Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume6 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 8===

Quenser and Heivia quickly gave up on the idea of regrouping with the survivors from the naval base.

Just from what they could overhear from the complicated radio transmissions told them those at the base were arguing over who got control. Since they were glaring at each other while sorting through manuals in search of some kind of loophole, it seemed they had no idea just how urgent the situation was.

“It sounds like those honor students could start shooting each other at any time. If we get too close, we’d just get lined up with the rest of them and stuck there.”

“But without the official information they have, we don’t know what route Princess Staivia is using to escape. It’s top secret. I doubt it’s been made viewable on standard military terminals.”

“We need to think. Let’s reason through this, Quenser.” Heivia called up a map of the area on his handheld device. “Even if it’s relatively stable, this is still a battlefield country. If they learn a legit princess is wandering around here, the Information Alliance or the Faith Organization will abandon whatever mission they’re on and rush here. Once it was clear the princess couldn’t use the naval base, she would start heading on the quickest route to their second option. She’s probably headed to the next closest Legitimacy Kingdom military facility, don’t you think?”

“But the next closest one is 200 kilometers away. Do you really think they would head straight there in a normal vehicle that isn’t even bulletproof?”

“This map only shows the facilities that are in active use. But the princess needs to reach safety as quickly as possible. In that case, it’s entirely possible she would try to flee to a facility that had been abandoned but is durable.”

Heivia changed a setting and a new marker was added to the map.

It was a facility along the ocean just like the naval base.

“The ruins of Lexpop International Airport. It’s all that remains of the rental float policy that was so popular a few years back.”

“…That was a means for safe countries to support battlefield countries, right? If they simply sent money, it would go straight into the pockets of government officials, so they put international airports and all the infrastructure required such as water and sewage pipes and power generation onto giant floats which were rented out.”

“Lexpop International Airport was a rental float from the Legitimacy Kingdom. Officially, it was a civilian airport, but it actually doubled as an Object maintenance facility. The local guerrillas took issue with that and used torpedoes to blow up the ships that towed it. The rental float was then unable to lower its speed, so it slammed into the coast and flooded.”

“How sturdy is it?”

“It was designed to be used to aid Objects, so the float itself is quite tough. If the emergency power source within is activated, it’s possible its salt-resistant and highly durable anti-air defense system could be reactivated.”

The ruins of Lexpop International Airport were 80 kilometers south of the airport that had been attacked. Heivia pulled a small motorcycle out of a pile of trash and used a screwdriver to force open the ignition and start the engine.

As he climbed on the back, Quenser asked a question of his partner.

“Do you think we’ll find them on the way there?”

“Who knows. And Princess Staivia’s side has to be aware they have enemies in the Legitimacy Kingdom. If delinquent soldiers like us carelessly approach them, we might get filled with bullet holes.”

“…I’d prefer to receive a counterattack from that princess that involves hitting people with stuffed animals.”



Heivia headed full speed down the shortest route to the ruins of Lexpop International Airport. That was the route Princess Staivia’s group would likely be taking, but they did not run across any such convoy on the way there.

In fact…

“What the hell? Not only is there no sign of the princess, but there aren’t any traps or troops from Dimiksy’s faction waiting to assassinate her. If they had blocked off all routes to the float, we should have run across some kind of barricade…”

“That means… This is bad. They must want Princess Staivia to head to the ruins of Lexpop International Airport. If there’s a trap, it’s the float itself! Has this rumored princess already gone inside!?”

Heivia stopped the small motorcycle near the ruins of Lexpop International Airport. A portion of the gently curving concrete embankment had been broken by the impact from the square float. The float had been dented a bit and it was tilted in the direction of one of its four corners, but it did not appear to be badly damaged. …The tilt would prevent it from functioning as an airport, though.

It was called a manmade float, but it carried all the functionality of an airport. Naturally, it was quite large. The sight of a piece of land 3 kilometers square floating in the ocean was quite bizarre.

“? Heivia, why did you stop the bike? We need to hurry up and meet up with Princess Staivia.”

“Were you even listening to what I said? Lexpop International Airport is officially a civilian airport, but it can also perform maintenance on Objects. And that means…”

The situation changed before Heivia could finish his explanation.

Several large tiltrotor transport aircrafts passed by overhead. The model could of course carry troops, but it could also carry light tanks.

It was a Legitimacy Kingdom model, but that hardly put Quenser’s mind at ease. Dimiksy’s faction that was targeting Princess Staivia’s life was part of the Legitimacy Kingdom.

Quenser used a pair of binoculars to monitor the body of the tiltrotor crafts.

“Those are ID numbers from the naval base. Are the arguments between factions already over? I guess those honor students wanted to protect Princess Staivia after all.”

“Dammit! This is no time to be stupid, Quenser. We need to get going!! We need to save the Sleeping Beauty trapped in that castle!!”

“Why? If a large unit of those honor students are on their way to save her…”

Quenser’s voice was cut off by an explosive noise.

An orange flash of light ripped through the sky and an impact like a giant drum being struck weighed on the two idiots’ stomachs. Quenser immediately lowered himself to the ground as he watched one of the tiltrotor crafts explode in midair and spread black smoke and wreckage everywhere.

“They were shot!? That came from the ruins of the airport! They’re firing missiles and Gatling guns like crazy!!”

“I said the anti-air weapons could be reactivated if the emergency power supply was activated, remember!? They’ll just be shot down like this. Every one of those flying treasure chests will be gambled away!!”

Some of those from the naval base took action to avoid being foolishly blown to pieces aboard those slow cargo planes. Even from where he was, Quenser could see the cargo hatches opening and soldiers, airmobile tanks, and armored vehicles being forced out.

But if one ignored war treaties, a parachute was just a nice target.

The Gatling gun’s tracer bullets mercilessly attacked a portion of the humans and armored weapons that’s speed had quickly dropped.

“What? They’re shooting the allies that are here to help! Is this rumored Sleeping Beauty such a bad sleeper that it reaches the level of a reign of terror!? I mean, I understand the desire to shoot those honor students when you see those smug grins, but still!”

“No, Quenser. Something isn’t right. I’ve been trying to contact them by radio for a while now, but every frequency I try has too much noise on it. Someone is jamming us. It’s like they’re trying to hide the true intentions of the princess.”

“You mean Dimiksy’s faction set up the emergency power and anti-air weapons ahead of time to isolate Princess Staivia?”

“If those weapons are on auto-intercept mode, they’ll act regardless of the princess’s wishes. All of this friendly fire is going to be blamed on her! We need to hurry up and sneak onto the airport float and shut down the emergency power. Otherwise, all of those disagreeable honor students will be turned into bloody rain!”

If they headed through a normal route, they would be swallowed up in a storm of bullets and missiles.

Quenser and Heivia entered the ocean from the coast a short distance from the float. The area must have been developed to allow large ships to pass through because it was surprisingly deep. From what they could see, it was several dozen meters deep.

“Upph! This is absolutely disgusting! It reeks!! Do the people here think nothing of ocean resources!?”

“If they understood that, they would be able to join the other advanced nations. Dammit. I want to throw away my rifle and missile and everything. I should have prepared a float before jumping in!”

Without the aid of fins or oxygen tanks and while somehow managing to hold onto their heavy military equipment, the two idiots approached the float while half-drowning.

“Is there a secret entrance or something?”

“Don’t be stupid. We’re just going to climb up onto it. It’s the basic method.”

Luckily, it was light on sea-related defense systems such as torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. A few sea mines were floating around, but they were meant for ships, so they were big enough for Quenser and Heivia to easily avoid.

But the two of them spotted something much worse before they made it to the float.

It was directly below the float.

They saw a giant silhouette hanging down into the ocean by hundreds of metal wires.

Once he realized what it was, Quenser spoke without meaning to.

“…An Object…?”