Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 11===

The Information Alliance’s Second Generation Object, the Gatling 033, slowly came to a stop on a snowy plain.

It had not run into some kind of mechanical trouble.

It had reached the rendezvous point with the powered suit unit. The foot soldiers had gathered the parts to the disassembled rapid fire beam cannon Gatling gun. They just had to reassemble it and switch it out with the destroyed one. Then the Gatling 033 could attack the enemy Legitimacy Kingdom Object and the maintenance base zone it was within.

The Elite used her communications device to contact a maintenance soldier wearing a powered suit.

“Juliet is confirmed to be shut off. We will now replace the main cannon,” said the maintenance soldier.

“Please keep this pit stop short. Oh ho ho. I have a plan laid out, so do not make it meaningless by wasting time.”

In battles between two Objects, it was generally considered “bad manners” for an Object to attack a maintenance base zone. (This was not a strict rule, so there was no real need to follow it, however.) But if an enemy Object holed up in its maintenance base zone and refused to come out to the battlefield, the other Object had no choice but to destroy the Object, base and all.

On that pretext, a maintenance base zone could be attacked.

(…Oh ho ho. If it comes to that, there is a chance I will lose that gentleman.)

The Elite sank deeply into her seat, grabbed a small oxygen inhalation spray located to her side, and tried to recover some of the stamina she had lost in the high-G battle.

(But I have no other choice if it comes to that. I would like to make him mine, but it is not worth risking my life over. Oh ho ho.)

The main cannon replacement would be done before long.

She called up images recorded from the battle. The damage to the enemy Object had been in a more serious area. No matter how skilled their maintenance soldiers were, it was unlikely they could make up for the time delay it would cause.

(I can win this.)

The Elite used the spray to suck in more compressed oxygen and gave a thin smile.

Improvised autosuggestion was one means an Elite had to regulate her own condition.

(Oh ho ho. This is not just my power. It is me, my unit, and the Gatling 033. Every one of those is superior to the enemy’s. I will not be destroyed so easily. They cannot turn this around now. That is why I can win this. I ''will'' win this.)

Suddenly, a red warning window appeared.

The Elite looked at it in suspicion. Some odd measurement errors had occurred in the targeting sensors.

(…Oh ho ho. I do not like this. It is like a prickling feeling in the back of my mind.)

To anyone else, they may have seemed like minor errors. She could easily fight with them. However, they were difficult measurement errors to deal with for an Elite who viewed the Object like an extension of her own body.

She moved her slender fingers to perform a few adjustments, but they did not correct the measurement errors.

It was not a software issue.

There was something physically wrong with the sensors themselves.

“Maintenance soldiers! Recheck sensors A through E!! They have measurement errors from 0.5 to 0.7. Oh ho ho. If it requires manual work, I will come out too!!”

“That will vastly slow down our work,” said a maintenance soldier who was not sure what to say to the sudden request. “0.5 to 0.7 is within acceptable ranges. After the main cannon has been replaced, you need to immediately head out to engage the Legitimacy Kingdom Object! We do not have time!!”

“Do not be foolish!! Oh ho ho. It is because I will be up against an Object that I cannot allow even the slightest error!!”

“We really do not have time! The current strategy did not take into account any replacements other than the main cannon!! Lieutenant Colonel Lendy Farolito has ordered us to follow that strategy, so doing otherwise could get us court martialed!”

“You do not understand,” spat the Elite.

The current pit stop was just something added to the strategy. The Object lay at the foundation of the plan, so everything would be a waste if its abilities were hampered. If fighting with the measurement errors in the sensors led to the Gatling 033 being destroyed, who was supposed to take responsibility?

The maintenance soldiers did nothing.

Normally, the adjustments to the sensitive sensors would have been carried out by the girl herself under observation of the maintenance soldiers.

“Argh!! Oh ho ho. Then I will do it on my own!!”

To carry that out, the Elite opened the dozens of barriers leading from the cockpit. She would use an elevator to bring the cockpit itself up to the outer wall.

However, the cockpit never had a chance to ascend.

Something else happened before it could.

A noise came first.

It was the sound of cloth rubbing up against something. By the time she realized it was the sound of something sliding down a slope, it was too late.

She did not have time to turn around, much less undo her seatbelt.

“Excuse me, mademoiselle,” said a voice from directly behind her.

She felt a cold object press against the back of her neck. It was a short-bladed knife.

“I do not normally sneak into a lady’s bedroom, but I am woefully short on time. I will need you to just do what I tell you.”

She recognized the intruder’s voice.

It was the boy whose Legitimacy Kingdom comrades had called Quenser.

“Do not worry.” The Elite girl shrugged and sighed with her body still held in by the seatbelt. “I was already planning to invite you in here. Oh ho ho.”