Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 6===

Froleytia was on standby in the maintenance base zone that had been set up well back of the battlefield. The commander’s office prepared for her was properly covered in tatami mats ordered from the Japanese islands and a short table had her laptop sitting on it.

Froleytia was using that laptop to monitor the progress of the battle, but then she received a video chat. She placed her long, narrow Japanese kiseru in a Japanese tobacco tray and then opened a new window.

A solidly built middle aged man was displayed in the window.

It took some effort on Froleytia’s part to keep her expression passive upon seeing the rank insignia on the shoulders of his military uniform.

(A Capitalist Corporations major general!! I had a feeling they would be calling before long, but…)

“I am Major General Buffer Planters calling on behalf of the Capitalist Corporations military. It has come to our attention that you are pursuing our Mass Driver conglomerate.”

(Buffer Planters…)

Froleytia recognized the name.

(Dammit. That’s the VIP that Quenser and Heivia carelessly saved from that moon villa attack.)

“I am Major Froleytia Capistrano, the commanding officer here. So you will not waste your time, let me inform you ahead of time that we will not discuss the means by which we will end this.”

As ranks went, there was a huge difference between major and major general, but Froleytia did not particularly care. What mattered more was that they were soldiers of enemy nations.

It seemed the man felt the same.

“Girl, we are not talking about ridiculous honor here. We would like to talk about profit.”

“Are you afraid we will gain information on Mass Driver conglomerate technology after we crush them?”

If the Capitalist Corporations was worried about something, it would be that.

It was also possible they wanted to make sure Sladder Honeysuckle, the Object designer involved in the construction of the Break Carrier, did not defect to the Legitimacy Kingdom.

“Even if Honeysuckle surrenders to us, we will shoot him, so do not worry. In the Legitimacy Kingdom, we value honor and law above all. After someone has opposed us as he has, we have no system by which to receive them with open arms.”

“No, that is not what we are worried about.” Buffer shook his head slowly. “For one, if the Mass Driver conglomerate truly intended to defect to the Legitimacy Kingdom, they would not have fought with your unit like that.”

“True enough, but…”

Froleytia finally began to frown.

In that case, why had that Capitalist Corporations military leader contacted her?

Not caring about the technological information Sladder Honeysuckle had was not like a modern soldier who sent Objects to the battlefield. If there was anything else he was thinking about, it had to be…

(Money…?)

Sladder had received massive compensation for his Object designs and he supposedly carried out massive stock trades using that money. He was such a massive investor, it was said he could prepare an Object and start a war all on his own. It was possible the Capitalist Corporations would insist that money belonged to them. But…

(Is that really more important than the Object development race? It is true the Capitalist Corporations supposedly prioritize human rights by the amount of money people have saved, but does that thought process go so far as to…?)

“Oh, how rude of me. Did I confuse you by any chance?” Buffer Planters shook his head once more and then gave a bitter smile. “I merely said we are not worried about Honeysuckle defecting ‘to the Legitimacy Kingdom’.”

“You don’t mean…”

“This is no longer an issue of only two forces,” continued Buffer as if to reinforce Froleytia’s fear. “The Mass Driver conglomerate has requested assistance from the Information Alliance.”

Her face grew pale.

The Information Alliance was one of the world powers on par with the Legitimacy Kingdom that Froleytia belonged to. Naturally, many nations and Objects belonged to that force. And these Objects would not be like the princess’s. Those monstrous weapons would be in perfect condition and polished to look as good as new. Not only did the Information Alliance have plenty of Generation 1 Objects, but they also had plenty of Generation 2 Objects.

They were quite skilled on the technology front and it was said their military software surpassed even that of the Legitimacy Kingdom military. They were the ones putting the most research into projects to create unmanned Objects using AI.

(…Not good. If that’s true, we can’t have them interfering given our current exhausted state!!)

Froleytia clenched her teeth and pictured an image of the layout of power in South America. Currently, the Baby Magnum, Quenser, and the others were deployed in the Amazon district. The Parima district that was ruled by the Information Alliance lay right next to it.

Buffer Planters continued, “At this rate, the Information Alliance military is sure to send aid to the ruins of Amazon City. The one question is whether that aid will be nothing more than supplying firearms and additional supplies or if it will include a large scale movement of personnel, weapons, and at least one Object.”