Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 8===

The small Capitalist Corporations PMC that specialized in battlefield cleanup used a 10-wheeled armored vehicle. It had quite a bit of space inside, but it could not take sharp turns. The model seemed to prioritize transporting troops more than suppressing an enemy with installed firearms.

Quenser frowned slightly when he entered.

“…It smells like a girl’s room.”

“Come in, come in!! I apologize that it is so cramped, but we will show you our best hospitality!! Charm! Do we have any tea left!?”

“Nothing that hasn’t been used twice already. We do have drinking water made from melted snow and enough rations to make chazuke.”

“You’re useless. Oh, excuse me. I forgot to mention, but my name is Wydine Uptown! We will do anything from reconnaissance and bombardment support to shoulder massages and ear cleanings!!”

“I-I see. Well, we mostly just need you to get us to the immigrant residential city.”

Wydine’s excessively wide smile made Quenser draw back a bit. As per his request, Wydine called out to the driver and the vehicle was off. Heivia then cut in from the side with a big grin.

“Hey, Quenser. If they’re willing to do anything, we might as well get what we can. I think I’d like an ear cleaning while resting my head on her lap!!”

The smile disappeared from Wydine’s face

“I don’t want to hear anything from you. Go sit over in the corner.”

“…Why are you treating me differently?”

“Because he is a customer who has properly paid us while you are a piece of shit that hasn’t given us a single cent☆ You should be grateful we even let you aboard.”

“Fine then! I won’t expect anything from you!! But know this: I’m the type of guy that gets excited when a girl looks down at him with cold eyes!!” As Heivia started sulking, he suddenly realized something. “Wait, couldn’t we have used the Hand Axe rather than the diamonds to make a contract with this PMC? Each gram is supposed to be worth more than a gram of platinum.”

“It’s the catalyst used in its production that costs so much. The completed explosive isn’t worth that much,” said Quenser offhandedly before changing his train of thought.

His thoughts turned to the 24th Mobile Maintenance Battalion and its 7 Objects.

“What is it?”

“I know it’s a bit late, but I was thinking about the situation here. I may have hired you with those diamonds, but this will likely be a difficult battle.” Quenser sighed. “Six of the seven Objects are likely dummies that are lower than a Generation 0.5, but they can still use their main cannons. And the Indigo Plasma is a real Second Generation Object. That is a true monstrous weapon.”

“Come to think of it,” cut in Heivia as he glanced over at Wydine. “Even if those are budget dummy models, how did they get the Elites to pilot them? Or are they forcing regular soldiers to pilot them?”

“Hmm? Those are probably strategic AIs, not Elites,” said Wydine.

“What?”

Quenser frowned and Wydine called out to one of her fellow mercenaries.

“Lemish, explain it to our customer. Use the screen to make it simpler.”

“Okay.” A pigtailed mercenary girl sat next to Quenser and showed him a handheld device. “These red arrows indicate the actions taken by the six Objects as they came ashore. Can you see the common trait among all of them?”

“They move in unnaturally straight lines… Although, that could just be them staying in formation.”

“And this is their leader, the Lily Maria…or the Indigo Plasma as I believe you call it. Look at the ring around it. Once the six dummy models enter a circle with a radius of 5 kilometers around the leader…”

“Their actions…change!?”

“They switch over to the much more flowing movements of a living being. Likely, they are normally piloted by strategic AIs but the leader can manually control them to make corrections. …If it had not been a surprise attack, the Object on the sea may not have been destroyed so easily.”

“So they can switch back and forth between auto and manual. First the Information Alliance and now the Objects of the 24th. Strategic AI development sure has gotten popular of late.” Quenser looked over at Heivia. “If the dummies really are using strategic AIs, can we use the Angelina List to stop them like we did with the Information Alliance’s Rush?”

“There are too many problems,” was Heivia’s negative response. “The Rush’s Elite was focused solely on the princess. That was why we were able to move freely. But that isn’t the case here. If we ran around the area, their main cannons would blow us away. Also, we got lucky with the Object remains scattered about last time.”

“The Active Sledge sank into the sea, but what about the Snow Quake?”

“The numbers are just too different,” spat out Heivia in annoyance. “The Water Strider had 8 main cannons. I actually used 3 of those. We had three pieces of wreckage for the one Object. The wreckage outnumbered the Objects. …On the other hand, we have just the one piece of wreckage to use against 6 dummies and the Indigo Plasma. Even if we managed to get full usage of the Snow Quake wreckage, their AI would not consider it a threat. They would just surround the wreckage and blow it to pieces to make sure it could no longer function.”

“Now, now,” cut in Lemish out of nowhere to cut off Quenser and Heivia’s negative thoughts.

She then turned the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.

“What matters is the 5 kilometer range in which the AI can be manually corrected. Most likely, infrared or electromagnetic signals are used for the remote control. And if so…”

“…I get it. That means we might be able to use that to our advantage if we get that close.”

“Sir, our PMC has a full assortment, of weapons, ammunition, provisions, communications equipment, and electronic jamming equipment.”

Wydine kicked over a large plastic box and a large number of firearms spilled out.

She smiled and said, “If you need anything, just tell us.”

“Even if most of them are dummy models, this is still a formation of 7 Objects where one is Generation Two. Also, Prizewell City Slicker is crazy. He will not hold back even if we raise the white flag. Once we head out, we can’t give up partway through.”

“We will do anything as long as you pay us. And you have already given us plenty.”