Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume20 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 3===

(This battle is going from bad to worse.)

Mariydi Whitewitch hated how coldly calculating she could be at times like this.

She only clicked her tongue while piloting her Zig-27 fighter. Not even the hard rock playing from her phone could preserve her good mood. The special oxygen tube extending toward her mouth like a headset continued to provide the optimal amount using the data sent by the small mic attached to her throat, but that couldn’t prevent the tingling displeasure in the back of her head.

(The Information Alliance Object is our top priority! If we lose our only remaining Object, we’ll have lost any method of sinking that monster!!)

The enemy was the center of New York itself. Dropping aerial bombs from a fighter wouldn’t even scratch it. In fact, she wasn’t sure a bomber’s FAE bombs or bunker busters would be enough to damage the depths of that thing.

“It’s no use. The lasers are already coming. I can see them because of the raindrops. Burning Alpha, I- ahhhhh!?”

“Eject, Plus Del- arrrgh, goddammit!! This world war can go to hell! That kid was only 17!!!”

She heard a loud explosion followed by a wail of sorrow from Burning Alpha.

But this wasn’t an issue of poor skills. That fighter had been hit by a blast of wind or something just beforehand.

Mariydi softly bit her lip. As a squadron leader, she knew all to well how painful it was to fail to protect a member of your squadron.

They needed something – anything – to turn the tide.

They were not the only ones taking damage. Everyone was exposed to the threat of death out here. If they didn’t find some way to escape and soon, someone else they cared about would die. It could be a member of Ice Squadron next time.

And the crucial key to surviving this was…

“Information. Okay, fine!”

“Ice Sword 2 to Ice Girl 1. What are you doing!?”

(I hate those Objects from the bottom of my heart for getting paid so much when they aren’t even putting their life at risk, but my squadron will die without their help here!!)

She had no intention of answering her squadron member’s question. Because if she did, all three of them were sure to follow her toward near-certain doom.

Mariydi adjusted her grip on the stick and felt the powerful g-forces lifting her stomach. It must have affected her ears too because the hard rock sounded briefly distorted. Her Zig-27 rapidly lost altitude and then flew straight toward the Manhattan while skimming just above the ocean.

(Damn, did I catch on something? Is the Manhattan manipulating the air currents to protect its urban areas from its own movements?)

A fighter canopy had no wipers. Drops of water were kept off with water-repelling chemicals and with the fighter’s own speed.

She soared through a city of skyscrapers at Mach 2.

Something like transparent vines were tangled around the buildings. 3m cubes also covered the ground. She knew they were protecting the buildings and people from the rapid movement, but the bizarre image still sent a chill down her spine.

(Modern military fighters have multiple sensors attached around the undercarriage to assist takeoff and landing at night and during stormy weather. I should be able to find something if I run a careful scan of the Manhattan with those: locations of main and secondary cannons, layout of underground cables from the heat distribution, number and location of reactors, and so on. I don’t need to find everything. Just a few of them should help fill in the rest of the blanks like with a crossword puzzle!!)

The Manhattan’s great size meant it actually had trouble targeting something less than 10m above it. The cannons couldn’t track it and the buildings got in the line of fire.

The Zig-27 flew straight through the metropolis.

Anything not fixed in place must have still been affected by the inertial forces because she saw a large propane tank fly by next to her. The glass shards raining down from above suggested she had applied too much pressure to the smooth skyscrapers. Sucking those in through the air intake would lead to engine trouble.

Once she flew out over the ocean on the other side, the colossal Manhattan gave a groan.

“!?”

That moment stretched out toward eternity as she sensed death approaching. Everything seemed to freeze around her as that fact dawned on her. But this wasn’t like the close calls of the past. The frozen time of impending doom did not end a moment later. She was trapped in a cage and moving the control column now wouldn’t allow her to escape the Manhattan’s shot.

Her fighter shuddered from within. The jet engine may have absorbed some invisible town gas while she flew through the city.

She smiled a little.

And then she focused on her radio instead of the control column.

“Ice Girl 1 to Ice Squadron. Obey Burning Alpha’s orders from here on. It was a pleasure flying with you all.”

“Ice Girl 1!!”

“Burning Alpha, I hate everything else about you, but you do have some skill. Enough to look after the squadron I value more than my own life. I will never forgive you if you let them die. Got that?”

A moment later, time sped back up and the Manhattan’s anti-air laser beam vaporized the Zig-27.