The States and the Republic had both left them alone as they approached the continent. But they didn’t consider that lucky. It was more disconcerting than anything. Mikoto even felt like the entire continent had already been obliterated and the less than 200 on this ship were the only humans left alive in the world.

But that wasn’t the case.

Kobayashi continued to keep their hope alive.

“I would like a small team to do a detailed scouting flight before we actually engage the Ruler in battle. The sun will set soon. Misaka-sama’s 101 Squadron will have drone pods covered in cameras and sensors attached to their fighters and covertly gather information on that thing under cover of darkness.”

“Understood.”

The equipment was borrowed from the Offense Fleet. That was one advantage of the Republic advancing its unmanned weaponry technology because they were a collection of more than 30 arms manufacturers and peoples.

The drone pod appeared to be a collection of ordinary equipment, not a girl.

“First, we need a full view of the mysterious Ruler. Then as many of her attack and movement patterns as possible. If any exist, we also want to know about her weak points.”

Time was in short supply.

But that was why they couldn’t afford to fail.

So they needed to carefully lay the groundwork with some reconnaissance first.

“The central mountains were a no man’s land filled with so many surface-to-air missiles no aircraft could get through, but now you should have no trouble flying there. The mountains were destroyed and no remnant remains of the weapons installed by the world powers.”

“Um, what are the United States and Republic military doing now?”

“Both countries are gathering their land and air forces near the center of the continent, but they are not aiming their weaponry at the Ruler. Their targeting is directed past the continental center.”

“?”

“They are using the confusion as a chance to invade each other. If they can somehow manage to stimulate that thing into walking toward the other country, they will have forced their enemy to fight against them and her at the same time. It’s a lot like using a natural disaster as part of a war plan.”

“What is wrong with them? This just isn’t the time,” complained Mikoto.

“If they don’t act now, it might take another thousand years before they can unite the continent,” said Shokuhou. “For those greedy politicians, the apocalypse is the perfect chance to incite their people into doing their will☆”

Curse that busty villain. Why is she so good at these kinds of calculations?

(They sure are acting fast. What happened to not doing anything until they were 100% certain?)

As absurd as this world could look, it was still run by humans. Reality wasn’t like fiction. Was a common global enemy or disaster not enough to stop the conflicts born of human desire?

And…

“Come to think of it, Queen. What are you planning to do this time?”

“Hm? What do you mean exactly?”

Shokuhou looked truly puzzled, so Hokaze clarified.

With a smile.

“I am asking if you will be leading from the Izanami’s CIC or if you will be joining Misaka-sama in the Shinshin.”

She froze.

Time seemed to stop.

When she saw the wicked smile on Misaka Mikoto’s lips, tears formed in Shokuhou Misaki’s eyes.

“That is an excellent question.”

“U-u-um, Misaka-san, um, wait, you know how useless I would be on the Shinshin and we need everyone where they can play to their strengths, so-”

“Get in the back of the Shinshin. I forgot how much it pissed me off for you to be sitting down there like you’re above it all. I want to see you suffer.”

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!”

Mikoto grabbed the Queen by the scruff of the neck and dragged her away kicking and screaming. Grinning the entire time.

For some reason, the Shokuhou Clique made no attempt to stop her and even watched it all with big smiles.