The seemingly endless sea of clouds was suddenly pierced.
Not from below going upward, but from above the cloud sea penetrating downward.
The penetrating objects were six aircraft in a triangular formation, each about twenty meters long, one white and five black.
Looking at the obvious attack designs and attachments, these were clearly combat aircraft.
They had just passed through the atmosphere from the weightlessness of outer space, arriving in the sky of the third planet in the solar system.
[This is Bunker Command, YoRHa troops please respond]
The communications channel of the six units echoed with the call from Command Operator 6O.
[This is 1D, all units have successfully passed through the atmosphere, navigation normal, proceeding toward the target]
1D was the captain of this mission squad, and as the captain's unit, her aircraft was marked in white.
[This is Operator 6O, confirming all units are operational. Be advised, you will be passing through airspace approximately one hundred kilometers ahead where flying machine lifeforms are suspected]
[Understood]
Silence followed until they were ten kilometers from the warned position.
[All units, weapon systems unlocked]
[2B, understood]
Simultaneously, the other members also responded to the captain's command.
With the weapon systems unlocked, 2B double-checked again, confirming her unit's weapons had no malfunctions.
Her gaze refocused on the screen in front of her.
Suddenly, what was previously an empty sky now showed something glittering on the horizon.
[Enemy aircraft ahead, all units switch to manual mode]
Captain 1D's announcement confirmed those glittering objects were flying machine lifeforms, the glittering caused by their metallic bodies reflecting sunlight.
[Activating manual mode]
2B issued the command to Pod 042, which was also aboard her fighter.
[Activated, movement controllable]
Thus, the fighter disengaged its automatic mode, and 2B would now control it herself.
Her gaze refocused on the screen; there were an estimated hundred flying machine lifeforms, and the distance was closing.
Suddenly, among this group of shining machine lifeforms reflecting sunlight, a dozen became even brighter.
Their light seemed to come closer.
This was an attack—enemy lasers. Realizing this, 2B immediately performed a roll to evade, with two laser beams passing through her previous position.
The other units similarly all dodged the lasers.
No, 11B was grazed a bit, but it didn't cause major damage.
[All units, engage!]
The weapons of the six aircraft roared, projecting firepower toward the oncoming machine lifeforms.
In response, the machine lifeforms counter-attacked with even greater firepower.
For a moment, the airspace was filled with energy balls from the machine lifeforms and the orange-glowing shells from the aircraft as they friction-heated through the air.
[Enemy numbers increasing, please switch to mobile formation]
[Conditions permit mobile formation]
So, 2B's aircraft transformed from fighter mode to humanoid form, its wings becoming arms, reducing speed but increasing maneuverability.
At the same time, this formation also increased firepower.
As for the other five units, they had switched to mobile formation ahead of 2B.
In this way, under the intense firepower of the mobile formation, the machine lifeforms' lives were rapidly harvested.
It seemed in the blink of an eye, no machine lifeforms could be seen in the entire sky.
However, the team had not escaped without losses.
Captain 1D's unit, with its power engine damaged, could barely fly, and she herself had sustained injuries to her android body.
11B's fighter was directly shot down; she didn't even have time to eject before it all turned into a fireball crashing toward the ground.
So, the remaining four would complete the mission from here on.
According to protocol, 2B would become the new captain.
After confirming again there were no enemies, they switched back to fighter mode. The engines roared, and the units instantly broke the sound barrier heading toward their destination.
[This is Command, current position is one kilometer southeast of the destination, 9S is already on location, please rendezvous]
[Understood]
They couldn't fly directly to the destination as it would be too obvious and might alert the target.
In the blink of an eye, the four aircraft stopped at a corner of the ruined city, where some larger buildings could block the view from the forest.
As for 9S, she spotted him walking out from a ruined building—he had the appearance of a young boy, his body seeming even smaller than 2B's.
9S was an android specializing in hacking-type scanning reconnaissance.
So, 2B slightly narrowed her eyes; she had another secret mission specifically instructed by the Commander.
As she disembarked from the aircraft, a square mechanical box-like object also came out from the unit.
This hovering mechanical box, with what appeared to be only mechanical feet and hands attached to the bottom, was 2B's support unit, Pod 042.
It had extremely powerful computational abilities, possessed its own logical thinking, could quickly analyze surrounding intelligence, and thus make optimal judgments—a valuable assistant to the YoRHa troops.
At the same time, it was equipped with powerful weapon systems.
"You must be the current team captain, Miss 2B. I'm 9S, and I'll be responsible for supporting your search for the target."
Being a reconnaissance type with weaker combat abilities, 9S hadn't dared to venture into the forest alone and was waiting for the dispatched YoRHa troops to proceed together.
"Mm."
After a slight nod, 2B and the group immediately set out, stealthily approaching the edge of the forest where the target had last disappeared.
But first, they checked the defeated machine lifeforms.
"Is this diamond?"
9S took out a small stone granule from the machine's body and was astonished.
"Such shrapnel damage would require considerable explosive force to achieve. The target must be using gunpowder unknown to us."
9S continued to click his tongue in wonder. Though he couldn't completely see the bullet's caliber, it was definitely not large, estimated to be around .75 caliber.
Looking around, he couldn't find any shell casings, which was disappointing.
They continued forward.
"No reactions detected."
With 9S's confirmation, 2B's group completely left the cover of the ruined city, stepping onto an area with almost nothing to hide behind before reaching the forest edge.
If enemies were hiding in the forest, the group would be targets.
To prevent ambushes from all directions, 9S stood in the middle, with the other four surrounding him at the corners, watching in four directions as they moved.
All laser communications with Command had now been disconnected.
This was to prevent the target from using their communications to invade the Command Center.
[Arrived at the position where the target last disappeared]
A Pod reported this, also recording it.
9S crouched down to examine a piece of burned skin on the ground, trying to determine how it differed from YoRHa units.
Suddenly, 2B saw 9S's expression turn to shock.
"No... no way."
He blurted out in disbelief.
What situation could make 9S lose composure like this?