"Master, detailed data on planet Moldi's automated defense system has arrived from the special-duty vessel Ariad. A message is attached: 'This is everything we have been able to ascertain at present.'" "Thank you—put it on the main monitor, please."
On the monitor appeared a single continent, with small islands scattered around it. "Multiple fixed gun emplacements are deployed on the surrounding islets." Markers overlaid several of the islets.
"Each emplacement is equipped with a powerful railgun. Mass rounds fired at several times the speed of sound reach as high as the upper atmosphere." "At what altitude was the Ariad's landing craft shot down?"
"The upper atmosphere. It appears it was shot through immediately after beginning its descent." "Without so much as a warning, then. And other armaments?"
"That is the extent of the data we received. In cases of forced descent to planet Moldi, the number that reached the stratosphere is zero. The shoot-down rate between the thermosphere and the mesosphere is one hundred percent."
"Well, hell... a planet they call 'paradise' is startin' to look like the doorway to 'heaven.'" Gilbert was gazing up at the ceiling with the eyes of a man steeling himself.
"Oh my, Gil—you're welcome to ride along on Captain Wolf's Ariad, you know? Once I've broken through, you can come down with them—" "Hey now, don't sell me short. Believe it or not, I'm—a 'boy,' y'know?"
"...Pfft—ahahaha! What an unimpressive line to deliver with such a cool face. But... I'll take that resolve of yours on my shoulders." And then, out of nowhere, a voice inside me came whispering.
'Do you really need to take this on at the risk of your life?' Huh? ...Now that you say it, maybe that's true, but—
'Aren't you just unable to back down after talking so big?' No! It's nothing as cheap as pride like that!!
'Then why? If you just wait here, someone's bound to sort it out, aren't they?' Because I want to hurry up and deliver the 'feelings' Dyson entrusted to me, don't I? They say there's a riot going on down on the surface, and I'm worried about the recipient—about Kitty!
'Even so—is this something worth taking on at the cost of your own life, and Gilbert's?' That—————no.
'Right? For us to go risking our lives—' No! That's not it! 'Risk my life'? Excuse me? I have no intention of dying here, over something like this!! 'Take it on at the risk of my life'? What are you even saying? This sort of thing used to be an everyday occurrence! I fly the Lemurias while whistling a tune. That's all this is!!
'Heh heh heh. Yes—that's what makes you 'me.' Remember—————'
· · · (......What? Just now... what did I...) The little bit of unease I'd been carrying had oddly cleared away. That's right. Without realizing it, I'd been getting cold feet.
But—another me, inside me? Somehow it felt... nostalgic. My thoughts have gone clear, and my heart is calm. Yes. Whatever comes now, I can handle it!
"Lilith, can you tell whether the automated defense system runs on independent units, or is centrally managed somewhere?" "... ... There appears to be an area beneath the spaceport where the control lines converge. That is most likely the central hub."
"I see. —All right, then, here's the plan. We descend while dodging the attacks and land at the spaceport. At the same moment, Lilith hacks in and neutralizes the defense system. That's all." "Wh-what the hell! That's no different from the suicide charge you talked about at the start!"
"I shall support you with everything I have, Master." "Okay. Lilith, could you patch me through to Captain Wolf?"
"You! You've seen that data and you're stiiill saying such things?!" Captain Wolf bellowed, his face flushed crimson.
"I'll gratefully accept your concern. But this is a settled matter. The special-duty vessel Ariad is to continue standing by in stationary orbit." I put on airs on purpose. I'd been wanting to try that once.
"Y-you—where do you get off talking down to me... Damn it! But don't you forget! That data is only a tiny fraction of the defense system!"
"Of course I'm well aware. That 'one hundred percent shoot-down rate' wall—let's just go and break right through it!! Past that, we play it as it comes."
"You say it so lightly... Just as the Silent Hound said, it seems there's no stopping you. ......I wish you luck..." Having said that under his breath, Captain Wolf hid his face behind the brim of his cap.
His desperate attempts to stop me must have come from concern for me. Here, he has lost many of his subordinates without ever understanding why. He may be blaming himself for a misjudgment. He may be eaten up with regret. He may have felt anger and hatred toward planet Moldi's defense system for attacking so mercilessly.
Those 'feelings' of his, too—I'll take them into my keeping, presumptuous as that may be. "Thank you for your consideration. The next time I call, it will be from Moldi's spaceport. Now then—ending transmission."
"All right then... let's begin! Lemurias, shift to battle mode!" "Acknowledged, Master."
The entire cockpit sank downward, and the monitors folded away into the walls. All over the hull came a clanging, clunking, grinding rumble, so it must have been transforming somehow.
The console in front of me opened, and I put on the head-mounted display (HMD) that rose up out of it. "There's one for you too, Gil. You'd be uneasy if you couldn't see what's going on." Peering at it with fascination, Gilbert put his HMD on.
"Gravity canceler deployed. System transition to battle mode complete." Lilith's voice modulated into something more mechanical than usual.
The HMD displayed imagery from the Lemurias's own viewpoint, along with information on our targets. The armrests of the seat I sat in flipped over and became control sticks lined with buttons that fit my fingertips. I worked several of them with brisk, light taps.
"Thrusters all around, check—OK. Entry course, final confirmation... OK." "Deviation zero. Descent angle, twelve degrees. Master, synchronizing the neural link."
With a momentary tingle came the sensation of my consciousness melting together with the hull—and then my mind was gradually honed to a cool, calm edge.
"All righty—here we go! Beginning atmospheric entry!" Thanks to the gravity canceler I felt no g-forces, but the HMD imagery told me we were plunging fast. My field of view filled edge to edge with blue.
The landmass visible at the center. Somewhere along its edge, a point flickered bright. "Railgun launch confirmed. Time to impact, eight seconds—five, four, three—" "The first shot's easy."
"A-at this speed, evading is... something you can actually do? ...You really can, huh." Gilbert's voice receded into the distance. My concentration deepened. A few seconds later, I glimpsed for an instant the mass round as it passed us by.
"Second round, launch confirmed. Incoming." One hit and we're finished—that's the situation we're in. The tension of standing shoulder to shoulder with death. My exhilaration wouldn't stop climbing. We're accelerating!
"Not yet, not yet—! We're punching straight through to the stratosphere!" A few seconds later, another mass round streaked past us.
Ahead of the hull, the atmosphere turned into a wall of light. Red to white, white to a pale blue plasma—its color shifting as it went. "They keep coming." With the barest minimum of evasive maneuvers, we slipped past round after round.
"Exiting the mesosphere. Three, two—stratosphere reached." ————Here it comes! One of the islets flickered bright.
"Particle beam fire. Hit to port. Damage is minor." (I couldn't dodge it all?!) "Sweeping particle beam fire." And the railgun barrages still hadn't let up.
(Focus harder... harder! Hone every last one of my senses!) ——————I can see it. The trajectories... the path through! Dodging every one of the lights hurtling at us, I kept descending.
"How long to the spaceport?!" "At this pace, nine minutes fifty-three seconds—fifty-two, fifty-one." "It's not going to just end like this, is it." "Drone formation, approaching at high speed."
"Lilith! Hack them one after another and shut them down!" Numbers really are rough to deal with. The path is narrow. Thread-thin—all I can see is a way through no wider than the eye of a needle.
"Hit to the ship's underside. Damage minor." "Lilith, throttle the gravity canceler's output back just a little! Gil, hang in there!" "Acknowledged." "Huh? R-right!" With a sudden lurch, the g-forces slammed in.
"Ngh, uugh..." I could hear Gilbert groaning as he fought to endure it. (Sorry—hang on!) Ka-blam!—the shock of another hit shuddered through the ship.
This is it—this feeling! As the tension mounted, something that had been jammed up above my head came loose. I've still got plenty in me! The real thing starts here!!
"—Synchronization rate rising. In an emergency I will cut voice-based information transfer." Thanks to Lilith's hacking, the drones dropped out of the sky one after another. The sweeping particle beam fire—held back, presumably, to avoid friendly fire—resumed.
—Dead ahead! A high-output railgun?! A menace bearing down at several times the muzzle velocity of an ordinary railgun. In the instant I felt death, something inside me burst.
It felt as if time around me had stopped. Or else as if I myself had stepped outside of time. And then everything began to move as though in slow motion.
(Huh? What is this—this feeling—) The mass round drifting slowly closer. I moved into an evasive maneuver with room to spare. The Lemurias kept pace with my senses.
I read the model number stamped on the surface of the mass round as it drifted slowly past, and watched it go. And then the movement of time gradually returned to normal—
"Haah, haah, haah—that feeling just now..." "For an instant, Master, your reaction speed surpassed my processing speed."
That's right. I know this. I remember it! This feeling—
Beyond the far side of this feeling lies #ΔΣ∴λ＿......—//re...sync?...■■■■■■—...■■...//＊01001110＊01100101＊......———— · · ·