Chapter 17: War on two fronts (Part 2)
December, 06 2001, 03.27 AM (Old Atami city)
Hayase was shaking. However, it is not the kind of shaking when one overflowing with competitive spirit. It's also not from excitement like when she has first fought against her equal in that SSS course either. If anything, that shaking is the best proof that she is but a girl and a human. After all, 26 TSFs is gluing to her back like hungry leeches and had their gun muzzles locked to her Shiranui. A continuously 15 minutes zigzagging through the city while avoiding harassing fire from 26 TSFs was no ordinary feat, if Hayase was to make a single error, here Shiranui would undoubtedly reduce to scraps.
The commander of that Group of TSFs is as expected a veteran in term of anti-TSF battle. He smartly deployed a double wing formation to chase after Hayase's Shiranui while preventing his Group from being ambushed and at the same time avoid a direct confrontation with Hayase herself. This proves that he has already understood why the Valkyries didn't clean up his confused troops even with all of the advantage they had. In other word, he probably sensed that the Valkyries was short in manpower compare to the rebel. Therefore, he tried to buy time for the rebel army to regroup for a direct confrontation with the Valkyries at their weakest defense.
It was obvious to Hayase that the enemy commander wanted to buy time for his allies to regroup while using this Group as both a bait and a scouting unit. Whenever Hayase tried to shorten the distance between her Shiranui and the pack of hungry leeches for a close quarter confrontation, she was always denied by intense suppressive fire from the rebels. If only she could somehow miraculously appear next to those offenders, she will definitely break that double wing formation apart with her piloting skill and the superior mobility provided by her Shiranui and the XM3. But that is if only she was somehow able to suddenly shorten the distance.
Hayase quickly formulated plans to put an end to the chasing game of cat and mouse. The best answer to break the stalemate was but an effective ambush. However, the defenders of Atami City couldn't afford such luxury with their limited manpower. Even now, Kashiwagi and Takahara were hunting down the four TSFs that try to reconnect the communication line with the rebel HQ at C3. Kazama and Asakura were preparing for an ambush at C5 for any rebel TSF that try to take advantage of the weakest link in the Valkyries's defense. Therefore, in this kind of situation, Hayase couldn't just herd this pack of blood thirsty leeches gluing to her back toward her friends since it would possibly lead to even more haywire situations.
"Must I do it alone?" Hayase silently asked herself while gripping her control stick tightly. If it wasn't for the silicon membrane that gloved her hands, the control stick would be completely drenched in cold sweat by now. Against a force of 2 platoons worth of TSFs, she could hardly do anything alone by herself. If she made a mistake, only doom awaited her friends since she is currently the commanding officer of Atami city's defenders. But whether Hayase wanted to do it or not, it was up to her trusted Shiranui and her skills to make a miracle now.
"This is 06 reporting. One of the retreating Shiranui broke through our ambush and currently making it to C12. Requesting permission to chase down the target" Kashiwagi's voice abruptly transmitted to Hayase's earpiece.
"Deny. It's too risky to chase after it that far. Meet up with Kazama and Asakura at C5 according to the plan" Scratch it. It is getting worse. Hayase silently cursed while glancing at Kashiwagi's worried face on her HUD.
"Then at least let us assist you…" Takahara said
Hayase clicked her tongue and ordered "Denied, quickly go back to C5 and prepare a defense line with Kazama. I will be there soon after I finished taking care of these persistent guys."
"…Roger. Take care 1st Lieutenant"
Once again, Hayase could only hear the roaring sound of the jet engine and the disjointed gunfire. Sighed outwardly, she shook her head dejectedly after her kouhai's faces disappear from her retinal display. How would she love for someone to help her out and ditch those blood thirsty leeches gluing to her back? If only the Valkyries had more manpower, surely Hayase has already ordered an ambush to get rid of those TSF chasing after her back. But, it won't do the Valkyries anything good if they scattered their force now when the rebel could push through C5 when they finish regrouping. Of course, logically, this is almost a suicide strategy that Hayase who happen to be in charge of commanding the Valkyries squadron B, currently doing a solo baiting against 26 TSFs. But it's not like she has a choice or anything. Most of the sentry turrets at block C were wiped out a few moments ago, and block C just happened to locate right next to the National 135th Highway. It gave the rebel plenty of advantage if they want to break through by force. Besides, if any of Valkyries members aside from Hayase, Captain Isumi or Munakata tried to do this kind of solo baiting, their chance to survive is definitely not just close to zero. It's undoubtedly zero.
"Do you know? Girls don't like guys who are too persistent" Hayase sighed once again at the rebel TSFs, didn't care whether they heard it or not while manually switching her rifle magazine to HESH (High Explosive Squash Head). "It's gonna cost you big this time"
The grey Shiranui suddenly increased its speed while maneuvering in NOE (Nap-of Earth) flight mode. Hayase flew so low that her Shiranui's feet are barely centimeters from the ground, leaving a small trail of dust.
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Piranha 01 instinctively sensed a change in the UN Shiranui's movement. It wasn't just another lofty maneuver to evade his troop's constant barrages. The UN Eishi was undoubtedly up to something. Piranha 01 stared at his HUD only to see the area the rebels were leading to is thick of the enemy's IFF signal as usual. As expected, he could only but rely on optics. However, he couldn't tell whether the grey Shiranui was herding his troops to an ambush site or she was feigning an ambush in order to ditch his troop from the chase. But, even this is an ambush, as long as the rebels evaded the first lock-on; the ambusher will immediately lose their advantage the moment they squeezed the trigger. Moreover, he would even welcome an ambush in this situation. His troop was after all currently acting as both a bait and a scouting unit. Until his underlings informed the HQ his plan, the more enemies he drew out, the better.
Responding to the change of the UN Shiranui, the rebel TSFs increased their speed accordingly while shifting their side wings from the center unit to anticipate any kind of surprise attack from both sides. The double wing formation instantly transformed to a shape of a swooping down eagle. At the same time, the center vanguards pushed forward and sent intense barrages of 36mm shells at the grey Shiranui while giving their wing units the space for maneuvering.
Then, the UN Shiranui suddenly redirected the bearing of its Jump unit's nozzle and slightly changed its altitude. Its feet now are touching the ground to leave a large trail of dust and spark behind. While spinning around with its metallic feet on the asphalt road, the grey Shiranui momentarily melt into the newly created trail of dust.
The rebels immediately responded by intensively depleting their magazines at the shadowy figures of the UN Shiranui in the trail of smoke. Then, they were surprised. A gigantic ball of fire blasted off sky high from where the UN Shiranui last seen with an ear splitting explosion.
"Scatter" Piranha 01 barked out an order through his mike.
The chasers immediately twisted their TSFs and scattered from their current flight path avoiding the unexpected explosion. Piranha 01 was confused at his retinal display. There is just no way that the UN Shiranui would go down that easily. Beside, his troops were using the 36mm shells. This kind of shell wouldn't able to incinerate a whole TSF that easily unless the shells score a direct hit right onto the reactor or the fuel tank which are both sheltered by the thickest layer of armor.
Another ball of fire blasted off from the same site within the next seconds. The trail of dust which was previously blown away by the explosions was immediately replaced by a thick layer of black smoke.
Unable to comprehend what just happened, the rebels halted their TSFs while hovering in mid air, pointing their riffles at the explosion site. The enemy's IFF marker has now completely disappeared from their radar sensor. It could only mean that the grey death god was out of the game…
Before Piranha 01 could issue an order, several warning of infra red locked to his troop's TSFs detected.
"Enemies…" Piranha 01 warned while forcefully propelling his TSF out of the firing line.
The rebels reflexively dodged the lock-on and the unexpected volleys from the unknowns as ordered. Without wasting any seconds, they quickly aimed their rifles at the offending sources and returned fire. Several explosions followed, indicating that the rebels have claimed their targets. It wasn't a tough fight as Piranha 01 expected. Because the offending targets displayed on his HUD weren't TSFs but… sentry turrets.
Then, an awkward silence descended. Only the sound of the jet engine of the rebel's TSF reverberated within the vicinity along with some small explosion from destroyed turrets.
Was this the trap that the UN Shiranui has in mind? Piranha 01 immediately dispelled that fleeting thought. Why did she do that? A new question came up in the confused mind of Piranha 01. There is no reason for her to self-destruct or rather let the rebels claimed such an easy kill. Those sentry turrets could never take on TSFs without supporting fire from other TSFs. That UN Eishi who piloted the grey Shiranui must have to understand that reality painfully well. Simply put, only a BETA or a TSF could take on a TSF. The trap with some feeble sentry turrets directed at his group's TSFs wasn't even worthy to be called a trap.
Therefore, if anything, the grey Shiranui is still in the game and still hiding in that layer of black smoke. Even during the emergency evading maneuver to avoid the barrages from those turrets, Piranha 01's eyes were still gluing to the explosion site, anticipating for any movement from the supposed to be KIA grey Shiranui. He has yet to turn his eyes away from that site for even a millisecond. Because, there was just no way could he buy such an outcome that his target which labeled as Bogey 01, could be shot down so easily and furthermore in such a lame manner. After all, from the report of the surviving Eishi, that Shiranui singlehandedly took out a squadron worth of TSF in lesser than 3 minutes. Moreover, it was the same Shiranui that resiliently evaded all of the barrages coming from 26 TSFs for the last 18 minutes. The possibility for that UN Shiranui to be taken down in such manner is basically a titanic zero.
Then, without waiting for the black smoke to disperse, Piranha 01 pointed his rifle at the explosion site and poured a hail of 36mm volley. His bullets cut through the thick smoke and made Swiss cheese out of the asphalt road. Piranha 01 didn't care whether his bullets missed or not, he continued to rain lead randomly at the explosion site.
Then, a small orange mushroom grew out of the dark smoke only to disintegrate within milliseconds. The scale of that explosion is tiny and incomparable to its predecessor. The HUD of Piranha 01 momentarily displayed a deformed and charred metallic object which look like a Supplemental shield when the explosion briefly blown away the layer of smoke. However, the traces or rather the figure of the grey Shiranui couldn't see anywhere in that explosion site. Like a phantom, the grey Shiranui has totally melt into nothingness together with the black smoke covered it.
03.33 AM (Izu Skyline) Takeru's POV
I am getting more nervous as time goes by. It wasn't because there are enemies chasing after us. It also wasn't because all the fire, smoke and explosion in the direction of the Atami city either. The main reason for my nervousness was the fact I haven't met up with the US 66th Battalion yet.
Yuuko sensei has the US's CIA informed the Shogun escaping to this direction even before the rebel, Imperial Army and the UN Army. Therefore, that US 66th Battalion must have wait for our coming an hour ago and supposed to meet up with us some 30 minutes ago. However, the reality wasn't what I and Yuuko have expected. If only I could connect to Yuuko sensei now and get more of the information of the whole situation, I wouldn't be this anxious…
"Multiple TSFs at 3 o'clock. They are coming over the ridge" Marimo suddenly warned.
Damn! E1 shouldn't catch up with us yet. E2 and E3 were both still held back by the Valkyries. This is probably a new local rebel troop which unrelated either to E1, E2 and E3. Damn! What the heck! I can count 18 Eagles from the display on my HUD. How did such big group get this close to us undetected? Did they turn off their main engine to avoid detection from our radar? But even so, how is it possible that they could guess our escape route so spot on?
"00 to all units, you are clear to engage. All units return fire at will. Keep 06 safe at all cost. But, do not attack them first. They can't afford the risk of attacking us directly" Marimo ordered.
"Roger"
Darn it. I am getting more and more anxious. This wasn't supposed to happen with the US force still fighting around in the area. Where the hell these guys coming from?
"To the UN army and Honor Guard commanders. We mean you no harm. Repeat. We mean you no harm. You must halt immediately. Your current action is a grave violation of Japan's national sovereignty" a man's voice broadcasted through my earpiece in an open channel.
The enemy's Eagles are approximately 500m away from us now. I could barely see their shape in the darkness by maximum zooming the Shiranui's camera. What the…? For some reason, I have goose bump just by looking at those kites…
There is something just so wrong about them that my hands are sweating cold sweat and chill is running down my spine. It was an extraordinary chill, an extremely unpleasant feeling. What is it that makes me feel so unease? What is going on…?
"1st Lt. Tsukuyomi. You have to intercept them immediately, those guys want to assassinate Her Highness" Before I knew it, I have already called upon the Royal Guards.
"What are…?"
"Shirogane, it's …"
Marimo and Tsukuyomi seemed want to say something. But, I quickly cut in before they can finish "There is no time to explain. Their equipment packs are completely messed up. They are all Blast Guard and Sweeper loads. No matter how you think about it, if they want to secure Her Highness, it has to be the Vanguard or Interceptor set if they want to avoid directly harming Her Highness. These troop's equipments on the other hand provoke a full scale gun fire with their ballistic capability. Their equipment weren't meant to capture but to obliterate anything within their range."
"…" Tsukuyomi grimaced when she listened to my explanation. Then, immediately, she ordered "Blood 01 to all Blood units, proceed to intercept the enemies"
"Roger" the voice of the idiot-trio rang through the intercom.
Without wasting a second, the Royal Guards which hitherto covered our back broke away from the formation
The unknown man's warning voice continuingly rang through my intercom once again "I repeat. We mean no harm. You must halt immediately."
Paying no heed to the enemy's warning, Tsukuyomi and the idiot-trio swiftly plunged toward the enemy squadron of Eagles in their Takemikazuchis. Sword in right hand, rifle in the left, four Takemikazuchis bravely propelled through a distance of 300 meter in lesser than 15 seconds with max thrust.
I could only pray that my intuition was wrong. But… it was completely unnatural for such group leisurely laid here waiting for us without having a fight against the US troops and the Imperial Army in the region. Furthermore, a whole unit which was loaded with only Blast Guard and Sweeper packs is completely unrealistic. Besides, any of the missile packs mounted on both shoulder of those Blast Guards are more than enough to decimate a whole squadron, they weren't meant for some capturing operation. If those guys are truly worried about Yuuhi's safety, they will definitely avoid triggering a gunfight against our squadron at all cost. However, with the firepower and ballistic capability of those Blast Guard and Sweeper packs, a full scale gunfight is undoubtedly unavoidable. And unlike the dogfight against those two idiotic unknown Eagle in Hakone, that time I was alone. It was easy for them to throw suppress fire and pinpoint my location without hitting my Shiranui's cockpit and potentially harming the Shogun. Therefore, the enemy's priority definitely wasn't the Shogun safety. If anything, it was exactly the opposite. Those Eagles wanted Yuuhi assassinated.
When the distance between the Royal Guard and the unknown enemy reduced to approximately 100 meters, the black Eagles furiously sprayed volleys of 36mm shells at the charging Takemikazuchis with deadly precision. As expected, those Eagles probably had their firearm assisting reticule locked to the Takemikazuchis when the Royal Guards started breaking away from our formation. It was a standard approach in any anti-TSF battle to get a first lock-on on the opponent, staying mobile and firing from range as opposed to get close with no vanguards in the formation.
But, because the volleys were precisely aimed, they were also easy to predict and evade. The four Takemikazuchis effortlessly sidestepped just by lightly shifting their thruster nozzle while aggressively retaliating with their own volleys.
The Eagles scattered and then immediately assumed the Wing-3 formation, obviously intended to bypass the Royal Guards using advantage of their number. However, it seemed that such an unoriginal and standard method was within the calculation of the Royal Guards, the four Takemikazuchis dispersed accordingly and directly clashed with the enemy TSFs, having no intention to let the enemy TSFs slip through them. The speed of the Takemikazuchis was so fast that the Eagles could barely keep up with their speed or even locked their reticules to them.
The Royal Guard then valiantly clashed against the black Eagles head to head without a single bullet scratching their armor despite they have just plunged through a squall of lead. It was so ridiculous of a scene that it was as if the enemy's shells evaded the four Takemikazuchis. In a spit second, the distant gun fight suddenly turned into a full scale close quarter melee as the two opposing forces collided. Immediately after the sound of metal clashing were heard, four Eagles crumbled to the ground, resigned to gravity with their bodies cleanly sliced into halves across the torso.
Mercilessly dragged their blade out of the fallen Eagles in harmony, the Royal Guards continued their charge against their nearest enemies with blinding explosions at their back. Before the first four balls of flame could even disintegrate into the atmosphere, another four Eagles buckled down to gravity almost at the same time, suffered exactly the same fate as the first four Eagles.
It was insanely fast. It hasn't been 10 seconds after the two forces engaged; yet eight combatants were out of commission in that brief time span. This wasn't even a fight. It was completely a one side massacre. Without melee weapon equipped, those Eagles could never hold themselves in a close quarter combat against the Takemikazuchis.
Still, the remaining black Eagles were completely unfazed by the fate of their deceased comrades, sped up with max thrust toward our squad's direction. At the same time, two Eagles with Blast Guard pack at the rear released all missiles on their shoulders when they pass through the four Takemikazuchis.
The landslide victorious momentum of the Royal Guards was immediately halted as the four Takemikazuchis desperately struggled to evade and shoot down the incoming projectiles. If the two rear guard Eagles didn't recklessly unleash their missile packs at such close distance, the Royal Guard would have no trouble dealing with those missiles. But, those missiles were released at almost point-blank distance. Nobody could anticipate that those two Eagles would actually release their missiles at such distance, risking blowing away their own allies and themselves at the same time.
Missiles and shells ripped through the air. Deafening explosions furiously shook the whole atmosphere. Metal fragments wildly blasted off through all directions. Within seconds, a blindingly furious inferno descended and sealed off the whole area where the Takemikazuchis were fighting a moment ago. Satisfied with their work, the black Eagles stopped spraying lead at that giant cage of flame and headed straight to our squadron's direction at max thrust.
Nobody could survive that kind of attack… is what everyone must think inside their head right now; including my squad mates, Marimo and the unknown enemies in their speeding Eagles. However, that was if those TSFs which were caged under that tempest of explosions were anything but the machines bearing the name of a war god and their Eishis were anyone but Tsukuyomi and the idiot-trio.
Suddenly, the red inferno was torn apart. A crimson Takemikazuchi cleaved the red wall of flame into two with its melee halberd and immediately launched after the pack of Eagles. In split seconds, three white Takemikazuchi tore away the inferno in a similar manner as the crimson Takemikazuchi and started plunging after the enemy's Eagles.
As I expected, the four TSFs belong to the Royal Guard were unharmed… that is if people could consider some scratches and damage on the armor of those TSFs as unharmed. Anyway, the chance for those four Takemikazuchis to be struck down under that cage of missiles is almost close to zero. Why? The spec of those TSFs bearing the name of a war god frighteningly outdoes any other Japanese TSFs in existence. The raw power output, cruise speed, mobility, turning speed, acceleration of a Takemikazuchi outruns even that of my Shiranui by a huge margin. The Takemikazuchi is a colossal monster alone just by considering its own basic capability. Furthermore, the Eishis of those monstrous TSFs were Tsukuyomi and the idiot-trio. Even the word strong wouldn't do them any justice. Not even I have the confident to win an anti TSF battle against any of them. Last but not least, those four Takemikazuchis were further buffed with more mobility than they capable of with the installation of the XM3. With all three factors above added up into the equation, the situation that the Royal Guards were struck down in that cage of missiles is but a fairy tale.
Surprised by the reappearance of the four Takemikazuchis, the rear most Eagles immediately turned back, released the rest of their missiles in addition with a furious barrage of lead, hoping to stop the Royal Guard from the chase.
Expecting that kind of reaction from the Eagles, the four Takemikazuchis dexterously evaded and split into groups of two while continuing their chase from the direction of 7 o'clock and 5 o'clock of the enemy's TSFs. The volley of missiles was unable to catch up with the insane cruising speed of the Takemikazuchis; they harmlessly whirled through the air and completely missed their intended targets.
Suddenly, two of the rear most Eagles incinerated into balls of flame for some unknown reasons. Next, another two Eagles eerily wobbled and swayed, as if drunk. One miraculously managed to regain its balance after its right shoulder bust into orange color flame. The other wasn't as lucky, it heavily crashed to the ground head first with its abdomen exploded.
I cannot tell anything for sure at my position, but it seemed that the Royal Guards have hit those Eagles with armor piercing and explosive APCBCHE shells (Armor piercing capped and Ballistically-capped high explosive) or something similar, judging from the swaying movement and condition of those fallen Eagles. However, that isn't important. The problem is that I couldn't even see when the Royal Guard fired at those Eagles with their rifles. Did they shot those Eagles when they were caged under that storm of explosions? Or did they shoot at the same time they avoid the second volley of missiles? Just how monstrous their skill could be…
The pack of Eagles immediately responded by dividing into two groups. One group of four Blast Guard pack mounted Eagles heading straight toward our direction while the other turned back, trying to stop the advance of the four Takemikazuchis.
Then, two Eagles mounted with the Sweeper pack furiously charged at the Royal Guards while wildly discharging barrages of lead with rifles on both hands. It was as if their Eishis went berserk, the two black Eagles plunged straight to the evading Takemikazuchis without any intention of dodging the return fire of the Royal Guard.
Once again to my surprise, as if unconcern of the safety of its allies, the Blast Guard Eagle with its inflamed right shoulder released every projectile in it left shoulder pack. A volley of missiles mercilessly ripped through the atmosphere, heading toward where the four Takemikazuchis and the two Eagles in Sweeper Pack were engaging.
No tactic can be used twice against the Royal Guards, even the most non-standard one. The crimson Takemikazuchi sank into a crouch dash posture, barely dodge some 120mm bullets of the enemy Eagles by a hair breadth. Then, violently stamped on the ground, sending debris and dust erupted into the air, the blood like color Takemikazuchi magnificently shot through the air with its thruster flare up brightly. Fearlessly plunged at the berserk Eagles without caring at the 36mm bullets hitting against its armor, the crimson TSF of a war god brutally executed a twin front kick on charging Eagles. Twisted and shaken uncontrollably, the berserk Eagles feebly submitted to the might of the crimson Takemikazuchi like squashed flies, sent flying into the air, toward their ally incoming missiles. Instantly, another chain of simultaneous of blinding explosions flared up a whole area like a small sun as two Eagles were mercilessly skewered by their ally's salvo of projectiles and exploded into smithereens.
The lone Blast Guard Eagle that just has outrageously killed its allies was stunned for a second due to the unexpected outcome. Then, it pointed its rifle at the crimson Takemikazuchi that seemed to struggle to regain balance. However, before the Eagle could squeeze the trigger, its assault rifle violently exploded along with its left shoulder and its jump unit. The Eagle could only shake, wobble and resign to gravity while staring incredulously at three bypassing white armor Takemikazuchis. Then, the last image that the fallen Eagle could see was a furious blade of the crimson color Takemikazuchi hacking its torso apart.
Without any further resistance, the Royal Guards quickly resumed chasing after the rest of the enemy units. As expected, even with a late start, they are gaining speed on the enemy. They will probably catch up with the enemy in lesser than one minute.
"You are clear to fire. Do not let them approach 06" Marimo ordered when the distance between the remained enemies and our squadron reduced to 340 meter.
"Roger" My squad mates replied in unison and immediately set their gun muzzle aflame, sending a furious volley of lead toward the approaching enemies.
Because there is hardly any obstacle blocking, we easily prevent the enemy's approach with the intense suppressive fire. The enemies were visibly struggling to dodge our barrage and attempt flanking our formation. The best they could do from their position is retaliating with their assault rifles and maintaining their distance. For now, we are safe from the threat of the projectiles. The effective range for those missiles is around 200 meters, include the kind of battlefield we are fighting on, their effectiveness even reduce further. Thus, unless the enemies got that close, they won't release their projectiles easily.
This is more like a three way chasing game rather than a confrontation. The Royal Guards chased after the Eagles. The Eagles tried to flank us while we are running toward our planned goal, waiting for the Royal Guards to catch up with the enemy units.
The Eagles visibly have an advantage compare to our squadron with their superior cruising speed. But, we easily negated that advantage with heavily suppressive fire to prevent them from catching up and flanking our formation. On the other hand, the Takemikazuchis belonged to the Royal Guard are even several times superior compare to all other TSFs in acceleration and speed. It won't be long until this chasing game come to an end where our victory is assured.
Then, the four Blast Guard Eagles did something nobody expected. They released all of their missiles toward us.
"Everyone, moving toward the direction of 10 o'clock" Marimo sensibly ordered.
Immediately, our squadron changed from our intended flight path to avoid the incoming projectiles. It seemed the enemy unit's last effort was futile. At such a distance, those missiles won't able to catch up with us. Besides, I can see no place for ambushing in front of us with this kind of clear terrain.
What the…? Was it my imagination or did those missiles just act strange for some seconds?
"Heat seekers" warned Marimo in a clearly perturbed voice "Shoot them down"
Damn. We have been had. Immediately, mimicking Marimo action, our squad started discharging every shell at our disposal toward those missiles that gaining speed on us.
Those enemies which fought against the Royal Guards weren't equipped with heat seekers. They were just plain missiles which mean for artillery bombardment with their capability is clearly inferior to these heat seekers in term of range and deadliness. The enemies totally deluded us with a fault sense of security.
Shells, fire and metal fragments danced as the rain of heat seeker met our shells. We scored several hit at those heat seekers and created explosion after explosion. But, the number of those heat seekers is clearly more than what we can handle. They are gaining speed against us while the enemy Eagle using this chance to closing in. Those heat seekers will probably get us in anothe seconds or even lesser than that.
Not even the emergency random evasion function of the XM3 could work against those heat seekers when they latched onto us. Even if we managed to dodge the initial trajectory, the heat seekers will not hit nothingness, they will remain on locking at us for we were the only heat sources in vicinity. This is bad. Those projectiles are an immense threat by themselves. Including those approaching Eagles, we might not make it until the Royal Guards arrived at this rate.
My heart pounded so hard that I could easily imagine there was a drum of some sort inside my chest. Somebody has to do it. Marimo? Her Gekishin is too slow for that stunt. The girls? Not sure they will able to pull it through. This mean…
"Your Highness, please brace yourself hard" I tensely muttered to the girl who currently sharing the same cockpit.
I didn't have time to glance at her or wait for her reply. This is no time for that. Even if she said no to it, I probably still do it anyway... This is a gamble. I don't care anymore if I might get court martial and executed after this. Only I could do it now.
Yanked the control sticks wildly, I compelled my Shiranui to a sudden brake while canceling the boost jump in mid air. Immediately, my Shiranui fell behind and dropped out of the formation.
"Shirogane…"
"Takeru…"
Marimo and my friends seemed to say something… but it only fell into deaf ears. All of my attentions were focused at the projectiles which displayed on my Shiranui's HUD. Charging at those projectiles, my trusted Shiranui and I stared at those heat seekers that coming straight toward us without paying any attention toward my mentor and my friend's screaming.
Adrenalin pumped into my blood and time extended. Still continuing to shoot down as many heat seekers as I can, I watched all of the merciless projectiles slowly shifting their goal toward my Shiranui. It was only a fleeting instance but it seemed like eternity. They have all locked to my Shiranui.
Then, when the distance between us was something 14 meters, I forcefully made my Shiranui dived to the ground in full throttle like a grey meteor with its jet engine busted in an iridescent color. I have suppressed the combustion reaction of the jet fuel in the Shiranui jump unit for a while now. Such act made the seemed to be motionless Shiranui achieved a max thrust even without some preparation time. However, the sudden change in G force made me and the girl who sharing the same cockpit nearly passed out as each and every cell in our body was screaming in pain. The amount of G force momentarily displayed to my retina was absurdly something like 37G.
Paying no attention to the heat seekers followed me from above; I quickly elevated my control stick and forced my trusted Shiranui to perform a steep climb when it about to hit the ground. For an instance, dust violently erupted and I can see nothing displayed in my HUD when my Shiranui used it legs to stomp the earth in order to correct its posture. My Shiranui then shook violently as if there was a giant hammer hitting its back when most of the descended projectiles were unable to make such sharp turn and plunged into the ground.
Withstood the furious explosions that tried to devour us alive from the back, my trusted steed magnificently rift off the coat of dust and smoke in the surroundings. Visual was instantaneously restored. Four Eagles were sighted. Without wasting any second, I plunged toward the four stunned Eagles with my trusted Shiranui in a NOE flight max thrust.
The enemy units were visibly shaken from my crazy action. Three out of four Eagles even forgot to fire their gun at my charging Shiranui and the only shooting Eagle even shot out a 120mm shell to some empty space behind of my Shiranui. Without letting such precious chance to go waste, I unhesitatingly plunged straight at the frozen Eagles.
It took the Eagles nearly 3 seconds to thaw. They then started shifting their muzzle away from my squadron and pointed at my Shiranui instead. It's however too late for that. I immediately blasted off the head of the nearest Eagle using a 120mm APCBCHE shell without bother aiming. The headless Eagle immediately submitted to the impact and was forced to a backward full flip in the air.
No, it is only a half flip. The headless Eagle then clumsily crashed into its ally, tumbled to the ground with the other Eagle.
Using the recoil from the rifle, I twisted my Shiranui to a small spin, avoiding a collision against one untangled Eagle. Then, I smashed my rifle like a club against the head of the bypassing Eagle, having no other choice since it's already too late for a Battou now and the enemy's gun muzzle was already some centimeters in front of my Shiranui's cockpit.
A ball of flame escaped from the rifle of the bypassing Eagle, discharging a 120mm shell toward my Shiranui almost at point blank. Luckily, it grazed off my Shiranui left shoulder armor with a trail of white spark as the untangled Eagle was brutally sent to a backward half flip, suffering from the blow of my rifle.
Immediately before the last Eagle could get a clear shot out of my Shiranui, I wrestled the helplessly flipping TSF at the remained Eagle with a shoulder throw, fully prevent it from taking any hostile action. Then boosted my Shiranui to the right side of the last Eagle using its ally as a shield, I executed a spin kick to the exposed back of the Eagle intending to smash its jump unit.
The kick connected. But, the impact wasn't what I expected. It was too light. The enemy's jump unit wasn't anywhere being smashed. The enemy Eishi somehow managed to boost his Eagle forward to avoid the kick just in time.
However, I didn't care whether the last Eagle dodged that kick or not. It more like that I don't have the time for something trivial as that. Even the impact of the kick wasn't what I expected, that kick has enough power to make the Eagle lost its balance and force it to a desperate crash-landing on the ground. But, it's not like I have time to finish it off. Instantly, I dashed toward the Royal Guards with full throttle while throwing away my damaged assault rifle at the landing Eagle, delayed it from shooting at my Shiranui's back.
Just when I flew some 10 meters away from the pack of Eagles, my Shiranui's sensor detected multiple infra red lock by the fallen Eagles.
"Stupid… evade immediately…"
I can't help but muttered to an open channel.
The Eagles seemed not fully understand what am I talking about. They continued to lock their shooting reticule on my Shiranui. Damn, I don't care anymore. This is another gamble. Without caring whether the enemies will hit me or not, I recklessly stomped hard on the throttle to boost my Shiranui with max thrust straight at the Royal Guards.
Immediately, my Shiranui's rear camera went white for a moment and my Shiranui even shook a little. My Shiranui however wasn't shot. The place where I engaged with the Eagles was distorted with a raging chain of blinding explosions. The enemy Eagles were completely devoured by their own heat chasers and blasted off into metal fragments.
"…Told you…stupid"
I slammed my fist at the screen in frustration.
"Told you…"
03.38 AM (Old Atami city)
"Phew, I can't believe it worked" a blue head mumbled inside her Shiranui's cockpit while watching the pack of rebel's Shiranuis hovering in mid air and searching for her whereabouts.
Hayase didn't expect the stunt she pulled against the rebel TSFs work out so well. Certainly, none of the rebel Eishis was able to see through that magic trick that she pulled. But, that magic trick wasn't without some cost. She lost her own Supplemental Shield, some sentry turrets. Hayase's Shiranui was damaged in several joints and armor parts. The condition of her Shiranui couldn't label as unharmed no matter how people look at it. The left wrist armor was partially destroyed. Left shoulder showed signed of inflamed. Left torso was also obviously suffered from burn. Left leg armor was slightly deformed. If the left portion of the UN Shiranui's head unit was also damaged, it would become the first Two Faces in Muvluv universe.
That stunt Hayase pulled however wasn't anything elaborated. It was rather adlibbed with whatever she had. The HESH shell she loaded wasn't meant to hit any of the enemy's TSFs. Using the layer of dust as a smokescreen, Hayase shot the HESH 120mm shell at her Supplemental Shield unknowing to everyone else at the scene while turning off her IFF signal. The reactive armor layer of the shield blasted off the explosive inside the HESH shell sky high immediately the moment the shell hit the reactive armor. During the time the enemy TSFs were forced to take evasion maneuver to avoid the explosion, Hayase plunged her Shiranui through the inferno to a dark corner nearby while releasing another HESH shell at the Supplemental Shield once again to draw the enemy's attention to the explosion. Then once all the enemy's attentions were focus at the sentry turrets, Hayase moved her Shiranui out of the vicinity.
However, this stunt would never work out if the enemies Eishis paid attention to their radar sensor. If they had, the seismic reaction would even give away Hayase's location to them instantly. Since the rebel Eishis intended not to be fooled by fake signals of the FIT system by relying on optics rather than seismic sensor, they ignored most of the seismic reaction detecting from their radar. And that mindset helped Hayase a great deal in successfully performing her magic trick.
"Why don't you guys just withdraw? You have lost more than 35% of your fighting force already." Hayase silently sighed while looking at the enemy TSFs displayed on her Shiranui's HUD. She knew it was impossible but she just wanted to complain. Anyway, the Valkyries just have to maintain the defense line for another 20 minutes and they will be done with this operation.
Just when Hayase started relaxing, some signal flares were shot up into the sky. Judging from the position, it was fired somewhere outside of the Atami city. This meant these signal could only belong to the rebel.
"1st Lt. Hayase, a group of more than 40 TSFs are heading toward C5." Kazama reported with an anxious look on her face.
"... Use the rest of the guided missiles to stop them if you have to. Let none pass." Hayase solemnly ordered while looking at the TSFs which chased after her earlier. Those TSFs turned back and were currently speeding toward C5. This is bad. If these 26 TSFs regroup with the main force, only hell awaited. She couldn't let it happened. "Kazama, sorry. You will command the battle in my place for now. I have 26 TSFs to deal with"
"Roger that" Kazama replied.
"The rest of you focus on making good use of the new OS for evasive maneuvers and stay alive." ordered Hayase.
"Roger that. Take care 1st Lieutenant" Hayase's kouhai saluted in unison.
"No kidding. Who are you talking about?" Hayase snickered lightly while doing her best to hide her anxiety. "This is a walk in the park for me. I can kick these guys's ass in just 5 minutes. Stop worrying about me and do your job properly."
"Roger that" the girls replied in unison once again
Once again Hayase could only hear the sound of the jet engine of the approaching TSFs. The Valkyries only need to defend the city for another 20 minutes. But, this maybe the longest 20 minutes ever.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
Piranha 01 was heading toward C5 with his troops after detected his ally's signal. It's clear to him that the scale of advantage is slowly tipping to his side. Even his group failed to take down the grim reaper, the method that the grim reaper used to escape his troops solidified his main doubt about the unknown enemies he was currently facing. They were clearly short in number compare to the rebel army. If it wasn't the case, the enemy would definitely send some forces to assist Bogey 01's escape or established an ambush to take advantage of his group confusion in the mean time.
It was regrettable that he lost track Bogey 01 aka the death god herself. The thought that such a monster was still on the loose somewhere in the city unchecked right now sent chill to Piranha's spine. The UN death god was a monstrosity who could easily wreak great havoc to the rebel both in morale and in fighting forces. Even her manner of escape struck fear into the heart of the rebel troops. It was eerily unexplainable and extremely bold. Even the rebels didn't know what she did, but the female UN Eishi clearly caused explosions using reactive armor of her Type 92 Supplemental Shield in order to make her escape. What kind of person would take the risk of take a shower of bullets in addition with a point blank explosion to escape? There is absolutely no guarantee for her to survive that kind of condition, let alone making the escape after that. That person is either a suicidal freak or extremely bold and confident in her own skills.
An explosion shook Piranha 01 personal Shiranui and snapped him back from his deep though. On his retinal display appeared a silhouette of a death god rocketed through the sky with a blinding explosion at her back. An ally Eagle's marker at rearmost disappeared along with the explosion. Then, dust and debris erupted as a Shiranui and an Eagle next to the disappeared Eagle heavily crashed down on the ground with fire furiously danced on their Jump unit.
"Scatter" Piranha 01 ordered as he leveled his gun and started shooting the grey grim reaper.
The remained rebel TSFs immediately scattered and mimicking their leader action, frantically spraying slugs at the death god. But, the grey death god was much faster. The grey UN Shiranui that supposed to be in a middle of a rocket boost, suddenly canceled its momentum while plunged itself at the nearest rebel Eagle within its reach. The unlucky black Eagle was utterly panic stricken. It immediately revert its Jump unit's nozzle, trying to run away as far as possible while desperately discharging a volley of 36mm shells toward the death god hoping to delay its inevitable death. Its resistance was however entirely futile.
The death god easily dodged the furious barrage with a barrel roll and approached the desperate black Eagle with a full throttle max boost. Immediately, the death god swiftly cut the assault rifle in the hand of the rebel's TSF into halves. Then, glued to her terrified counterpart like a magnet, the death god used the unlucky Eagle like an improvised shield against barrages of shells aimed at her back.
Shells danced, struck, exploded and mercilessly ripped the improvised shield in the iron hand of the death god to shreds. The black Shiranui was broken, tattered and full of holes in just an instance.
It took the rebels fully three seconds to stop their firing. Either the IFF firearm assisting system kicked in and locked their firearm or the rebel Eishis manually stopped their shooting. But alas, it was already too late.
The black Eagle weakly limped in the iron grip of the death god. There were totally no indications of any life sign from the broken Eagle. The death god then indifferently tossed away her broken shield and let it be victimized by gravity.
The earth shook, debris and dust furiously erupted to the atmosphere as the black Shiranui lifelessly crashed to the ground and flattened several building in the process.
"Withdraw… I will not give chase. But if you still insist fighting, I won't be merciful" the death god coldly announced through an open channel.
Hayase gambled. There is just no way she could take on the remained 24 TSFs head on just by herself. This is entirely a bluff, a huge bluff, and a psychological attack aimed at the rebel Eishis. Reckless it was, but she didn't have another choice. She can't let this group joined up with the rebel main force. Whether she could prevent this faction of 24 TSFs to regroup with their main forces or not, it depends on how the rebels react to this bluff.
03.45 AM (Izu Skyline) Takeru's POV
Is there anything more dreadful than being ostracized and criticized by the Royal Guards, my mentor and my own squad mates? There's none, isn't there? That reckless stunt against the heat seekers and the enemy Eagles earned me a severe lecture from both Marimo chan and Tsukuyomi san. Of course, I didn't expect to be showered in praise and congratulation or anything. But, even so, this earful of scolding wasn't what I expected either. It was extremely hellish. Every word stabbed my heart thoroughly. Every glare crucified me to my cockpit's seat. It was however the only natural outcome that I received something likes that
It's a matter of priority that even when worse come to worst, I should have prioritized Yuuhi above everything else. So the most sensible action I should have taken was to boost my Shiranui away from my squad and let them became the targets for those heat seekers. But, I didn't. I who in charge of protecting the Shogun, recklessly broke away from the formation, took on the enemy's greatest trump card and finally stormed through the enemy's rank with the Shogun still inside my machine….Well, if I was to be court martial due to that action, only execution awaited me no matter what.
I will not surprise that if the Royal Guards have Yuuhi changing her seat to someone else's TSF in the next stop to resupply. Judging from my earlier craziness, it's rather extremely stupid having me remained as Yuuhi's coachman and personal guard. So, Yuuhi will probably share the seat with me until the next resupply.
On a side note, I have to endure non-stop chastising from Marimo and Tsukuyomi san for that recklessness of a stunt for a full 5 minutes immediately after the incident. The first question they asked was "Shirogane, is Her Highness all right?" The moment I answered it, came their full-of-love lecture
"Do you even know the severity of your action?"
"What you did was outrageously reckless. You could have Her Highness killed before the assassins could do her harm"
"How dare you defied my order and did something like that?"
"Is your brain rotten?"
Etc
It was a full 5 minutes of torturing until Yuuhi's gentle voice came to my defense like a relief rain after suffering centuries of drought. "Please forgive him for that. He should have realized his mistake by now and besides, I wasn't harmed. We should move on instead of wasting time here arguing." Thanks to that, the fury of Marimo chan and Tsukuyomi san subsided or rather they pretended to act that way.
It is only now that I am fully able to understand the severity of the incident just now. Some of us could have been killed during that process. Considering Marimo and Meiya's personality, if I didn't jump to those heat seekers, it would be them who acted that way. They are the most likely to jump out and make themselves attraction for those projectiles so we could escape unscathed. But, if considering the mobility and speed of their Gekishin and Fubuki, they probably won't able to survive it. And the Royal Guards were simply too far to help us dealing with those heat seekers. That incident could have end in a different way if I wasn't recklessly pulled out such a stunt.
But then, I am really intrigued about the identity of that group of assassins. The US ALTERNATIVE V and the UN collaborators wouldn't want the Shogun dead no matter how much I look at it. Securing or taking the Shogun hostage is a more preferable option for those factions. Besides, if this group of assassins was belonged to the faction of ALTERNATIVE V or the UN army, I would have known long time ago with Yuuko sensei's help. It means that there are another enemies hidden behind this coup d'état who wished to eliminate Yuuhi. But, it's rather intriguing that there is actually someone benefit from Yuuhi's death rather than having her hostage.
But the thing bugged me the most is the reason why those assassins blatantly showed off in such fashion. It was like they trying to say "Hey, we are gonna kill you guys. Come, try and stop us" with their equipments. Even someone as stupid as I am could see right through their cover; Marimo chan, 1st Lt. Tsukuyomi and everyone else will definitely saw through that. Forget about their speech, it was probably just a guise to make them look like the rebel Army.
Therefore, I can't really tell whether they really want to assassinate Yuuhi or not. It was like they tried to put up a failed assassination to frame the rebel army instead. But then, those heat seekers just now could have completely wiped out our squadron… they were genuinely life threatening. This whole stuff smelled fishy. It was like whether they succeeded or failed in killing Yuuhi, whoever orchestrated this plot would still benefit the same way. Damn it, if only Yuuko sensei was here…
"Shirogane, are you all right?"
Yuuhi's worried voice immediately derailed my train of thought.
"I am… fine, Your Highness." I almost faltered for a moment. "How about you, Your Highness?"
"I am fine as you can see…"
"Is…that so…? Oh yeah, I almost forgot… I am really sorry about my earlier behavior. You must be extremely shocked… It was…really unbecoming of me as your escort and guard…"
"You should stop worrying about that... Actually, thing could have been uglier if it wasn't for your earlier action"
"Thank you… Your Highness." I replied sheepishly without knowing how to answer.
Forget about that group of assassin, I could investigate into it later after this coup d'état is over. Now I have to focus on my objective and keep everyone safe. Another 25km and we will reach Hiyakawa Booth ruin. But still, no sight of the US 66th Battalion. Something just isn't right. At this rate, we might have a head-on confrontation with a detached force of E1 who previously broke away from the barricade by ourselves. Worse, those Fuji elite corps who went ahead to open the part for E1 may already have the Hiyakawa Booth under their control… It's unlikely to be so since our squadron secretly using this escape route without telling the Imperial Army. But, I wasn't so sure about it either. Those assassins we engaged were clearly waiting for us. It was like they know exactly which road we were using.
Author note: A bizarrely reckless couple beyond any logic was born in this chapter. The playful berserker who supposed to command a squadron took upon the role of dealing with 26 TSFs all by herself to protect her squad mate's flank. The clown who was entrusted with the safety of the Shogun did something so crazy that anyone in his squad would probably never forgive him. Speaking of craziness and irony, this couple is certainly a match made under the heaven… cough (definitely not, definitely not).
Next chapter preview: Alfred Walken will grace us his awesome debut into this coup arc "Muhahaha, Hero always comes late."
Thanks for reading and supporting as always. I also want to say my gratitude to those who spotted out my mistakes in previous chapters. Gonna fix them really soon.