HEAVY OBJECT:Volume2 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: In a Cavalry Battle, Destroy Your Opponent’s Footing >> Total War in Amazon City

Part 1

Seven or eight assault landing aircraft carriers were travelling north through the Atlantic Ocean centered on the flagship Charlemagne. They were headed for the Amazon district of South America which was Legitimacy Kingdom territory. Their destination was the sea near Port Braganca just below the equator.

A young male maintenance soldier slowly walked across the flat deck while occasionally leaning over. He was checking the takeoff catapult to ensure it had not warped due to heat. It had of course been designed to take into account a certain level of expansion and contraction just like rails for a train, but it was crucial to be extra sure. If that catapult lost functionality, the assault landing aircraft carrier would lose its value.

The maintenance soldier removed his helmet and looked up at the sun in annoyance.

“Shit, I can’t believe it’s so hot when we’re past Halloween. If we were given permission to enter port, we would have a plastic roof blocking the sun. This is a Legitimacy Kingdom port. They should let any Legitimacy Kingdom citizens in whether we’re civilians or military.”

As the maintenance soldier muttered, he heard the sound of the elevator. However, this was not the elevator of a high class department store where a young woman pressed the button for you. It was bringing up a small delta wing fighter. He could see the pilot waving from within the cockpit.

The fighter carried only one person.

That was likely due to the research for Object cockpit layouts being used. In that age, fighters were obsolete. With wars fought by Objects, military development was centered around them. All weapons tended to be designed such that they could also be used for Objects.

The maintenance soldier heard the pilot’s voice come over his headset.

“Quit complaining. Although I’ll admit I would rather not think about the fact that the port has enough vending machines and stores for us all to have as many cold drinks and ice cream as we could want.”

“As usual, you’re covered in more jamming devices than missiles. Do you really need to be that worried? The enemy Object was destroyed.”

“It’s a habit. …And I didn’t join the military to take part in dogfights. Do you think you could spare me the life saver and training wheels?”

“You’re not the only one. These days, the entire air force is like that.”

The maintenance soldier checked the catapult with measurement tools.

“With Objects implementing anti-air lasers, gaining air supremacy has lost its popularity.”

There is a plane paradise in Scandinavia where Objects are internationally banned from entry.”

“There’s no point in that though. It’s like being an animal in a cage at the zoo,” replied the maintenance soldier, sounding bored. “The modern job of the air force is to transport personnel and equipment, to perform low altitude reconnaissance when chaff missiles have made the satellites unusable, and for aerial acrobatics at ceremonies. Which is your specialty?”

“The acrobatics. When I was going through aviation school, I did hope to get into dogfights or perform precise bombings though.”

“So you’ve been away from the battlefield for a while, hm?” The maintenance soldier took his eyes away from the measurement equipment and gave the success sign from the check sheet. “How does it feel nowadays?”

“I want to get a chance to actually do something, but I also don’t want to be stuck in a situation where I have to do something.”

Someone else was listening in on that radio conversation from elsewhere.

It was the Charlemagne’s captain sitting on the ship’s bridge. He cut off the frequency his subordinates used to chat and focused on the frequency used for official transmissions.

On the other end was Froleytia, the commander of the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion that the Baby Magnum belonged to. She had headed inland to the Amazon district ahead of time.

Also on the channel was the commander of the Legitimacy Kingdom military base that protected the Amazon district.

“After losing their Object, the remnants of the Mass Driver conglomerate have moved north from the blank region and across national boundaries. Reports say they have entered the Amazon district which is our territory. Is that correct?” asked the captain to make sure.

The local commander replied, “We have not engaged in direct combat and have instead focused on evacuating the civilians from the general area. As a result, we allowed them to enter, but…”

That was when Froleytia cut in.

“Where is the Legitimacy Kingdom Object that protects the Amazon district? Our Baby Magnum was heavily damaged, so we would like to request a joint operation if possible.”

“Our Object, the Forest Roller, is undergoing scheduled maintenance. As for other units, one Object is undergoing emergency maintenance after taking heavy damage in a different operation and another is currently engaging a Faith Organization Object. We do not have any military force to spare for this problem. …Our Object was scheduled to be protected by the Bright Hopper while this maintenance took place, but it was destroyed in the previous battle. And ever since, its Elite, Major Halreed Copacabana, has insisted he return to the home country and refuses to listen to anyone saying otherwise.”

“Tch. Now that he’s been forced to wait, that dog is of no use.”

“?”

The captain frowned slightly at Froleytia’s strange comment. The local commander was likely making a similar expression. Froleytia ignored this and continued speaking.

“Understood. As originally planned, our Baby Magnum will deal with the remnants. However, we are not in prime condition either. The armor plates have been replaced, but the rest is not so easy. Three of the seven main cannons are unusable and the propulsion device was damaged, so it cannot carry out high speed battle.”

“Didn’t you gain supplies from the Amazon district base? They are both Legitimacy Kingdom Objects, so don’t they have the same standards?”

“N-no.” replied the local commander. “While the armor plates are interchangeable, the main cannons and propulsion device are almost entirely custom made. The equipment at our base is specialized for our Forest Roller. It is unlikely we can meet the needs of the Baby Magnum.”

“I know. That just means we have to do this as is,” said Froleytia.

She was unable to entirely hide her disappointment.

Her next statement seemed to be intended to sweep away that disappointment.

“Do you understand our situation now, Charlemagne? We would like as much military strength as we can get. We would like help from your fighters as planned.”

“I do not mind providing that.” The captain chose his words carefully. “However, we only have outdated fighters. They may not be able to keep up on this modern battlefield.”

“??? I thought the Mass Driver conglomerate Object had already been destroyed,” said the local commander in confusion.

The captain gave no clear reply.

(…I hope that’s the case.)

Some reactor had been used to provide the massive power needed for the spare cannons in Antarctica and on the Iguazu district coast. That raised a question as to the number of Objects owned by the Mass Driver conglomerate.

Froleytia likely had similar doubts.

He heard her mutter, “Unconfirmed object X. If it really exists, things could get rough out there once more…”

Part 2

Quenser and Heivia were completely unaware of that dangerous conversation as they helped construct the maintenance base zone. So that it could be set up anywhere in the world, the Baby Magnum’s base was made up of a group of more than 10 large vehicles. By linking the vehicles together front-to-back and side-side, setting up block-shaped rooms on top in multiple layers, and stringing up wires to support the weight like with a tent, buildings could be quickly constructed.

The two of them were not helping with the construction of the buildings. They were carrying boxes of packed equipment into the empty buildings that had already been constructed. They were doing the same thing as movers.

While he walked down a hallway carrying a cardboard box, Quenser said, “How can we know the remnants of the Mass Driver conglomerate won’t escape while we’re moving this base along so slowly?”

Heivia walked along beside Quenser and occasionally glanced down at Quenser’s feet. Quenser’s sprain had healed, but he may have still been a bit mindful.

“If they do, the princess’s Object can move in to deal with them. From what I heard, they’ve started to build a base in the ruins of Amazon City about 20 kilometers ahead. Apparently, they hope to put up a counterattack here so they can cut off all pursuit before fleeing.”

“…What’s Amazon City?”

“The world’s biggest ghost town.” Heivia set his cardboard box heavily down on the floor of a strategy room. “There are a lot of things in the jungle. Coal, oil, iron, gold, jewels, and a lot more. There were also people who planned to use the rare location to make medicines from special plants and extracts taken from insects. The Legitimacy Kingdom set up an entire mining city.”

“But you said it had become a ghost town, right? Did the project fall through due to economic issues?”

“It was nothing that cute.” Heivia turned back to the hallway after Quenser set down his box. “While the jungle was being mined, they ran across a horrible virus. Apparently, it completely overturned what we knew about immunology. In order to keep the losses to a minimum, the Legitimacy Kingdom completely abandoned Amazon City and pulled out.”

“W-wait a second. Isn’t that where we’re headed?’

“All of that happened 20 years ago. A research group wearing protective suits came in a while back, but they could find no trace of the virus. And if that virus was still wreaking havoc on the area, we wouldn’t have to go to all this effort. We could just wait for it to wipe out the Mass Driver conglomerate.”

“That’s right…” muttered Quenser, but he could not get rid of a strange feeling of unease.

Heivia entered a room filled with cardboard boxes and said, “Antarctica, that blank region, and now a city being swallowed up by the forest. Areas a lot of people have an interest in really do invite war. Ugh, what a pain.”

Heivia sat heavily in a large chair sitting next to all the boxes. It was covered in the plastic used for packaging, so they could not see it, but it seemed to be quite a nice chair.

“Hey, Heivia. If that’s an officer’s chair, you might want to get up. What if it’s Froleytia’s?”

“That Japanese-obsessed woman wouldn’t bring a chair like this into her room. And besides, my job is to analyze enemy Objects and yours is to learn about Objects. The problem lies with them for pushing this physical work on us.”

At that point, an unexpected new face arrived.

It was the Baby Magnum’s Elite princess.

“Nn? Oh, it’s here.”

“?”

Quenser and Heivia turned toward the princess and she replied with no facial expression.

“That chair is to go in the cockpit.”

“Seriously? These hard things at my shoulder blades are electrodes for a low frequency medical device, right? Is that what Objects are like these days?”

“According to the old lady, this is one method of ensuring my concentration does not drop during long battles.”

“…And I heard you had a fridge and a microwave in there too,” said Quenser in slight shock.

Heivia shrugged while still sitting in the chair and said, “That’s quite the comfortable battlefield. How about you install a home theater system and a popcorn machine?”

He had meant it as a joke, but the princess seemed to take him seriously. She pulled a high spec handheld game system from one of her miniskirt-style pockets.

“I can watch anything I want with this.”

“Dammit!! You can just do anything, can’t you!? And do those headphones have a vacuum tube on them!?”

Both Quenser and Heivia had actually brought the same handheld game system along with their personal items, but they were unable to resupply with the latest movie disks each month. There was a way to purchase and download digital copies of the movies, but they were not allowed to use it over the military line.

Meanwhile, Quenser patted the plastic-covered chair with a low frequency medical device installed.

“I’ve never used a low frequency machine before. Do they really work?”

“Only one way to find out,” said the princess as she moved Heivia out of the way and removed the plastic.

She connected the power cable to a jack that connected to a normal household power outlet and plugged it into the wall.

“Should we really be doing this?”

“It is no real problem,” replied the princess, so Quenser went along with her suggestion.

Unlike a normal chair, this one had very low resistance, so it felt like his body sank into it and was fixed in place. He felt something hard that must have been the electrodes for the low frequency medical device against his back and legs. He began to wonder if it would really work over his uniform.

“Here goes.”

The princess pressed a few buttons on the chair’s armrest.

Immediately afterwards, a feeling Quenser had never felt before rushed across his entire body.

“Hohhhhhh nyaaahhhhhhh!? Ahh, anthahh…fnyahhh. Styop, styop. Wyait, thyis! Styop it, styop-…fnyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Quenser’s entire body started to pulsate unnaturally.

Heivia frantically pressed the stop button.

With bloodshot eyes, he shouted, “What the hell kind of noises were those!?”

“Don’t blame me!! Just try it! You try it too, Heivia!! You’ll be making the same noises! It’s completely involuntary!!”

Quenser pulled his body out of the low resistance material and Heivia took his place.

“You’re an idiot. A simple low frequency massage chair isn’t enough to get a reaction out of me.”

“Okay, switch on.”

“Kyawynn!? Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnn!? Wai-…wyait, wyait jyust a second!! Quyenser, I thyink thyis myassage chyair is syupposed tyo be used thyrough thye pryincess’s syuit!! The byuttons of my uniform are vyibrating in syome weird places!!”

“See? This is no normal massage chair.”

“I gyet it!! S-syo!! Dyon’t turn up thyat switch! Fwooohhhhhhhhh!! Hyaaaaaaahh!! Hehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

Private Heivia’s body twitched in pleasure.

When the princess saw the disgusting mess of sweat and such the two boys had left on her chair, she slowly pulled out her radio and covertly spoke into it.

“…Medical team. I need you to discard one of the cockpit chairs ASAP.”

Part 12

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