HEAVY OBJECT:Volume1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Tom Thumb Runs through the Oil Field >> Battle to Prevent Passage through Gibraltar

Part 1

A girl known as an Elite, who was nicknamed 'the princess' (whether she liked it or not) by her own army and troops, was inside a giant naval port style of maintenance base zone.

The facility to maintain the Object she piloted had to be quite large to accommodate its over 50 meter size. If the ancient Greek designers who had built the Greek temples had seen the giant structure, they would likely have been utterly shocked. The princess’s Object, Baby Magnum, fit snugly inside the structure.

The Object was surrounded by maintenance walkways and the princess was sitting in the center of the Object itself.

In the center of its sphere-shaped main body was the Object’s cockpit.

To match the shape of the Object, the cockpit itself formed a sphere with a diameter of 2 meters. The seat was ergonomically streamlined, its shape had been calculated out by a computer to limit fatigue as much as possible, and it even had a massage functionality to avoid things such as bedsores.

The cockpit in the center of the Object had no windows or windshields with which to see outside with the naked eye. Her vision out was done solely through monitors working in unison with cameras and sensors. The monitors were curved to cleanly attach to the inside of the sphere and the Elite would constantly be viewing over 300 windows accurately but quickly.

It did not have just one means of control.

The princess used her index finger to lightly tap a device she was wearing that looked like sharp athletic sunglasses.

It was an example of an input device that used infrared rays to read the movements of her eyes, but she also had the more well-known fighter craft-type of control column and a large number of keyboard-like buttons. Any one of the control systems could function as the main system and any one could function as the subsystem.

With multiple main systems and countless derivations given the possible combinations of subsystems, it seemed as if just learning how to use it would be enough to confuse you. However, an Object itself was the military might of an entire nation. Not being able to fight due to a deficiency in the system was not acceptable, so the Elite pilots had to at the very least go through a piloting manual that was thicker than an encyclopedia and many more manuals on top of that in order to ensure they could use any of the derived patterns with no problems and would know what to do in any given situation.

“…”

The Elite princess gave a small sigh within the Object that was resting as it was serviced.

The sigh was not due to having just seen what her next mission was and thinking about the families of the people she was about to kill. Instead, she was holding a completely ordinary cell phone in her hand. To prevent hacking, the Object normally cut off all signals from the outside except for a few communications devices independent from the rest of the system, but the barrier walls through the long tunnel-like passageway leading from the cockpit to the outside were all open for maintenance purposes.

She was looking at the cell phone’s small screen.

A short email was displayed there.

It was from her true friend who she had met at a base in Alaska and who had come to save her when she had been in trouble.

“Heh heh.”

The actual content of the email was quite short and blunt, but the princess did not care. She had never before imagined that who had sent it could mean so much more than what it actually said.

“Heh heh heh heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh.“

She started humming and moving left and right in her seat in a little dance. And then she swung her hand around and accidentally hit a lever with the back of her hand.

One of the giant main cannons moved with a loud kachunk and was about to crush one of the walkways. The princess frantically pulled the lever back in place before the cannon could send the old maintenance lady flying for a homerun.

Part 2

“Quenser, the mission is about to start. Personal communications are restricted, so put your cell phone away until we enter free time again,” cautioned Floretia, Quenser’s beautiful superior officer.

Quenser frantically stuck his phone in his pocket.

“The mission is simple,” boasted Floretia within a large transport craft while shaking the long narrow kanzashi-style hairpin that held her silver hair. “The enemy’s Object is trying to break through the Strait of Gibraltar, the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the disaster that would occur if it made it through, we must stop the Object before it breaks through the strait but without blowing it up. That is all.”

“That is all!? Stop it without blowing it up? What, are we supposed to give a non-lethal blow to a monster like that?” complained Heivia.

Floretia must have been aware she was asking the ridiculous because she gave a light shrug.

“The higher ups are seriously ordering that. It seems this Object is transporting a large amount of crude oil it stole and they want to retrieve it. Granted that is a rather reckless order,” Floretia said simply. “But don’t worry. As the commander on the scene, I will be giving you more realistic orders. …The stolen oil doesn’t matter, so just stop the Object from breaking through the strait. If you need to blow it up, oil and all, that’s fine. That is all.”

“I’d say that’s a pretty reckless order in and of itself. That isn’t an opponent for flesh-and-blood soldiers…” grumbled Heivia, but it seemed Floretia was not willing to compromise any more than that.

Quenser felt slightly dizzy when he imagined the intense fight to come.

“…The Mediterranean Sea. I guess that’s why the color of the camouflage on the uniforms we were issued was changed to gray.”

“Look, Heivia. Students these days catch on quickly. As an actual soldier, can you let him leave you behind like that? Hmm?”

“Fine, fine. I just have to switch out the camouflage pattern for my rifle, right? God, it’s like switching out the cover of a cell phone.”

“Are you picking a fight with your superior officer, Heivia? If so, hurry up and come at me.”

“You probably don’t want to do that. I think I’d get a little more excited than you’d like if you stepped on my crotch with those slender legs of yours.”

With that response, Heivia started switching out the reinforced plastic parts. While glancing over at him, Quenser spoke to Floretia.

“Why are you even here, Floretia-san? Weren’t you assigned to Alaska?”

“I wasn’t transferred here because I wanted to be. It was those higher ups again. Since you two and the princess will be working on this mission together, they were probably thinking that it would be best to have the same person giving the commands as in Alaska. Really, I’d rather not have to stick around for your grandstanding.”

“What will happen if this Object breaks through the strait? You said it was transporting crude oil it had stolen, right?” asked Quenser in an attempt to change the subject.

Floretia shrugged.

“Our country has been cutting off provisions to the enemy base zone for six months now and that would make that half year a complete waste. Apparently, the enemy Object travelling across the sea can also mine for its own oil. Paying no heed to the divisions between international waters and other countries’ territorial waters, it has been drilling up the oil, storing it in itself, and going around distributing it to its allied countries.”

“So it’s something like a delivery service for state-sponsored terrorist groups and it would benefit the world if we sunk it here,” said Heivia as his lips curved slightly.

Quenser shook his head.

“Is oil even needed on a battlefield centered on Objects? Their reactors are JPlevelMHD types, right? I thought those functioned on some special mechanism.”

“That’s the ironic thing. The more advanced technology gets, the more efficient it is to use older things like coal.”

“Yes, but for the JPlevel, it is melted down to have its structure altered before it is re-solidified. Do you know how long it takes to burn through it? Once you put that fuel inside, you don’t have to swap it out for 5 years.”

As they were diverging onto a tangent, Floretia brought the conversation back on track.

“The oil is used by the maintenance base zone, not the Object itself. Just like with the base you attacked in Alaska, an Object cannot continue to function if it does not undergo maintenance.” As she would be unable to drink once they reached the base, she sipped at a strong shochu. “The goal tape is currently being put up between the two sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a net with mines intertwined at even intervals. It’s supposed to prevent the giant steel form from entering, but who knows how effective it will be against that Object. That’s why the princess’s Object will engage it in battle and you two will act behind the scenes.”

“Sounds like a harsh area. I’ll probably be killed by stray bullets 100 times over,” muttered Heivia.

Quenser looked out the small window on the side of the transport craft. He could see the beautiful blue sea spreading out below the clouds. As he looked down at it, he muttered a few words.

“I’m back, you god damn battlefield.”

Part 3

The large transport craft Quenser and the others were aboard landed on a runway on the beach, but apparently that was not where the maintenance base zone they were assigned to was located.

“…You’ve gotta be kidding me. That’s right in the middle!” moaned Heivia from atop a crude military boat with standard metal plates covering it and two autocannons on the front and back.

Quenser understood how Heivia felt.

A structure similar to an offshore oil platform stood at almost the very center of the Strait of Gibraltar. It was an island of steel supported by numerous pillars. Apparently, it was a quickly constructed base zone to be used to intercept the enemy Object that was attempting to break through the strait.

The pillars reached over 50 meters above the surface of the water and they supported a ceiling-like sheet about 300 meters square. Below that, many walkways, stairways, and elevators stretched about in every direction.

Quenser looked over at Floretia.

“We’re just a giant target like this. If we know that huge thing is coming, why don’t we call in the air force rather than just wait for it to come?”

“That won’t work against an Object. Your studies of their designs should have told you that much. Objects are synonymous with war. To stop the monster headed for the Strait of Gibraltar, we had to build a base zone for the princess’s Object.”

Quenser was well aware of that, but he simply did not want to fight.

At any rate, having to work in such a dangerous place was not something a person could easily bear. If the Object bombarded the base zone, their corpses would never rise back to the surface.

Quenser looked around and could see several more similar oil platform-like structures dotting the sea.

“Those are not oil platforms. This area is not a good place to drill,” replied Floretia when he mentioned that initial impression. “The oil needed for maintenance is gathered from cooperative areas around the world and stored in tanks at the bottom of the sea.”

“…So we’re doing the same thing as them. That really drains my motivation to fight,” Quenser said.

Meanwhile, Heivia disembarked and climbed up the metal stairway on his way to the top of the base zone. Of course, he was not intending to climb 50 meters using the stairway. He was first heading for an open area with a work elevator.

Quenser followed him.

“Hey, why are you so motivated?”

“It seems the higher ups are expecting quite a bit from us. From what I heard, they’ve supplied us with powered suits from the army.”

“Those things will be blown away to the point that not even ash remains from one hit from an Object.”

“But the powered suit might keep us from being blown to pieces by an explosion, right? Being killed by your ally’s armor would be one of the lamest ways to go.”

They came to a large metal plate 10 meters above the surface of the water. The area was over 100 meters wide and stretched about 30 meters back. Since there were a number of cranes stretching down toward the water like fishing poles, it must have been an area for loading and unloading cargo from transport ships. On the wall opposite the cranes, a number of elevators for moving entire containers up and down were prepared. The unrefined elevators were about the size of a family-oriented 3LDK but had only the bare minimum of railings.

Heivia ran around the large space before stopping in the center and spreading his arms wide. He may have been attempting to call down a UFO.

“Arriving at a large base really raises your spirits, doesn’t it?”

“…Filling my mind with knowledge that can’t be used for a thesis is a waste of space.”

“Are you still acting like a battlefield student? You graduated from that path in Alaska, remember? Once you’ve passed, there’s nothing wrong with slacking off for the rest of the time, right?”

“Your brain is like a muscle, so you’ll need to rehabilitate it if you stop using it. I don’t want to all of a sudden realize I know nothing but how to blow things up.”

As they spoke back and forth, Floretia waved a hand over at them.

“Hey, we aren’t here to have fun. Go put your things in your lockers and get to your stations. I heard that the higher ups will be observing this, so any mistakes will give them a bad impression of you.”

“That’s right. And our issued explosive was changed from C4 to Hand Axe, wasn’t it? That stuff is more valuable per gram than platinum.”

“Even so, it won’t even scratch on Object’s armor,” said Quenser having recalled what their mission was.

He then whispered to his companion next to him.

“(…Hey, do you honestly think this will work out somehow? It isn’t normal for people like us to take on an Object. Miraculous coincidences aren’t going to just keep happening…)”

“Actually, I do think this will work out.”

Quenser’s eyes opened wide at Heivia’s surprisingly lighthearted response.

Heivia shrugged.

“After all, it’s not just us this time. We have the princess’s Object. The Object vs. Object battle will be the main focus and we just have to help out every now and then from behind the scenes in order to give the princess as much of an advantage as we can. The princess will take care of everything else. This isn’t the same as in Alaska when we have to take on that ridiculously huge Object without an Object of our own.”

“Are you…sure?”

“Yeah, look.”

Heivia pointed past the giant metal sheet of the base zone and out to sea.

Facilities similar to the base were located here and there throughout the sea. It was not just a few. Twenty or thirty base zones covered the area of the strait in a straight line at even intervals. It looked something like an area filed with offshore oil platforms.

“They may have been hastily constructed, but there are about 30 Object maintenance facilities here. Even if one or two of them are targeted, we’re still prepared to keep the princess’s Object running. It isn’t normal to spend that much money on this and they won’t let facilities they put that much money into be easily destroyed. The higher ups must have a plan to keep that from happening. And that also raises our odds of survival.”

That did indeed allow Quenser to view the situation more positively.

If they were truly nothing more than sacrificial pawns, the higher ups in the military would not have spent that much of their budget. And they also had the princess’s Object. Given what had happened in Alaska, they could not solely rely on her, but having her still made a large difference. At the very least, a battle between Objects was more balanced than the overwhelmingly one-sided alternative.

Quenser and Heivia’s job was to support her.

They did not have to face a giant Object head on.

They just had to help the princess from the background and prepare the conditions needed for her victory.

If that was all, it was indeed possible that they could manage.

A smile naturally appeared on Quenser’s face and he turned to his companion.

“In that case, we should be fi-…”

Before he could finish speaking, a neighboring base zone was blown to pieces.

The explosive noise arrived slightly after the visual information.

As if it were a card pyramid being struck by a slap, the base zone collapsed due to a horizontal strike and sank into the sea. That neighboring base was over 200 meters away, but the shockwave from the explosion blew Quenser and Heivia off their feet. Small wire-like fragments of parts rained down from above them.

“What…the hell!? Was it not built up to code!?” Heivia shouted as he grimaced due to a ringing pain in his ears.

“You idiot! Don’t try to escape from the reality in front of you! That had to be an Object!!”

Quenser had landed on his back, so he rolled over onto his stomach and used his binoculars to look across the horizon.

He spotted a mountain-like form.

He saw the giant sphere of nuclear shelter-like armor surrounding a reactor that was characteristic of Objects as well as countless weapons extending from it. The main weapons on this Object were railguns. Apparently, they could fire shells a few meters long at almost Mach 10. Their destructive power had already been demonstrated. One of them had wiped an entire base zone from the map in a single shot.

On top of all that, this Object did not have just one giant sphere with a reactor inside.

It had three.

Each sphere was arranged such that they constructed an equilateral triangle and straight line-shaped armored parts connected the spheres. Ripples spread out from the Object as special A-shaped floats and air cushion engines on the bottom of the Object allowed it to float on the water.

The Object was specialized for naval battles. It was known as Tri-Core.

As soon as Heivia saw that giant form that had been in the military documents, he started yelling out complaints.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!! How is that thing even moving around!?”

“I don’t know! It’s probably some kind of combination of using air to make it float like a hovercraft and a water jet or something! For something that huge, it wouldn’t surprise me if it had multiple means of propulsion!!”

Paying no heed to those two boys, the Object aimed its giant railgun that looked like a steel pylon on its side at them.

It gave no warning or threat.

With a tremendous explosive noise, the base zones spread out in a line across the sea were horizontally blown away one by one.

Heivia covered his ears and shouted over the shockwaves.

“Shit, are we the prizes at a carnival shooting game or something!? What happened to the net of mines that was set up!?”

“Normal explosives aren’t going to do a thing! Surely you had realized that much!”

Quenser turned his binoculars in a different direction.

Only 60 seconds had passed since the first shot and almost half the base zones had already been sunk. That meant it was sinking them at a rate of about one every four seconds.

(Where is the princess’s Object? Don’t tell me it was taken out with one of those bases!)

Quenser was starting to panic.

“Hey, what’re we going to do!? We were too naïve! An Object isn’t something we’ll be fine taking on even if it isn’t head on! Hanging around on the edge of a battle between Objects is enough to get you blown away!!”

“No, wait. Why hasn’t the princess’s Object counterattacked yet!?”

Still lying down, Quenser looked around with his binoculars, but he saw no sign of the other giant Object.

That was when Floretia called out to them while glaring at the Object on the ocean with an irritated expression.

“What!? Didn’t you two hear!?”

“I don’t like the sound of that…”

“The princess is in a naval port-style base zone on the land having maintenance done on the floats for a naval battle! Apparently, they started acting up while crossing the Atlantic, so her arrival was delayed! Why did you think we chartered that transport plane to fly you over here so quickly!? Since our Cinderella is a little too lax with time, it’s going to be a bit before she gets here. Since you two are our only means of opposing an Object without one of our own, the higher ups want you to damage it now so the princess can easily finish it off once she arrives!!”

“No, fuck that,” said Heivia, briefly transcending the normal hierarchy of the military. “There’s no way we can do anything on our own. There’s nothing we can do without an Object!! Quit joking around and raise the white flag!! Didn’t you say back in Alaska that wars these days are not all-out wars!?”

“That is my decision when we can surrender the land and evacuate. This time, our lines are constructed such that they block the enemy’s path. Even if we raise the white flag, the enemy will still break through our lines to continue their mission. Whether we surrender or not, the Object still needs to destroy our base zones to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar. …Simply put, the situation will not allow us to surrender.” Without admonishing them, Floretia continued speaking with a humble expression. “Also, the higher ups did not give me the wireless code for the white flag this time. It seems they want us to prevent the enemy Object from getting through even if we get blown to pieces in the process.”

“…!?”

“So try to stop it as if your life depends on it…because it does. That’s why you were issued that Hand Axe despite it being more expensive than platinum.”

“Like hell we can do thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttt!!”

“Like hell we can do thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttt!!”

Quenser and Heivia both shouted at the top of their lungs and ran off ignoring their orders. They headed for the ocean surface spreading out beyond the cranes extending down like fishing poles. They were about 10 meters up, but jumping off was still safer than being targeted by the enemy Tri-Core.

“Hey, wait a-…!!”

Floretia started to call out after them, but before she could finish, she realized the Tri-Core was aiming one of its railguns their way. Her expression utterly changed and she jumped off of the base zone after Quenser and Heivia. Immediately afterwards, the giant mountain-like base zone was blown to pieces by the giant mountain-like Object.

Part 4

Quenser and Heivia were thrown out to sea.

Remnants of the base both large and small were scattered about, dirtying the sea. The scene was similar to the fallen trees and other flotsam piling up in a river mouth after a typhoon passes by. However, the maintenance base zone had been made up of steel and concrete, so the remnants scattered about the surface of the water were sinking down into the depths.

Quenser and Heivia were treading water in a desperate attempt to keep their heads above water, but their military uniforms were quite heavy after absorbing so much water. They were also carrying kilograms of plastic explosives and rifles, so it was not the same as swimming while wearing a swimsuit. It felt as if an invisible hand was grabbing at their ankles.

“Uehh…Dammit…I’m gonna die!! We got carried away! I’m never coming back to a battlefield with an Object on it!!” shouted Quenser even as he was about to sink.

Next to him, Heivia’s movements looked something like the halfway point between swimming and drowning.

“At this rate, we’ll be crushed by the remnants of the base raining down even if the Object doesn’t shoot us! Where are the powered suits we were issued!?”

“At the bottom of the sea by now! How about you dive down 300 meters and get them for us!?”

“They issued us suits that would make us sink like a stone for a battle on the sea!? Were the higher ups trying to get rid of us after they had gotten what they wanted from us!?”

“More importantly, shouldn’t we try to get as far away from the base as possible!? The oil tanks are at the bottom of the sea with pipes bringing up what’s necessary for maintenance, right? The safety devices must have kicked in to keep that crude oil from coming out of the broken pipes, but who knows how long those safety devices can last against that Tri-Core’s attack!!”

“So there’s going to be a black fountain followed by a literal sea of flames!? Who the hell okayed this horrible mission!?”

As Heivia complained, he sank below the surface once and then frantically worked his way back up. Once his head was back above the surface again, he shook it like a wet dog.

“Shit, I can’t last much longer. I-I’m sinking… I can get rid of these explosives, right?”

“And turn your 1% chance of survival into 0%!?”

“What good is this junk going to be!? Even if we set it up properly, it won’t damage the armor! And we can’t even get close in this situation!!”

“That’s true…Getting close to it is going to be a real issue, but…gyahh!! It’s coming this way!!”

Quenser screamed and Heivia looked toward the horizon with a shocked look.

The Tri-Core may have decided its victory was assured now that it had destroyed almost all of the base zones with its giant railguns (or it was relieved that no Object had appeared) because it was approaching while intermittently firing.

Its speed was around 200 kph.

(Is it just going to break right through the strait?)

Just as Quenser thought that, he heard Floretia shout over at him with only her head above the water.

“Do something!! If it breaks through, it will get that oil to the enemy base zone! If you don’t want that, stop it!!”

“Who cares about that now!? It can bring them some nice cooking oil along with it for all I care!!”

“If that oil gets there, the base zone’s Object maintenance area will be up and running again!! If that happens, an even worse Object that had been stopped due to lack of maintenance will join in!! The Mediterranean will be thrown into an even worse hell!”

“Oh, give me a fucking break!! Do you think I could get discharged from the military if I shot this superior officer of ours in the head!?”

Heivia made his comment to Quenser with a completely serious look in his eyes, but Quenser had more important things to worry about.

“Hey, this is bad! The Tri-Core is headed this way!!” he shouted with an even more serious look on his face.

“Of course it is, hero!! It’s trying to break through the strait, rememb-…”

“No!! It’s on a route that will directly crush us!!”

“Oh, come on!! You have got to be kidding me!!” Heivia shouted, but unfortunately, Quenser was not kidding.

The Tri-Core with its three reactors had realized that there was still a base zone that retained its basic shape even after 2 or 3 shots from its giant railgun and now seemed to be heading over to fire at pointblank range. Its giant form approached, paying no heed to Quenser and the others treading water there.

Of course, a human body would be utterly crushed if it was directly hit by the giant form.

The Tri-Core seemed to float using the same means as a hovercraft that blew air down, but it took so much to keep that giant body afloat that it was only floating 30-50 cm from the surface. Quenser and the others would surely be hit as they treaded water in its path and the blast of wind that kept the hundreds of thousands of tons afloat would utterly crush a human body.

At that rate, they would be pureed and eaten by octopuses.

Heivia’s eyes widened as he saw the Tri-Core approaching on a clockwise path.

“We need to get out of the way!!”

“You idiot! There’s no way we can swim that fast!! The Tri-Core is over 150 meters wide! Not even an Olympic gold medalist could avoid it!!”

“Then tell me, future scholar!! How are we supposed to survive this!?”

Even as they yelled at each other, the Tri-Core continued to approach with overwhelming speed.

It would reach them in less than 30 seconds.

(If we can’t escape by swimming to the left or right, the only option is…!!)

Quenser swam toward a nearby sinking lifeboat.

Seeing that, Heivia shouted, “Do you really think some cheap motorboat can outrun an Object made for naval battles!?”

“No, you idiot! Put this on!!”

Quenser tossed something that had been provided on the lifeboat toward Heivia and Floretia. It was a hairspray-sized can with a clear mask to cover the nose and mouth on the end.

“An oxygen tank…?”

“Put it on and dive!!” said Quenser as he put on his own clear mask and pointed down. “The Tri-Core travels over the water with giant floats and an air cushion engine! In that case, it shouldn’t reach down below the surface!!”

“!?”

It seemed Heivia and Floretia tried to give some kind of reaction, but Quenser did not have time to listen.

The end of the Tri-Core as it travelled at almost 200 kph had drawn quite near to them. As it travelled at such high speeds, it created a V-shape of high waves. Even though the actual craft was floating, the intense downward wind was tearing into the surface of the water. Even if by some miracle they managed to escape to the side of the Tri-Core, those waves would be enough to swallow them up.

“Shit!!”

Quenser dove down below the surface without having time to check if his mask was working properly.

The Tri-Core’s thick floats passed by above, barely missing him. The intense wind greatly disturbed the surface of the water, but that great fury did not reach Quenser below the surface.

(Hoo. I somehow made i-…)

Just as Quenser was breathing a sigh of relief, something almost caused his breathing to stop.

The Tri-Core’s main body did indeed use giant floats and an air cushion engine to almost perfectly float above the surface of the water.

However, something like a steel pylon stuck straight down from each of the three sphere reactors. They were shark anchors that were retractable like a police baton. The weights ensured that the giant Object would not roll onto its side.

The main body of the Object passed by over Quenser’s head, but the pylon-sized shark anchor was headed straight for him.

“!?”

Quenser immediately swam to the side in an attempt to avoid it, but the Tri-Core made a move of its own at the exact same time. It may have been adjusting its aim, but it made a sudden clockwise rotation like someone sliding their feet around on the ground. Its speed dropped considerably, but the giant shark anchor almost seemed to correct its trajectory toward Quenser like it was a guided weapon.

(Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?)

At that point, he could not come up with any plans or tricks. Quenser simply frantically moved his arms and legs to try to get as far away from it as he could. However, his tiny human body only spun around in the water like a leaf blowing in the wind.

“Cough!?”

The shark anchor itself did not hit him.

If it had, his body would no longer have been recognizable as human.

He just barely managed to avoid it, but the swirling seawater agitated by the shark anchor’s giant mass put Quenser’s body into a spin.

(But at least I managed to avoid-…)

Quenser had miraculously managed to keep his life, but he was still not allowed a sigh of relief.

Something suddenly grabbed at his leg.

“!?”

Such intense pain ran through his leg that he thought his ankle had been dislocated, but it was not actually that serious. Even so, Quenser’s consciousness started to dim. Whatever had gotten caught around his ankle started to drag him through the sea at around 50 kph.

(Cough cough!! Dammit. Am I caught on some part of the Tri-Core!?)

Quenser looked at his ankle that had a grinding pain running through it and his expression turned bitter.

Something like a metal net was wrapped around one of the shark anchors and a portion of it had gotten wrapped around Quenser’s ankle. It did not look like a net that would be used for fish. This became even more clear when Quenser looked around and noticed a metal sphere nearby. It was about the size of the large balls used in sports festivals and its metal surface had thick thorn-like things covering it.

Quenser’s expression stiffened even further upon seeing it.

(…A mine!?)

He recalled that Floretia had said a net covered in mines had been placed across the Strait of Gibraltar to obstruct the Tri-Core. The Object had used its giant form to force through the net and had been dragging it along ever since.

Something like that mine could not destroy that Object.

But if it were to detonate there, it would blow Quenser to pieces.

(Dammit. I’m not going to let myself be killed by my own side’s trap!!)

Perhaps in order to even more accurately aim its railgun, the Tri-Core stopped moving, its air cushion engine weakened, and it came to a stop on the surface of the water using only its floats.

Quenser used that chance to ball himself up and reach for his ankle. However, it was so tangled up in the net that he could not free it. He panicked, but then someone else’s hand reached in from the side.

(!? …Heivia!!)

Apparently, his companion had gotten caught in the net, too. Heivia seemed to try to say something, but the oxygen mask and seawater prevented his voice from reaching Quenser.

Heivia used his hands surprisingly skillfully and freed Quenser’s ankle from the net, but he grabbed Quenser’s arm when Quenser tried to leave on the current of the water.

The Tri-Core was at an almost complete stop and was firing its railgun. It was utterly destroying a base zone that had already lost almost all of its original form and that’s soldiers had already leapt into the sea.

While its attention was elsewhere, they could safely escape from the Tri-Core by letting go of the net. However, Heivia kept a grip on the net.

(?)

Quenser was confused, but he grabbed the net like a ladder all the same. He simply could not tell what Heivia was thinking. The other boy seemed to be trying to explain, but Quenser could not hear him in the water.

After a bit, Heivia realized his efforts were a waste and simply pointed up with one hand while holding onto the net with the other.

What his gesture indicated was simple.

The blast of air from the air cushion engine seems to have stopped, so let’s take this chance to climb aboard the Tri-Core before it accelerates again.

Part 8

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