en completely roasted.

Quenser tried to use his radio, but he could not connect. The bedrock was cutting off the signal. He had no choice but to search for a different exit. He could also try to use explosives to blow a hole in the collapsed entrance, but the odds were good the shockwave would injure him in the enclosed cave.

Quenser picked back up the fragment of armor and used the backlight of his radio’s LCD screen as a light.

He moved the faint light around to investigate the cave.

The battle was still continuing.

There was plenty he still had to do.

Part 11

The cave appeared to have been slowly carved out by the power of water. A slight trickle of water ran down a slope at Quenser’s feet. He could keep his feet perfectly dry by walking by the wall. That was how little water there was.

Quenser had been quite worried at first, but he easily found an exit after travelling about 2 kilometers. The trickle of water met up with a river. By the time Quenser made it to the bank of the river, his arms were beginning to go numb, so he dropped the armor fragment to the ground. It almost fell over onto his feet, so he frantically jumped back. Even if it was strangely light for steel, it was still heavy enough to shatter the rocks on the river bank.

“...”

There was something about that armor. It was made of a steel plate and that mysterious gray material, and it was clearly different from normal Object armor.

However, Quenser was only a battlefield student. He did not know how to properly examine the armor plate under normal circumstances and here he had to make do with the equipment he had on him.

He could not manage it on his own.

After thinking for a bit, Quenser changed the frequency on his radio. He was not contacting Heivia or Wydine.

The person he needed to speak with was...

“Old lady!! Can you hear me? It’s Quenser! I need your help!!”

“Boy...?”

He received a reply.

That must have meant the Indigo Plasma and the dummy models had yet to attack the immigrant residential city.

“I think I may have a clue to new information related to the Indigo Plasma! But it’s too much for a student like me!! I need the help of a pro like you!!”

“You idiot. Don’t say any more! I am not with the military right now. If you tell me the situation on the battlefield, you could be charged with a crime as well!!”

“Then we can spend time in the detention barracks together!! Just help me!! We’re the only ones who can protect the city!!”

Protect the city.

Quenser heard the old lady’s breath catch in her throat when he said that.

“Six of the seven Objects are dummy models. I have a fragment of armor that was blown off of one of those dummies. It has two layers: steel and...some kind of gray material. At any rate, it’s unusually light. And not just lighter than proper Object armor, it’s lighter than normal steel. I think they have done something to cut down on costs. Please tell me how to examine what kind of material this is!!”

“Wait, let’s go through this in order. Dummy models? Material examination?”

“This might be necessary to turn the situation around!! So hurry!!”

“...”

The old maintenance lady fell silent for a moment, but she then started giving Quenser instructions. First she asked Quenser what equipment he had to see what was available to perform the material examination.

“Okay, you have your handheld device and radio, right? Then you can use the electromagnetic method. First, dig a hole underneath the armor plate fragment. Just something like digging a small tunnel in a sandbox. After that, open up your handheld device’s wireless LAN and place it underneath the fragment from the side.”

Quenser was on the rocky bank of a river, so he stuck the handheld device in the gap between two large rocks underneath the fragment.

“Done.”

“Next, set the frequency on your radio. Set it to the same frequency the wireless LAN uses. Then place the radio on top of the fragment and send some arbitrary signal for 10 seconds.”

Quenser could hear a distant rumbling. Heivia and the others were still in a desperate situation. Quenser felt the desire to rush things, but he kept telling himself that carrying this task out accurately would lead to the quickest path to the solution.

“Done. What next!?”

“Pull out the handheld device, call up the system screen, and check the signal reception. That should give you a broad percentage.”

“Percentage?”

“Just get to it!! I thought you were in a hurry!!”

Quenser frantically looked down at the screen and read the number displayed there.

“It says 34.2!!”

“Hm. With the proper heat resistance, that much of the signal would never have gotten through. That is an inferior product that lacks proper craftsmanship,” calmly analyzed the old lady over the radio. “But with the two different layers, it is hard to say anything for sure. Boy, can you tear apart the two materials?”

“It may be a dummy model, but it’s still Object armor.”

“Then all I can give you is speculation that may be horribly inaccurate.” The old lady gave a slow sigh. “The gray material is likely ceramic. The spherical main body is formed from ceramic and then thin metal plates are used to make it look ‘Object-like’.”

Ceramics had both strength and a certain amount of flexibility. They may have been trying to use that to provide the same ability to absorb and distribute impacts that onion armor provided.

However...

“If that was all it took to reproduce Object armor, things would be a lot easier for us. The dummy models are nothing but inferior models that could be destroyed by a nuke,” said the old lady.

“I analyzed the floats they used and I estimate the 6 dummy models each weigh less than 50,000 tons. ...From the weight of this armor fragment and the ratio of steel to ceramic, the dummy models’ armor is likely a third the thickness of normal Object armor. And it is not steel with the proper heat resistant reactive materials. If they are made out of nothing but cheap ceramics, then their actual strength would be...”

“They got us,” groaned the old lady. “We were tricked by the initial impact of their appearance. If she had calmly responded and dealt with one at a time, our princess’s main cannons could have stabbed straight through them. Their victory came from the idea of seven Objects causing us to completely lose our cool.” The old lady paused for a second. “Do you understand what this means, boy?”

“Eh? That the armor is a lot thinner than normal Object armor, right?”

“Not just that.”

Some static then entered the transmission.

It did not sound like naturally occurring interference. The static grew louder and louder.

“It is an issue...of heat resistance. ...Their main cannons...are low-stability plasma cannons. And...this is...the Arctic...Alaska...district... They...are acting...like the...ulti...mate...weapons...but...they came here...with their...greatest...weak...ness already...”

“Old lady? Old lady!? Wait...damn!!”

The static grew louder and Quenser could no longer hear her voice. It was hurting his ears, so Quenser pulled the radio away from his face.

“Did they start jamming radio signals to stop the rockets from unmanned vehicles? I thought the Indigo Plasma manually corrected the dummy models using a radio signal!!”

Quenser headed away from the river bank and into the snowy plain once more. As he approached the battlefield, he operated his radio. This time he tried to contact Heivia and the others. But first he set the output to maximum.

“Heivia, Wydine!! Can you hear me!?”

“Ksshhh...I would really prefer not to respond!! Those monstrous weapons are...searching for us by using microphones and...tracking radio signals!!”

“Sir!! Thank goodness you...are okay! That means we will...get the rest of our fee!!”

Despite the static, the transmissions were still making it through. The immigrant residential city was much farther away. That may have been why he had been unable to contact the old lady there.

(Heat resistance. Low-stability plasma cannons. The Arctic Alaska district. Ceramic armor plates that use no high heat resistant reactive materials and do not properly function as onion armor. Where did the dummy models come from? What route did they make their surprise attack from?)

“Wydine, how many of the unmanned vehicles are left!?”

“The Bird was...shot down. I can...still detect...three Animals. But the Objects...have begun...wide range jamming. The radio...signal is...receiving a lot of...interference!!”

“I need you to find a way to carry out another rocket attack. I’ll send you the location using my handheld device. Tell me your address!!”

“Wow. A chance to get...personal information from...such an excellent customer!! Today is...my lucky day!!”

“I’ll be encrypting it when I send it of course.”

Using the address he was given, Quenser sent map data with a mark on it to Wydine.

“This is...?”

“If you do as I say, they will get caught up in it. This plan only works because the small unmanned vehicles don’t show up on the anti-personnel sensors. Do you think you can manage it?”

“A half-destroyed...Animal is...right nearby. They think...they have destroyed it...so I can target...whatever I want. I will have to...send out quite...a powerful signal...to force through...the jamming...so there is more of a...risk...of them determining...our location.”

“Please do this. Also, the Indigo Plasma’s jamming probably has a hole. That way the frequency used to manually correct the dummy models is not interfered with. Analyze the jamming signal and find that hole. That will be the line that connects the leader with the dummies. If we use it well, we might be able to cause some interference of our own.”

“Ksshh...As you wish...sir☆ ...C’mon get to work, you moocher!!”

“Quenser, once this...battle is over...I have some choice words for you.”

About 2 kilometers away, the 7 Objects were moving. The Animal was located right in the middle of the group of Objects. Heivia and the others seemed to be hiding about a kilometer to the west of the center. If they were found, it would all be over, but they still had a chance. The 24th’s strategic AI that was controlling the dummy models was not that advanced.

“So basically the plan is to...ksshh...provoke them to accidentally fire their...low-stability plasma cannons into the center of their formation. That way, the ones with...thin armor will be blown away,” said Wydine.

“But the Indigo Plasma is a Second Generation...Object. Ksshhh...Just having it left is enough of a threat,” warned Heivia.

“We’ll manage somehow. Just do as I tell you for now. If they change their formation, this will all be for naught!!”

Quenser urged them on while checking the situation on his handheld device’s GPS map.

At that moment, one of the dummy models suddenly changed direction. It was aiming its main cannon at the hill Heivia and the others were hiding behind.

(Not good. They were located from the upped output on the radio signal!!)

But the dummy model stopped moving. Intense static came from the radio and the GPS map stopped updating.

(Did they find the hole in the jamming signal and blocked the line connecting the Indigo Plasma to the dummies!?)

An explosive noise rang out.

However, it did not come from the Objects. It was much too small for that. The Animal at the center of the 6 dummy models had fired its rocket. The rocket had struck the armor of one of the dummies and exploded.

The strategic AI immediately reacted.

The program made a decision from its list of priorities and began a counterattack against what had attacked it.

Yes.

It used its one functioning weapon, the low-stability plasma cannon it used as a main cannon.

A pure white explosion occurred.

The explosion grew so large it swallowed up the 6 dummy models. Despite his great distance, Quenser was temporarily blinded as if he had looked directly at a magnesium ignition. It was not simply the power of the low-stability plasma cannon fired at the ground near the dummy models. The 24th’s foot soldiers had already been roasted, but they had been equipped with gas cylinders and tanks of the special gas in order to work in conjunction with the Objects. Those had caused the explosion to grow even larger.

But...

“Dammit.”

The jamming from both sides was gone.

Heivia’s curse of despair came through clearly.

The reason for his despair was the seven giant forms he could see.

Their surfaces had melted slightly, but their overall silhouettes were still intact.

The enemy could still move.

“It was no good. It didn’t work!! It’s not just the Indigo Plasma left! The six dummy models weren’t destroyed either! Even if their armor was thinner than normal, they still aren’t something flesh-and-blood soldiers can deal with!!”

“No,” Quenser said into the radio. “Those 6 were enveloped by the explosion as planned. This is checkmate.”

“How is this checkmate!? The surface of the armor was melted a bit, but they can still move!! ...C’mon, let’s get out of here. What does the reward matter if you die, right!?”

That last bit seemed to have been spoken to Wydine and the others, but the mercenaries did not seem to agree. A PMC focused on profit took that kind of thing seriously.

“They had a major weakness this entire time,” said Quenser slowly in an attempt to calm down Heivia who was about to panic. “The armor has no high heat resistant reactive material in it. Nor does it function as onion armor. It’s just a mass of cheap ceramic. In other words, it has a poor resistance to extreme changes in temperature.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“Their main cannons are low-stability plasma cannons. Those create a lot of heat. And this is the Alaska district. Being below the freezing point is normal here. And to top it all off, the dummy models made their surprise attack from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. They would have been completely cooled down. The heat caused by their low-stability plasma cannons would have sent their temperature skyrocketing. And that means...”

Quenser stopped and took a deep breath.

He then began speaking again.

“The properties of the ceramic would have changed greatly! Once that distortion grows large enough, they should collapse under their own weight!!”

A loud noise like a metal joint coming out of place could be heard.

Cracks started running through the 6 dummy models like a glass sculpture that had been dropped on the floor. They shattered in in a way that ignored how the original pieces were joined together.

Quenser glanced down at his handheld device

He could hear his fellow soldiers speaking.

“I have heard that when forged blades are made, the heating of a furnace and the cooling of water are used to alter the properties of the metal in order to make it stronger. The most famous example is the katana from the Japanese Islands,” said Wydine in admiration. “But it has the exact opposite effect when not carried out by a skilled craftsman. I believe just opening and closing the door to the workshop can create enough of a temperature difference to cause the metal to be too brittle, making the sword a failure.”

“Normally, an Object designed to operate in these conditions would have heating elements in between the armor plates to ensure it does not cool down too much, but I doubt they went that far after cutting so many corners on the armor’s thickness.”

“Sorry to interrupt your celebration,” cut in Heivia. “But the Indigo Plasma is still doing just fine!! That thing is a legit Second Generation Object that cost 5 billion dollars! It isn’t going to shatter from that!!”

Quenser could hear an ominous creaking.

Two kilometers away, the slightly damaged Indigo Plasma was moving its main cannon. Even if they had been dummies, it had lost a large portion of its military power with the loss of those 6 Objects. Its Elite, Prizewell City Slicker, must have been quite angry.

As if to display that emotion, the low-stability plasma cannon aimed at a puny flesh-and-blood soldier.

Yes, it aimed at Quenser.

(I guess he finally managed to track me from my radio signal.)

“Heivia. Wydine, and the rest of your mercenaries, he’s done for. Cover your ears and get down on the ground if you don’t want to go blind or deaf due to a simple explosive blast.”

“Quenser!!”

“Sir!?”

Quenser ignored the shouts trying to stop him. Running would hardly help him at that point.

Quenser then heard what sounded like thunderclouds approaching.

Approaching from behind him.

“I was waiting for you, princess,” he muttered.

When he had checked his handheld device after the six dummy models blew up, he had been checking on the location of the Baby Magnum.

He had known the princess would make her move when such a large change occurred to the situation.

“No, Quenser...” said Heivia in dull surprise. “The Indigo Plasma is a true Second Generation Object! Even if the princess had all 7 of her main cannons functioning, she would have trouble destroying that monster!! Right now, she only has one. And it’s not at full power either!! Even a direct hit isn’t going to stop Indigo Plasma here!!”

And when that first strike did not finish things, they would be blown away by a counterattack.

However, Quenser’s expression did not change.

“This is enough.”

Quenser held his radio in one hand and used the other to hold his handheld device straight out like a handgun. He was not sure if it would actually aid in targeting any, but he aimed the communications infrared signal coming out the end toward the Indigo Plasma.

It looked like he was stabbing at an enemy with the point of a rapier.

“Get him, princess. Finish off that discriminatory bastard.”

Immediately afterwards, the two Objects fired their main cannons at exactly the same moment.

Yes.

They both fired low-stability plasma cannons.

The six dummy models had “shattered” around where the Indigo Plasma was and the special gas for their low-stability plasma cannons had filled the area.

The result was obvious.

The Indigo Plasma was swallowed up by a pure white flash of light.

Even if they had been dummies, their main cannons had still functioned. Enough special gas to power six main cannons had surrounded the Indigo Plasma. In response to the Indigo Plasma firing its own main cannon, the special gas had immediately exploded. The explosion may not have had the directionality provided by a cannon, but the scope of the explosion was simply too great. Even without the temperature being intentionally regulated to the optimal point, natural fluctuations and diffusion caused enough of it to be at the proper concentration to be ignited.

The armor could not withstand the tremendous blast.

Object armor was said to be able to withstand a nuclear weapon or two, but it melted like a sugar sculpture here. And once it had grown soft, the princess’s low-stability plasma cannon blast stabbed into it. This caused critical damage to the reactor that produced such tremendous amounts of electricity, which led to an even larger explosion.

“...!!”

Quenser was quite distant from it all, but his vision and hearing were not working properly.

However, he realized soon thereafter that it could have been worse.

At some point, a giant wall had interposed itself between Quenser and the explosion. That wall was an Object. The battered Baby Magnum had acted as a shield for him.

“Hello, are you still alive?” asked the princess.

“I feel like I’m about to die...”

“How about you worry about us!?” shouted Heivia. “We only had half the distance from that explosion than you did!!”

The princess seemed to have decided to simply ignore Heivia’s complaints.

“Where is City Slicker?” she asked.

“Dead, I’d think. You saw that explosion. Even if he ejected, he would have been roasted in midair.”

“Then we have just one more thing to do.”

“Yes,” said Quenser into the radio. “We need to tell that old lady everything’s okay.”

Part 12

Chaos had begun within the immigrant residential city.

It started with the TVs. The normal stations had stopped their broadcasts, but a military antenna on the Baby Magnum was used to force a pirate broadcast through. The wreckage of the seven monstrous weapons was displayed on the screens. After a bit, it switched over to footage of the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion’s soldiers letting out a cry of victory. The CS broadcast staff helped film it all.

At first, some people thought it had been faked.

But the Object wreckage could be seen from the edges of the city with binoculars, so fear began to leave the atmosphere of the city. The dark enthusiasm faded away to the point that it was hard to believe how frantic everyone had been just moments before.

“Hey, old lady. Your chauffeured ride is here,” said Heivia as he stopped the off-road vehicle within the immigrant residential city. The old lady caught Quenser’s eye where he sat in the passenger seat, but the student just shrugged.

The old lady was with her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.

She walked away from her family and toward the vehicle.

“I am prepared. What is my punishment?”

“That will be determined later,” said Quenser, passing on information from their commander. “As the emergency caused control of the unit to be lost temporarily, Froleytia has a lot of reports to write, but she told me to pass on a message to you: any failures can be overwritten by results, and you are fortunate enough to have the technical skills needed to make her hesitant to get rid of you.”

“...I see,” was all the old lady said.

Her heart was likely filled with various emotions she could find no way to express in words.

“Grandma,” called out the girl who seemed to be her granddaughter. The girl pointed at something in the distance and asked, “Did you make that, grandma?”

She was pointing at the Baby Magnum as it travelled along outside the city. One of the princess’s telephoto lenses must have picked up the girl pointing because one of the main cannons waved back at the girl.

The old maintenance lady remained silent for a bit.

“...Yes,” she finally replied. “That is the robot of justice I made and these are my wonderful comrades.”

As he lightly stroked the steering wheel, Heivia whispered to Quenser in the passenger seat.

“(Aren’t you going to make a joke about that?)”

“(I think we can let this one slide.)”

The old maintenance lady climbed aboard and the off-road vehicle left.

It headed outside the immigrant residential city.

It headed for the maintenance base zone where the princess waited.