The FOX squad members who climbed down the rope immediately readied their firearms and scanned the surroundings. It seemed a bit excessive since the enemy wouldn’t just appear on top of containers out of nowhere, but protocol is protocol.
Even though Saori and Azusa have loosened up a bit recently, the habit of remaining vigilant is still ingrained in them. It’s scary to think that the training is so deeply embedded that the body reacts before the mind does.
“FOX 5, there’s no need to feel too burdened.”
“…Ahahaha. Right, yeah.”
Let’s think rationally. With my body’s durability, unless I land headfirst, dropping from around 20m should be fine. I’ve never done it, but I’m sure it would be.
But seriously, why aren’t they lowering the altitude? It’s not like we can shoot properly due to the containers, and even with a rocket launcher, hitting anything is basically impossible…
Oh, well, 20m or 10m doesn’t make much difference. There’s really no reason for them to lower it.
Still, I would have preferred it to be lower than 11m, which is when humans feel the most fear. I’m pretty confident I could just jump down without any worries.
“Ugh, my fate really sucks.”
After grumbling all the way, I finally grip the rope and begin the descent. Using just one hand to slide down quickly, I recall Niko’s explanation that overlapping my feet and wedging them between the rope could cause trouble for allies in certain situations.
They said it would be safer to use my feet since it’s my first time on a fast rope, but I’ve got my pride as a high school girl with military training in my past life. Anyway, I trust my arm strength and glide down the rope, landing swiftly on top of the container.
Honestly, I was just a bit scared due to the height; the rope itself was no big deal. I felt that if anything happened, gripping the rope tightly would stop me, so what’s there to be scared of, right?
The military boots I borrowed temporarily hit the container with a loud thud. I quickly stepped aside to give room for Yukino, who descended after me.
“FOX 5, you can just take off your gloves and toss them. And for the one-handed descent…”
“Why should I just rely on my body when you went through the trouble of teaching me the right posture?”
“To be honest, descending with a gun in the other hand sounds kinda cool. Maybe I should try it next time?”
“…Autogi, why would you even do that while descending with a sniper rifle?”
“Isn’t it cool?”
“Enough chit-chat. You all do know the internal structure of the ship and our course of action, right?”
Seeing Kurumi and Autogi starting to babble, Yukino quickly cut in to halt their conversation.
“Of course. Yukino-chan and Kurumi-chan will enter the bridge, and Autogi-chan and I will subdue the enemies inside while freeing the Odyssey students in captivity, right? I remember the layout perfectly.”
“I mean, roughly?”
“FOX 5, during the operation, let’s avoid expressions that aren’t positive or negative. From now on, we will move to our designated operation points. If we don’t locate the Reikubyō no Yū, we regroup at the bridge to regain control of the academy ship and resume the search.”
As I saw Yukino and Kurumi dashing toward the bridge, Niko beckoned for me to follow her. The location of the staircase to enter the ship overlaps somewhat with where I plan to stir up a ruckus and drag out the enemies.
“Mika-san, are you really okay going in alone? Wouldn’t it be better to enter with us instead of playing bait?”
“Don’t worry about me, Niko-chan. I know it might sound a bit arrogant, but I can handle the enemies all day long.”
“Even if it was just an event match, if you could hold your own against the head of Gehenna’s student council, that’s confidence rather than arrogance. But wow, it’s packed, huh? How much money did they spend hiring these goons?”
When we reached the end of the area stacked with containers, the situation on the deck was more chaotic than I expected.
At a glance, there were a number of rocket launchers, several heavy machine gunners, and even some guys lined up with body bunkers.
It seems they quickly assembled their forces after spotting the SRT helicopter, but there aren’t that many of them. Even if there were a ship or more, I could take them on by myself.
“Heueng. The stairs are over there. Niko-chan? I’ll clear the path, so hurry up and get in.”
“Huh, in this situation? Wouldn’t it be better to subdue the troops here first?”
Without hesitation, I threw a pack of enemies in the direction of the stairs and jumped straight off the mountain of containers.
“…Oh my?”
“Wow. Can you really do something like that with a clear mind?”
Some of the goons who were dumbfounded at my jump still had the mental capacity to pull their triggers against me, but since my free-fall time wasn’t long, I just covered my face with my arms and braced my body for impact.
“What the heck is that guy! Is he crazy?”
Thud!
As the troops below where I landed were momentarily dazed, I pierced through the bullets and landed squarely on top of one of the body bunkers lined up in the front.
“I’m not crazy; you’re facing the SRT! Unleash everything and suppress them!”
Looking down at myself, I realized that I was wearing Yukino’s spare uniform that she lent me when I was dragged here in a swimsuit due to urgency. It naturally appeared that I looked like an actual SRT member to the goons.
But aren’t the SRT usually above pulling stunts like this? I trained my gun on the forehead of a goon who peeked out from behind the shield and said, “Now, hold on!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It’s been a while since I’ve had a proper real battle, and I accidentally squeezed off an extra shot in my excitement. Hm, I feel a bit wasteful; usually, three shots to the forehead would almost always knock someone out.
As the light of the Halo dimmed, I softly landed on the downed goon and snatched away his body bunker. It should’ve been heavy, but it felt light in one hand.
Hmm, this is surprisingly to my liking.
“What the hell is this… Guh!”
With a spin, I swung the body bunker around, knocking off the balance of the goons standing beside me. Even the ones who had their guns aimed at me took a step back in shock.
I took the opportunity to fill the goons with bullets now that they were exposed without the cover of their bunkers and glanced out the corner of my eye at Niko and Autogi dashing toward the stairs.
From now on, I have to stir up as much chaos as I can to keep their attention over here.
With a body bunker spinning in one hand, when I tossed it toward the goons, they squealed and flopped to the ground, trying to cover themselves. Thanks to that, the two goons with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns behind them got knocked out by the body bunker.
Wow. Should I try using this friend now? There were plenty of body bunkers lying around like toys. To ease my longing for not being able to see an epic match play out from this spot, I’ll put all my frustrations to rest.
Reflecting back, I realized I used to really like the Captain who wielded a shield as his main weapon in hero movies. So, wouldn’t it be great to benchmark him for today?
In that spirit.
Ah, this doesn’t feel chilly, just heavy.
In this moment, I become Captain England.
“Whoa, you’re totally a monster…!”
Hey now, I’m not a monster; I’m Captain England!
After giving a small lump to the goon who made that annoying remark, I set the shield in front of me and charged forward. My top-priority target is the ones with rocket launchers.
The goons looked like they were trying to set up a formation to effectively counter the SRT’s special forces, but unfortunately, their formation was thrown into chaos by just one crack and was instead tying them up.
“Damn it! Spread out and create some distance! You’re all huddled together, so we can’t counter that body bunker?!”
“Creating distance won’t help against that thing! I don’t care, just request reinforcements! We can’t stop that without our employer!”
Of course, this is all possible because I have the crazy power to pull off a one-man slaughter in this chaotic mess, making it an obviously unfair situation for the goons.
Being paid makes it even harder for them to pull out.
Crackle—
[This is the recreation area! We need support immediately—AHH!]
[Enemies detected on the entry route to the bridge! We’re engaging—]
Geez, it sounds like a real mess out there. But in this situation, I can’t help but wonder who would actually come to help if they request assistance.
“Employer, we need help on the deck ASAP! If you don’t come, we’re all done for…!!!”
Ah, so it’s not just a request for reinforcements, but a Wakamoto request.
Having Wakamoto called over here would be great for me, but I wonder if she’d actually come out.
Hmm… for now, let’s deal with the ones here first.
With today’s ace, the body bunker, I’ve got nothing to fear. I’d probably request them to make one with a prettier design when I order a new one from Millennium later.
Just to clarify, this is a weapon, not a shield. A throwing weapon, to boot.
*
“…This is troublesome.”
In the control center of the Nereus, one of the two bridges, the fox-eared girl, Kosaka Wakamo, blinked as she watched the chaos unfolding inside the academy ship through the CCTV. While fiddling with her temporarily discarded mask, she scratched her cheek as she observed the troops crumbling on the deck.
“Captain, how far is it from here to the coast?”
“About 67 nautical miles…”
“Not that, Captain. There’s a more comprehensible unit, isn’t there?”
“…It should be approximately 124 kilometers.”
“Hmm. For now, it’s within effective range, huh?”
Once again putting her mask back on, Wakamo broke into a small smile.
“Fire. Right now.”
“Understood…”
Imagining the fiery destruction that would soon erupt at the festival being held by the two academies, Wakamo trembled slightly in excitement. The spectacle of destruction blossomed before her eyes, purely from her imagination.
Despite the captain of the Nereus having a reluctant expression, he didn’t show any strong resistance to preparing the anti-ship missiles, having somewhat deduced from the current situation that Aigis from Odyssey was readying to intercept already. Sadly, Wakamo was unaware of that fact.
Crackle—
[Employer! You’re listening right now!!!]
“…”
As Wakamo was about to bring her hand to the radio, her gaze turned again to the screen. The footage of the deck shown on the CCTV displayed a scene of absolute chaos.
‘With that kind of disastrous scene, I can’t help but think that it might be better to launch the missiles and surrender for my personal safety instead, right?’
…The sight of destruction that crushed the spirits of people could even momentarily suppress Wakamo’s fighting instincts.
