Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume8 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

The first to feel a tremor up her spine was Anna Sprengel whose legs were gracefully crossed in the command seat.

A moment later, the Predator Octopus’s interior lighting switched to red.

“A radar signal? But wait – how wide range is it? You’re kidding. This entire area is awash with microwaves!?”

''Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

That din played outside again.

Academy City had detected something amiss. That siren signaled imminent death.

Kamijou paled.

“Can I speak? Explain to me exactly what the hell is happening and why!!”

Anna did not answer the idiot.

The 8-wheel mobile combat vehicle rapidly accelerated. They had been keeping their speed low to avoid suspicion, but that ended now.

Anna finally opened her mouth while glaring at the LCD touchscreen.

“Short answer: someone figured out where we are, fool. But that is a powerful signal… The worst part is we don’t know exactly who it was!”

“That’s not much of an answer! You’re only talking to yourself there!”

“Shut up. If you aren’t going to use your head to think, how about I squash your face below my butt?”

She had mentioned radar.

That would suggest Academy City since they were the science side, but Kamijou’s limited knowledge of the Transcendents was enough to know that wasn’t the only possibility.

Mut Thebes could absorb an object’s power by contacting its shadow with her own.

(And if Academy City noticed, they would have sent word by radio and Anti-Skill would move in from all of the checkpoints.)

Aradia frantically placed her hands on Kamijou’s shoulders, pushing him gently into his seat.

“We need to run because some dangerous tech is after us, right? But we can’t keep going because we can’t cross that large canal?”

That was correct.

So Anna was limited to the road running alongside the canal. By climbing the small bump and sending the entire 20ton vehicle onto the road.

But that wasn’t enough.

They knew some unseen person had located them and was closing in on them, but they couldn’t pull away from that pursuer and escape.

If this kept up, they would be caught eventually.

But if they charged across one of the bridges, Anti-Skill would notice them.

Anti-Skill had enough firepower to blow away their thinly-armored military vehicle in a single attack. The Predator Octopus had a tank gun atop 8 wheels, but it would have a hard time breaking through on the confines of the narrow bridge. They would have no escape from the concentrated fire coming from the checkpoint on the opposite bank. And if Anti-Skill blew out the bridge itself before the mobile combat vehicle’s full speed could get it across, they were done for no matter what its specs were. They wanted to avoid being trapped inside the thick tin can while it sank to the bottom of the frigid water.

Kamijou’s eyes widened.

“Anna, what’s the direction and distance of the enemy!?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe they’re from science and maybe they’re from magic, but they’re using microwave radar, aren’t they!? If they’re sending such powerful EM waves over such a wide area, ''they must be at the center point''!!”

Anna quickly jabbed her index finger at the touchscreen.

She updated the online map data. Like a typhoon prediction map, a large red circle was displayed with an X in the center.

“That was well done for a fool. I will reward you by gently stepping on you later.”

“Didn’t you threaten that as a punishment earlier?”

This wasn’t moving like an airborne AWACS plane. It was on the surface and moving along a District 6 street.

“So is it a truck?”

“It’s too powerful for that. This is at least AWACS level, but that would mean the size of a large passenger plane. It makes no sense for it to be on the ground.”

That settled it.

And she was close too.

“Mut Thebes!!” shouted Kamijou.

Something rounded a corner behind them with the movements of a speed skater.

It was white.

It looked like a giant object.

But it wasn’t. That was a girl with brown skin and long wavy blonde hair. The Transcendent was leaning forward and sliding along the ground with a massive rotating radome growing from her back. It was 9m across. That made it larger than a small bus, so her slight forward lean was enough for it almost entirely hide her from view.

Anna Sprengel was about as self-centered as they came, but she was left nearly speechless by this.

“It really is an AWACS. That radar rivals an antiair cruiser’s system and she’s really using it in heavily populated area at an altitude of 90m? It’s not as bad as a microwave oven, but that will at least burn anyone outside. It could even blind them.”

Explosive shockwaves shook the 20ton vehicle.

But not because someone was shooting at them

It was more like accidental explosions were occurring elsewhere all of a sudden.

“The powerful EM waves are setting off the artillery shells packed in boxes at the checkpoints. The exposed electric fuses are reacting.”

Aradia clenched her teeth at that.

Burns, blinding, and exploding ammo cases.

The witch goddess, who was bound by her conditions for salvation, gave a roar.

“Mut Thebes. You don’t deserve the title of punishment expert if you would cause this much collateral damage!!”

“Anna. Aradia too. We have to do this. We have to fight and stop her!!”

The 8-wheels continued racing along while the gun turned to face backwards.

Did Mut Thebes’s smooth movement come from using wheels she absorbed from a drum-shaped security robot? She gave a jerk of realization while she pursued them. With that radome larger than she was, she could see every movement their vehicle made.

“That isn’t going to hit, “ said Aradia. She was on the magic side, but she must have picked up on something.

They couldn’t afford to miss here.

The explosions triggered by the powerful microwaves were a serious threat. If even one shell detonated, the rest in the stacks of wooden boxes could go with it. That could easily kill some of the Anti-Skill officers or even the ordinary park staff.

“Don’t aim at her!” shouted Kamijou. “Aim at the road in front of her!!”

With a loud boom, the vehicle was hit by a sharp kick of recoil it couldn’t fully neutralize. Mut Thebes had been ready to dodge to one side or the other, so when a wide section of pavement was torn from the ground like a large wave, she stared with her jaw dropped before crashing right into it.

If she could predict their actions, their best bet was to create a wall fanned out in front her so there was no escape.

But that was unlikely to kill her.

Kamijou didn’t hesitate here because he had developed an odd trust in her.

But much to his surprise, the brown girl did not pursue.

Of course, this wasn’t because the attack had been effective. Something had crashed sharply into her from the side. A series of sharp crashing sounds arrived shortly after as she bounced several dozen meters along the road, taking her away from the canal. The vehicle’s interior lighting returned to white, suggesting the radar signal was gone.

That hadn’t been a metal artillery shell. Nor had it been a magic beam.

It looked like…a person.

“…”

Kamijou heard a small shaking sound.

It came from Anna Sprengel who had a cold sweat pouring down her brow.

“……………………………………………………………………………………………”

“Anna? Hey, Anna!!”

Kamijou quickly reached over and grabbed the thin touchscreen.

The Predator Octopus was currently racing alongside the District 6 canal at more than 100km/h. But he had no idea how to drive it without a physical wheel or lever.

He had leaned in toward the command seat, so he was nearly pressed up against Anna Sprengel. This let him hear her whisper.

She had seen something out there.

And the sight had broken her violent and arrogant pride.

“Anna…Kingsford?”