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| ==='''Chapter 1'''===
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| In the air over Akihabara.
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| Twenty dark aircrafts cut through the air of the dawn sky.
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| The driving turbines disturbing the air, causing a whoosh sound, while letting out the signature pitched whine of warplanes. The scene is reminiscent of a flock of steel clad birds of prey.
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| It is the seventh generation tactical fighters of the Tokyo “Military’s” 7th squadron.
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| --Commonly known as “Wine Room Squadron”.
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| '''(!<!-- Note: Unsure of this name translation, was originally 酒室队 -->)'''
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| The strongest in air combat capabilities among the “Military” of Tokyo’s Grids.
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| Theses twenty aircrafts are flying straight from Yokosuka <ref name="Yokosuka">naval base/port in Tokyo bay</ref> to Akihabara.
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| --with only one operational objective.
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| “The destruction of the gigantic unknown weapon that has appeared in Akihabara.”
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| ‘Eat shit and die!’
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| In the midst of the super sonic aircrafts flying the dawn sky,
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| The command was muttered by the “Wine Room Squad’s” captain and heard through the communicators.
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| Being suddenly woken up at 12AM at night to prepare for battle, and finally receiving the attack order during daybreak – the target unexpectedly turned out to be a freaking gigantic unknown weapon of all things!
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| ‘Air control (AWACS)<ref name="AWACS">basically a floating command center for directing sorties</ref>. How about I fire some cruise missiles up your ass?’
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| This captain was already widely known for his impatient attitude.
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| As he half-heartedly replied though the communicator, the other sides dismissively responded with:
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| ‘Captain, watch your language. This is a formal operation’
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| ‘Your mouth is not what you use to spew shit.’
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| “I will repeat this one last time, captain. This is an order. 7th squadron, quickly destroy the massive weapon that appeared – tentatively called “8-legs”. I repeat, eliminate the threat.”
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| <nowiki>*</nowiki>Yawn<nowiki>*</nowiki> - the captain then let out a cold smile.
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| ‘Are you an idiot? No, you are definitely an idiot for thinking that I am a fool.’
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| “Captain!”
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| ‘Yo, retard. Listen up. I don’t know what the hell is up with this weird ass “8-legs” thing, popping up in the middle of Tokyo from out of nowhere. Did the capital garrison rubbed one out till they fell asleep or something!?’
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| “The capital garrison has already all been eliminated.”
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| Hearing air control’s answer, a heavy silence permeated the squadron comms.
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| Then, each of the pilots received visual data from the comm net.
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| The image was burned into the eyes of everyone present – a mechanical spider that can easily squash a large building beneath its legs, standing firmly in the midst of an Akihabara filled with flames, the pilots couldn’t help but let out a noise.
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| '''(!<!-- Note: Unsure of translation of "noise", was originally 飞行员不禁发出呻吟 -->)'''
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| “Pay attention everyone, it is precisely as you see it. This threat is indeed real. If the Akihabara district is destroyed, it is not a stretch to say that Tokyo – Japan would be too. Please do your best!”
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| ‘...... ......’
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| “Also, Captain, after the battle’s ended, you will look forward to the report right?”
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| ‘Ha! Yeah. Really looking forward to it.’
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| Provided that we are able to survive went unsaid.
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| The captain forced down the words rising up in his throat.
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| His dignity as a captain won’t let his subordinates hear him say such things on the comm.
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| Bang! The captain in his frustrated and irritable mood, pounded his fists against the canopy.
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| A giant weapon suddenly appearing in the middle of a city – what a fucking joke.
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| Does this kind of thing even exist in the deepest of military secrets before this day? Let’s say that saying this kind of thing would help the situation, but then I would have to first blow off this head that’s full of shit.
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| '''(!<!-- Note: Unsure of translation, was originally 那种东西至今都不为人知的暗中存在？假使以为讲这种话有说服力，那么首先应该把装满屎的那颗脑袋轰掉才对。 -->)'''
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| They knew before hand! – at least had some preliminary knowledge on it like what it is, or what’s its objective.
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| Otherwise, how can you deem this as a “target”, give this unknown machine a designation, and explain its objective.......!
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| The answer was evident, the squad captain grit his teeth, hard enough that his teeth were on the brink of cracking.
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| Akihabara was attacked, and the capital garrison fought back.
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| Then was defeated, even if it is due to be an error in a certain part of a plan – no matter what.....
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| (Simply put, this is just cleaning up the shit of some random bastard......!)
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| The captain screamed in his head.
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| It was only intuition – yet it is an analysis of the situation that couldn’t be closer to the truth.
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| The capital garrison troops are not weak, nor are they so easily annihilated.
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| For the protection of Tokyo, they were given ample budget, and a high degree of training, resulting in it having the highest combat prowess of Japan’s “Military.”
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| If this fighting force collapsed – yet, did not even deal any significant damage to that thing as was shown in the visuals.
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| (Must’ve frightened those wretched politicians pretty badly, to push this mess onto the air force.)
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| --Truly, this is ridiculous.
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| The army failed, so use the air force – not only is this kind of thought shallow. If they truly think that the situation can be resolved like this, then they are truly a bunch of hopeless idiots.
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| The Capital’s garrison possess many Resonance Cannons.
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| Theoretically the strongest weapon – if even such a weapon cannot significantly damage it, that means that the target either possess a defense that can overcome even that, or has some system to nullify it.
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| Although the information about it is not exactly forthcoming – there’s one thing that’s clear.
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| Even if the missiles of this entire squadron was to be exhausted, the possibility of an effective attack can only.....
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| “Approaching the target’s position – all fighters ready for combat!”
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| ‘......understood.’
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| The captain answered air control, and let out a resigned sigh.
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| --to listen to orders. That is the responsibility of a soldier. However –
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| The ones up top claims that the target’s armaments, ammunition, and range is unknown, even so – The Wine Room squad's captain inwardly smiled.
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| He grabbed the mic, and announced to his squadron.
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| ‘Typhoon 1 calling all fighters, delta formation, weapon safeties off.’
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| This formation is so to avoid the disastrous situation of entering the enemy’s firing zone at the same time.
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| --Fire the missiles at its maximum range then scram – This order caused the air command to let out anguished cries.
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| “Captain! I did not order this engagement protocol! This unauthorized action is –“
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| ‘Engagement method? As if ordering “destroy that giant weapon (8-legs)” is an engagement method, the ‘how to destroy’ part is for me to determine! These pointlessly aggravating words, the least you can do is shut your stinking mouth!’
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| Although it is an order to followed, that is of course the responsibility of a soldier. However –
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| The individual has a more important responsibility, and that is to avoid the unnecessary fighting that causes needless sacrifices.
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| ‘You hear that squad? Everyone, follow my orders – I’ll shoulder the responsibility’
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| “Captain!”
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| Air Control continue to yell over the comms, but the pilots deigns to ignore them
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| “This is Typhoon 2, understood. Moving to delta formation.”
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| As if the tension broken, the rest of the squadron replied with an “Understood,” and proceeded to assume formations.
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| “7th Air Squadron.....! You—“
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| The squabble transmitted from air command suddenly –
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| Was cut off.
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| At the same time, a large bang was heard from the comms of air control.
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| “What, what happened? Could it be that–“
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| “Hey, now it’s not the time to be joking......could they actually have shot down the Command Plane!”
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| Before the pilots could get over their hearts wavering shock, the captain saw that further ahead of them was –
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| The sonar registered a large ping, causing him to let out a roar:
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| ‘Squad, take evasive action, disperse, then turn back, light your afterburners, retreat at maximum speed – We are in the enemy’s strike zone!’
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| “Un–understood –“
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| The pilots, with heavy hearts, obeyed the captain’s orders and proceeded to take evasive action.
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| However, they cannot conceal their inner turmoil, the captain was no different.
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| (To first shoot down the command aircraft -- ? Bastards......!)
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| From well outside of our missile range, yet it shot down our command aircraft from a distance of over 20 kilometers.
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| Their intentions are obvious.
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| To proclaim to the air force that they have long since entered their range, a clear provocation......!
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| “Wine Room’s” captain endured the G-forces of his sudden turn, his wingmen followed suit as they also turned back, and ignited their afterburners to full.
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| ‘ -- !’
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| Accelerating to top speed – along with the tall tell sign of a sonic boom, the pilots barely avoided blacking out to the G-forces that squeezed them to their seats. In front of the captain –
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| Turn complete, as soon as the afterburners kicked in, an aircraft – exploded.
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| “Typhoon 3 is hit! I repeat, Typhoon 3 is hit!”
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| “How – What happened! Just what the hell is this –“
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| From the communicator then came a miserable, pain filled shriek – then it suddenly cut off. A bright light then flashed in front of their eyes.
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| Though withdrawing at top speed, the retreating crafts were eliminated one by one, as the pilots screamed through gritted teeth.
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| How could we have known, this damned thing!
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| From outside the maximum range of our missiles – a range of 18 plus kilometers –
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| To think, having the range to reach the Command aircraft at a distance of 20 plus kilometers, and able to accurately take down crafts taking evasive maneuvers at supersonic speeds. What an outrageous air defense for a single –
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| no, for even an innumerable amount of military weapons, it’s still ridiculous.
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| But, the reality of the situation can’t be refuted as the evading aircrafts are successfully downed one by one.
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| Never mind about losing, to even to be stripped of the option to retreat from this one sided slaughter – then.....
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| And absurd thought.
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| ‘– Bastards!'
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| The captain didn’t hesitate following this absurd thought, forcibly shutting down the Air stability control<ref>limits the maneuverability of an aircraft to ensure it doesn't stall</ref>, and pitched his stick downwards.
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| '''(!<!-- Note: I'm not sure if Air stability control is the right name, but it's the thing that limits the angle of attack for planes so they don't stall -->)'''
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| The plane was sent into a nose dive.
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| Such an action of shutting down the stabilizing limiters, an idiotic move even in the most dire of times – was done without hesitation.
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| The violent “negative G forces” from the sudden dive caused blood to rush to his head, causing his vision to be dyed red.
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| --it is a phenomenon called “Red Out”, one that can easily kill the pilot. However –
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| ‘woosh – woosh!’
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| A violent attack grazes the aircraft – proving that preposterous intuition is indeed correct.
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| The captains escaped the “unknown attack” from behind by barely a hair’s breadth.
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| Understanding downed on the captain at this moment, he leveled out his plane, and through the terrible headache from his violent maneuvers, let out a victorious roar:
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| ‘What kind of a fucking joke is this! We’re going Mach 5! – How is it that we don’t even get a warning!’
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| --The attack from behind, catching up to jets going at Mach 5.
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| As far as the relative speed goes, after subtracting Mach 5 from the speed, it still remains undetectably fast?
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| It’s definitely not a laser weapons, nor a resonance cannon, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible to avoid it.
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| --There’s no mistaking it, this is still a projectile weapons.
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| It’s speed, accuracy! All are so far above the norm that it’s hard to believe, it’s simply absurd – a “magic bullet.”
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| ‘This is Typhoon 1 calling all pilots! Abandon your craft “Eject” – NOW!’
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| The captain of “Wine Room” squad yelled into his comms.
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| A bullet with speeds that even with a retreat of Mach 5 – 1650 meters per second, is unable to be identified and avoided.
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| Facing such a thing, everything within its radius of fire is sure to be shot down.
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| “Un-understood!”
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| With the confirmation of the remaining squadron members, the pilots prepared to eject –
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| The Captain too, reached his hand to the ejection lever.
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| ‘.....!’
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| The ejection seat, along with its passenger is quickly shot out of the canopy.
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| During the supersonic ejection, his life was almost robbed again by the violent shockwaves that followed another bullet as it zoomed past him. The captain, showed a fierce expression – staring out into the distance.
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| Not at the target that was at the center of Akihabara, but where the national diet building<ref>Japanese congress/parliament building</ref> is in Kasumigaseki.
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| ‘All you politicians, just what is your scheme.....!’
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| As the captain expressed his anger –
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| --just as if waiting for the air squadron to be annihilated.
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| Numerous bright lights cut across the morning sky, striking Akihabara, this scene caused the captain to let out a derisive laugh.
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| --Haha, even though the capital garrison troops and the air force both failed, they just switch to the next thing – The mindset of politicians are as shallow as ever.
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| That was the capital defense cannon – the telltale streak of the ultra-long range, massive yield, fixed artillery fixed atop Mt Fuji.
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| It protects the entirety of the area surrounding the Tokyo Grids -- Tokyo’s “Pillar of Divine Protection,” an anti-ground, anti-air trump card.
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| '''(!<!-- Note: I’m bad with names, “Pillar of Divine Protection” is the best that I’ve got. The original is 『天御柱』-->)'''
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| Looking upon that scene, the Wine Room squadron’s captain was beyond anger – conversely, he let out a laugh.
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| ‘These incompetent politicians......they probably already finished preparing their next spew of rhetoric right?’
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| As his parachute opens, the captain had a realization.
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| --even with the numerous streaks across the sky. It was they(politicians) who truly made him afraid –
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| ......
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| <noinclude>
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| {| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| |-
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| | Back to [[Clockwork Planet:Volume3 Prologue|Prologue]]
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| | Return to [[Clockwork Planet#Volume 3|Main Page]]
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| | Forward to [[Clockwork Planet:Volume3 Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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| |-
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| |}
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| </noinclude>
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| ==Notes==
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