HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: War of the Ant and the Grasshopper >> Battle to Defeat an Oceanian Military Nation

Part 1

An Oceanian military nation existed in a land famous for koalas and kangaroos. In the age when a country known as Australia had existed there, the cities had primarily existed on the coastal border areas and the central area had mostly been a dry, cracked wasteland that looked like something out of a Western. Even if the areas were not full-blown deserts, the dry, hard ground could only support undergrowth, so both growing crops and building up a modern city had been difficult.

However, modern times had overturned that situation.

Artificial soil with high water retention had been developed and many genetically improved plant cultivars were able to carry out urban greening even in harsh climates. Using these and other methods, a large scale plan to improve Oceania’s environment had been developed. With the improvements to the soil, the previously barren inner lands could be made able to produce large amounts of crops and the people who profited from those crops could build large cities and connect them with a traffic network. By drawing out the resources hidden within the earth, the country’s economy could flourish, and its position in the international community could rise. If it had all gone according to plan, no one would have even thought of targeting that nation with an Object.

However, it did not go according to plan.

The tribes that had lived in Oceania since ancient times felt it necessary to preserve Oceania’s original state. Their religious beliefs led them to view the natural state of the land as precious and noble no matter how barren that left it. As such, they refused to let the land be covered in non-native or genetically improved plants. The tribes could not bear to have their land “eaten away” just to make money, so they began carrying out completely peaceful demonstrations and protests. The military nation was lost in its greed for the profits the development of the land would produce, so they responded in a truly simple fashion.

They sent an Object after them.

“That is what is known as the Forest Conservation that began two years ago. And so a coalition force intervened to protect the tribes from the tyranny of that military nation,” said Heivia within the sand-covered maintenance base zone.

Standing next to him, Quenser said, “Huh? This all started two years ago? Then why are we only being called in now?”

“How should I know? There must have been some new development. Something that requires finishing them off.”

The balance of power within Oceania was incredibly easy to see. The areas under control of the military nation were covered in green while the areas under control of the coalition force (and the tribes that refused to support the military nation) were covered in desert. They were also separated by whether they were willing to slaughter an opposing force for nothing more than the profit gained from food and lumber.

Objects from various different forces were kept within that coalition base zone on the front line. Normally, those Objects would likely have been on opposing sides, but they were currently lined up next to each other.

The soil there was of course arid. In accordance with the demands of the tribes, they only cleared away the vegetation that had not existed in Oceania since ancient times.

“Why is it so damn hot? Weren’t we just freezing our asses off in Alaska not too long ago?”

“The seasons in the southern hemisphere are reversed, you idiot. But I suppose this weather is actually a little more suited to a miniskirt Santa.” Quenser looked around while wiping a mixture of sweat and sand from his face. “Y’know, we sure have a lot of Objects on our side this time. Maybe we can finally get by without having to charge in ourselves.”

“Don’t be stupid. Have you forgotten how many times our expectations have been horribly, horribly betrayed? It’s probably more realistic to think of more allies as something that increases the chances of getting stepped on accidentally.”

“The coalition force has sent countless Objects against bases in order to crush the dictatorship here, right? But what about the white flag? War these days is based on battles between Objects, so is it really okay to attack bases with only flesh-and-blood people in them?”

“Don’t ask me. It’s probably just some kind of extreme exception. Have you seen what nations make up this coalition? I can’t believe we’ve been working together with dangerous countries like that for two years now. This Oceanian dictatorship must really be hated by the international community. …Also, I doubt the Oceanians have ever raised the white flag. They’ve done some pretty nasty things, so I doubt anyone would let them in even if they did flee the country.”

While listening to Heivia, Quenser leaned up against the synthetic fiber barricade spread around the base and stuck something like a giant rectangular eraser into his mouth.

“Hm, the rations are as disgusting as ever, so that’s something.”

“Yeah, but now we get a coating of sand to add to the flavor.”

“I just want to go home.”

“The higher ups are carrying out firefights using the communication function on handheld game systems.”

While they muttered various complaints, they heard the barricade creak.

They turned around to find a local girl of about 10 grabbing onto the barricade from outside and staring up at them.

“What are those?” the girl asked while innocently pointing at the coalition Objects being moved within the base zone.

Quenser and Heivia were unsure how to respond.

However, the girl did not seem to mind and pressed a picture book up against the barricade.

“It’s them, isn’t it? They’re the kind beasts of the rocks in this story.”

“Y-yeah, that’s what they are. They’re providing shelter for the squirrels and kangaroos in case it rains.”

Quenser could not bear to tell her they were weapons of mass destruction and were anything but kind. To his annoyance, Heivia gave him a look that seemed to say, “Nice one, Quenser!!”

Next, a number of trails of white smoke were fired up into the air within the base zone.

The girl pointed up into the sky and asked, “And what are those?”

Quenser absolutely refused to tell her they were a new model of sensor-type meteorological missiles being tested.

“Th-they’re rockets…which are sort of like a relative of a space shuttle…I guess?”

“Wow, I’ve never seen one before.”

As the girl’s eyes glittered in excitement, the two boys averted their gaze.

That was when their superior officer, Floretia, arrived.

“Hey, you idiots, don’t sit around chatting by the barricade. Stay focused.”

The girl outside the barricade responded more quickly than Floretia’s subordinates. She jumped in fright and ran off as quickly as she could.

Quenser and Heivia stared silently at Floretia for a bit.

“…What a waste.”

“…There’s no helping it. She may be beautiful, but she’s still a strict commander. Even a mixed martial artist would probably lose his nerve when faced with this aura.”

“Oh, do you want to see my nice side? I can give you an introduction using the heel of my boot if you like. But for now, don’t hang around near the barricade. This is a battlefield, remember?”

“We’ll be fine. Even in a military nation like this, I doubt a mere sniper is going to target a base filled with so many Objects.”

“That’s not what I meant. The base is being targeted by cameras.” Floretia seemed frustrated, but despite the heat, she did not undo even a single button of the military uniform constraining her giant breasts. “A surprising number of foreign reporters have gathered, saying they will expose the tyranny of the military nation. However, they are mostly spoiled brats from safe countries that have never seen war and the rest are people who I seriously doubt are reporters.”

“Oh, you mean the people who act as battlefield guides now that Objects have made mercenaries obsolete?” asked Heivia.

“Seems that way,” agreed Floretia. “The problem is that the military’s safety protocols don’t allow us to let them into the areas ruled by the military nation, so they have nothing to do. Occasionally, they will turn their cameras our way, hoping to get a shot that will be worth some money. If you don’t want your stupid face showing up alongside a satirical article in the home country, make sure to be in top form while outside.”

“…God, what a pain. Can’t you ban photography of the base saying it’s a necessary security measure to preserve classified information on the Objects or something?”

Floretia thought she felt a headache coming on when she heard Quenser’s amateurish suggestion.

“What do you think the coalition is for? The home country could end this infighting on its own if need be, but the higher ups want a grand image of the heroes of justice on parade. If we banned photography, the candidates desperately campaigning for the Council back home would be upset. The Flide Council is extremely on edge.”

“Hadn’t you heard, Quenser? They’re doing all sorts of things for the press. There was even talk of having decals for high-paying companies or political parties put on the Object’s armor like F1 racers or something.”

“What, are they planning to send the image of bases being attacked and soldiers being shot to pieces into people’s living rooms? They don’t understand what war is like.”

That comment of Quenser’s may have sounded like something any other soldier would have said, but he was technically still a mere battlefield student. The know-it-all expression he had as he made his complaint was more the trait of a peaceful citizen.

Fed up with that discussion, Heivia changed the subject.

“Hey, did you see those boats from an anti-war group racing around in the ocean? They had those huge banners insisting the coalition forces end the invasion that was made up of an overwhelming force of Objects.”

“They’re either a bunch of idiots who don’t know what’s going on inside the military nation or a bunch of self-centered bastards who know but don’t care. Do we really need to pay any attention to them? In fact, I’m willing to bet they would ask us why didn’t we attack the military nation sooner, the second a torpedo from that nation sinks one of them.”

With a displeased expression, Floretia spoke up, “The Council election back in the home country is coming up soon. As I said, the current Flide Council is on edge to ensure they don’t gain any kind of a negative image. It’s possible they really are planning an operation to provide relief to that ignorant anti-war group.”

“Oh c’mon. We come all the way to the battlefield and we have to babysit some idiots?” complained the two boys.

Floretia glanced up toward the sun that was beginning sink.

“You two will be taking part in a mission that begins at sunset, so you need to prepare yourselves now. An official briefing is being held this evening, so make sure you are fully equipped by then.”

“Wait, ‘you two’? Floretia-san, are you just going to be sitting in an air-conditioned room waiting for the result?” asked Heivia while pouting his lips.

Floretia shrugged and said, “Would you rather help us out here? It isn’t easy holding back the third-rate reporters who want to be battlefield cameramen and keep ignoring the military safety protocols and heading for the front lines. They all think us soldiers are something like tour guides. Whenever their freedom is infringed on even slightly, they call to complain as if we were a customer service center. Do you want to see the true face of pacifism while you have people spit in your face and are unable to strike back?”

Quenser and Heivia grimaced at the thought.

Part 2

Inside the coalition maintenance base zone, the characteristics of the equipment found within the same class of facility varied depending on which force they belonged to. An Elite girl who was called the princess by others stood within a detached portion of the base zone created from multiple large vehicles.

Multiple such facilities existed and the one the princess was currently inside was not the enormous one that contained her personal Object, the Baby Magnum. She was in a special facility located next to the one for the Object. This one was for maintaining the Elite pilot’s body.

The area was so large it was hard to believe it was inside a vehicle and it contained a clear semi-circle dome about 10 meters across. The Elite girl was standing in the middle of that dome and countless devices and human eyes were observing her from outside the dome. The people were from the medical team that looked after the Elite girl’s health.

The old lady that normally maintained the Object was mixed in with the medical team and she operated a device that looked like the kind of recording console used to dub animation or movies.

“Okay, let’s get started. Have you finished preparing the instrument?” said the old lady.

Her voice was not transmitted by sound. Instead, orange words were displayed on the inner clear wall of the dome. This was because the dome was soundproofed. The girl read the words that scrolled across like on an electric scoreboard. As a music score raced across the clear and thin monitor before her eyes, she put on the special goggles also used to pilot the Object.

She held up a long, thin silver flute and entered text by having the infrared input function of the goggles read the motion of her eyes.

“Tuning of the flute is complete,” she wrote.

“I take it there are no issues with the score either. In that case, let the metronome go. You can begin your performance whenever you like.”

Having read the old lady’s words, the princess lightly let fly the paper airplane she held in one hand. While watching the papercraft gently arcing through the air, she held the silver flute horizontally up to her mouth.

She blew into it and moved her white fingers.

A small noise was emitted and the nose of the paper airplane tilted up slightly. It was made of a special material that was distorted by sound waves.

“Yes, yes, that’s good. Bring the metronome into a 5 meter radius loop at an altitude of 140 centimeters, completing one loop every 30 seconds.”

“Inartistic performances like that are boring.”

With the flute still to her mouth, the princess continued moving her eyes to continue the conversation. Notes moved dizzyingly across the monitor displaying the score, but there was no uncertainty in the movement of her fingers. It was less like the movements of a music-loving musician and more like the movements of a robot arm accurately soldering items to a circuit board in a semiconductor plant.

“Does it feel good to be surrounded by sound like that?”

“You mean the point vibrations of the dome and the sound I am creating? If I was satisfied with only that, I would feel like I was insulting orchestras.”

There was no standard method of regulating an Elite’s body. Nor was there merely a different set of standards for each army or nation. The ideal method was built up specifically for each individual Elite. For one person, it was to continually swim within a large pool, aiming for the fastest time. For another, it was solving every single problem on an answer sheet similar to a college entrance exam. For another, it was playing chess against a super computer. And for someone like the princess, it was to surround oneself in carefully modulated sound.

“Do you have a complaint with the instrument? For a change of pace, you could always try using the electric guitar.”

“Having the sound of my breath mixed in would have an effect on the regulation. I am using the flute because the breaths are written into the music.”

Other sounds could not be mixed in with the music. She could talk with no problem by taking breaks from playing, but the regulation could not continue during those breaks.

That was why the Elite girl was going through the annoyance of speaking with her eyes while playing with her mouth. Eventually, she reached the final note and that stage of the regulation was complete. The princess removed the flute from her mouth and the paper airplane that had been kept aloft by the music slowly fell to the floor.

The princess picked up the metronome and prepared for the next song, but then she suddenly looked up. Through the clear dome, she had spotted a familiar face entering through the open door of the large vehicle.

It was Quenser.

He was being pushed forward by his companion Heivia and his expression made it seem he did not know why he was there. Seeing that, the princess silently nodded.

(Heivia can be rough, but he is certainly considerate.)

Among the group monitoring her, only the non-medical old lady seemed to notice the change in her mental state. The orange text read, “How about we take a short break,” and the soundproofed door of the clear dome opened automatically.

Quenser entered and the princess moved her eyes to give instructions to the dome. Immediately afterwards, the polarization of the clear dome walls changed, making them white.

“Wah!” shouted Quenser in surprise as he looked around.

The princess approached him and said, “What are you here for today?”

“Oh, Heivia was saying something about us needing to drop by and remind you not to step on us since we’re going to be on a mission together.”

(What kind of brute does that person think I am?)

The princess was a tad miffed.

Oblivious to that fact, Quenser looked at the silver flute the princess held.

“Hehh. Is that a flute? I saw people using them in a wind orchestra back in the safe country, but I just couldn’t figure out how they were using them. I probably wouldn’t even be able to make a noise if I tried.”

“It is easier than it looks. Do you want to try?” asked the Elite girl and Quenser’s face lit up even more than she had expected.

That was enough to bring the princess back into a good mood, but…

“You hold a flute to the side, right? Huh? Does it go to the right or the left?”

Before she could say anything, Quenser innocently brought the flute to his mouth.

She had been planning to at least wipe the mouthpiece off before handing it to him, so she was stunned and stood with a blank look and a blush on her face. However, an even greater shock ran through her soon after.

The girl was having her body regulated by the sound of the instrument, so just as a small, stupid sound escaped the flute, a sudden deluge of strange feelings assaulted her spine.

“…!?”

The princess’s mouth wordlessly opened and closed as she curled up her spine. A specific suggestion command would release her from the regulatory effects of the flute, but she had completely forgotten to give the command.

As a soft, charming light appeared in her eye and the light of reason tried to deny it, the girl’s body stiffened, but Quenser was as clueless as ever.

As he tried to accurately produce the “do re mi fa sol la ti do” scale, the strengths of the breaths he was using were completely wrong.

“Huh? The notes aren’t coming out right. They’re distorted. And how am I supposed to press down to made a ‘do’?”

With each grating noise produced by the flute, the princess’s body trembled unnaturally. A glossy light peach color appeared in her white cheeks and tears appeared in the edges of her eyes. Her slender arms and legs turned inward against her wishes. As the girl rubbed her thighs together, she had no idea why she naturally wanted to do so.

“Do re mi…fa? Is this ‘fa’? …Huh?”

Finally, Quenser noticed something was wrong.

The princess blushed even further due to the conflict between relief and embarrassment at his finally noticing.

“A-are you okay? Do you need to use the bathroom?” asked Quenser with a worried expression as he looked at her face.

Immediately afterwards, the elite girl did something she did not often do.

She punched a human being directly with her small fist.

Part 3

The sun began sinking below the horizon.

As Quenser stood in that wild land that was being dyed orange, Heivia spoke out to him.

“Come to think of it, what exactly are we going to be doing?”

“Isn’t that what we’re about to find out at the briefing?”

“I’m sure the various coalition dignitaries are plotting to have their own Object take all the glory. Don’t you think there’s gonna be some argument over who gets to finish off the enemy?”

“We can only pray an actual fight doesn’t break out like dogs going after some meat.”

As Quenser walked along, he pulled out a folded up map. It was of the Oceanian military nation. When Heivia saw the old map, an annoyed expression appeared on his face.

“What the hell are you doing? Did you lose your handheld?”

“If the battery dies or sand gets in it, it’ll be useless. If you don’t learn when to use digital means and when to use analog means, you’ll get yourself killed.” As he spoke, Quenser refolded the small map like someone reading a newspaper on a crowded train. “From what the people maintaining the princess’s Object said, the plan is to attack the Oceanian military nation’s secret base and blow away the enemy Object.” Heivia peered over at the map from the side as Quenser continued to speak. “According to the higher up’s information, the Oceanian military nation’s level of tech is actually quite low. It’s to the point where we’re not even sure if they could create an Object or not. The electronic simulation group has created an estimated design for the enemy Object based on what has been brought into or developed here, and it only comes out to what they’re calling Generation 0.5. Basically, their level of tech is too low to evenly give the Object normal functionality, so it’s really just a piece of junk. The armor is especially crudely made, so the analysis says a nuclear warhead might actually be enough to destroy it.”

“Then this should be easy. We have a coalition force giving us over 20 Objects spread out across Oceania. Objects are synonymous with war, so we can crush Oceania by numbers alone, right?”

“Actually, they say it isn’t going to be that easy.”

Quenser showed the folded map to Heivia.

It had red circles in places.

“The Oceanian military nation knows that their precious Object will be destroyed in an instant if we attack in earnest, so they’ve hidden where its base is. That’s why, even with all the Objects we have, we can’t attack it right away.”

“Ahn? But I thought an operation was beginning at sunset. Surely that means we know where this secret base is, right?”

“We have a possible candidate.” Quenser pointed at one of the red circles on the map. “It seems the Oceanians have constructed fake base zones across the land to throw off our analysis. We’ve attacked what looks like a base zone a few times, but they’ve ended up being completely empty. They were talking about having done a more thorough investigation this time, but they must still not know if this one is real or not.”

“Objects are fucking huge. Can’t they tell where it is from the satellites?”

“That’s been used against us. The higher ups have gotten all excited upon seeing a giant 50 meter form and sent out a large force only to find a giant gas tank covered in decorations. From what I heard, those in charge of monitoring the satellites broke out crying in humiliation.”

“That’s quite the indirect attack,” replied Heivia.

The military nation had scattered dummy gas tanks about Oceania because they knew they were being monitored by satellite. Apparently, they had been trying to say, “Look how many Objects we have. Wah hah hah!”

Of course, the coalition force was not stupid enough to fall for all the dummies, but they still had to act carefully because they never knew when what they were approaching would turn out to be the real Object. This needlessly wore down the soldiers’ morale and rapidly consumed the people’s tax money. Because of all this, the higher ups just wanted to bring the war to an end quickly.

“So this is likely to end up being nothing but target practice against fakes?”

“The worst part is that looking at it like that could easily get you blown to pieces.”

No longer needing it, Quenser folded the map up even smaller and stuffed it in his back pocket.

Heivia looked around the area and said, “By the way, we’re working with a coalition force this time, right? So there’ll be Objects other than the princess’s. I hope we don’t end up working alongside a country we ran into in Alaska or Gibraltar. I’d rather not have a supposed ally shoot me in the back over personal issues.”

“Are you sure you want to ask that? You aren’t going to like the answer. I asked the same thing to the princess’s Object’s maintenance team. It’s only a rumor, but-…”

Before Quenser could continue, a giant building passed by in front of them.

Actually, it was an Object.

The giant 50 meter form passing by was all it took to blow sand up into the air like a sandstorm, but Quenser and Heivia had more important things to worry about.

The flag printed on the Object’s armor was enough to almost give Heivia a heart attack.

“Gyahhh!? You’ve gotta be kidding me! That’s the Information Alliance!!”

“Yeah, I just heard about it before. It seems we’re working with those crazy people.”

The Object’s information collection devices must have picked up their voices because the 50 meter form slowed as if in response and a female voice was transmitted over a speaker.

“My, my. If it isn’t the dogs of the Legitimacy Kingdom’s military. It seems we will be working together. Oh ho ho.”

The Object’s air cushion engine keeping it afloat then blew out extra air, blowing even more sand about and making Quenser and Heivia cough.

“Dammit. This is why they shouldn’t let immature people pilot Objects!! Do we really have to go on this mission along with someone like that!?”

“It’s still better than dealing with the Capitalist Corporations or the Faith Organization, so you should probably quite complaining.”

A satirical journalist had once likened the world map of that age to stained glass. Where it had once been divided into many small nations, it was now divided into just a few “colors” showing what group was in charge.

One was a group that insisted the accuracy of information was what determined good and evil and that was trying to create a network that covered the world. One was a collection of super capitalist corporations that felt the amount of money in one’s bank account determined your precedence in the world and what human rights you had. One was a kingdom that was a collection of cultures that wanted to resurrect the old system where legitimacy of one’s bloodline and one’s honor determined one’s social standing.

Food shortages, energy shortages, increasing populations, and many other things were touted as the “official reasons” for the world ending up like that, but it seemed the real reason was the failure and utter shattering of the United Nations in the first half of the 21st century. The shattered pieces continued on in the directions they wanted and eventually reformed into a few different alliances.

No longer did a map of the world’s power balance have a single continent simply filled in with one color. Instead, the countries of a single area freely joined whatever force they wished, making the power balance overcome geographic boundaries. This indeed made the map look something like stained glass. As this made neighboring countries often also be enemies, small scale battles were quite common in that world.

However, all of this had become completely normal by the time Quenser had been born, so he could only tilt his head to the side in confusion when the elderly shook their heads, fed up with it all.

“However, two Objects are being used for this operation, so I doubt flesh-and-blood soldiers like you will even be needed. Oh ho ho,” said the Object pilot.

“Then can we just go to bed?”

Part 14

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