Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 12===

Quenser’s face paled when he heard that ominous transmission.

“Wait, wait, wait. What is going on!? What was that about us being confused!? How can we be confused about the Object right in front of us!?”

“Councilor Flide, hm? If I recall, he used to work in the munitions industry and holds an important position related to the Objects. He manages all of the positions related to improving the talents of our Elites.”

The two frowned while they wondered why he would be interfering.

And then they received their answer from the radio.

“You two have betrayed our expectations,” said Councilor Flide.

“?”

Quenser and Heivia exchanged a glance.

They had not expected him to contact them directly.

“This transmission is being sent only to you two who betrayed our expectations.”

“Your expectations? Did we do something that harmed your chances of getting reelected?”

“Sending this coalition force to Oceania was part of your plan, wasn’t it?” added Heivia. “Are you saying we’ll ruin people’s impressions of this war if our muddy faces are broadcast into people’s living rooms?”

“Quite the opposite. You two have done ''too'' well. If only you could have been a bit more incompetent,” replied Councilor Flide in a smooth voice. From his tone, it sounded as if he was reading from a prepared script. “Flesh and blood soldiers destroying an Object is a wonderful story that gives hope to those with none. However, the carefree residents of the safe countries are not the only ones this gives hope to. Had you realized that the guerillas and terrorists continuing reckless fights around the world have become more active recently?”

“…”

“This hell in Oceania was created by you two,” said Councilor Flide.

The two boys listened to the words of that man who was likely their enemy.

“It is true that the coalition forces – including the Legitimacy Kingdom forces – have spent the last two years doing very little, but the war should have ended a month ago when so many Objects were brought in. That was right when you were fighting that Object in Alaska. Modern wars are quite simple. The winner and loser can be easily calculated from the quality and quantity of Objects on either side. If you have one Object and your enemy has three, you decide that fighting will gain you nothing. As such, you quickly retreat to lessen the damages as much as possible. War was nicely built up so the loser would give up right away.”

That was how the war in Oceania had been supposed to turn out.

The military nation possessed a single Generation 0.5 Object while the coalition force had over 20 cutting edge Objects. Normally, the second that many Objects were spread out across the continent, Oceania would have raised the white flag. That would have brought the war to a quick end.

In fact, that was exactly what Oceania had done up until then.

All they had been able to do was just barely keep their prized Generation 0.5 hidden.

However, they had instead planned and begun to carry out a military strategy using the Generation 0.5. They had even used their prototype reactor as a trap.

“Yes, this is all thanks to the amazing results you two produced.” His tone was one of scorn. “War is no longer just about Object vs. Object. Flesh and blood humans can destroy an Object. What you two proved in Alaska is seen as hope by guerillas, terrorists, and old-style dictators. This hope has robbed them of their sole chance to raise the white flag. This has led to the war continuing on much longer than we ever expected. The benefit for my campaign has become overshadowed by the costs of the battlefield. We can’t have that. Is it really that surprising that some wish to correct this new deviation in how the world sees war?”

“So you want us to die here?”

“You specifically want us to be killed by an Object, don’t you? If the news gets out that the heroes that destroyed Objects were themselves killed by an Object, the flesh and blood troops would give up, deciding that our victories were just flukes.”

“War needs certain fundamental understandings if it is to be smartly ended in the shortest amount of time. No one wants extended conflict on the battlefield. What you two are doing will only needlessly lengthen wars and increase the numbers of the dead.” Councilor Flide's voice did not waver. “Originally, the plan was to cause a split between the forces in the coalition base and have you two get caught up in a battle between cutting edge Objects. However, it seems you have done us a favor and found the Oceanian Object on your own. We would prefer not to damage our precious Objects, so we will not stop you from having the Oceanians play the dirty role.”

On the surface, Councilor Flide’s argument may have been just.

It may indeed have been true that Quenser and Heivia had played a role in lengthening the war in Oceania. It may indeed have been best to leave all fighting in wars to Objects while leaving the flesh-and-blood soldiers and civilians to be nothing but side characters.

However…

“If you let the Oceanians kill us here, that Object will then head off and attack nearby villages. How can you be okay with that!?” shouted Quenser.

“We are tracking the Generation 0.5 with the satellite. This will be the final massacre for the Oceanians. Afterwards, we will finish it off with one of the coalition Objects.”

After hearing how readily the man said that, Quenser had the proof he needed.

The Councilor was thinking nothing of justice or peace.

“You two need to realize that you have become dangerous enough that a plan to eliminate you must be carried out even if it requires that level of sacrifice. If it is merely between Objects, war can be carried out smartly. That way, no needless harm will be done. Your hope has gotten in the way of that.”

(Yeah fucking right.)

It was true that the winner and loser were decided solely by the Objects in that kind of war. However, that did nothing to eliminate the slaughter of the rest of the soldiers. Quenser and the others had almost been slaughtered when they had lost their Object in Alaska. In the Strait of Gibraltar, all of their bases had been destroyed just because the princess had been a little late. On the battlefield, there was no kind rule that said the rest of the soldiers would be overlooked just because they had lost their Object.

Quenser summed up his thoughts on the Councilor’s argument in his next statement.

“Only someone who has never lost could make that argument.”

“You only want to protect your own interests,” said Heivia. “You just want to hold onto this world where the countries with the most Objects hold all the power. The countries without Objects and the normal soldiers being targeted by an Object all realize there is something wrong with the world. They realize that Objects are nothing but weapons used to slaughter people as efficiently as possible.”

The idea that the fight was over before it had even begun was just plain wrong.

It was living human beings that picked up their guns and fought.

No matter how puny they were, they still fought with everything they had.

It was wrong to say they had lost before the fight even began. The world was not so boring that it did not allow for coincidences and unlikely wins.

Councilor Flide was one of the people who had invested massive amounts of money in constructing Objects and made even more money from their victories in wars. His argument was merely the argument of the people like that who wished to keep their important positions in the world.

“Say what you will,” said Councilor Flide in the tone of voice of one who held many Objects in his control and felt untouchable. “Either way, you two will die there. We will monitor the Generation 0.5 as it carries out its attack and send a coalition Object to utterly destroy it. This way this war will end up being what we had originally planned. It will show a cutting edge Object conquering all that gets in our way.”

“I see. Then let’s make a bet.”

Quenser and Heivia both spoke into the radio to pick a fight with the leader of the Legitimacy Kingdom.

“If we lose to the Generation 0.5, you get what you want.”

“But if we win, it’s over for you.”

Quenser turned off the radio and clicked his tongue.

“Shit, this means we aren’t getting reinforcements! There are coalition Objects all across Oceania, and not even one of them is coming!!”

“Hey, Quenser. What about the princess?”

“She might come if we asked, but then the rest of the coalition would be her enemy. Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Councilor has some kind of safety device installed to keep that from happening.”

“Then I guess we have to do this on our own!”

“Yeah, let’s make sure to survive at least long enough to get a punch in on that damn Councilor!!”

While hiding behind the building, the two checked on what they had to do.

They knew one thing for sure.

They were not obedient enough soldiers to die there like their leader wanted.