Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume8 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 8===

The major Island Nation corporation plan to sink the Ame-no-Darin was to send a large number of saboteurs into the facility while a large-scale battle between Objects acted as a diversion.

The plan was only being carried out after a thorough preparatory period and a similar plan could not simply be repeated again and again.

In other words, stopping them just once would eliminate this opportunity to destroy the Ame-no-Darin.

The civil war would drag on and the Legitimacy Kingdom’s objective would be achieved.

While occasionally speaking with the other groups over the radio, Quenser, Heivia, and eight others cautiously advanced.

“Hey, there’s an elevator over here.”

“I dare you to get on that thing. The instant the door opens, you’ll be riddled with holes. You can’t escape from a square box. Let’s just use the stairs.”

The Capitalist Corporations saboteurs had apparently arrived through the heliport by tricking the Ame-no-Darin with spoofed identifiers. Quenser’s group had started at the bottom and was ascending to the heliport. They assumed they would run into the saboteurs somewhere along the way.

There were apparently three floors’ worth of height from the bottom of the Ame-no-Darin to the ocean surface.

“Y’know, I’d heard they were a technological superpower, but this place is almost falling apart. Wall and ceiling panels are removed and the plumbing is exposed at points. Did they run out of funding halfway through building the thing?”

“Quenser, I want to make sure I’m not seeing things. What is that you’ve been pointing all over the place?”

“A digital camera. Why?”

“We’re in the middle of a mission to kill people!”

“And I can’t stand just going along empty-handed!! I have to take back at least one piece of Island Nation tech!!”

As they chatted, they made their way toward the stairs.

The stairway appeared to be for emergency use. Once they passed through the door, they found concrete stairs that reversed direction countless times.

They had to send someone ahead to make sure they were not completely wiped out in a surprise attack.

Heivia gave a sign with his fingers, his allies gave a different sign back, they began a war of gestures, and they ultimately played rock-paper-scissors.

After playing scissors, a trembling Heivia was thrust toward the staircase by his fellow soldiers.

“If this was chess, you’d be sending your king right to the enemy.”

“I don’t want to take responsibility for anything, so I’m fine being a pawn.”

The fluorescent lights flickered.

Quenser and four others acted as the scouts. Heivia held out his assault rifle to see up through the gap in the center of the staircase that formed a rectangle as it repeatedly doubled back.

“A cramped staircase is the worst.”

“Why?”

“Try to think before you speak. It’s not as bad as an elevator, but they can set all sorts of ambushes.”

An instant later, gunfire assaulted them in the ideal way from the ideal spot.

“Gyaaah!!”

“Waaah!!”

The enemy fired down while leaning over the railing up above.

The five of them could only retreat while firing back. Quenser headed for the entrance they had come from while helping a nearby soldier who was holding a bloody shoulder and was about to collapse.

“Heivia, fall back! Fall back!! We’ll be wiped out like this!!”

“Shut up! Why the hell do you think I’m trying to buy us some time!? You drag that injured soldier away!!”

“If they drop a grenade, it’s all over!! We’ll be slaughtered without a chance to buy any time!!”

That was when they heard a hard clanking noise.

The overhead attackers had tossed an explosive over the railing. The grenade struck the wall a few times and landed at their feet.

“…!!!???”

The enemy was playing it all by the book.

All five of them rushed toward the narrow entrance to the stairwell, but not many actually made it into the corridor beyond.

A muffled explosion burst out.

With his face dyed red with someone else’s blood, Heivia pressed against the wall and shouted out.

“We have casualties!! Check the damage!!”

“Almost zero! The injured private covered the grenade with his own body!!”

“That idiot tried to take all the glory for himself!!”

“He placed his balled up diving suit over it, so I don’t think he thought he would die.”

“You don’t have to point that out! We can just call it a valiant death!!”

At any rate, the blood-soaked Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers used the slight bit of time this gave them to return to the corridor where the other five awaited them.

The enemy must have dropped more grenades because multiple explosions reached their ears.

“This is bad, Quenser. The enemy is better than us. I only caught a glimpse of their uniforms, but assuming it isn’t a bluff, they’ve sent in someone amazing.”

“Eh? Does the Island Nation have any famous units?”

“They aren’t from the Island Nation.” Heivia wiped the blood from his face with an arm. “This is Moss Green co. ltd. They’re a land war PMC from the Northern Restricted Zone where long, drawn out wars continue 365 days a year because Objects are forbidden. I heard they’d been expanding their business to naval operations, especially landing operations, so this might be a promotion for their new services.”

“Meaning?”

“A soldier’s quality is determined by the quality and quantity of daily training, but these ones are out in actual battles year round. People who rely on Objects like us don’t stand a chance! The difference in experience is so overwhelming that we simply can’t win!!”