Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth7 (section)

===Part 2===

Mikoto and the other two were risking their lives descending from the sky, but it was a nerve-wracking experience for those on the carrier as well.

A landing runway ran diagonally across Camouflaged Aircraft Carrier Izanami.

“Okay, okay! Make sure the landing wire is taut!! Is the overrun net ready? Misaka-sama will be arriving soon!! Move the tractor to the side – we won’t need you for a while yet!!”

The shouted instructions were coming from Kongou Mitsuko.

Having the heiress to Kongou Airlines was a huge help here. It was unclear how many actual skills the daughter of the airline’s president had, but the title still put people at ease.

Regardless, the fighters were coming in to land on the carrier.

That was very different from landing on an ordinary airport runway. They had less than a tenth of the distance to work with. So a hook hanging from the bottom of the fighter would catch on a taut wire stretched horizontally across the carrier to forcibly stop it.

The fighter was a 20-ton mass moving at more than 250km/h. That was worse than the giant semi-trailer trucks seen in action movies. It went without saying what would happen to anyone it happened to come in contact with.

So next to the runway, Wannai Kinuho of the swim team had formed a large ball of water.

“Leave it to me. If anything goes wrong, I can stop the landing fighter with this☆”

They needed to be making full use of their Academy City esper powers. They were only middle schoolers. Without cheating like that, they couldn’t hope to operate a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

“Huh?”

Awatsuki looked back and tilted her head.

“But this is a mall arcade. Is it really safe to have those shop banners, café tables, and more out here? I thought even the smallest object had to be cleared from a runway.”

“Kobayashi from control here. We are guiding Misaka-sama in. We will be making the final safety check, so all deck personnel should get ready.”

“?”

There wasn’t time to question it.

With a blast of compressed air from the deck, all the café chairs and tables on the long, long arcade were blown to either side of the landing runway.

“Kyah!?”

Also, Kongou and the others were forced to quickly hold down their short skirts.

Was that what they were meant to get ready for?

“H-how could an Aero Hand like me fall victim to some m-mischievous wind?”

A calm transmission reached the blushing and tearful girls.

“Final safety check confirms all extraneous objects have been removed from the runway. Misaka-sama is coming, so get ready.”

…Ordinarily, a large team would have removed every last fallen screw and bolt from the deck first, leaving the compressed air as only a final safety measure just in case.

At any rate, a great roar reached them.

A streamlined silhouette that was not usually a part of everyday life was accurately approaching them. Wheeled landing gear had emerged. Tension filled the girls. Despite the fighter’s elegant design, it had a real sense of weight when seen up close. It was, after all, a 20-ton piece of metal. Having it flying toward them inspired as much fear as facing down a large oncoming truck or train.

It was coming.

The screeching of the small tires rang loud.

Kongou shouted while ducked down at one side of the runway.

“Contact!!”

Metal loudly struck metal.

A thick wire stretching like a rubber band was a strange sight.

The Shinshin two-seat custom’s hook had caught the wire.

The tires screamed with white smoke.

The stench of burning rubber filled the air.

This was nothing at all like a paper airplane slowly falling to the ground. It was forcibly decelerated from more than 250km/h as if snatched by a giant hand. It was as wild a move as trying to manually stop a race car.

Awatsuki raised her voice.

“The Shinshin has stopped!”

“Confirmed!”

Wannai, who had been ready with her water but ultimately wasn’t needed, provided the double check.

Kongou stood up.

“Tractor, drive forward. Once Misaka’s craft is on the elevator, the next one will be coming. Everyone else, check the runway. Even a 5mm piece of tire could be deadly, so do not overlook anything!!”