Volume 3, 3: Honor is Priceless >> Emergency Interception at Victoria Island(1/6)
Part 1
Froleytia stood within a cargo plane.
There were a few dozen of them in all and they were all filled with various vehicles and equipment. The one Froleytia was on had nothing but high quality furnishings that were privately owned by a certain officer. In fact, the entire plane had been added specifically for her things.
Froleytia felt there was no need to split it apart like that, but the air force group that had supplied the cargo planes seemed to enjoy providing that kind of hospitality. As flashy dogfights had fallen out of fashion, they had learned the etiquette of making deliveries.
“The Legitimacy Kingdom military’s 24th Mobile Maintenance Battalion and the Second Generation Indigo Plasma it controls seem to be trying to return to Europe by passing through Alaska and heading over the Atlantic Ocean. Currently, they are headed east while breaking through the thick ice in the ocean around the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Arctic. They should soon realize that is inefficient and head up onto land. The nearby Victoria Island seems the most likely landing point.”
As Froleytia listened to the female operator from the electronic simulation department, she quietly exhaled some tobacco smoke.
“...I can’t believe it is taking us so long to attack. If we had just blockaded the Bering Sea, we could have cut off the Indigo Plasma and the 24th. Then they would surely have run out of material. Due to our slow response, they were able to meet up with the unit hidden in Alaska and resupply. They might very well be throwing a victory party right this very instant. ...I wonder if the higher ups in the Sovereign Parliament are secretly negotiating with both sides.”
“This is a rare occurrence even in historical terms. The 24th may have taken that into account when they made their plan.”
“Fortunately, we had the CS broadcast team here for the interviews. That gives us video evidence for the entire thing from beginning to end. I doubt the production staff for a variety program thought the footage they were taking would ever reach scowling top-level military officers, nobles, or royals.”
“The coast guards who could only sit idly by and watch as a clear enemy passed by might be seeing the scene again and again in their nightmares for months.”
“Soldiers zealous enough to do that are rare these days. And I am not one of them.” Froleytia gave a mocking smile. “But the 24th are finally officially considered our enemy. We can now blow them away with impunity. Even if they are an entire battalion with an Object of their own, they only have one.”
“Yes. At the very least, I do not think they have enough strength to handle the entire Legitimacy Kingdom military.”
“What about our strength? How many Objects can we use?”
“Three are currently deployed to the Alaska district. Our Baby Magnum, the Snow Quake, and the Active Sledge. In a week’s time, it seems 5 more in Europe should be able to cross the Atlantic and reach us.”
“...I’m sure those 5 are primarily there because the VIPs on the Council put self-preservation above all else so they want to build a defensive line across the Atlantic. They will not be cooperating with us. Even if our Objects are destroyed, they will be ordered to not take a step in our direction.”
Also, it did not take an entire week for Objects that moved at around 500 kph to cross the Atlantic Ocean. They would claim that transporting the equipment needed for the maintenance bases was what was taking so much time, but it was clear what their real reason was. They wanted to keep that large force in the Atlantic Ocean.
“More importantly, the Snow Quake or the Active Sledge are not going to join the 24th’s side, are they? We could easily be shot in the back in this situation. Just because they see this disorder in our ranks does not necessarily mean the other forces will take action.”
“I am sorry, but do you really think anyone else would agree with the 24th’s radical views? Black Uniforms are being sent to those other units for barrier duty, but it is likely a waste of tax money.”
“Yes, I guess this is just the crazy ideas of a noble.”
“So how shall we carry out the interception of the 24th?”
“Well...”
Froleytia looked over at the giant map attached to the whiteboard. She took the quill sitting on the table and forcefully stabbed the tip into a point on the map as if she was throwing a dart.
“If they continue on, they should end up at Victoria Island. That is where we will blow the Indigo Plasma to pieces.”
Part 2
Quenser and Heivia stepped down from the open back of a cargo plane and onto icy land.
They were at a hastily constructed airfield on the Arctic Victoria Island in the northern portion of the Alaska district.
“I can’t believe they can land somewhere this frozen. Is this supposed to be a runway? You could play ice hockey on it,” said Heivia in shock, but he frantically moved out of the way when a truck horn blared.
Several large military vehicles were driving down the lowered cargo door and onto the runway.
Quenser held his arms around his body for warmth even with his heavy coat on.
“Where’s the princess?”
“She got here long ago. We came later to construct the maintenance base. We don’t get sent to the front lines every time,” said Heivia before bringing a hand to his forehead and staring straight up. “I thought the Indigo Plasma was doing some crazy things, but I never thought that was the infamous Prizewell City Slicker’s unit. I hadn’t heard much about him for 2 or 3 years now. I wonder when he was scouted and secretly started heading down the path of an Elite.”
“Who is he?”
“A hardcore lineage advocate. Basically, he’s the stereotypical example of the kind of noble you don’t want to have to deal with,” cut in Froleytia from the side with her long, thin kiseru in her mouth. She must not have had much to do until the maintenance base was constructed because she looked bored. “Basically, he’s an idiot who has mistakenly decided his ultimate objective should be to ensure a set group of people centered around him controls the wars and government. He advocates reinstating the slave class that was utterly abolished a few decades back. He claims the stagnation of the Legitimacy Kingdom economy is due to a lack of a working force.”
“He is trying to use language to bring about this reform in social classes. City Slicker is an ardent language preservation activist.”
“You mean he discriminates based on whether you can speak the language or not?”
“Yes. City Slicker fears the decay of the Legitimacy Kingdom’s official language more than anything else. He is rumored to have been behind a few terrorist attacks involving things such as assassinations of foreign language band members and bombings of foreign language schools. There was never enough evidence, though,” said Heivia.
Quenser frowned and said, “It is true that you occasionally hear about languages dying out because not enough people used it and it was not passed on to enough people, but this is the Legitimacy Kingdom’s official language City Slicker is talking about, right? It’s the official language of one of the major world powers. It isn’t going to die out so easily.”
“The Legitimacy Kingdom’s official language is primarily based on French with influences from the languages of the other European cultures added in. You know that much, right, Quenser?” With a smile, Froleytia tapped her shoulder. A few letters were written on the unit insignia there. “But what language is used on the military’s unit insignias?”
“...English.”
“Things like military jargon, internet tags, and programming languages are often based around English even now. It is a relic of an age before the arrival of Objects, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t easier to just keep using the existing terminology. But City Slicker will not allow that. Unless everything down to the last restaurant menu is in the Legitimacy Kingdom’s official language, he will not be satisfied.”
“It sounds more like he’s the one destroying a linguistic culture. So did that bastard Nutley shoot us in the back over that?”
“If you add in some clever seasoning, language preservation activism can seem like quite a beautiful thing,” Heivia said, grinning. “If nobles and commoners spoke the same language, everyone could get along. Men could get along with women, adults could get along with children, and people of every skin color could get along. If we could just speak to each other in the same language, everyone could smile together. Isn’t that just wonderful!? ...Their sales pitch is something like that.”
“Of course, they don’t bring up the reverse side of the coin. That worldview shows that you have no intention of smiling together with those who cannot speak your language. In fact, it shows you do not even intend to treat them like fellow human beings.”
“Nutley was black.”
“True, but Cookman was black, too. And Myonri was Asian. The Legitimacy Kingdom may be based on the culture of a bygone era of kings and knights, but black nobles are not exactly rare these days. There doesn’t really seem to be a foundation for those words to work off of and lead him astray.”
“It does not matter if the foundation actually exists or not. As long as Nutley had even the slightest doubts along those lines, Prizewell City Slicker just had to find them and use them.”
“But you also said City Slicker was a lineage advocate...”
“Yes. Just like with the mafia, he surrounds himself with blood relatives. Deep down, he will never trust a stranger. He uses language when choosing his ‘pawns’.”
That talk left a bitter taste in Quenser’s mouth.
City Slicker may have seen it as nothing more than using tactics from his field of expertise.
“He does not care about anyone besides himself,” muttered Froleytia in an evaluation of the leader of the 24th. She gently blew out some smoke. “That is why he did not fit in even among the nobles. That made him feel the need to rush things. This entire incident seems to be his attempt to gain more of a right to speak within the Legitimacy Kingdom through his military contributions. Then, he can continue with his language preservation activism. ...But you saw what happened. His slaughter of the Faith Organization civilians was stopped and he failed to create the spark he wanted. His information manipulation that was meant to take advantage of the confusion also failed. His political maneuvering was exposed and his influence has plummeted. Before long, his position as a noble will likely be officially revoked and will be treated as a pitiable ‘fallen noble’.”
“But he took action before that could happen,” muttered Quenser.
Froleytia shrugged lightly and said, “He might be hoping to cross the Atlantic, threaten the Sovereign Parliament, and correct his political trajectory, or he might be hoping to attack an Information Alliance city in eastern America to restore his influence. Whatever he plans to do, it is nothing but a nuisance and the higher ups of the military do not want any of it to happen. After he came so far, I almost feel sorry for him. Not that I intend to hold back,” she said offhandedly. “Prizewell City Slicker’s goal is not to overthrow the Legitimacy Kingdom. He simply wants to retain his position within the current system. From there, he wants to obtain a position that gives him overwhelming military force that he can use to prod the Sovereign Parliament in the direction of his own views.”
“They only have the Indigo Plasma, right?”
“Yes, but this area is something like Prizewell City Slicker’s manor. Rumor has it he privately owns an unofficially operated weapons factory somewhere around here. It is possible they were resupplied while on the move and that the Object is now equipped with weapons not in the diagrams we have. If we let our guard down, we could run into a most unwelcome surprise.”
“But we have three Objects while they have just the one,” said Heivia to Quenser in a joking tone. “Whatever equipment they may have gained, the numbers are just too different. Our victory is ensured. The only real problem is the bad taste shooting fellow Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers will leave in our mouths.”
“Yes, we will almost assuredly achieve victory in the end,” agreed Froleytia. “But do not forget that we could take damages in the process. The son of the Winchell family does not intend to get killed by a stray bullet with victory before his eyes, does he?”
Heivia’s jocular expression froze in place at Froleytia’s cold tone.
Part 3
A few hours later, the maintenance base zone made up of a convoy of large vehicles had been constructed. Froleytia gathered the members of the unit and began the pre-mission briefing.
“The enemy will be here soon.” She used a projector to display a map on the screen behind her. “We are up against the 24th Mobile Maintenance Battalion and the Indigo Plasma. There is no need to think of them as fellow Legitimacy Kingdom soldiers. They sullied the name of the Legitimacy Kingdom enough for the Sovereign Parliament to officially declare them an enemy force. To prevent any unnecessary damages such as any to civilians, we must eliminate the unit and its leader Prizewell City Slicker.”
This did not cause a stir in the crowd.
They had all clearly seen the true nature of the Indigo Plasma when it tried to slaughter civilians on the Kamchatka Peninsula, even if those civilians were from an enemy nation. Modern war made a clear distinction between safe countries and battlefields. The true nature of Froleytia and the 37th she commanded had also been made clear when they had led the civilians to the submarines even when doing so had no real merit for her unit. A force that crossed that line had to be destroyed before it could grow any more powerful.
“As its name would suggest, the Indigo Plasma is a Second Generation Object that specializes in the use of low-stability plasma cannons. It is quite powerful on its own, but it seems tactics have been put together for it that include working together with a unit of foot soldiers. ...That is because they were part of the Legitimacy Kingdom military. They analyzed our victories and tried to add that into their own force.”
A few people in the crowd gave some sarcastic applause, but Quenser was taken aback. He had not been fighting Objects in order to help slaughterers grow more powerful.
To get rid of the heavy atmosphere, Quenser asked, “What exactly will we be doing?”
“Basically, we will take them out here on the coast of Victoria Island. The Baby Magnum and the Snow Quake will obstruct their path on land while the Active Sledge will cut off their retreat on the sea. The 24th will not try to take us on in a straight fight. Their foot soldier unit will likely try something. They have no chance while it is 3 to 1, so they will enact a strategy meant to destroy our unity.”
“Is there any information that needs special attention?”
“The 24th is taking this action because they believe they will end up with better odds even than 1 on 1 if we sabotage each other. I doubt the battle will go exactly as they wish it to, but there is a real danger of unnecessary confusion causing damages to spread farther than necessary. If you do not wish to die needlessly in a battle we end up winning, make sure to stay on your guard.”
After that, she explained specifically what different units would be doing. More foot soldiers were being deployed than usual. The fact that Froleytia was sending out over 100 foot soldiers showed just how worried she was about the 24th Mobile Maintenance Battalion’s foot soldier unit.
When the pre-mission briefing was over, Heivia slipped into the group of soldiers heading for the exit and worked his way over toward Quenser.
“Hey, hero. What area are you headed to?”
“Area F.”
“Then we’ll be together.”
“We’re setting bombs along the 24th’s route to stop their foot soldiers and vehicles, right?”
“C’mon now, stop that. Reconfirming what we’re doing right before we head out is just going to make us more nervous. When did you get to be so smart?”
“I don’t want to be treating this like I’m cramming before the night of an entrance exam. Hating things like that was what led me to becoming a battlefield student. But I might die if I don’t do it. Rumor has it the Indigo Plasma has had additions using private funds. If that’s true, the Legitimacy Kingdom military’s blueprint won’t be reliable. Just the other day with the Wing Balancer, we saw how dangerous misreading an Object’s abilities is.”
“...Yeah, no one expected to find an Object that could actually jump,” said Heivia in disgust.
As they left the assembly room, they spotted a few unfamiliar men sitting with their backs against the corridor wall. Their clothes made it clear they were not military men. They could only be described as dirty middle-aged men.
As they passed the men, Quenser asked Heivia, “Who are they?”
“The CS broadcast staff I would assume. The one for that military show. We came straight here from the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Black Uniforms withdrew to help with the mission, but there was no time to deal with the TV crew. They have to stick around here until the cargo planes head back to a safe country.”
“I’m surprised the media isn’t restricted from coming outside while a scandal like this is going on.”
“Normally, they would be thrown into detention cells in the name of intelligence preservation. Our huge-breasted commander may be generally frightening, but one of her good points is her ability to be oddly allowing about these kinds of things.”
“...But a battle is about to start, right? Is that really okay?”
“How should I know? But they came to a maintenance base on the front lines, so they had to have been prepared for some kind of trouble to occur. At the very least, it would have been written in tiny letters at the bottom of whatever paperwork they signed. Otherwise, that huge-breasted commander would never have allowed it.”
(So is she kind or is she not...?)
Quenser turned around once and looked at a cameraman who looked entirely exhausted. Had they been expecting a clean battle between Objects that was like an official sports competition?
However, there would be no point in speaking to them.
Quenser did not have the authority to send them back to a safe country and he could not pilot a cargo plane.
“...Does that mean their star is still here too?” wondered Quenser.
“Oh, she was amazing. She reminded me of a nostalgic idol from the old days. She had white and pink camouflage on. She must have been preparing for a firefight in a glass of strawberry milk.”
“I wonder if it would be inconsiderate of me to ask for her signature in this situation.”
“You can probably manage it during the confusion of the victory party.”
Suddenly, the princess walked around a corner of the corridor while holding a few ration packages. She spotted Quenser and Heivia and approached them.
“Oh, are you on your way to board the Baby Magnum?”
“Ugh, those rations look as disgusting as ever. Hey, how about we go on strike when things are a little more peaceful?”
The princess ignored Heivia’s suggestion that could have been interpreted as treason and looked over at Quenser.
“...The old lady was acting oddly.”
“Hah?”
“I guess you do not know what is happening either.”
The princess gave a heavy sigh. She must have been worried.
Heivia must have overlooked how serious she was taking it because he said, “Everyone gets a little nervous just before a mission. This time there will be a lot of foot soldiers on the front lines in addition to the Objects. Maybe she’s worried about us like we’re her family.”
“Could it really just be that?” said the princess with a puzzled look as she headed to the Object maintenance area.
“...”
Quenser stared at her back as she left, but then...
“Ahn? Hey, Quenser, where are you going? We’ll be heading out soon.”
“I’m taking a detour.”
“I see. Go off and hear out that old lady’s worries if you like, but be quick about it.”
“I’m not that softhearted. It’s just that all these battles have left me with little time to study Object design. I have enough time to make a quick visit to the maintenance area. I need to cram my head full of as much knowledge as I can.”
“Enough with the excuses, lady killer. Go make that old woman’s heart go all aflutter.”
Ignoring Heivia’s one-sided conclusion, Quenser headed for the maintenance area. The princess must have headed for the Object as quickly as she could because he did not catch up to her on the way.
The flow of time felt different inside.
Everything was much, much faster.
The speed at which things and people moved was much greater than normal.
A fair amount of damage had been taken in the battle with the Wing Balancer on the Kamchatka Peninsula. And now they had another battle coming up. They wanted to repair that damage as much as possible. After all...
(We are up against a traitor that has left the Legitimacy Kingdom. The normal rules of war no longer apply. We cannot use the white flag, so a loss means a slaughter.)
It was like there was a cliff one step behind them. The desire to get as much done as possible was understandable.
“Boy,” said a voice from behind him.
He turned around and found the old maintenance lady approaching with a toolbox.
“This is an emergency battle preparation. I do not have time to lecture an amateur.”
“You’re always telling me to steal as much information as I can using my eyes. I came here to test just how much I can absorb during the real deal.”
“Hmph,” said the old lady before making a motion telling Quenser to follow her and then beginning to walk once more.
As the princess had said, she was not being very talkative. Also, it seemed to be more than just pre-battle jitters. The other maintenance soldiers were in oddly high spirits as they forced themselves into an explosion of activity. Their attitude was the more common one for maintenance soldiers.
The old maintenance lady did not head for the metal framework of scaffolding around the Object’s main body. Instead, she headed for a crane a bit away from the Object. It was one of the types used at ports and shipyards that had the operator’s seat located a few dozen meters up into the air.
Instead of lowering the crane’s operator’s seat to the ground, the two of them jumped from scaffolding sticking out into empty air and onto the open area attached around the operator’s seat. The method was not exactly good to Quenser’s heart.
“Th-this isn’t the usual type of crane we use.”
“It is a Legitimacy Kingdom military format, but it is one of the pieces of equipment we borrowed from the unit already on Victoria Island. We could hardly fit everything aboard the cargo planes.”
That meant a few of the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion’s proper vehicles had been left behind on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
As Quenser thought about that, the old maintenance lady tossed him a pair of binoculars.
“You can steal with your eyes best if you’re high up, right? Also, we can’t have someone who doesn’t understand the rhythm of things wandering around down there.”
“You sure are harsh...”
Quenser entered the enclosed area that contained the crane’s operator’s seat.
It was a large area. He felt like an entire 10-person van could fit inside. A single seat was installed in the center and various buttons and levers were installed around it. Also...
“Wow, the floor’s transparent. If you threw someone who was afraid of heights in here, they’d probably tell you anything to be let out.”
“Cranes like this need some way to see what is going on down below.”
“But is this crane really being used? I see an electric hot water dispenser, magazines, sleeping bags, and other small things in here. It looks like people are living in here.”
“As I said, we borrowed it. A lot of the equipment they use is not all that useful here. We thought it could at least function as a break room.”
“Hmm,” said Quenser as he looked around.
There were a lot of tools to kill time scattered about. A few board games were spread out on the floor. He saw a few mechanically-focused magazines he did not recognize strewn about. He also saw a horseracing magazine that let you buy tickets online. It had things highlighted throughout. Amid it all was a digital picture frame. It showed an ephemeral-looking girl with black hair.
Quenser picked it up and asked the old lady, “Whose is this?”
“It’s mine.”
“Hehh. So is this your daughter? Or your granddaughter?”
“It’s me.”
“!!!???”
Quenser quickly looked up from the digital picture frame and then back down at the image data.
“...D-do you have the special ability to turn young again on nights with a full moon?”
“You idiot. This was taken a long time ago. You should be able to tell that from the cityscape in the background. That kind of scenery no longer exists on the Japanese Islands.”
“Eh...?” Quenser froze in place. “The Japanese Islands?”
The old lady clicked her tongue at that question. She seemed to regret letting that slip out.
Finally, she sighed and said, “I am an immigrant from the Capitalist Corporations. You could even say I was a refugee.”
Yes, the Japanese Islands were Capitalist Corporations territory.
They were actually divided between east and west. The western portion of the islands was controlled by a power that wished for a revival of the Imperial Court system and they had made a large-scale secession to the Faith Organization. The Faith Organization and the Legitimacy Kingdom were in conflict over whose power the Imperial Court system should be reinstated under. Also, the Capitalist Corporations side had their values change whenever maintenance was done to their advanced information infrastructure and they were mocked as beginning to transfer over to a more Information Alliance-like system. All in all, it was a very unclear and possibly explosive situation. However, the Japanese Islands were officially known as belonging to the Capitalist Corporations.
“But as you can clearly see, I am not a pure Asian.”
“Well, they did start letting in a lot of immigrants to combat the effects of the low birthrates and high age of the population.”
“Historically, that is what helped allow the technological information on Objects to spread so widely.”
“So what was this about being a refugee?”
“It was due to my daughter and her husband.” Quenser had expected her to refuse, but she answered quite readily. “They did some charitable work. Specifically, they worked to bring steady agricultural technology to areas short of food. They advertised their work with the phrase ‘We can save people suffering due to a lack of crops simply by lowering the grade of the convenience store bentos we eat for lunch’. That was what led to us becoming refugees.”
“Why? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Oh, yes there is. The Capitalist Corporations is a world power where the economy and the corporations control the government and the wars. A large convenience store group grew angry. They treated it as information terrorism that was applying serious damage to the economy using words. My daughter and her husband were ve-->>