A sea of clouds that seemed to stretch without end was suddenly pierced by something.
Not from below, thrusting upward, but from above—punching down through the cloud layer.
What tore through was a six-craft flight formation in a triangular pattern, each airframe nearly twenty meters long, one white and five black.
From the obvious weapon hardpoints and combat fittings on their hulls, these were clearly combat flight units.
They had just passed from the weightlessness of outer space through the atmosphere, entering the sky of the third planet of the Solar System.
[This is the Bunker Command. YoRHa forces, respond if you read.]
Operator 6O's voice came through the comm channels of all six units.
[This is 1D. All units have successfully passed through the atmosphere. Navigation is normal. Proceeding toward the target.]
1D was the leader of this squad, so the leader craft was marked white.
[This is Operator 6O. All craft show confirmed responses. Be advised: you will be passing through an airspace one hundred kilometers ahead. Suspected presence of airborne machine lifeforms.]
[Understood.]
Silence followed, until they reached the ten-kilometer warning threshold.
[All units, weapons systems unlocked.]
[2B, understood.]
The other members answered the leader's order as well.
With weapons unlocked, 2B ran another check, confirming her craft's armaments were functioning without fault.
Her focus returned to the forward display.
Ahead, the sky had been empty—until glittering points appeared along the distant horizon.
[Enemy craft detected ahead. All units switch to manual.]
Leader craft 1D's announcement made it clear: those glittering points were flying machine lifeforms, shining because their metal bodies reflected sunlight.
[Manual mode engaged.]
2B issued the command to Pod 042, which was mounted to her flight unit.
[Engaged. Manual maneuvering available.]
The flight unit disengaged automatic control. From here on, 2B would be flying it herself.
Her eyes locked onto the display again. There were over a hundred flying machines, and the distance was closing.
Suddenly, among the glittering swarm, more than a dozen grew brighter—far brighter.
The light felt as if it had jumped closer in an instant.
An attack.
Enemy lasers.
Realizing it immediately, 2B rolled to evade. Two laser beams sliced through the space where she had been a moment earlier.
The other units evaded as well.
No—11B was grazed, but the damage was not severe.
[All craft, engage!]
The weapons of the six flight units roared to life, pouring fire into the oncoming machines.
The machine lifeforms retaliated with even heavier firepower.
In an instant, the airspace filled with machine energy spheres and the orange flare of shells heated by air friction as they tore past.
[Enemy numbers increasing. Switch to mobile form.]
[Permission granted. Mobile form authorized.]
2B's flight unit transformed from fighter configuration into a humanoid form. Its wings reshaped into arms.
Its speed dropped, but its agility rose sharply.
In this form, its firepower also increased.
As for the other five units, they had switched to mobile form ahead of 2B.
Under the mobile form's concentrated barrage, the machine lifeforms were cut down at a terrifying rate.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the sky was cleared—no machine lifeforms remained in sight.
However, the squad had not come through unscathed.
Leader craft 1D's engine had been damaged. It could barely fly, and 1D's body had sustained injuries as well.
11B's unit had been shot down outright. There was no time to eject. The craft and pilot became a fireball that plunged toward the ground.
That meant the mission would now be carried out by the remaining four.
By procedure, 2B became the new squad leader.
After confirming there were no further threats, they switched back to fighter configuration. Engines flared, and the units burst through the sound barrier, accelerating toward the destination.
[This is Command. You are now one kilometer southeast of the objective. 9S is already on-site. Link up with him.]
[Understood.]
They could not fly directly to the objective—too conspicuous. It could alert the target.
In short order, the four flight units set down on one edge of the ruined city. Large buildings here could be used to block line-of-sight from the forest.
9S was there.
He emerged from within a collapsed structure, taking the form of a boy—his body looking even smaller than 2B's.
9S was a scanning-type reconnaissance android specialized in hacking.
2B narrowed her eyes slightly.
She had a second, secret assignment the Commander had specifically emphasized.
As she dismounted, a box-like square mechanical unit detached from the airframe and floated down alongside her.
This hovering mechanical box—its underside fitted with something like combined mechanical hands and feet—was 2B's support unit, Pod 042.
It possessed extremely powerful computation capability and its own logical processing, able to rapidly analyze surrounding intelligence and produce optimal judgments.
A reliable assistant to YoRHa.
It was also equipped with significant onboard firepower.
"You must be the acting squad leader, Ms. 2B. I'm 9S. From here on, I'll provide support for your search and investigation of the target."
Because 9S was a reconnaissance type, his combat capability was limited. He had not dared to enter the forest alone, and had waited for the deployed YoRHa team to advance together.
"Mhm."
2B gave a slight nod, and the group moved out immediately, quietly closing on the forest edge where the target had last disappeared.
But first, they examined the destroyed machine lifeforms.
"Is this… diamond?"
9S picked up a tiny grain-like fragment from the wreckage and froze in astonishment.
"For shrapnel to do this kind of damage, the explosion would need to be extremely powerful. The target must be using a kind of propellant we don't understand."
9S clicked his tongue.
Though he could not clearly see the bullet caliber in the footage, it definitely was not large—he estimated it at around 0.75 caliber.
He searched the area, but found no casings at all, which left him visibly dissatisfied.
They continued forward.
"No reactions detected."
With 9S's confirmation, 2B's team fully left the ruined city's cover and stepped into the open stretch leading toward the forest edge—terrain with almost no concealment.
If enemies were hidden in the forest, they would be nothing but targets out here.
To guard against ambushes from all sides, 9S stayed in the center while the other four formed a moving perimeter at the corners, watching all directions as they advanced.
Meanwhile, all laser communications with Command had been cut.
This was to prevent the target from leveraging their link to infiltrate Command itself.
[Reached the target's last known disappearance point.]
One Pod reported, recording the location.
9S crouched and examined a charred strip of skin on the ground, checking whether it differed from YoRHa's.
Then, suddenly, 2B saw 9S's expression twist into raw shock.
"No… that can't be."
He blurted it out, stunned.
What could possibly make 9S lose composure like this?
(End of Chapter)
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