Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 10===

“Oh, how passionate.” 

It was obvious it was an act, but the brown mercenary named Wydine rubbed at her eyes as the armored vehicle came to a sudden stop.

“Your hot-bloodedness has moved me.”

“I’m sure that’s just part of the service you provide, but it kind of annoys me,” replied Quenser as he leapt out onto the snowy plain from the rear hatch of the armored vehicle. “What do we do?”

“First, we must bring them to a stop. We will draw their attention so the Objects aim their cannons this way. At the very least, we need to make sure the battle occurs outside the city.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!!” frantically cut in Heivia. “Are you stupid!? What do you mean draw their attention!? Are you going to shoot them with a portable antitank missile!? Once they know where we are, they’ll turn us all to ash in a single shot!!”

“Shut up, you mooching bastard. I never said we would be firing it. We can manage by using a Bird or Animal.”

“What are those?” asked Quenser and Wydine’s face lit up.

“The specialty unmanned vehicles of our battlefield cleanup service!! Bird is an aerial vehicle and Animal is a 6-wheel ground vehicle. They are primarily used as radio-controlled reconnaissance devices, but they can be equipped with a single-shot rocket launcher. Think of them as mobile mortars. The shock caused by firing the rocket does sometimes destroy the machine, though.”

The mercenaries named Charm and Lemish pulled two small units out from the back of the armored vehicle. One was an aerial vehicle with wings about 50 cm long and the other was a flat ground vehicle about 40 cm long. The ground vehicle must have had a few optional parts because it had something like a sled forcibly attached to the bottom.

“How many do you have in total?”

“One Bird and 10 Animals. The radio signal can be used to determine our location, so we also need to set up a few dummy antennae. That way, we will not be blown away when we perform a surprise attack.”

“Then let’s get started.” Quenser approached the unmanned vehicles lined up on the snow. “What can we do to help?”

“They use a Capitalist Corporations format, so we will take care of setting them up. Could you perhaps set up the dummy antennae? It would help a lot if you set them up at random locations within a radius of 500 meters of here.”

Wydine gave a look to Lemish and the other mercenary girl brought out a few cases. They were something like attaché cases 30cm by 30 cm and 5 cm thick.

“You do not need to open the cases. When you place them, make sure this gray side is facing down. If you then use your thumb to flip the switch near the handle, you are done. The frequency is already set, so you do not need to do anything else.”

“Heivia, let’s get to it.”

“Fine, fine. But do you think you could pay me with some jewels, too?”

“When will we begin? If we don’t hurry, the Indigo Plasma will start attacking the city.”

“Setting up the antennae will take 5 minutes. It will take another 5 minutes for Bird to make it in range. The Animals will be travelling along the snow, so it will take even longer for them. They will be used to deal with the foot soldiers after they have noticed us.”

“So 10 minutes at the soonest.” Quenser divided up the dummy antenna cases between Heivia and himself. “This is cutting it close.”

“Yes, but we must do it.”

“Exactly right. Let’s go, Heivia. I’ll head to the east and you head to the southwest.”

“God dammit. I’ve really had enough of making full speed dashes through the snow.”

Quenser and Heivia then ran off in different directions. Even then, the seven Objects accompanying the foot solider unit were approaching the immigrant residential city. They had no time.

Quenser had three dummy antennae. It would be meaningless to put them all in almost the same place. But simply spreading them out in a circle around their actual location would tell the enemy where they were at first glance. What was important was to set them in random locations to make it impossible to tell which was the real one.

(Shit. Are we going to make it in time!?)

The thick snow slowed Quenser down more than he had expected and it wore down his stamina. He flipped the switch near the case’s handle and set the dummy antenna by practically throwing it.

(This isn’t going to cut it. At this rate, the Indigo Plasma will fire on the city before the Bird can fire its rocket! We don’t have time to keep this completely safe!!)

As Quenser ran toward the location to put the next dummy antenna, he pulled out his radio and contacted Wydine.

“Don’t wait. Send out the Bird now!!”

“Eh!? We can’t. They will detect our location from the radio signal. They will aim for the dummy antennae first, but if you are not yet far enough away from them…”

“It doesn’t matter!! If they start the bombardment while we wait, this is all for naught!! Hurry!!”

“Don’t blame me if something happens to you!! I doubt your life insurance company would be happy about this!!”

“Hey, Quenser! Don’t tell me you’re forgetting that this puts me in the same danger!!” added Heivia.

Quenser flipped the switch of the second dummy antenna and threw it. He looked into the distance and saw Lemish aim a bow gun-like launching device diagonally up and pull the trigger. The Bird shot smoothly up, propellers meant for models began to spin, and it flew along at only 15 meters up. After its altitude stabilized, it headed straight for the Indigo Plasma.

“What is its top speed?” asked Quenser.

“170 kph. Once it gets up to speed and stabilizes, it will be there in no time. There is a danger of a powerful crosswind causing it to lose speed, though,” said Wydine. “You two need to quickly get away from the dummy antennae!! Once the rocket is fired, the Objects will counterattack!!”

When he heard that, Quenser flipped the switch on the third and final dummy antenna and threw it to the side. It seemed less like he was placing it in an optimal place and more like he was throwing away an obtrusive weight.

He heard a sound like a champagne cork being removed.

It was the sound of the explosive being fired from the rocket launcher attached to the bottom of the Bird. However, the 40 millimeter shell never struck the Object’s armor. Before it could, the Indigo Plasma fired a small laser. With an orange beam of light, the rocket exploded in midair. The vehicles of the infantry unit accompanying the Objects suddenly braked, but the entire unit did not come to a stop. There had been no actual damage done.

And…

No matter how small it was, an Object would naturally react to anything that tried to attack it. With the slight damage from the previous battle still intact, the Indigo Plasma immediately turned around.

Several of its cannons moved slightly. It was clearly searching the area. In the meantime, Quenser continued to run. The thick snow slowed him down and he almost tripped several times, but he continued running as quickly as he could away from the dummy antennae.

And then the Indigo Plasma fired.

With a deep noise as if from a large drum, a giant shell flew at over the speed of sound, scattering shockwaves as it went.

“Was that a railgun!?”

He had heard the sound first because of the trajectory of the shell. It was not aimed at the ground. It was aimed up in a large arc similar to a long throw in baseball. It flew about 100 meters above Quenser’s head.

The railgun shell suddenly stopped.

A parachute had opened.

Wydine must have been using binoculars or a scope to check on it from afar because her voice came in over the radio.

“I’m checking on the shell!! It is something like a cylindrical metal drum!! Its diameter is 70 cm and its length is 150 cm!! There appear to be countless holes along the sides!!”

“What is it…?”

As Quenser ran, he heard a sound like steam being sprayed out from somewhere. It was coming from the metal drum hanging down from the parachute. The air distorted like sugar water being mixed.

“A gas…Is that the gas for the low-stability plasma cannon!?”

After their fight with the 24th’s foot soldiers, Quenser and Heivia knew what that special gas could do. It was heavier than air. When disseminated up in the air like that, gravity and wind would spread it over a large area.

Yes.

That would create a field that could be turned into a hell of light and heat from a single shot of a low-stability plasma cannon.

The main cannons of the six dummy models creaked as they aimed in that direction.

“Quenser!! They’re clearly aiming for the dummy antennae in your direction!! You need to find a hill or whatever kind of cover you can find and get down!!”

(I can’t escape gas pouring down from above by doing that!!)

The area covered by the special gas had exceeded 100 meters. It would be difficult to get out of the range with all the thick snow around. Quenser pulled a Hand Axe plastic explosive out of his bag. He stabbed in the electric fuse and threw it as far above his head as he could manage.

When it reached its highest point, Quenser hit the button on his radio.

With an explosive noise, a shockwave spread out above his head.

The shockwave blasted the gas away from the area.

In the next instant, the 6 dummy models fired their low-stability plasma cannons. They fired them at the point 50 meters up where the special gas was the most concentrated.

A flash of light burned into Quenser’s eyes and a great noise stabbed into his brain.

He was slammed down to the ground like he was being crushed from above. Despite wearing a thick coat for the cold climate, he could feel a stinging pain on his skin. That pain told him that he was lightly burned. Despite being burned, he never did feel the normal sensation of heat.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

His vision was partially impaired so that it looked like a white film had been placed over his eyes. Quenser writhed around on the ground as pain assaulted him from all over. He felt like he was lying in a giant mud puddle. The snow around the area had been completely transformed into lukewarm water.

But it could have been much worse.

If he had not used that bomb to blow away most of the special gas from the area, that “misfire” would not have occurred. The surface of the ground would have turned to glass and Quenser himself may have been turned to ash.

And all of that was just from the first shot.

Naturally, the enemy would not stop there.

“Quenser!! Get out of there! That Hand Axe told them where you are!!” shouted Heivia over the radio.

Quenser got up from the unpleasant mud and rolled down the slope of one of the nearby rolling hills.

He just barely made it in time.

A large number of dry, firecracker-like noises filled the battlefield.

It was not coming from the Objects.

The 24th’s foot soldiers had gotten down from their military trucks and had begun to fire their assault rifles. 5.56mm pointed rifle bullets scattered from 70-80 rifle barrels which shot dirt into the air from the hill Quenser was using as a shield.

A second round did not immediately come from the Objects because the scale of their attack was so large they must have decided it was too much of a pain to aim at such a small target.

Or perhaps…

(With 7 Objects, they have a total of over 700 cannons. If they fired with all of them, it would be over for me. That must mean the dummy models’ reactors are not perfect. They can only just barely fire their main cannons, so the secondary weapons are just decorations.)

The foot soldiers continued to fire so Quenser could not move from where he was. At that rate, the Objects would fire and it would all be over. But he simply could not carelessly poke his head out amid that shower of bullets.

Suddenly, the Indigo Plasma moved.

“Dammit! It’s that railgun again!!”

As Quenser watched, the drum-like shell arced up into the air. The foot soldiers had only been meant to keep him in place. They were working together, but it was clear who was in charge. Even while piloting the Indigo Plasma, Prizewell’s personality could be seen.

However, the metal drum fired by the railgun never reached its place far above Quenser’s head.

Before it could, a portable anti-tank missile was fired from the ground. The missile was shot by a laser before it could reach the railgun shell, but the effects of the blast could not be ignored. The metal drum’s trajectory sharply changed angle and its parachute did not open. It landed halfway between the foot soldiers and Quenser.

“Sir! We cannot have you dying before you pay us the rest of our fee!!”

“Thanks, Wydine. I respect that honest-to-a-fault way of living.”

The fallen metal drum would likely disseminate the special gas from its place on the ground, but its effective range would be much smaller than from in the air. Also, it was downwind of Quenser.

But…

“Hey, Quenser!! The Indigo Plasma’s main cannon is moving!!”

“You’re kidding…!”

The low-stability plasma cannon fired the instant after Quenser shouted that.

It caused a white explosion.

Quenser’s body was blown directly backwards. He flew several meters through the air before hitting the ground. He felt a pain like his internal organs were being squeezed. The flash of light was so bright he was amazed he did not go blind.

“…That bastard,” said Quenser as he lay on his back. “He didn’t even hesitate to blow up his own subordinates, did he!?”

Quenser did not have the heart to see what things were like on the other side of the hill. That had been an overwhelming low-stability plasma explosion, a blast that created enough heat and force to shoot through an Object’s armor when concentrated. The destruction had to go beyond what the word “catastrophe” could express.

“He’s insane. Why would the 24th follow a despot like him!?”

“Because they have no other choice now. If they surrendered, they would still be charged with the crime of treason. Whatever happens now, their only path to victory is to prevent the 24th from losing no matter what.”

“Here they come. It’s all 7 Objects this time!! That bastard is planning to crush the corpses of his comrades as he advances!!”

Hearing Heivia’s cry, Quenser slowly stood up. He could not stop where he was. The seven Objects had to know where he was.

“The enemy is sending the six dummy models along in a horizontal line with the Lily Maria following behind!!”

“That bastard doesn’t hesitate to treat his subordinates as expendable, but he’s damn careful when it comes to his own life!! This pretty much confirms that the dummy models are running on a strategic AI!!”

In Quenser’s estimation, the dummy models’ reactors had a low output so all weapons but the main cannon were mere decorations. That was most likely correct. And those main cannons were not suited for targeting a puny flesh-and-blood soldier.

Which meant…

“Oh, shit. He’s heading forward to crush me!!”

“Those monstrous weapons keep their 200,000 ton weight afloat using static electricity. The massive amount of electricity creates a tremendous force!! And a portion of the propulsion device is supposed to use plasma!!”

With the Objects lined up horizontally, Quenser was reminded of a giant piece of agricultural equipment leveling the ground. It was like a tractor that was 300 meters wide. There was no way he could escape by running to the left or right.

And then a rocket was fired from the ground.

The explosive was fired from so close that the dummy model had no time to react. The dummy model closest to Quenser was targeted. The fact that the explosive directly hit the spherical main body could only mean that the non-main cannons truly were not functioning. Thin pieces of the armor peeled off and stabbed into the ground.

The dummy model that had been attacked stopped moving and its main cannon started to aim. In the next instant, the area the rocket had been fired from turned pure white. The low-stability plasma cannon had been fired.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“That was an Animal! Do not worry!!”

Immediately afterwards, five dummy models and the Indigo Plasma passed by Quenser. Due to the hole opened by the one that had stopped to shoot the Animal, Quenser’s body was not blown to pieces by a massive amount of static electricity.

“I guess the strategic AI really is just a massive collection of prioritizing routines.”

The Indigo Plasma was directly controlled by Prizewell, so he should have been able to manually change course to kill Quenser.

He was either playing around or he was testing the AI.

“There is a cave 20 meters to your WSW! Run to there for now!! If they cannot use anything but their main cannons, it is possible the strategic AI will be unable to deal with the situation!!”

“Okay! I’ll just pray I’m not blown to pieces by some misbehaving cannon!!”

At the same time, Quenser spotted a torn metal plate lying on the ground. It was a fragment of armor torn off of the dummy model when it had been hit by the rocket. It was about 30 cm square and 12 cm thick. It was heavy, but not so heavy that he could not pick it up with both hands.

(This is surprisingly light. This isn’t just not up to the standards of an Object. Even regular steel would be denser than this.)

He looked closer and noticed that the actual steel plate was only about 5 cm thick. The rest was made up of some pale gray substance. The edge where it had broken off looked more like crumbled stone than metal.

Normally, someone like Quenser who did not weight train would have been unable to pick something like that up. Normally, a rocket would have been unable to destroy a metal plate that thick. And yet Quenser was holding the fragment.

There could be some secret hidden there.

“Quenser, hurry!! The dummy models are regrouping!! They’re headed your way again!!”

“Understood. And don’t think you’re safe either!! Don’t do anything that will let them know where you are!!”

Urged on by Heivia, Quenser started running while carrying the fragment. The thick snow, the damage he had taken, and the fragment of armor all lowered his speed. A dull pain ran through his elbow. Again and again, he heard whisperings in his heart telling him to throw away that piece of junk.

But he ignored it and continued moving his legs.

He heard a sound like approaching thunderclouds. Quenser’s heart wanted him to move faster than his physical body could manage. This created a gap between his ideal and reality. Where he wanted his legs to be and where they actually were grew confused in his head and he almost tripped. He was just about at his limit. He could not continue on much further. Some armor fragment of dubious usefulness was not worth dying over. He was just about to let go of it.

But then he finally arrived at the cave entrance.

Despite the hard ground within, Quenser dove inside. He rolled down a gentle slope. He continued rolling for around 20 meters.

He had scrapes all over his body and he had light burns covering his skin. But those things hardly bothered him at the moment.

(Dammit. The Indigo Plasma and the 6 dummy models will be here soon!!)

Quenser pulled some Hand Axe from the bag on his back, stabbed in a fuse, and threw it in the direction he had come. He did not have time to hesitate. He pressed the switch on his radio almost immediately.

An explosive blast roared through the closed space.

“Gah!?”

Quenser was sent rolling around the cave, but that was better than the alternative.

The plastic explosive had lowered a shutter of stone.

He could feel a heavy vibration come from beyond that shutter. The Indigo Plasma had likely fired near the entrance of the cave. If he had not crumbled the bedrock to cut off the path, a great blast of heat would have swept through the cave and roasted Quenser.

(That didn’t feel big enough to be a main cannon.)

Quenser analyzed the situation as he felt a chill run down his spine.

He had been fortunate that one of the Indigo Plasma’s anti-personnel cannons had been used rather than the main cannons of the other 6 Objects. This was not due to any kind of decency on the enemy’s side. Prizewell had likely just decided the main cannons were too difficult to use against a single person. If he had used a main cannon, the inside of the cave would likely have been completely roasted.

Quenser tried to use his radio, but he could not connect. The bedrock was cutting off the signal. He had no choice but to search for a different exit. He could also try to use explosives to blow a hole in the collapsed entrance, but the odds were good the shockwave would injure him in the enclosed cave.

Quenser picked back up the fragment of armor and used the backlight of his radio’s LCD screen as a light.

He moved the faint light around to investigate the cave.

The battle was still continuing.

There was plenty he still had to do.