Editing HEAVY OBJECT:EX Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 3===

The Faith Organization was a union of different religious groups, so its countries’ laws tended to be based on religious rules.

And during the raucous party in the maintenance base, the soldiers thanked their gods that they had been born in a Norse Mythology country. Their religion could be really picky about duels and fights, but the hurdles for food, drink, smoking, and hobbies were extremely low. They could eat and drink anything.

“But you’re still drinking way too much, Hoover! This stuff is 116 proof, so at least water it down a little!”

“Iii’m fine! We’ve got a goddesh of victory on our shide, sho it’sh not like thoshe loshers’re gonna attack now…”

The first soldier clicked his tongue when he heard the other slurring his words. As soon as he supported unsteady Hoover with his shoulder, the man vomited quite spectacularly.

“Ubweh!!”

“Gross, you idiot! That’s not some telephone pole; it’s a historic relic!!”

“Huh? Shit…that’sh odd… I didn’t think I’d had sho much to drink…”

“Well, you were wrong. Hey, medical team! Where’s the tent with the cross on it!!?”

He practically had to drag Hoover away from their post and to the medical tent.



Just ten meters away, Heivia was hiding behind cover inside the Faith Organization maintenance base zone.

The delinquent soldier held an assault rifle.

But he had no interest in the lead bullets. What mattered now was the makeshift optional weapon attached near the muzzle.

“This is Heivia. The emotional weapon is working. I repeat, the emotional weapon is working. Focus on targeting the drunk ones. You can tell who’s drunk using thermo.”

A weapon that remotely manipulates people’s emotions and mental state might sound like it used mysterious alien space waves, but something much closer to home could pull it off.

For example, far infrared beams or microwaves.

When people were exposed to those, they would naturally start to feel hot. But if the situation was not explained to them in advance, they would not know what was happening because infrared beams and microwaves are invisible. From there, they would have to guess what was happening to them and people tended to accept whatever conclusion they reached.

Was their head growing so hot because they did not like what their comrades were saying?

Could they not sleep because of nerves?

Did their chest ache because they were feeling guilty after growing fond of their hostage?

An emotional weapon was developed to invite those misunderstandings that would destroy the enemy’s morale and coordination. It had been developed for long-term battles and siege operations, but the biggest flaw was how wildly its effects varied between individuals.

However, that could be overcome in certain limited circumstances.

For example, during a party when most of the targets were intoxicated from strong liquor. 

“This is pretty amazing. When their body temperature skyrockets, they get drunk faster. It’s a lot like taking a hot bath when you’re drunk. I’m not sure if this counts as high tech or low tech.”

“Our food supply included boxes of whisky. It was nearly 120 proof. If they were serving that, this will knock out most of the soldiers.”

“That’s great. And it might not be a bad idea to ‘borrow’ a bottle while I’m at it.”

They had not been issued this equipment. It was all handmade. They had pulled some scrap from the pile of rubble that had been their base, Skuld had given them information on the Faith Organization, and the technical people like the old lady had discussed how to take advantage of that information before putting these together.

War was all about intelligence. Heivia felt like war was the worst of the acts only possible for a cultured person.

“Anyway, it’s working.”

“Then let’s continue with the plan.”

The two of them nodded and then the group split apart into a Heivia team and a Skuld team. On the way, they used environmental noises from their directional speakers to neutralize the microphones they came across and used the emotional weapons attached to their rifles to speed up the soldiers’ intoxication until they vomited.

Myonri, a female soldier on Heivia’s team, gave a worried comment.

“W-will this really work? Won’t it be useless against anyone who doesn’t drink?”

“The idiots around them will take care of that. When one collapses, they need a second or third person to carry them away. Check their body temperature with thermo. If you see a sober-looking one, target the guy next to them. We’ll stick with this until they find any proof that we’re here.”

Heivia’s group made their way toward the monastery while accurately knocking out the Faith Organization soldiers without firing a single bullet or making any noise or light.

“Power source team here. Preparations complete.”

“Sabotage team here. We’re having trouble with our preparations. But it looks like we’ll be able to get inside the maintenance bay when the blackout hits. We’re waiting for the signal.”

Heivia’s team pressed against the wall of a giant tent as they listened to the voices over the radio.

They were already right in front of the monastery’s front entrance.

The thick bronze door was locked with a simple bar on the inside, but that meant they could not pick the lock. Just as the guard out front took a swig from an amber-colored bottle, they hit him with the microwaves of their emotional weapons and then ran toward the door.

Heivia searched through the collapsed soldier’s clothes and clicked his tongue.

“Rescue team here. There’s no authorization key. I repeat, there’s no authorization key. Activate Plan B. Let’s do this the fun way!!”

A moment later, the maintenance base zone’s power went out and the entire area was enveloped in darkness.