Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth4 (section)

===Part 3===

We’re going to bring down the Liheilstaut Empire.

When Mikoto started with that in the Izanami’s briefing room, no one objected.

Not even Shokuhou Misaki or the dorm manager.

The Empire had pursued and attacked the Tokiwadai group without warning, they had invited the Tokiwadai group to the capital for peace talks only for it to be a trap, and they had left 9 million of their own people to die in Dorgionix to protect themselves.

The people of the Empire were one thing, but it was clear just how rotten the leaders at the top were.

As it was, the Empire would make no one happy.

Leaving it like that felt wrong. It was nothing but a threat, both as an enemy or as an ally.

If the Empire began using their own people as hostages across multiple cities, Mikoto and the others would be worn down.

So they had to act before that happened.

It was past the point of giving up because they couldn’t win a direct confrontation.

It was time to discuss what exactly they could attack with the forces available to them in order to make the giant Empire collapse.

“If that’s what we’re doing, we’ll have to start considering the time costs,” said Shokuhou.

“I know that.”

Mikoto recalled the return device(?) in the landing ship. And its digital counter which accurately and evenly counted down with no way to fast-forward or rewind it.

Once it reached zero, Mikoto and the rest would be brought back to Earth no matter the situation.

If they could accomplish something in this world, then every second counted.

It wasn’t that they “still” had 18 days left.

They “only” had 18 days left.

That wasn’t much time to change a world.

While Mikoto thought, Kobayashi spoke up.

“Everyone. Don’t the Empire’s attacks so far seem awfully sporadic?”

“…I guess.”

They were a large country.

They should have been able to flood an enemy country with 10 thousand or even 100 thousand troops, but for some reason they hadn’t launched any large-scale operations.

There was no fear of collateral damage on the open sea, so they could have sent out a ton of carriers and cruisers and assaulted the Izanami and Izanagi with as much firepower as they could muster.

“From the radio signals I’ve been able to analyze, it sounds like the Empire is in an odd position.”

“How so?” asked Shokuhou.

“Well, Queen, their Imperial Armed Forces protect their country as a whole while their Capital Defense Force protects just Frustburg. Those two military forces appear to have overlapping duties that influence national politics a lot. …It creates something like a dual government. The two sides can’t agree on how to respond to the Izanami and Izanagi, so only one side has been carrying out the attacks.”

So this world was as difficult a place as Earth.

Mikoto sighed softly.

“I can more or less imagine what the Imperial Armed Forces are like, but what about the Capital Defense Force? They sound like they’re only supposed to defend a single city, so are they really so powerful?”

“Based on the old digital articles I’ve been able to collect, they believe that offense is the best defense and have spent the past few years wiping two or three smaller countries off the map and then absorbing them into the Empire. They cross the border without waiting for legislative approval and while ignoring all past diplomatic relations, so they are a cause of concern for the Empire as a whole as well.”

Were they monsters?

It sounded like the Capital Defense Force name was just for show and they were actually a powerful army that could cross national borders and sustain a long-term war. That required more than just the Girlish Weapons of land, sea, and air. The power to sustain a war included fuel, funding, and even propaganda to gather support from international society.

And while the Empire complained about them, they didn’t seem willing to actually stop them.

If the Empire as a whole could gain new territory and vast amounts of reparations by making the “rogue” Capital Defense Force into the villains, they benefited the most by leaving them alone. It was better than getting after them and ending up with a civil war,.

This had been illuminating already.

The busty wicked girl said, “It sounds to me like the fastest way would be to use the Imperial Armed Forces and the Capital Defense Force’s preexisting disagreements to pit them against each other.”

“You monster.”

“Oh, please, Misaka-saaan. I know you’re already doing mental calculations of where you need to fly and what you need to bomb to make it happen.”

…Well, yeah.

They could do some work behind the scenes to trigger a civil war in an enemy nation and drive it to self-destruction.

The Ace and the Queen had immediately chosen that horrific method, but there was one condition they couldn’t forget.

They were enemies with the Liheilstaut Empire, but they had no intention of attacking the ordinary citizens who knew nothing of any of this.

If they were going to attack, it would be against military installations.

“I’m sure the Imperial Armed Forces and the Capital Defense Force are at odds in a number of areas, but where do you think they disagree most strongly?” asked Shokuhou.

“With these. The Frozen Fossils,” replied Kobayashi. Was this something else she had learned by intercepting radio signals? “Girlish Weapons are the foundation of all military forces in this world – army, navy, air force, and marines. And that means their original materials are as well. I believe the Imperial Armed Forces and the Capital Defense Force’s influence on the country’s politics is directly linked to how many fossils they have. Excavation rights in the northern permafrost are especially fraught.”

“Attacking there would be difficult,” said Mikoto.

They were currently to the south of the continent. If they flew straight across the continent to its northwest end, the Imperial Air Force’s radar network would catch them. Mikoto’s squadron had already proven that stealth wasn’t perfect. But if they took a detour around by sea, they would use up their 18 day limit.

“There is a loophole,” added Kobayashi.

“?”

“In addition to excavating them on their own land, it seems the Empire will unofficially purchase Frozen Fossils from other countries.”

What country would sell those fossils when they were the foundation of military might? That seemed off to Mikoto, but maybe those countries lacked the technology to process them or maybe they preferred to trade them for other resources like food or fuel.

Different countries would have different needs.

Back on Earth, uranium and plutonium were sold by the countries that produced it to the countries that used it.

“The fossil black market is most active to the south, in illegal and unmonitored bases like Sky Pirate Island here.”

“So is it the Imperial Armed Forces or the Capital Defense Force doing the buying?”

“Both and in the same places. If we attack one spot, all of the black market sites in the area will put up their guard and began searching for someone to blame.”

If they were that in sync with each other, why couldn’t they just get along?

When someone discovered a crime, did everyone just copy them?

“So we just have to take those fossils by force?”

“Then the Imperial Armed Forces and the Capital Defense Force might start fighting, claiming the other is responsible☆”

Fortunately, the long-sleeved black leotard YF-22A, the school swimsuit catgirl F-14Ds, and the other captured fighters were all Imperial. If they attacked a black market site, both the Imperial Armed Forces and the Capital Defense Force would get the wrong idea. Their IFF signals hadn’t been updated and wouldn’t work, but if it looked like they had intentionally switched off their IFF, it could be seen like their own people were wearing masks and robbing the place.

“But their dual government won’t know where information on the deal leaked from.”

“If they underestimate our intelligence gathering ability, they might even start suspecting the other two world powers. They could think the other faction is being backed by the other world powers in a proxy war.”

“Then they’ll feel justified in defeating their own people who they think are colluding with and fighting for a foreign power. They’ll think justice is on their side. Then will they be pointing at each other and shouting about a nonexistent conspiracy?”

“Yes, that sounds perfect for lighting the fuse of a civil war☆”

The dual government had already been at odds.

Given the chance, they would start fighting.

Tokiwadai had a plan now.

And with that settled…

“Misaka-saaan.”

“What?”

“I have one more question ability.”