Horizon:Volume 10B Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Actors on Both Sides

Power is a pair of hands

Carrying willpower

Point Allocation (Full Strength)

●

Many powerful people in many nations received reports that ship battle had begun.

Most of them were staying up late to keep tabs on the situation and this included Juana traveling with her division’s high-speed fleet, Christina pulling on sleepy Nagaoka’s hand while visiting the food stalls running this late, Tomoe Gozen, Terumoto, the Fairy Queen, and more.

They were all receiving the reports, but most of it was footage from the Musashi’s surface city pieces evacuated to Shikoku via transport ship, so they had to try to grasp the situation from that distant view.

Among them, Yoshiaki of the eastern nation of Mogami received the relay benefits of a Divine Revelation tower. She zoomed a map of the Far East in to Osaka Bay, added the current locations of the ships there, calculated out their distance from Mikawa, and conversed via sign frame with someone closer to the battlefield.

Still Got It: “Hey! Did you hear!? You did, didn’t you!? My daughter got all flustered after learning she has an illegitimate child in the future! She needs to learn to accept these things, don’t you think!?”

Nine Tail Girl: “This is just a roundabout way of bragging about your daughter and granddaughter.”

Still Got It: “Hee hee. But this is really making me feel old all of a sudden. I need to go absorb some of my husband’s essence to youthen myself up!”

Is her husband going to survive this? wondered Yoshiaki, but apparently that energy circulated between them, so did that even accomplish anything? Or was it more like using her husband as a filter?

At any rate, She wanted to ask something of the woman closer to the battlefield.

Nine Tail Girl: “If Musashi’s next year down is going to be in control, this will be harder to predict. What do you think will happen? Who do you think has the advantage?”

Still Got It: “My daughter’s daughter’s side had the advantage before. But this rebellion makes it harder for Hashiba to do any direct damage to Musashi even if they win. If they are going to do so, they would have to…”

The Reine des Garous didn’t hesitate to give the answer.

Still Got It: “Sink the Musashi. My daughter’s class would certainly be in trouble then.”

Nine Tail Girl: “I can’t imagine how you would sink an 8-ship fleet with such strong defenses.”

Still Got It: “Oh? Don’t you think they could manage it with a dragon line reactor?”

Nine Tail Girl: “That could work, but I doubt they would do it.”

Still Got It: “I would love to know why.”

“Well,” said Yoshiaki while Shakenobe slowly fell next to her as he drifted off to sleep. She gently placed her fan below him to support him there, and then…

“Take that.”

She threw him with a sharp snap of the wrist. He must have woken up in surprise partway through because he made a sharp turn and returned.

“That explains why I was dreaming about being caught in the rapids, mon!”

“Having you around is so soothing.”

At any rate, she had to respond to the Reine des Garous.

Nine Tails Girl: “If Hashiba wins, they then have to go around convincing the other nations to complete the Genesis Project, right?”

Still Got It: “Wouldn’t using a dragon line reactor here make it a lot easier to convince them?”

Nine Tails Girl: “Diplomacy through open displays of strength leads to defiance in equal measure. The nations whose pride was wounded would support Musashi as an opposition force. Everyone knows Hashiba has the dragon line reactors even if they don’t use one here. That is enough to make use of them as a tool in diplomacy.”

Still Got It: “Then are you saying the Musashi is safe?”

“Most likely,” she said before asking about something else.

Nine Tails Girl: “How long do you think it will take?”

Still Got It: “In the worst case, it could take 24 days x3 for my daughter’s daughter to be conceived.”

Nine Tails Girl: “Are you entertaining yourself by thinking about your granddaughter? I meant the battle.”

Still Got It: “Oh? They are both large ships with tough armor and they can both make a quick getaway. So won’t this be a lengthy battle?”

The talk of making a quick getaway suggested the Reine des Garous actually did know the answer.

She has a way of leading people to her line of thinking and strength. That was how it worked during our ping pong match too, thought Yoshiaki while thinking back to that Odawara hot spring.

Nine Tails Girl: “It comes down to fuel.”

●

She understood.

Nine Tails Girl: “When the Musashi escaped Kantou during the Battle of Mikatagahara, they just barely had enough fuel. This time, they had already fought at Kyou and Honnouji before traveling to Mikawa and then returning here. And this is with the powered-up Musashi Mk. 2.”

Still Got It: “They also fired Kanesada along the way and they still have it partially active as a form of intimidation.”

Nine Tails Girl: “Their fuel must be nearly depleted.”

Still Got It: “But the same is true of the Azuchi, right?”

Nine Tails Girl: “Who was it again that suggested this would be a lengthy battle?”

Still Got It: “The old me of three minutes ago.”

“You’ve renewed yourself then?” muttered Yoshiaki with a bark of laughter.

Either way, there was one more thing she could say here.

Nine Tails Girl: “That would be another reason why Musashi’s younger group bravely chose to step up in the upperclassmen’s place. A lengthy battle requires reading the state of the battle, but the side with the superior maneuvering and tactics wins in a short-term battle. That would also be why they have left Kanesada partially active.”

Still Got It: “The battle itself probably won’t last long. But doesn’t that give Musashi an advantage since it can end things all at once with Kanesada?”

Nine Tails Girl: “The Azuchi’s greater experience and combat strength make up for that. Who will win: the Azuchi with its greater number of options or the Musashi with its one powerful option? I hate that I can’t join in myself.”

“Hee hee,” laughed the Reine des Garous. Or it seemed that way.

Still Got It: “For me, both sides include my family. But this is going to be a difficult night for anyone supporting only one side. …Now that the full moon is past, I hope the dawn will arrive soon.”’

Now then…

Still Got It: “The initial exchange of artillery has already begun, so they should start moving soon. …Starting with the Musashi. They can’t reach a firing position otherwise.”

●

The first to move was the Musashi.

To their port, the Azuchi looked like a wall rolled 90-degrees. With its upper surface directed the Musashi’s way, the Azuchi had the greater number of cannons aimed at the other and it could also send shells raining down from the sky.

The Musashi had fewer cannons overall, so it usually dealt with attacks like this by using defense barriers.

But trying to settle things that way would mean a battle of attrition.

Relying on defense barriers could deplete its fuel.

So it moved.

The Azuchi observed the Musashi’s maneuvering. Because how the Musashi moved would reveal its tactics.

If it tried to direct its bow toward the Azuchi, then its tactics were focused on firing Kanesada.

If it kept its distance and took aim from a different position, then its tactics were focused on firing ordinary cannons.

But the Musashi’s port side was worn down and a lot of the cannons there had been destroyed. The Azuchi focused on keeping to the port side.

With “Azuchi” in command, the Azuchi waited for the Musashi’s move.

Then it happened.

The Musashi swung its stern to the right, away from the Azuchi. “Azuchi” saw this as as turning its bow toward them, so…

“All hands, shift to anti-automaton maneuvering! The initial movement has begun! Shaja!”

●

…So they aren’t bothering with any tricks!

“Azuchi” knew how the Musashi maneuvered. It had a human acting captain onboard, so it prioritized maneuvers based on her judgment.

This initial movement was one of those.

It did have a purpose related to the weight and such, but when the Musashi’s captain moved the ship, they would swing the ship in the opposite direction first. Before moving a large ship, the recoil and weight were used to give an initial push to the entire ship. This was especially common when entering a drift.

But the Musashi shouldn’t actually need to do that. If they weren’t considering fuel efficiency, they could force their way through the recoil and such using gravitational control.

Looking at the big picture, “Azuchi” concluded this was the result of their respect for their acting captain and that this let them move along a more beautiful curve. As a transport ship, the Musashi would prioritize clean lines over rough maneuvers.

In that sense, she thought automata actually had difficulty piloting transport ships because they had a tendency to always take the shortest route.

But the Musashi had cast off that difficulty.

Just like the Azuchi.

They were doing everything they could to win. Which meant making a rotation from complete standstill.

The stern swung to the right, pulling away from the Azuchi, while the bow turned this way. The thrusters on the sides of the ship were directed outwards, the fore starboard ones pushed to the left and the aft port ones pushed to the right.

“Azuchi” raised her hand while observing the maneuver that could be called a recoilless pivot turn. And she raised her voice.

“All Azuchi ships, begin! Shaja!”

●

Ookubo was atop Musashino’s bridge.

“Musashi” and Sakai were also there, which made her nervous. Sakai sat on a collapsible bench and…

“ ‘Musashi’-san, could you help Ookubo-kun out?”

“Ookubo-sama, would you like some tea? Over.”

“Oh, um, no thank you. I’m busy keeping up with the situation.”

She honestly found it awkward to have people on their level talking to her. They weren’t actually watching over her shoulder and she figured it was just something you had to get used to, but it felt so much like they were grading her performance.

…I bet the Vice President and the nudist never feel this way…

I should try to relax more, she told herself, but the battle was already underway.

The Musashi was performing a pivot turn to the left. The Azuchi was to their side and they were moving to attack, so they didn’t need any three-dimensional movement. A simple horizontal turn was enough.

A line of mist trailed sideways from the tip of Asakusa’s bow on the port side. It spread along Asakusa’s bow before being eliminated by the atmospheric interference.

The Musashi turned.

There was sound. Of the wind being torn rather than pushed. The entire ship rotated with a noise like tough paper being ripped apart.

How would the Azuchi respond to this rapid turn?

…It won’t be easy for them!

The Musashi was turning left toward the Azuchi on their left. The Azuchi would want to remain to their port, so they would be forced to back up and circle around toward the turning Musashi’s stern.

That would be possible with gravitational acceleration, but it would be rough to back up so suddenly.

So what would they do? Just as Ookubo was guessing a few options, light shined from all across the Azuchi. It was powering up its engine system to move.

Here it comes, she thought as the wind blew.

The Azuchi split between top and bottom.

●

Sakai turned around to see the Azuchi’s three stacked rows split between two on top and one on bottom.

What did that accomplish? Oh, he realized.

“Are they escaping above and below Kanesada’s range?”

He looked to see the half-active Kanesada aiming into the night sky.

The Azuchi was dead ahead. But its vertical split created a gap out ahead of the cannon. And “Musashi” waved a hand.

“Forward defenses! Over!”

Immediately, the Azuchi fired its artillery from above and below. More than that…

“It’s going to circle us, I’ll bet.”

It was.

There was no need to remain dead ahead while firing on the opponent aiming its weapon there. The Azuchi further rearranged its ships to create an arc with the Musashi in the center and began to slowly but surely revolve around it.

It intended to fly around the Musashi while pummeling them with artillery fire.

…That’s clever.

Most likely, the vertical orientation of the ships had been to give them a top and bottom layer like this. And…

“The arc is fairly short, but this is essentially the same idea as the wheel formation.”

“Musashi”-san and Ookubo-kun both glared at me for that one. Do I sound that much like I’m enjoying this?

●

“The best way to stop the Musashi from circling us is to circle them. Shaja.”

“Azuchi” made sure not to use too much speed and let the formation expand outwards while she fired on the Musashi.

“It is the difference between rotation and revolution. It will look to the Musashi like we are spinning around them, but all we have to do is keep our cannons aimed at them. Shaja.”

Meanwhile, the Musashi could place its defense barriers in the paths of the artillery fire, but it couldn’t aim its cannon and fire. Its cannon could pursue them, but they were making a full revolution.

It was too late to start turning the cannon and turning the ship to bring the cannon around would be too slow.

Thus, the Musashi could only fire when the Azuchi moved out in front of their cannon.

But the Azuchi could fire the entire time. They could tear down the Musashi from all 360 degrees.

The artillery boomed and crashed.

The destruction of the defense barriers reverberated through the sky like glass thrown to the floor.

The firing continued.

The Musashi’s defenses were tough, but it didn’t have an all-direction defense barrier like a surface city would. There were gaps and those gaps could be widened by firing on them.

Still, Far Eastern defense barriers were tough. They were the attenuation type, which meant they weren’t shattered right away.

Even now, more and more were appearing to replace those that broke. And…

“They are altering the number to match our movement!? Shaja.”

●

“This is nothing special. It is a common form of adaptation. Over.”

“Musashino” nodded once before the model Suzu had left aboard Musashino’s bridge.

They were currently performing a scan.

Suzu had run an almost complete scan of the Azuchi’s shape as she left and turned it into a model. She had read in the structure of the thrusters when they were open, which had been an unknown previously. That had only picked up the major ones, but by reproducing that structure and placing it in the likely other locations, she had almost perfectly read the Azuchi’s mobility.

So now all the automata had to do was scan the movement of the cannons and read the trajectories of the shells.

Then they placed defense barriers there.

The Musashi as a whole couldn’t turn to follow the Azuchi, but the defense barriers were a different matter. The previous battle had taught the automata how to produce the ship’s barriers against an opponent the Musashi wasn’t facing.

This was thanks to Asama adjusting the ether conduits to accommodate 360-degree coverage, so…

“Scarily, this means we are only surviving here thanks to the cooperation of ordinary citizens rather then Musashi officers. Over.”

But the real challenge was yet to come.

“Asakusa! The Azuchi is circling your way! Over!”

●

“Asakusa” had left the Asakusa’s bridge.

She stood on the tip of the bow deck. From there, she could see the artillery fire rotating this way from Murayama behind her ship.

Defense barriers continued to appear in the sky, where they shattered as they protected them.

And at the far left edge of that…

“I am ready. Over.”

She drew a sword from her hip hard point part.

But it had no blade.

It was a gravity sword.

But the distinctive wavering length and mist formed by the constant slicing of the air did not emerge from the hilt. Only a sign frame appeared.

<Focal Point>

When she raised the gravity sword hilt overhead, something appeared.

A defense barrier.

But not an anti-personnel one. After a vibration, a 32m anti-ship barrier was appeared at the tip of her blade.

…There it is!

“Contaaaact! Over!”

She swung it up and raised her voice.

“Everyone, handle the tuning and emission! Over!”

A moment later, several more appeared. A total of 72 tightly-packed layers appeared as if to thicken the one already there. Then 52 similar barriers instantly were emitted and fixed in place end to end atop that one as if extending its length.

This created a blade over a kilometer long growing from the gravity sword.

On the left, the Azuchi was flying in.

She met that 6-ship threat by holding the one sword at the ready with both hands and then accelerating with a twist and a push of her wrists.

“Defense barrier sword! How do you like this attack from one of the Guardians of Musashi, Azuchi? Over!!”

●

The danger scan determined this attack had a slicing effect.

“Azuchi” briefly failed to understand because this was probably a historical first.

“A sword slash launched by a warship!? Shaja!”

No, there had been ramming battles and slashing attacks using short-range light cannons. The problem was that this one was effectively being made by a single captain automaton.

She was receiving considerable help from the other ships, but it was being controlled and directed by an individual wielding a focal point blade.

…Is this how the Guardians of Musashi do things!?

That title belonged to the first port and starboard ships who led the Musashi along whatever course it took. Those ships had been later additions, but “Azuchi” had heard their captains were capable of combat actions for security and defense purposes.

But if they were capable as Strike Forcers as well as captains…

“They were keeping this combat style hidden! They are not just making it up as they go along! Shaja!”

As the thick blade rapidly approached, “Azuchi” made a decision. That blade clearly held the strength needed to bisect the Azuchi, so using all the mobility the Azuchi possessed as a warship…

“Port ships, central ships, full power evasive action! Shaja!”

●

Ookubo saw an explosion of water vapor in the sky off the port bow.

Ahead of the blade swung by “Asakusa”, the Azuchi broke the connection between the two port ships flying above and the two central ships flying below. By splitting them apart, they evaded the sword strike.

“Ahh,” groaned Sakai behind her. “Guess they couldn’t send all the ships down.”

“The central ships are being directly pulled down by the starboard ships that had already gone down, so I think they used that for the evasion’s initial acceleration. I believe the port ships used their forward lift to convert that momentum into upwards movement.”

“Well observed, Ookubo-sama. The bridge has made the exact same assessment. Over.”

The compliment made her fairly happy – no, very happy. She was effectively in charge of those aboard the Musashi. If the Chancellor or Vice President were here, she would brush it off out of concern there was something more to it.

…I still can’t accept compliments at face value, can I?

It made her think about how much difference a change of environment could make, but she also had to hand it to their enemy.

By splitting so far apart vertically like this, they could remain outside Kanesada’s range even when they circled in front of the Musashi.

She had thought maybe the port ships at least would panic and fly right into its range, but apparently that had been hoping for too much. But it wasn’t over yet. Asakusa’s sword was self-destructing as she restricted its power.

After seeing the ultra-long blade turn to shiny dust, she started up a sign frame.

And she looked out ahead.

The Azuchi was circling in wide from the right and beginning to regroup.

Seeing the row of central ships take an ascending course, she spoke.

“Shinagawa. Can you cut them down to size?”

●

A second sword was unsheathed.

If it could happen to port, it could happen to starboard too. To prove so, “Shinagawa” stood at the tip of the starboard ship’s bow.

Looking to the left, she could see “Asakusa” aligned with her on the Asakusa’s distant bow.

She had made an excellent strike. She sent her control information to “Shinagawa” via their shared memory. “Shinagawa” had feedback from the assistance she had provided, so she applied that as well.

And she installed it.

The rest was simple. By sending the shared memory into her body, she began the motion as if it were something she had done before. She made adjustments for the enemy’s position and, at the tip of the readied gravity sword…

Asakusa: “Complete the process without rushing and you will have no trouble. Because we made adjustments after our loss to Tachibana Muneshige-sama. Over.”

Shinagawa: “That was a good lesson. Because we received processes and results no mere training or simulation could provide. Over.”

“Now then.” “Shinagawa” opened her mouth. “Contaaaact! Over!”

●

Aboard the evacuating transport ship, Gin felt déjà vu as she watched the attack launched into the night sky.

Because the path of the black multi-blade launched from Shinagawa was similar to one she knew well.

“Is that Muneshige-sama’s blade?”

“No,” he said as he munched on a ration next to her. “That is your blade. Because my sword belongs to you.”

She would feel more than simple embarrassment if that were taken as a double entendre. So as the others slowly turned her way with carefully maintained straight faces, she kept her eyes on the obvious result.

The Shinagawa’s blade reached the Azuchi’s port ships as they tried to escape upwards.

●

“Azuchi” confirmed that it had reached them.

The port ships had released their towing belts. That required using divine transmissions to send instructions, which had delayed the evasive action.

But the delayed instructions had partially worked out for the best. The released towing belts kept her from controlling the port ships’ rotational speed and acceleration, so their revolution had drifted outwards.

So despite this being a direct hit, the distance was greater than at first. The rest came down to their resolve, but…

“All hands on port ships! Brace for impact! Shaja!”

●

A single blade tore upwards at them.

The tip of the blade made from black defense barriers struck the bow of the Azuchi’s first port ship like a machete.

It hit a bit on the right side of the bow. The wider revolution had shifted the hit from the center.

And their relative speed raced through.

The black blade reached the fourth and fifth layers of the Azuchi’s internal structure and sliced through nearly to the ship’s center.

It sounded like tearing metal and splintering wood from the deck.

It happened all at once.

The curving slice raced on upwards.

It more split than cut the ship. The single attack passed through the Azuchi’s first port ship.

And through skilled handling by “Shinagawa”, the barrier blade stood up.

“Next.”

Where it accelerated and tore into the second ship before it could evade.

That ship was split too.

●

Ookubo saw flames explode out from the Azuchi’s port ships where the blade tore through them.

Smoke and ether light flames rose into the sky and red fire rotated in the sky beyond them.

A tremor of the air reached them, sounding like a flag flapping in the wind.

They had done it. But…

“That was awfully light.”

“The fuel sector can be purged to prevent fires from spreading. Those flames are burning so violently not because the blast was compressed within the ships but because it was purged outside the ship. Over.”

“What does that mean, ‘Musashi’-san?”

“That the Azuchi intends to keep up the fight. Over.”

“Musashi” was right. Ookubo saw the Azuchi’s port ships emerge from the spreading smoke.

The wind roared. Flames erupted and the ships were damaged, but…

“That’s a warship for you. Not even that is enough to sink it. Over.”

What they had to do now was simple. Ookubo held her hand forward and gave a command.

“We will now move to sink the Azuchi. All hands to emergency stations.”

●

“Azuchi” focused more on controlling the ships than on attacking.

Tracking their relative positions and formation was easier with the objective data sent by those evacuated on the transport ships than from their own senses aboard the combat maneuvering ships.

The constant data sent from outside came with opinions, suggestions, and advice that was considered and adopted by each ship’s bridge. The same was happening now. Some voices were cheering them on, but…

6: “Is there no food?”

…Isn’t that an overly personal issue!?

Regardless, this must mean Hachisuka had finally left her god of war. The evacuation transport ships were all standardized, so “Azuchi” knew where the rations were located. Just to be safe, she also sent over the most likely location for a ration distribution point and she soon received a response.

6: “Thanks. Keep up the good work”

“Shaja.”

The captain automata were generally maid models. Being told to keep up the good work by a human was extremely shameful for them. But she had worked alongside the Ten Spears a fair amount, so…

…I understand.

She knew what Hachisuka was trying to tell her.

“She is telling us to win. Shaja.”

Just as she said that, two voices reached her. They belonged to the captains of the starboard ships flying below.

“ ‘Azuchi’-sama! The Musashi is moving! Shaja.”

So they had decided to move. And according to the report from the two ships below…

“The Musashi is tilting to aft while turning! Shaja!”

●

The Musashi slowly descended.

Starting from the stern. First the third port and starboard ships. Next the rear central ship. Then the second port and starboard ships. After that the front central ship. And finally the first port and starboard ships lowered rear first.

It all started at the stern of the third port and starboard ships.

And their descent was more than just going down a slope.

They dropped straight down.

Each ship sent its stern straight down and angled its bow a bit diagonally upwards while starting to turn.

Creating a spiral.

The Musashi moved as if being sucked down into a whirlpool.

It fell, putting distance between itself and the Azuchi.

●

Sakon had seen similar movement before.

At Nördlingen.

During her first battle there, the Musashi had taken a spiraling trajectory with its bow pointed down in the sky south of Nördlingen.

The rapid stop and shockwave had torn through the M.H.R.R. fleet, but this was different.

…This time it’s to descend!

Given their altitude of 10 kilometers, she knew what the Musashi was doing.

“The Musashi is using this spiral maneuver to adjust its main cannon’s firing angle!”

Everyone turned her way with an “eh?” and Kiyomasa raised her eyebrows.

“The Shirasagi Castle battle!”

This time the “eh?” came from Sakon herself.

“I don’t know that one.”

“Kohime! While that battle did happen before your first, it is among the records of Musashi’s battles with P.A. Oda!”

“Then shouldn’t you have taught me about it, Onitakemaru-san?”

“Do not take the easy route, Kohime! You must do your own research to acquire a wider variety of knowledge! Do you understand!?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. …So what is this about, Kiyomasa-sama?”

“I just said not to take the easy route, Kohime!”

“The entire point of learning to be sociable is to make life easier. But maybe that’s asking a lot of a historical authority in not having friends in his life or in his life after death.”

“Damn you!”

Kiyomasa moved in to try and calm them down. Then she turned to look toward the Musashi which was descending with a roar in the sky.

“A similar thing happened when Takigawa Ichimasu-sama’s Shirasagi Castle battled the Musashi. The battle took place around the Ariake and the Shirasagi Castle circled around it while attacking. This spiraling circle is different,” said Kiyomasa. “But the Musashi must be reproducing or rearranging the combat maneuvers they have seen in the past. That explains why they are so quick to react.”

“So what if they are, Kiyomasa?”

“Testament.” Kiyomasa nodded with eyebrows raised and flicked a lernen figur. “The Musashi has precedent to work from, but so do we. We can use that to stop them.”

●

A rumble like distant thunder or a tremor from the earth or sea filled the western sky.

In the vast bay nearby, the waves crashing onto the beach were more intense.

Someone watched the scene with his hands on the fence of the Mikawa Cochin pen.

That someone was Ikeda Terumasa.

“I completely missed my chance to get any sleep, huh?”

After everything that happened, he had watched the Azuchi and the Musashi leave. Then he had chatted with Asano and Nabeshima on the divine net about them joining the battle and they had mentioned that Kani had joined Musashi’s side.

“What’s this about Uni?”

Before he could figure out what they were talking about, a ship battle had begun. It was just like, y’know, a late night show. There was nothing he could do until it was all over.

Deciding to get some sleep after hearing how it turned out, he checked his lernen figur to see if there were any late night broadcasts he could use to kill time.

“D-damn, everyone’s covering the Musashi and Azuchi stuff! Even Edo Divine Transmission!”

He was curious if the regional academies were too, but the network was nearly overloaded. Earlier, the shrine left in Mikawa had its ether tank (used for the ether management system) rupture and his people had gone to repair it.

As he wondered how long this was going to continue, Osakabe-hime, who had been wandering around nearby and occasionally showing interest to the west, suddenly trembled.

“Orororororo!? Ro!?”

“Whoa, what’s this all of a sudden? Was there some kind of ether interference?”

Several lernen figurs appeared around her. He just about tried to forcefully intervene when he noticed they were all displaying data on Osakabe-hime.

But on closer inspection, they belonged to Hirano of Hashiba’s Ten Spears.

“ ‘I’m checking the Shirasagi Castle’s combat records.’ What for?”

The forced access using higher privileges ended soon.

The lernen figurs around Osakabe-hime vanished and he received a divine mail from Hirano saying the same thing. That was fast, he thought while Osakabe-hime staggered dizzily but still managed to point into the western sky.

“Terurururu Teru Teru.”

“Hm? What is it, Osakabe-hime? Are you curious about the battle there?”

“T-t-t-t-tes-tes-testament.”

She nodded, shook her head once, and then continued.

“W-w-w-will they-they-they a-a-ave-ave-avenge me?”

Oh, he thought in realization.

“The Shirasagi Castle, huh?”

He hadn’t seen that battle. And he wasn’t seeing the battle currently being fought to the west either.

But that exchange told him something.

“Your battle is being used to determine whether the Musashi or the Azuchi wins.”

He kind of understood why this was happening. It was simple.

“We’ll know once it’s over. …So let’s wait until then, Osakabe-hime.”

●

The Musashi descended.

It dropped as if laying itself down while rotating.

The eight ships took slanted positions that formed a filter-like spiral as they rotated and descended.

But the Azuchi did not overlook the maneuver of its sister ship. After regrouping with its port ships that were spewing smoke and scattering ether light, it used the momentum of its circling motion to flip itself around and perform a handstand in midair.

It was pursuing.

●

The Shirasagi Castle’s combat records told “Azuchi” the risk of putting distance between them.

The Musashi was lowering its aft to raise its angle of elevation while descending and rotating. That would bring the circling Azuchi into its angle of fire. It was forceful, but the descent would put distance between the two ships. That distance would widen their angle of fire.

Meanwhile, the Azuchi had to close in on the Musashi.

But the Musashi was quick. Because it was using its dropping motion to keep itself rotating while shallowly aiming its bow this way.

“ ‘Azuchi’-sama! We have entered the Musashi’s angle of fire! Shaja!”

A shout came from the somewhat delayed rear ship to starboard, but the Musashi was aiming for a direct hit. They wouldn’t fire with only the stern within their angle of fire.

The Azuchi had to stay close.

But the Musashi was already dropping while swinging its stern straight down, so copying the motion wouldn’t be enough to catch up. So…

“All ships, perform handstand maneuver! Shaja!”

Her surroundings grew busy and the port fell a bit behind, but they performed the maneuver. This allowed them to face the Musashi nearly head on.

…Which reduces the surface area exposed to their fire!

But that wasn’t the point of the maneuver. They needed to accelerate and pursue the Musashi.

“Copy the Musashi! Over!”

They dove toward the top of the Musashi and matched its rotating descent. And while the Musashi was dropping tail first, they were charging bow first in order to catch up. Furthermore…

“All ships, roll!”

All the ships performed a barrel roll together. By aligning their axis of rotation, their upper surface would be placed along the Musashi’s upper surface. And here it was done while flipped around backwards.

Now the Musashi couldn’t fire Kanesada.

She shouted what this meant to everyone aboard.

“We will now avenge the Shirasagi Castle!! Shaja!”

The automata cheered. They had all been worried about the Shirasagi Castle that had been constructed as a new model ship just like the Azuchi.

At Takigawa’s request, it had been designed to be piloted by personnel instead of using an automaton-led control system, but the low-level control had still been handled by a Personality OS called Osakabe-hime. It was a different ship from theirs, but they had still sensed possibility in it and had greatly hoped it would hold Kantou.

But it had been broken.

By the Musashi Mk. II. When the Azuchi’s sister ship had first revealed its upgraded form on the way to Novgorod, it had destroyed the Shirasagi Castle.

If it was to be avenged…

“The Azuchi must do it! Shaja!”

“Azuchi” overwrote the enemy’s tactics. She had already proven that the method used to win in the past wouldn’t work here.

And with the two ships’ decks staring each other down, the Azuchi’s armor and cannons could do the talking and make full use of its design as a warship. All that remained was to do it. She gave the first command.

“All guns open fire!! Shaja!!”

●

The metal spiral descending toward Osaka Bay exchanged artillery fire and defense barriers in the gap between the two halves. Twisted panels of light appeared at an altitude of nearly 10 kilometers in the dark night sky and a combination of explosions and shattering sounds echoed out from there.

Both sides scattered a power insufficient to deliver an effective blow as they intertwined in the sky.

Atop and within the Azuchi, the automata in charge of artillery and defense stepped out into the deck to manage it all by sight. Atop the Musashi, the warriors dodged artillery while moving around to assist with the ship’s maneuvering.

For the Musashi, fine control of the towing belts was a particular problem. This required complex control during a descent, but they couldn’t consume much fuel if they were to keep Kanesada active. So instead they used…

“Team Manpower!!”

Musashi’s track team – particularly the ones who served under the 1st Special Duty Officer – activated the emergency manual winding core installed in the base of the towing belts.

They purged the armor to reveal a 5m diameter object below.

“Hey, look! I’ve seen one of these in my textbook! It’s that thing that moved that tool that held so much sway in Rome!”

“It really is a human gear, isn’t it!?”

The warriors all laughed and checked the sign frame from the bridge telling them how many times to wind it. They just had to follow the time limit, winding direction, and timeline for the number of rotations written there.

“Ohh!”

A defense spell stopped an incoming shell overhead. And quite quickly too.

That meant this was a crucial point.

There were several other similar points across the ships and they could see the people sent there thanks to the spotlight spells. Ten, twenty, more than thirty lights shined out.

“There!”

When they all grabbed the grips extending from the winding core’s gear, a torii-style sign frame appeared in the center.

“Oh! It’s a prayer wheel type!? Shinto really does do everything, huh!?”

A divine protection supported the rotational force and activated a control spell. And when the acceleration increased, the people spinning it would have their exhaustion reduced.

“if we keep spinning it after that, we might get a divine figurine as a prize!?”

“Spin, spin spiiiiin!!”

They all shouted and pushed on the gear to spin it.

They pushed, kept pushing, kept it moving, and kept going once they could move their feet forward.

“Ohhh!”

They ran. They started running. Their feet began to slip on the deck, but in response…

“Towing belts!”

The towing belts, one of the key features when maneuvering the Musashi, spewed sparks as they began to wind in or pull out.

“Let’s go, boys! Girls, you make any adjustments we need!”

With a shout, they all pushed, ran, pulled, and used all their strength, but then one of them raised his voice.

“Representative Committee Head! You’re up!”

●

Ookubo took a deep breath.

Smoke and the smell of scorched metal entered her lungs. She didn’t think she had felt such bitter air on her cheeks since the Kantou Liberation.

The enemy ship was in the sky above.

In Sviet Rus terms, would this count as a privet?

The Azuchi’s six ships were staring down at them like a ceiling and raining artillery fire down on them.

The ships were actually arranged vertically, so they were in fact firing horizontally on each other. But with the gravitational control making the deck be “down”, the imagery was like something from a nightmare.

As the Azuchi rotated and descended, it had the Musashi completely trapped and pounded them with shells they couldn’t hope to evade.

The defense barriers had already broken in places and the ship was beginning to take hits. Atop the Musashino’s bridge, where Ookubo’s group stood, a few shells were beginning to slip through, reach the ship, and explode into light in the surface city.

It looked like the Musashi was struggling.

“They want to take us out before we can do anything to them.”

It was a complete mess.

Ookubo felt like nothing ever went right in her school life here. But…

“Kanou-kun.”

“Judge. Each bow and the personnel are ready.”

The divine transmission only carried Kanou’s voice because the current divine transmission conditions were too poor to include video.

The text-only commentary arriving from outside told Ookubo the Azuchi was using some forceful maneuvering to take control.

In that case, she decided, raising her right forearm. This makes me look like the Vice President, she noted.

“Attention all ships!”

There was only one way of escaping this situation.

“Activate stealth barrier from the stern of the third port and starboard ships to cover all ships! Hide us from the Azuchi!”

●

“Azuchi” continued the artillery barrage while managing everything related to the Musashi.

The Azuchi’s attacks were working. But…

“All guns, cease targeting the Musashi’s main cannon! Shaja!”

“!? But why, ‘Azuchi’-sama!? Shaja!”

There was one reason why. She knew what the Musashi would do if its main cannon survived. So…

“We are luring in the Musashi! In order to preserve their main cannon-”

At that point, a sound that could only be described as “white” washed over them from above. It belonged to…

“A stealth barrier!”

The Azuchi used a simple one as well, but this wasn’t that. This multi-layer version fully eliminated all audio and visuals and it had just been launched from the Musashi’s stern toward the Azuchi’s bow.

●

Oh, thought Asama.

Just as the Musashi’s stern began to drift a bit to the south to keep it from hitting the ocean below, a large spell sign frame appeared.

“They’re entering the stealth barrier, aren’t they!?”

To avoid hitting the Azuchi flipped upside down above them, smaller sign frames appeared around each row of ships and rotated in a cylinder shape to surround the port, starboard, and center ships, causing them to vanish starting from below.

“But does hiding accomplish anything when they’re so close?” asked Asama.

Horizon turned toward her and nodded.

“It does.”

“…Such as?”

“It does.”

“May I ask what it accomplishes?”

“…You may not.”

Asama was confused, but this seemed to have taken some effort on Horizon’s part so she applauded. Then Neshinbara spoke up.

“This is preparation for doing something inside the stealth barrier.”

Horizon raised her hand.

“For doing what?”

“Like I said: doing something.”

“And like I said: doing what?.”

“Again: something.”

“Again: what?”

“U-um, Horizon? Neshinbara-kun is just saying stuff.”

“Um,” replied Suzu, her hand raised. “Kanesada?”

“Can it hit from there?”

“No?” Suzu directed her palms toward Asama and waved them side to side. Then she oriented her right palm horizontally and pulled it down and back.

“The recoil will…send them down. That will, you know…remove them from the privet.”

●

Watching the Musashi vanish, “Azuchi” confirmed the steps needed to achieve victory.

“Scan the Musashi’s shape, width, and length. Shaja.”

“Shaja!”

Even during battle, large ships would rearrange their interior structure and alter their size to shift their balance. That wasn’t just used when moving or defending. It was also used to match the curvature of the earth during low-altitude maneuvering or landing in water or on land.

Measuring the Musashi’s size was necessary for what the Azuchi was about to do. And…

“ ‘Azuchi’-sama! We have the measurements! We have its current size, its maximum size, and its average size across all points during this battle when we could measure it! Shaja.”

“Shaja,” she replied in acknowledgment.

With that done, the rest was simple. They had to chase down the Musashi, lure it, and defeat it. That was all.

Some steps would require on-the-fly adjustments, but…

“Open all rear gravity thrusters and place them on standby. Once the port and starboard ships have moved out as far as they can, follow after the Musashi. We will surround the Musashi from above and the sides.”

It didn’t matter that the Musashi had stealth active.

The Azuchi would surround it with its central ships above and its port and starboard ships on the sides.

They were currently arranged vertically. Moving toward the bottom of the hull would be difficult, but they would quickly catch up even if the Musashi did manage it.

Capture of the Musashi was guaranteed even if they couldn’t be seen. So…

“Begin movement and activation! Shaja!”

●

“Wow, that must’ve been Take’s idea. That’s mean!”

Yoshiaki agreed with Angie’s assessment.

The Azuchi had surrounded the Musashi.

They were arranged vertically and rotating, but the bottom end had already drifted south.

And the Azuchi further surrounded the Musashi as it vanished from view.

After confirming the Musashi’s width, the Azuchi spread its port and starboard ships from its central ships to place them on either side of the Musashi.

The Musashi was oriented vertically, so it had no way of moving toward the bottom of the hull. Directing its gravity accelerators would let it swing itself in that direction, but its stern had to be skimming the ocean already. The momentum wold slam the first ships into the ocean.

As a result, the Musashi was restricted from the sides and above, leaving it unable to move.

“The stealth barrier does keep the Azuchi from targeting any critical points, though.”

“But it’s not great for the Musashi either. I mean, with the stealth barrier opened so close to itself, they can’t see the Azuchi’s shells until they pass through the barrier.”

“Sure, but I get the feeling Musashi can respond to shells from that close.”

Still, the Musashi’s descent speed was increasing.

It was trying to escape the Azuchi.

…Because the barrier is meaningless if the Azuchi gets inside it.

But the Azuchi had to understand that. And if this plan and pattern had been created by Takenaka…

“What do you think, Takenaka? Is the Azuchi handling it well?”

“Eh? Oh, testament. It is. Or really, I’m just admiring how much ‘Azuchi’ has grown. But at the same time…”

Yoshiaki tilted her head in confusion, so their strategist pursed her lips before speaking.

“I thought Musashi’s Representative Committee Head was the political type, but – like she proved at the Keichou Campaign – she has some real guts… If I were commanding the Musashi right now, I would be ero-ing so hard my entire body burst, but the Musashi is being controlled with such calm.”

She pointed toward the sky where the Musashi had vanished. There, the Azuchi alone was spiraling downwards toward the ocean to the south.

But a closer inspection showed the image of the Azuchi was wavering.

…Heat haze and smoke?

“The Musashi is taking hits and burning inside the stealth field. …Yet that Representative Committee Head isn’t rushing things and is keeping the Musashi on its original path.”

Takenaka shrugged as she spoke.

“I don’t see how this could threaten our victory in the end, but I need to tell ‘Azuchi’ not to let her guard down here.”

●

“Musashi” updated her assessment of Ookubo.

Before, she had thought of her as a political type who excelled at making cumulative decisions and enacting policy.

But another factor clearly existed behind those things.

She had great confidence in her own actions.

Currently, the Musashi was being pummeled by shells and damage reports were being calculated across the ship. Ordinary functioning was not affected because defense barriers were protecting the critical locations, but armor was being stripped away and warnings from the different captains said gravitational cruising and a continuing artillery battle would put them at risk.

Below, fire was burning, smoke was rising, and ether light was leaking from locations across the ship. The defense barriers covering the holes in the surface city were missing in places and it was hard to find a section that was entirely unharmed.

Severity aside, the extent of the damage to each ship was approaching what Asakusa and Shinagawa had experienced after a direct hit from the fire ships during the Armada Battle.

It was a dangerous situation.

But Ookubo stuck to her plan.

She was not shaken.

The way she issued instructions, confirmed their progress, and made adjustments when necessary showed her confidence was not groundless.

She simply didn’t panic. She was unfazed. She didn’t fear.

The hits and damage they were taking were either inconsequential to her plan or a necessary part of it.

“ ‘Musashi’, I’m really sorry about all this. But try to bear with it.”

“Why do you say that? Over.”

“Judge,” replied Ookubo. She viewed all the damage with her back to “Musashi” and then raised her left hand toward that view of the ship. And she spread the fingers of her prosthetic arm. “The Musashi can be repaired, but victory can’t be.”

“Ooh, I like that one. I might steal it,” said Sakai, sitting up. Then he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his lap. “Would you be mad if I said you sound a lot like Masazumi?”

“No, because I know I’m not like her.”

“I see.” Sakai grinned. “Would you be mad if I said you were nothing at all like her?”

“Principal Sakai.” Ookubo sighed. “Please do not compare us.”

“Indeed,” agreed “Musashi” as Ookubo clenched her left hand into a fist. And…

“Shift the entire Musashi back to horizontal!”

That meant for the eight ships to end their descent and take a horizontal orientation above Osaka Bay.

But just as “Musashi” was about to send the command, “Takao” sent a message from Takao which was in the very lead of the ship’s movement.

Takao: “The Azuchi’s central ships are approaching from above! They intend on crushing us to keep us from escaping! Over!”

●

How could the words “you can’t get away” be expressed through action?

“Azuchi” had no personal experience of having done so.

The concept of playing tag came to mind, but that was done in a field.

That wasn’t what she had to do to the Musashi which had to be below them.

She was crushing them.

She was sending the central ships down from below to crush the Musashi in its stealth field.

They couldn’t get away.

Takenaka had said not to go easy on them. The two ships were oriented in opposite directions, but the Azuchi’s six-ship structure meant each individual ship was larger than the Musashi’s.

To keep the Musashi from escaping, she had sent the port and starboard ships in from the sides and flipped the central ships around up above.

“Drop on them. Shaja.”

She lowered the bottom of the ships.

Osaka Bay at night was visible below. As they rapidly dropped in altitude…

…Oh?

The ocean surface spread out below. The dark waves of that ocean only reflected the lights on land and the light of the Azuchi’s artillery.

But something changed there.

The ocean surface transformed as if pressed down on by a three-dimensional elliptical shape.

The sea was compressed, it was wrapped in heat, a heat haze formed in the night air, and…

“The Musashi has appeared directly below our central ships! Shaja!”

It appeared just as that report arrived from the bridge.

The white and black ships of the Musashi were there. As expected, they had taken many hits and smoke and flames were rising from them.

But still “Azuchi” did not hold back. She continued the battle. So she gave her command.

“Crush the Musashi! Shaja!!”

●

Ookubo didn’t move. The stealth barrier had shattered and a colossal structure was descending from above. It was clearly intent on crushing them.

“Musashino bridge! Employ anti-shock measures across the entire ship! Over!!”

A groan roared out as a vibration while the Musashi was bent from above.

They would be hit.

The Azuchi’s hull descended toward the Musashino’s bridge from above.

The Azuchi’s hull was visible to Ookubo’s right, carrying a lot of heat from the compression of the air.

It did not stop.

The Musashi was descending, but the Azuchi was falling even faster.

The armor on the bridge’s upper surface was blasted away starting from the crushed parts.

Starting from where Ookubo, “Musashi”, and Sakai were, it took a few seconds to reach the edge. The white armor panels scattered and finally the center of the bridge-shaped bridge bent.

The bridge-shaped bridge clearly slanted down toward the center.

And Musashino sank. The powerful downwards pressure at its center caused the bow to lift up.

The ship had to be undergoing tremendous stress.

A sign frame related to the ship’s structural integrity arrived from the Musashino’s bridge, but every part of it was displaying red warnings.

The ship groaned. Everything was crying out in protest. But Ookubo knew it wasn’t over yet because…

Musashino: “The hull is about to contact the water!! Over!”

…Good, we made it!!

In order to accept and praise everything they had done, Ookubo raised her right hand and her voice.

“Little Kanesada…fire!”

●

…Here it comes!

“Azuchi” had been waiting for this.

She had seen Kanesada’s startup movement and received further information from the other ships, so she knew this was Little Kanesada.

It was happening just as the Musashi contacted the ocean surface. In that moment, the Azuchi experienced a slight return force from the vast ocean as it pushed the Musashi down.

The Musashi was firing Little Kanesada in the opening that created.

However, the Azuchi was located directly above the Musashi and surrounding it. Kanesada couldn’t possibly hit them.

Just once, “Azuchi” had seen the reason why they would fire Kanesada here.

They were using the force of firing the cannon in order to make a rapid reversal.

The Musashi had used that to escape just before entering the Battle of Yamazaki.

But “Azuchi” of course recognized the movement and speed seen back then.

She had already predicted this. Because…

…Their Representative Committee Head is unaccustomed to operating the Musashi, so she will fall back on a library of its past actions!

And that was what happened. Kanesada was fired straight ahead into the sky and sea.

The boom scattered out and surpassed the audible range. Behind the flash of light, the entire Musashi received a powerful kick.

It had begun. The eight ships were blasted back while surrounded by its surviving stealth barriers.

It all moved back. But the Azuchi could respond.

This was why it had its bow pointed toward the Musashi’s stern from the start.

And all of its thrusters were already directed astern and ready to go.

That just left one thing to do. “Azuchi” already knew how far the Musashi would move, so…

“All ships, full speed ahead to the designated location! We can fully trap the Musashi there! Shaja!”

Below, a massive number of sparks erupted from the edge of the hull’s bottom. Thanks to the Musashi’s powerful back step.

And to immediately give pursuit…

“Shaja!”

They flew. A shockwave crashed into the surface of Osaka Bay as they flew to truly crush the Musashi from above this time.

●

Everyone saw the result.

The Azuchi blasted the seawater more than 3km into the air, creating a great expanse of mist below the night sky. But that mist itself was split by the giant ship’s speed, creating a valley-like line running south through the layer of mist in the center of the bay.

A vast quantity of seawater was forced out of the way and scattered as the deep splitting echoed up into the vast sky.

Pure noise rang out. The sea was split and crashed back together with the roar of colliding water.

But the Musashi and Hashiba groups watching on from the sky above were simply watching the Azuchi.

At the south end of Osaka Bay, the Azuchi partially contacted the water with its port and starboard ships directed inwards to surround the Musashi.

It had stopped.

It had finished descending and what lay below appeared to be submerged. In that case…

“The Azuchi…won?”

The first to hazard a quiet voice was Kasuya in the Hashiba group.

It was a question.

No one knew if they could accept what they had seen happen, so they were waiting for a report from the Azuchi.

But as if in response, a questioning voice came from the Musashi group this time.

From Suzu. She held a hand to Noise Neighbor and stepped forward.

“…?”

“Um, what is it, Suzu?”

“Judge,” replied Suzu. She held a hand to her mouth and groaned in thought before continuing. “I hear…a weird sound?”

“Excuse me! Leave it to Suzu-sama to notice that!” said Horizon with her right hand raised.

Mitotsudaira made sure to spray some of her perfume on Horizon’s clothes, but Suzu still seemed interested in the ocean. She tilted her head and asked a question.

“Aren’t…all of you curious?”

“Um, about what, Suzu-san?” asked Adele.

Suzu pointed toward a part of the mist-covered ocean.

“Um…you’ve all been looking…over there? Isn’t that…right?”

But there was something in the place she indicated: empty space. Nothing filled that space. Only a layer of mist and the valley split through it.

There was nothing there.

As everyone frowned and expressed their confusion, Suzu spoke.

“But,” she said to give the reason for her puzzled question. “The Musashi…isn’t below…the Azuchi.”

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