The Kusanagi.
"A change of plans?"
Cagalli stared in astonishment at the message from the Archangel. The G-Bomb had been designated as a backup weapon.
That meant the primary weapon intended to destroy Junius Seven had been replaced, with the G-Bomb reserved for interception if the first attempt failed.
Had it been replaced by the guest that guy had invited over?
When the video feed connected, Cagalli saw a strange warship.
It looked like an antique from the previous century, a heavy cruiser from the Second World War.
In the modern era, a cruiser like that would be little more than a target. Missiles dominated naval warfare now, and ships rarely closed the distance enough to exchange cannon fire.
However, a closer look revealed strange patterns of light running across the vessel's surface. Its entire hull was metallic, including the deck. Cagalli could also see what appeared to be numerous missile launchers.
It seemed to be an old-fashioned warship only in appearance.
There was not a single person aboard the vessel.
That was probably because the ship itself was controlled by an entity known as a Mental Model, essentially a superintelligent AI.
In that case, the AI must have been the impossibly beautiful girl standing beside him.
He had already boarded the heavy cruiser, which was now sailing out of Port 07.
Could a single Fleet of Fog warship truly possess enough firepower to destroy something as massive as Junius Seven?
If it could, that would be terrifying.
Cagalli could not even imagine how powerful the entire Fleet of Fog must be.
As the heavy cruiser Takao departed Orb's territorial waters, the Earth Alliance fleet monitoring Orb began to move. Several vessels altered course and approached the cruiser.
At the same time, the Archangel left port.
Inside a specially prepared room aboard the Archangel was an unusual device called an STL, or Soul Translator.
"Miss Lacus, what is this?"
Meyrin could not suppress her curiosity. The device resembled one of the individual escape pods used to evacuate a colony satellite during an emergency.
The moment the question left her mouth, someone tugged at the edge of her clothes. It was her older sister.
Meyrin froze for a moment before realizing that she had misspoken.
This was obviously some kind of specialized equipment. Asking about it now could easily be mistaken for an attempt to probe confidential information.
"It's only a remote-control device," Lacus answered.
That description was accurate, though it was far from an ordinary remote-control system.
The previous night, Lacus had used a Cross-World Invitation to bring someone from Miss A2's world over to install the device.
Miss A2's group had obtained the technology from Miss Asuna and immediately replicated it, producing a safer version of the STL, or Soul Translator.
Several internal components had been replaced with safer materials.
Once the device was complete, its systems had been modified and wirelessly connected to the Ho 229 fighters.
This allowed Lacus to use the STL to perform a virtual dive into the Ho 229 network and control the fighters remotely. She could freely assume direct control of any connected aircraft.
Of course, Lacus was not using the system primarily to pilot the fighters herself. Her main responsibility was commanding the unmanned aircraft.
The fighters could not carry genuine artificial life-forms, and their onboard intelligence programs were limited. They could not properly judge every situation. Lacus's role was to analyze the battlefield, detect anything unusual, and issue orders to the unmanned fighters. If necessary, she could even pilot one directly through the virtual interface.
She had spent six uninterrupted hours adjusting the system the previous night.
In addition to the four Ho 229s already present in this world, another six had been provided, giving her command of ten fighters in total.
Lacus's mission was to support the Archangel in battle and coordinate the defense of Orb's mainland.
There was another proposed method for intercepting Junius Seven, this one offered by Miss A2's group. They could bring the YoRHa over to destroy it.
The YoRHa was the Moon-class cruiser from Kain's world that he had brought to Miss A2's side to be constructed. It was a five-kilometer-long space warship.
When it came time to name the vessel, they had left the decision to Kain. He could not be bothered to think of anything elaborate, so he had simply named it YoRHa.
Although the YoRHa was not yet complete, it would have had no difficulty dealing with Junius Seven.
Bringing it into this world, however, would require opening a space measuring 1,000³ cubic meters. Doing so would cost one thousand Energy Coins, followed by another hundred coins for every hour the passage remained open.
That was a considerable expense.
Using the G-Bomb would only require opening a personal space measuring 10³ cubic meters, which would cost ten coins. They only needed to transfer the warhead and install it in the launcher.
Bringing Miss Takao over required a personal space measuring 100³ cubic meters. Opening it cost one hundred coins, with an additional maintenance cost of ten coins per hour.
The G-Bomb appeared to be the least expensive option. However, G-Bombs were rare superweapons. When their overall value and scarcity were taken into account, it made more sense to reserve one as a backup and have Miss Takao destroy Junius Seven instead.
With that decided, Lacus initiated her virtual dive and activated the Ho 229s.
"Captain Murrue!"
A sharp, panicked cry rang through the Archangel's bridge. The optical sensors had detected something enormous beyond the atmosphere.
"So it's no longer hiding?" Murrue murmured, her expression turning grim.
The massive object displayed on the screen was Junius Seven.
Then something changed, causing her pupils to contract.
"What is that?"
"A barrier?"
Several pieces of space debris were about to collide with Junius Seven when a faintly transparent protective field appeared around it.
More debris struck the barrier, allowing the Archangel's systems to analyze it.
"That's the Artemis defensive system, the Lightwave Barrier Belt!"
"Those Earth Alliance bastards have been pretending not to see anything because they're involved!"
Angry voices erupted throughout the bridge. Murrue's face turned pale.
The barrier was there to ensure that Junius Seven reached the surface in one piece.
"They're insane!"
Mu had just launched in his fighter, and even his voice had turned icy. At this point, he had lost all faith in the Earth Alliance.
"They're willing to go this far just to destroy Orb?"
The boy piloting the Strike sounded equally horrified. Until Junius Seven had appeared, he had still found it difficult to believe that anyone could commit such an atrocity.
Junius Seven was already enormous. Between the glow of the Artemis barrier and the night now covering the sky, it resembled a second moon moving across the heavens. It continued to grow larger as it approached Earth.
Every country on the planet's night side could see that second moon. Their populations were undoubtedly terrified.
Before long, the seemingly outdated warship came to a stop twenty nautical miles from Orb's coastline.
"So this is what I'm supposed to destroy? It might actually be a little challenging."
The blue-haired girl muttered to herself, glancing from the corner of her eye at the human man standing beside her.
She discovered that he was also looking at her.
Her cheeks immediately reddened, and she hurriedly turned away.
She could not meet his eyes. Apparently, he could invade her through eye contact.
That was the conclusion Takao had reached after repeatedly analyzing how he had managed to infiltrate her.
She returned her attention to the moon above, which was gradually turning red. It must have begun entering the atmosphere.
She had already received all the relevant data on its size, mass, and composition.
Erosion Torpedoes alone should be enough to break most of it apart.
However, she had just received another piece of information.
It was protected by a barrier?
How interesting.
She wondered whether it could withstand her Super-Graviton Cannon.
In that case, it was time to enter...
"Engagement Mode!"
The words left the girl's delicate lips as she spread her arms wide, almost as though she were embracing the sky.
Standing beside her, Kain watched the entire performance.
The moment Takao noticed him looking at her, she reacted like a chuunibyou who had been caught striking an embarrassing pose.
The Mental Model coughed awkwardly, lowered her arms, and straightened her posture.
At the same time, the metallic warship beneath Kain's feet began to tremble.
The hull transformed as the Super-Graviton Cannon started to deploy.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]