Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 11===

He thought his body had been roasted from the inside.

Lying on his back, Quenser tried to groan, but no sound whatsoever escaped his lips. His throat was oddly dry. An afterimage seemed to cover his vision in a white screen and it would not go away. Intense pain ran through his ears and he did not even hear a ringing.

The LED on his radio was blinking.

After a few seconds, Quenser was finally able to hear the sound.

His brain sent a signal to his fingers and he grabbed the radio from the ground with motions reminiscent of a poorly-made robot. He did his best to move his cracked lips.

“…Are you…okay? For an instant, it almost looked like the Object was floating…”

“How are you Quenser?”

“I somehow managed…to avoid getting roasted like in a grill where the flame is too high…”

He of course should have been killed instantly.

However, the prototype reactor placed beneath the princess’s Object had been set so the blast would travel upwards. The same was done for normal bombs. Depending on how the bomb was set, the destructive force would change. To destroy a more solid target, a cup-shaped metal plate would be placed around the bomb to focus the blast on a single point.

Of course, no normal metal plate could do anything to alter a blast from a prototype reactor going critical.

(Did they use a spare piece of Object onion armor?)

“Everything below me was completely taken out, so I can’t move,” said the princess.

“Dammit. So the blast took out the entire propulsion device. Does that mean we have to put together a plan that only uses your cannons?”

“No, the countdown has begun.”

“The countdown?”

“The system has determined it needs to prevent the enemy from capturing the Object. I am working to cancel the command, but I do not think I can keep up with the speed of the system.”

“A self destruct system…!?”

When the giant weapons known as Objects were being used, one thing had to be avoided at all costs: letting the enemy capture one of your Objects and analyzing the technology. The princess’s Object had a self destruct system installed to prevent that from happening.

The system would gauge the damage done and make the decision automatically to account for the possibility of the pilot Elite being knocked unconscious.

The princess had said she could not stop it.

At the current rate, the Baby Magnum would explode. The explosion would likely cover even more distance than the one from the prototype reactor. The blast from a bomb on the surface would spread farther than one buried underground.

And then the princess added, “Pattern B does not activate the self destruct.”

“What do you mean?”

Apparently, the automatic anti-capture safety system had a few different levels. If the program determined that nothing at all could be done, the Object would be blown up from the inside as soon as the Elite was ejected in order to prevent the leakage of technological information. However, Pattern B did not go that far.

Pattern B only ejected the pilot Elite. After that, the humans could decide if the Elite would pilot an identical model or successor Object or if the damaged Object would be recovered and repaired. If the situation worsened and it seemed the enemy would capture the Object after all, the Elite could send a commander class signal to blow up the Object remotely. Normally, the Object shut out external signals to prevent hacking, but the numerous hatches were opened in an emergency. This allowed a radio signal to reach it.

After explaining all that, the princess said, “I’m sorry, Quenser. I knew losing the Object here would put a major burden on you and the others, and yet…”

“I-it’s okay. We’re the ones that made you fight despite the damage done by the Break Carrier. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Despite what Quenser said, he could not hide his unease.

Objects were synonymous with war.

Everyone knew how much more likely soldiers were to die once theirs was lost.

The Mass Driver conglomerate had been fighting with a prototype reactor rather than a 2nd Object, but they could not let their guard down. Without their Object, they would be forced into a war between flesh and blood soldiers. They had no idea who would win in such a conflict.

And it was also possible cutting edge Objects would be coming in from the Information Alliance and the Capitalist Corporations. If that happened, they had no way of winning without an Object of their own.

Quenser placed a hand on the wall and slowly stood up.

(This means we really do have to end this as quickly as possible. We need to incapacitate the Mass Driver conglomerate to prevent anyone else from joining the fray…)

“At any rate, we need to get away from here. It’ll eject you automatically, right? Can you send your estimated landing point to my handheld device? That way I can meet up with you as quickly as possible.”

“I’m sending it to you now. I will be ejected in 700 seconds.”

Hearing that, Quenser pulled out his handheld device. He then ran in the direction of the princess’s estimated landing point. The course took him right by the side of the Object.

The cityscape had been utterly destroyed for about 200 meters in every direction from the Object. The asphalt had been ripped up and the empty buildings had collapsed. One building was tilted to the side. It was only still partially upright because the princess’s Object was supporting it. The bottom half of the Baby Magnum’s spherical body had melted.

(I should ask for help from the other soldiers.)

Quenser made his request in a businesslike manner over the radio.

The ruins of Amazon City were huge. The soldiers had been spread throughout the entirety of the city and would contact the princess’s Object if they discovered enemy soldiers or important facilities. That way the Object could immediately attack. That meant the soldiers were very spread out. At the very least, Quenser saw no sign of other Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers as far as he could see.

He sent his request, but he doubted any reinforcements would arrive any time soon.

He had also received no word from Heivia after the other boy had fallen down through the cracks and into the underground mall. Since the prototype reactor had been set up underground, that silence was not exactly comforting.

(Dammit, this gives me a bad feeling. That bastard had better not have gotten himself killed.)

Due to his previous experiences, Quenser had one fear.

A pilot Elite that had lost her Object became a top priority target for the enemy troops. Whether any Objects of same or similar models existed or not, the possibility that the Elite could pilot another Object made it crucial to eliminate her immediately.

And…

The Mass Driver conglomerate had calculated everything out beforehand so the princess’s Object would be destroyed at that exact point.

(They don’t have an anti-aircraft gun or something set up at the point they expect her to land after ejecting, do they!?)

With that thought in mind, Quenser ran as quickly as he could. As he did, he naturally looked up at the majestic Object. The princess would be shot diagonally up in a parabola from the upper back portion of the spherical body.

But…

(What is that?)

Quenser stopped running and froze up in shock.

(There’s something spread across blocking the ejection point!? What is it? A…steel net?)

Normally, Objects had several anti-air lasers used to accurately shoot down fighters or ballistic missiles. However, that prototype reactor explosion had just occurred. While it had robbed the princess of her senses like a stun grenade, someone may have fired a bazooka to place that net there.

The net would not do any damage to the Object.

In fact, it was likely a weapon meant to capture people, not kill them.

However…

(It’s blocking…the ejection point?)

Quenser pulled out a small pair of binoculars and checked on the area around the ejection point.

The net was attached so that it dug into the ejection point hatch. This made the automatically opening hatch unable to open.

An Object was 50 meters across.

The long ramp leading from the center to the ejection point automatically moved the Elite at extremely high speed. But if the hatch did not open at the end…

(She’ll run into it at over 100 kph!?)

“Wait a second, princess! Can you stop the ejection countdown!?”

“?”

“Someone has intentionally blocked the hatch! If the ejection system activates now, you’ll be slammed into a thick steel plate!!”

He heard her gasp.

Most likely, she did not have time to stop the automatically determined course of action.

“Shit!!”

Quenser clicked his tongue and started running again.

He felt heat on his skin as he approached the center of the blast.

The prototype reactor explosion had caused many buildings to collapse. One of those buildings was leaning diagonally against the Baby Magnum. Quenser charged into the building, leapt into an elevator shaft that no longer had a door, and ran through the leaning building. Luckily, the shaft’s wall had plenty of uneven portions due to metal beams and the like, so it functioned similar to a staircase with the building tilted.

The countdown continued.

Only a few minutes remained until the ejection.

Quenser reached for the bag on his back and pulled out a rectangular plastic explosive. He stabbed an electric fuse into the Hand Axe.

Just as he was moving to switch the radio channel for the detonation, he heard a violent clanking noise come from the speaker.

The cockpit’s automatic ejection system had activated.

There were a few dozen meters to the ejection point, but that distance would be covered in only a few seconds. And once she reached there, it was all over. She would collide with the metal plate at over 100 kph.

At that same time, Quenser saw what functioned as an exit to the tunnel. It was originally where the elevator opened up onto the roof of the building, but it was missing its door.

But he was not going to make it.

He could see the exit, but it would take him too long to reach it.

(Dammit…)

“Make iiiitttt!!” screamed Quenser as he threw the plastic explosive as hard as he could. It flew through the rectangular exit and left Quenser’s vision.

It was a desperate gamble.

Quenser hit the switch on the radio and the Hand Axe detonated.

An explosion roared.

Gray dust flew in through the exit.

During it all, Quenser continued to run.

A few seconds later, he finally exited to the diagonal rooftop. The concrete floor had crumbled away at the point he exited at and his feet struck the steel body of the Object instead.

And…

He heard something being ejected. He looked up into the blue sky and saw the princess wrapped in the special suit of an Elite. At the last second, the blast had blown away the net blocking the ejection point hatch. If he had been even an instant slower, she would have been killed by her own safety device.

(She’s…safe…?)

The princess’s parachute opened and Quenser breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he heard a noise. He turned around and saw someone else standing on top of the Object’s spherical body over 10 meters away from him. A man stood hidden behind one of the Object’s weapons. It was one of the smaller weapons, but it was still a few meters tall.

The man wore a white lab coat over a military uniform.

That lab coat had multiple types of spray paint sprayed on it to create camouflage.

His rounded face had a slight beard as well as a look of weariness that was likely thanks to his life on the run. However, the most overwhelming impression he gave was that of a wild beast.

He held a handgun.

And he was aiming it at the princess as she floated down on her parachute.

“!!”

Quenser pulled out some Hand Axe plastic explosive, but he did not have time to put in the electric fuse. He simply threw the clay-like mass through the air in a parabolic arc.

The man noticed it immediately.

And he mistakenly assumed it was going to explode.

The man frantically jumped behind a different cannon. In so doing, he lost his chance to shoot. After a second or two, he must have realized it was a fuse-less bluff because he then turned the gun on Quenser.

(Shit!?)

Quenser frantically hid behind yet another cannon.

Lead bullets caused sparks to fly from the steel cannons that stuck up with a certain regularity like roadside trees.

“From the Legitimacy Kingdom military, are you?” said the man as he hid behind the pillar without letting his guard down. “It seems that young lady is quite well liked by this unit.”

“Who are you?” asked Quenser as he pulled a plastic explosive from his bag and actually put in an electric fuse this time. “Who are you?”

He received no response.

Instead, more 9mm bullets came his way. Sparks flew from the steel cannon Quenser was hiding behind, so he instinctually ducked down.

It was best not to let the other man know he had no gun.

If he realized Quenser was a combat engineer who only had bombs, he would make a more proactive attack.

As Quenser came to that conclusion, the man’s words reached his ears.

The man had either learned what little Quenser could do from the previous exchange or he had a relatively steady personality. Whatever the reason, the man’s voice showed no sign of worry.

“Sladder Honeysuckle.”

That changed the look on Quenser’s face.

And the next comment made him frown even further.

“I am a military advisor for the powerful president of one of the Mass Driver conglomerate’s companies, one of the Capitalist Corporations leading investors, an Object designer…and the man you in the Legitimacy Kingdom most want to kill.”