Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 12===

Sladder Honeysuckle.

If he was taken out, the war that had begun in Antarctica could be brought to an end. It seemed a bit strange for a VIP like him to be on the front lines, but Quenser’s mind was focused on something else.

He was an Object designer.

Was that why he had been able to take advantage of the princess’s Baby Magnum’s weaknesses and defeat it? Would he have been unable to achieve such results by simply putting together a plan and having other soldiers carry it out?

(We’re the same…)

Quenser lowered his gaze to the plastic explosive he had put an electric fuse in. On a few occasions, he too had used his knowledge as a student of Object design to destroy those giant weapons.

There was no sign of any other soldiers either ally or enemy.

The explosion of the prototype reactor had been so large scale that it had likely been obvious the Baby Magnum was seriously damaged even from a distance. However, the soldiers still had to continue with their firefights. They could not break formation and reorganize.

From the status of supplies and the number of soldiers, the Legitimacy Kingdom should have had the overwhelming advantage. However, it seemed unlikely they could end it immediately. There was nothing else for them to rely on as they fought with all of their ability.

“Can you really just take your time like this?” asked Sladder in a voice void of concern.

(He’s checking on what I have available to me.)

Sladder had let Quenser know where he was with his voice, but Quenser did not fire a single shot at him. That would tell Sladder that Quenser did not have a gun.

“If you do not kill me right away, the Information Alliance and the Capitalist Corporations will invade. If they learn the Legitimacy Kingdom Object is no longer functioning, they can use that to claim they are merely trying to ‘protect the neighboring countries from a terrorist organization’.”

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“Is that what you’re after?”

“Do you think it is?”

They were about 10 meters apart. Quenser was hiding behind one of the cannons that stuck up with a regularity similar to roadside trees. Sladder was hiding behind a different cannon.

Ten meters.

Even if handguns had a relatively short range, that was close enough for him to have almost perfect accuracy. Quenser looked around the area, but even moving to a neighboring cannon would be a risky move. If Sladder circled around, he would be in trouble.

Quenser pressed up against the cool steel of the cannon and wet his lips with his tongue.

If he did not buy time using conversation, use the enemy’s voice to determine his location, and put together a plan to overwhelm the enemy, he would be cornered in no time.

(Dammit. If only Heivia was here with his rifle…)

Would Heivia even be able to come if Quenser contacted him over the radio? In fact, Quenser and Sladder were standing atop a giant Object. Heivia might not have to come all the way there. It was possible he could snipe with his rifle while still on the ground.

With that thought in mind, Quenser operated his radio so Sladder would not notice and opened his mouth to speak.

“Give up. The Mass Driver conglomerate no longer has an Object. That high power railgun in the center of the city is too big to shoot from the ground. Not to mention that you no longer have your prototype reactor. Even if you defeat us here, you have no future.”

“How pessimistic. I thought you knew that we of the Mass Driver conglomerate had asked to defect to the Information Alliance.”

“Do you really think they’ll live up to that?”

Quenser felt an urge to click his tongue as he looked at his radio.

He was sending a signal to Heivia, but he was getting no response. It was possible Heivia’s radio had broken or that he had been knocked unconscious.

“When you get there, it is likely nothing but torture that awaits you. Once they get as much information on mass driver technology as they can get out of you, they’ll hand you over to the Capitalist Corporations. Some other country isn’t going to trust someone who betrayed their original country. You should know that.”

“True enough.” Sladder’s voice was as unworried as ever even as the faults in his life plan were pointed out. “But only if information on mass driver technology was my only present for them.”

“?”

“Why do you think I went to all this effort?” Sladder fired two or three more shots at the side of the cannon. “If we had wanted to, we could have sent our Lisolette out at once. Her maximum range is 3000 kilometers. If we had her waiting in the Antarctic Ocean, we could have destroyed your Object instantly.”

“…”

Lisolette.

For an instant, Quenser thought that was the name of the enemy’s Elite, but an instant later he realized it was the official name of the Mass Driver conglomerate Object that the Legitimacy Kingdom had called the Break Carrier. The Capitalist Corporations had a tradition of giving Object’s female names. It was likely an extension of the tradition of giving hurricanes female names.

Quenser toyed with the Hand Axe in his hand.

“What are you trying to do?” he asked.

“Destroy an established theory,” replied Sladder briefly. “Objects are synonymous with war. Modern wars are won or lost based on the specs of the Objects. If it is known that one side will have one more Object than another, the winner can be known before the fighting even begins. This clarity does make these wars very safe in a certain sense of the word, but there are plenty of people who wish to overthrow that theory.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Defeating an Object without using one yourself. That is the desire of all those who wish to deny that theory. And I have taken action to make it a reality. The anti-tank position made up of small spare cannons in Antarctica, the high power railgun used as a decoy, and the explosion of the prototype reactor. After testing out all of that, I have some data the Information Alliance should be very interested in.”

Objects were said to cost 5 billion dollars at the very least. But what if you could destroy one with only the parts rather than an assembled Object? That would only be a fraction of the cost, if not a fraction of a fraction.

The Legitimacy Kingdom, the Information Alliance, the Capitalist Corporations, and the Faith Organization.

The modern wars fought between those world powers were not on the ridiculous scale of a total world war. They were made up of small scale skirmishes, the Object development race that supported those skirmishes, and the acquisition and loss of funds or economic power. The standard method of carrying out these worldwide wars was to drive the enemy power into an economic situation where they could no longer keep up the war.

In that situation, the technology to assuredly destroy an Object that costs over 5 billion dollars at a fraction of the cost would be an incredibly valuable card to have in your deck.

That is of course only if such technology existed.

“Too bad. The primary damage done to our princess was not due to your tricks. It was the Break Carrier’s bombardment in the Iguazu district. If it wasn’t for that, she might have been able to avoid your prototype reactor.”

“The Break Carrier? Oh, that’s your codename for Lisolette.” Sladder somehow seemed to be enjoying himself. “That is merely an issue of degree. I am not a researcher in that field. I merely needed to protect myself and acquire something I can use to gain safe refuge somewhere where I can freely develop mass drivers. For that reason, it was actually more effective to not pull it off perfectly. It is much better to be a few steps away from perfecting this dream come true for them. After all, if it was already perfected, some of them might just want to torture it out of me.”

“…”

If the incredibly valuable technology still required some more research, they would have to keep Sladder alive so he could continue that research. They could not just torture him or hand him over to the Capitalist Corporations. Sladder had intentionally made his results so-so, so that the entire Mass Drive conglomerate would not be abandoned by the Information Alliance.

It was a dangerous gamble.

If he did too well, they might determine they could make Sladder’s research a reality without him. However, if he did not do well enough, they might determine that Sladder’s ideas were nothing more than a pipedream.

When faced with the overwhelming power of an Object, he had needed to produce results that were in that sweet spot between too much and too little.

That was many, many times more difficult and dangerous than simply recklessly heading in to destroy an Object with some bombs.

“I don’t believe it,” said Quenser. “You let the Break Carrier be destroyed for that? Did the Break Carrier’s pilot agree to that?”

“To be honest, it wasn’t all planned out to that extent.”

Sladder’s tone dropped a bit.

He may have been recalling the face of that Elite.

“I only started seriously thinking about securing refuge with the technology to destroy an Object without an Object after Lisolette was destroyed. The plan at the time was to negotiate with the Information Alliance using Lisolette. That long distance bombardment using a combination of a method of aiming using the chaff missile clouds and the high power railgun is a good bargaining chip, don’t you think? Our Elite could control it best and we could maintain it best. You could say what we actually used was the Plan B we had prepared ahead of time.”

“…”

(The Mass Driver conglomerate passed through Central America. To get to the Iguazu district, they had to pass by the Parima district at the northernmost part of South America. If their plan was simply to ask the Information Alliance for help, they would have had no reason to go to the Iguazu district. That means they were either planning to create their own independent nation or that they still needed data on the Break Carrier or the non-Object tactics to use in negotiations.)

Had Sladder simply been very lucky?

Or had his excessive preparedness saved him?

Quenser had a feeling it was both. By taking in everything he could by coincidence or necessity, that monster had gained the nature of the ultimate pawn. That was not something that could be gained merely by natural talent or merely by hard work.

“None of it really matters,” said Sladder Honeysuckle the Strategist quietly. “All that we want is an environment in which to develop mass drivers. It does not matter to us if the balance of the current Object-oriented battlefield is destroyed. Those giant things can do nothing but kill.”

“…I see.” Quenser checked on the plastic explosive in his hand once more. He toyed with the Hand Axe in his hand. “It seems we cannot come to an understanding.”

“What part of that did you have a problem with?”

“The part where you want to hide in the shadows and benefit from the Objects and Elites that are fighting on the battlefield. And the part where you have no problem blaming others and viewing yourself as blameless when your own Object is destroyed.”

He spoke with conviction.

It was because he felt that way that Quenser was standing there at that moment.

He had come there to force open the blocked ejection point hatch rather than abandoning the princess and her destroyed Object.

However…

His words only made Sladder laugh.

As they were both hiding behind upwards-pointing cannons, Quenser could not see his expression, but he heard his laugh. Sladder’s shoulders were likely moving up and down.

“You’re one to talk.”

Sladder’s tone of voice gave Quenser an ominous feeling.

Quenser naturally tensed up even more.

“You’re the one that has ended several wars with the smallest amount of damage by blowing up the Objects from the very beginning. Isn’t that right, Quenser Barbotage?”

(How does he know my name!?)

Quenser was utterly shocked, but he was not given time to respond.

Gunshots rang out and sparks flew from the upwards-pointing cannon he was hiding behind.

However, this was no threat or warning.

He also heard approaching footsteps partially masked by the gunshots.

(He’s coming!?)

Quenser immediately leaned out from behind the cannon to throw the plastic explosive in the direction of the noise.

But he got kicked instead.

Quenser was crouched on one knee to throw the bomb, but a heavy strike struck his face before he could.

“Gah…!?”

Quenser’s head was horribly shaken and he was knocked rolling backwards. The bomb he had been about to throw fell down onto the Object’s spherical body.

And then Sladder aimed his handgun at close range.

“You’re more famous than you think. …Especially among those who gather the best of their technology to create Objects.”

“!!”

Quenser did not have time to get up, so he frantically rolled to the side in order to evade. However, he gained more momentum than he had expected. A second later he realized he was starting to roll down the slant of the spherical body.

(Not good… If I roll any further, I’ll be headed straight for the ground!!)

Quenser managed to stop his momentum, but then a gunshot rang out.

At the same time, a blazing pain ran through his left shoulder.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

“Don’t get so worked up. It only grazed you. It didn’t even take out the joint.”

Quenser clenched his teeth as he held his burning shoulder with his other hand.

At the same time, a twinge of doubt entered his mind.

Sladder should have had no reason to hold back.

“I had no real reason.” Sladder Honeysuckle smiled calmly. “I started out as an engineer. To be honest, I’m almost entirely self-taught when it comes to guns. I tried shooting at you as you rolled and I just so happened to hit your shoulder.”

They were only 3 meters apart.

Someone well versed in a specialized martial art might have been able to take the gun from him. However, a student like Quenser had no such ability.

Meanwhile, Sladder accurately aimed the gun at him.

“So I will make sure to kill you when the time comes. Oh, and it seems that time is now.”

“…Then you should have shot every bullet you had rather than just shooting once.”

“?”

“If you don’t put every effort into this, people can take advantage of it like this.”

As he spoke, Quenser held out his uniform’s jacket to show the inside.

Sladder assumed he had a gun, so he immediately prepared to pull the trigger, but then he stopped.

A clay-like object was hanging from Quenser’s belt.

It was a Hand Axe plastic explosive with an electric fuse inserted.



“Kh!?”

“Should you be taking aim like that?”

As he spoke, Quenser held his thumb against the switch on the radio he held in one hand. Even if he was accurately shot in the head, he could very well press the button when he collapsed. That would blow Sladder away as well.

(Damn you!!)

Sladder leapt behind a nearby upward-pointing cannon to avoid the blast.

However, he then realized something.

It was about that detonator Quenser had.

He had been using a radio to send the detonation signal.

A radio.

Yes.

(Wait a second. Would he really have that switch set on a direct connection with the bomb hanging from his belt!?)

That worry brought unease and the unease grew into fear.

However, Quenser did not wait.

He unhesitatingly pressed the switch.

A great noise and a shockwave exploded out.

However, they came from directly behind Sladder as he hid behind the upwards-pointing cannon.

When Sladder had kicked Quenser’s face, the bomb Quenser had been about to throw had fallen onto the Object’s body. They were now down where Quenser had almost fallen off whereas that bomb had still been up nearer to the top of the Object. Quenser had kept the focus on himself while detonating the bomb directly behind Sladder.

There was a good distance between Sladder and the bomb, but the blast was still strong enough to send him flying through the air. Sladder flew a few meters before striking the spherical body made of steel once more. From there, he rolled. He finally came to a stop near Quenser.

Quenser crouched down to pick up the handgun Sladder had dropped.

He then held the barrel against Sladder’s head.

Sladder let out a groan, but Quenser uttered only one word.

“Checkmate.”

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