Black Bullet - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.4

4

Rentaro left the dilapidated hotel looking sidelong at Enju and the others, who were watching uneasily. He followed Gado’s messenger to the temporary headquarters; he had heard that it was in the main school building of a different junior high, and this was his first time visiting it.

The campfires he saw from afar grew steadily bigger, and the half-dilapidated school appeared slowly out of the darkness. After a quick, silent bow to the two guards standing in front of the campfires there to burn away the summer insects, they entered the school building.

From the direction the messenger was leading him, Rentaro surmised that Gado and the others were using the staff room as their temporary headquarters. From the light spilling out beyond the room, it looked as though they’d given top priority to acquiring electricity. Once Rentaro was delivered, Gado’s messenger bowed shortly and left.

Rentaro knocked on the door and waited until he was given verbal permission to enter. At the voice, he slid open the door.

Having grown used to the darkness, the brightness inside dazzled his eyes. The extra steel tables in the staff room were pushed to the corner, and Gado and the twelve or so members of his adjuvant sat around a U-shaped table. In the center was a single, high-backed chair. Everyone around the table was wearing exoskeletons that looked like traditional Japanese armor, and the heat they emitted made the room feel cramped. It was as if they were about to start an inquiry.

Rentaro licked his upper lip and told himself to be careful. From the tense atmosphere and hostile gazes, Rentaro guessed that they weren’t about to talk about something fun.

“Sit down,” urged the bald Gado, with his goatee and red armor, from the seat at the head of the table. Cautiously, Rentaro did as he was told.

But Rentaro’s eyes widened the moment he faced front and focused on Gado. Trying desperately to stifle his uneasiness inside, Rentaro nervously raised his arm and pointed at Gado. “You’re…”

“Yeah, it happened when I fought Him.” There was nothing below Gado’s left thigh. It looked like it had been cut off, stitched up, and covered with a bandage. The bandage was covered with a dark stain of blood.

“By him, you mean…Aldebaran?” That instant, it was as if he had said an abominable name, and Gado’s team covered their faces in agitation.

The rumor was true then, after all. In yesterday’s battle, there was a scream of agony that echoed right before the civil officers were completely wiped out, and then the Gastrea suddenly retreated. Rentaro and the other regulars hadn’t been told the details, but it was a badly kept secret that Gado and his partner had fought Aldebaran, and that their fight had ended in a draw.

What was baffling about the situation was that Gado had gone into hiding with no explanation after that, but seeing the sorry state he was in now, Rentaro understood why. It was beyond the level of a badge of honor. If Gado showed himself to the civil officer troops the way he looked now, they couldn’t avoid a drop in morale.

Gado seemed to notice Rentaro’s silence and showed his white teeth with a sinister challenge, slapping his left knee. “You know, this leg wasn’t stolen from me. I gave it to that damn Gastrea.”

“Nagamasa, sir, please do not push yourself.” The quiet Initiator wearing a sky blue exoskeleton, Asaka Mibu, bravely waited upon him, trying to replace his leg.

But Gado waved her away, annoyed, and looked at Rentaro. “What was Hidehiko like in the end?”

“He fought gallantly, sir,” Rentaro answered.

Gado sighed deeply. “I was the one who forced him to give up being an artist and become a civil officer… If I had known this would happen, I would have let him do as he liked.”

Rentaro looked at the faces of everyone gathered there. “Did you fight against Aldebaran with everyone here?”

“No, Asaka and I were the only ones who made it past the enemy’s close battle formation. The enemy did a good job leading us by the nose with its splendid movements. Ironically, even though we can understand words, the enemy was a much better commander.”

“What if there was a rational explanation for why the enemy could command troops?”

“What do you mean?”

“Gado. Aldebaran’s base is probably a bee Gastrea.”

This time, all of Gado’s adjuvant stirred with astonishment, and Gado looked dubious. “What are you talking about…?”

“Gado, do you know why the self-defense force that had an easy victory during the Second Kanto Battle was beaten so quickly this time in the Third Kanto Battle? Also, when you wounded Aldebaran, the surrounding Gastrea immediately formed a wall around it to protect it and retreated. Isn’t that strange if you think about it?”

Gado rubbed his bald head and tilted it. “Get to the point. Are you saying you found the answer?”

“Pheromones.”

“Pheromones…? Are you talking about those things that come out of your body to attract the opposite sex?”

“Those are sex pheromones. What made them all gather immediately to protect Aldebaran were probably swarm pheromones. It is said that swarm pheromones are what command a school of fish in the water to make them seem like one giant fish. There are also alarm pheromones, pheromones to tell friend from foe, pheromones to change moods, trail pheromones, and other different kinds. Over one thousand, six hundred have been identified.

“Aldebaran manipulated mole Gastrea to efficiently stop weapons like tanks and automatic cannons from underground, and had dragonfly Gastrea drop others for a surprise attack to break through the rear. From the timing to everything else, it’s too perfect. Aldebaran is probably able to use known and unknown pheromones to command the Gastrea.

“Pheromones have no taste or smell, so normal humans definitely cannot sense them, and if Aldebaran can use pheromones so dexterously, then it has to be a bee or some other kind of similar Gastrea. Gado, you saw Aldebaran, right? Did you see degenerated wings or a stinger somewhere on its body?”

Gado, lost in thought, didn’t answer as he put a hand on his chin.

It looked like Rentaro had hit the nail on the head. “Do you understand what this means? It means if we take down the head, Aldebaran, the whole swarm will fall apart. Gastrea working alone won’t have a leader anymore and can be easily routed. If we continue to get rid of them, they will suffer an upset before long. There’s no need to chase after them. Eventually, the replacement Monolith will arrive. We’ll win.”

However, even after listening to Rentaro’s plan for victory, Gado remained silent with his arms crossed. Eventually, he put his elbow on top of the desk and put his chin on his hand, looking at Rentaro listlessly. “Your opinion was very helpful. Then, I will share with you a piece of information that you don’t know. About none other than Aldebaran—”

“Commander!” A member of the adjuvant stood up with a screech of his chair. It was a middle-aged man whose face looked oddly similar to Gado’s. He had been part of Gado’s son Hidehiko’s adjuvant. It was possible that all the members of Gado’s adjuvant were his own blood relatives. “I must oppose this! If that is leaked, there will be a fatal drop in morale. You have no obligation to tell a mere soldier!”

Gado shook his head. “It’s not a problem. Leader Satomi’s IP rank is 300. He has the highest rank out of everyone in the troop besides me. He has the right to know. If there’s trouble from it, I will be held responsible.” Saying that, Gado looked back at Rentaro and said gravely, “Leader Satomi, Aldebaran is an immortal Gastrea. There’s no way to kill it.”

“Huh?” Rentaro responded stupidly. He thought he must have heard wrong. However, that faint hope was crushed to smithereens the next moment.

“I will say it again, Leader Satomi. Aldebaran is an immortal Gastrea. Last night, I got in close to him, ready to cross swords and cut off his head. With this,” Gado said as he had Asaka go get the weapon leaning against the wall.

The weapon Asaka reverently brought back was a giant weapon about as big as she was. Two black blades came from the hilt. It was a special sword called a twin sword.

“My sword split open the Gastrea’s head, no mistake, and pierced its chest with its next stroke. I definitely felt like I had done damage to its brain and heart, but that thing didn’t fall, and the next instant, its wounds started to heal, albeit slowly. I was extremely confused and left myself open. Thanks to that, my leg was eaten, and now look at me.”

“No way. That’s impossible…,” Rentaro said. Gastrea only had two vital spots—the brain and the heart. These two areas were supposed to be virtually impossible to regenerate, and other than stabbing these areas and defeating them, using Varanium weapons that inhibit regeneration to inflict damage was the main tactic used when fighting against Gastrea.

Gado’s sword, with its twin obsidian edges, was without a doubt made of Varanium. Damage to the brain and heart, plus the fact that these attacks were made by the regeneration-inhibiting Varanium, should have made triply sure to give Aldebaran a prompt death. To be able to heal wounds like that was extremely unusual.

Gado shrugged his shoulders. “Gastrea cells repair and regenerate telomeres, so they never die of old age. In other words, rather than being immortal, it would be more accurate to say Aldebaran will not age or die.”

Will not age or die…

The back of Rentaro’s mind was numb, and he did not know what to say. The darkness of despair pushed in and enveloped Rentaro from all sides. He had thought that Aldebaran’s ability was just the Varanium corrosion liquid and using pheromones to completely control a troop of Gastrea, but he had been jumping to conclusions thinking he knew the truth behind the ghost.

There had been one more ability.

Something that was the capability of the Stage Five Taurus’s right hand, the Stage Four Gastrea Aldebaran.

“Why—” Rentaro said, gasping. “Why, Gado? Aldebaran has been sighted numerous times in the past. Why hadn’t anyone realized that it had this ability until now?!”

“I’m sure there are various reasons for it, but one is that we were probably all too caught up with how strong the Taurus troops were,” said Gado. “Until a year ago, when the girl of unknown citizenship and name called the world’s strongest Initiator came and unexpectedly killed Taurus, many cities were completely annihilated when trying to stop their advance. Most countries did not survive to bring home intel.”

Gado took the teacup Asaka held out to him, gulped the contents in one go, and leaned forward with a rustle of his armor, looking at Rentaro with belligerent eyes. “Besides, this isn’t the only trump card the Aldebaran troops have. Leader Satomi, you’ve heard of the Spear of Light that many civil officers are talking about, haven’t you?”

“That Gastrea that can shoot high-pressure mercury from five kilometers away?”

Gado widened his eyes in surprise. “High-pressure mercury? It’s shooting mercury?”

Rentaro nodded quietly. “I have a lot of excellent people in my adjuvant. It’s probably an archerfish Gastrea.” Normally, archerfish were tropical fish that used their pointy, funnel-shaped mouths to shoot compressed water and bring down insects near the surface of the water. They only measured about twenty centimeters or so in length, but they could shoot up to 1.5 meters. “According to one of our Initiators, the enemy is a giant Gastrea about ten meters across in all directions, so I can’t even begin to imagine how much pressure that compressed mercury is being shot out at.”

“I see…,” said Gado. “Well, anyway, we were calling the Gastrea that appeared suddenly yesterday Gastrea X, but after consulting with the Japanese National Security Council this morning, it was acknowledged to be as much of a threat as Aldebaran and was given the code name Pleiades, after the group of stars in the middle of the Taurus constellation.”

“Pleiades…”

Gado fished around in his breast pocket and pulled out two objects engraved with intricate designs. Rentaro could tell immediately that they were chess pieces, a king and a queen. “It’s true that, like you said, if we defeat Aldebaran, we’ll probably win this game. However, even if we try to defeat the king, the queen will definitely stand in our way. So in this game, we must defeat the queen in order to be victorious.”

In chess, everyone knew without saying that the king was the most important piece in predicting the outcome of a game. And that the queen, who could move in all directions and had an unlimited range, was the supreme ruler of the battlefield. It was a perfectly fitting phrase.

“But this isn’t chess, it’s shogi, right?”

“Hmm?”

“The opponent’s camp can use all the pieces that were defeated by the Gastrea virus. We’re the ones that are being made to play by the rules of chess.”

Gado seemed to be holding back laughter as he shrugged his shoulders queerly. “That might well be the case.”

“How many people were killed?”

“It would be impossible to explain that in one sentence.” Gado took a sip of tea from the cup Asaka proffered, crossed his arms, and looked down. “When the battle started, the enemy numbered about two thousand. However, the seven thousand decisive self-defense soldiers were defeated, and though the Gastrea forces lost five hundred, in exchange, it looks like two thousand of the defeated self-defense force troops were infected with the Gastrea virus and turned into Gastrea, adding to Aldebaran’s numbers. Then, the expanded Gastrea troop of three thousand five hundred bodies came up against our five hundred pairs of civil officers, or a thousand people. The enemy lost nine hundred, but half of our pairs were killed as well—and sadly, it looks like a hundred of them were added to the enemy’s numbers.”

“In other words, the current match up of fighting bodies is…”

“Two thousand seven hundred Gastrea to our five hundred.”

Rentaro was sure that wasn’t all. They had suffered more serious damage than the numbers made it appear. There were, of course, the injured, but also those ten-year-old girls who were dispirited from the trauma of being suddenly thrown onto such a cruel battlefield. There were also many pairs whose combat power was less than half because one of the partners had been killed. Even if those who lost their partners formed impromptu unofficial pairs, they could not be expected to be in sync. It would be better to say that their actual numbers were about a third of what they had left, or a hundred and sixty-six people.

“Those numbers are hopeless,” said Rentaro.

“I have nothing to say in response to that…,” replied Gado. “On top of that, today we must give an even more painful ruling.”

“What?” Slowly, the pressure from the gazes around Rentaro became even stronger, and he felt intense pressure from them.

The corner of Gado’s eyes narrowed sharply. “Leader Satomi, do you know why you were called here today?”

“What are you…talking about…?”

“You were not called here today so we could ask you to analyze Aldebaran and Pleiades. The fact of the matter is, we want to ask you about the independent action your adjuvant took when you left Hidehiko’s formation during the operation.”

When Rentaro understood what Gado was trying to say, he got chills down his spine. “Please, wait. We noticed the Gastrea that had gone to the back of the formation to prepare for a surprise attack and went to intercept them—”

“We have confirmed the corpses of the Gastrea to the rear of the main battle formation. However, appearances are appearances, and disobeying orders is disobeying orders. We must think of these two as separate.” Unlike earlier, Gado’s voice now had coldness mixed into it.

Rentaro realized that the winds were blowing in a strange direction and wiped the sweat on his palms hard on his pants.

“In order to maintain appearances in the army, even if just one person from the civil officer troops disobeys orders, I’m sure you can imagine what would happen. From the perspective of the other civil officers who did not know the circumstances behind your actions, what you did looks like deserting under enemy fire. In addition, you and your Initiator are a high-ranking pair with an IP rank of 300. Your actions caused a fatal disturbance in the other civil officers who were desperately enduring their shaking knees to stand in line. I must have you pay for that.”

“B-but—”

Even as Rentaro tried to argue vehemently, Gado cut him off completely. “It was rash, Leader Satomi. I hereby disband your adjuvant and sentence you to capital punishment. I will not hear any excuses. You disobeyed the orders of your superior officer and deserted under enemy fire. Those are serious crimes even among serious crimes. If I do not punish you, it will set the bad precedent that even if one disobeys orders, they will not be punished. Military troops with warped rules can no longer be called military troops. They are just a disorderly crowd. Especially now that the mood of defeat has grown stronger, discipline must be tightened.”

At Gado’s words, a heavy weight fell on Rentaro with a thud.

Capital punishment. In other words, death.

“S-stop messing around!” The instant Rentaro stood from his chair to try to get closer to Gado, a strong fist sank into his stomach, and he almost passed out from the blow.

“Oof.” Rentaro couldn’t bear it, and his knees bent. As he gritted his teeth against the pain, he looked next to him and saw the Initiator, Asaka, looking down at him with a bored look on her face.

The little—!

“If you move, you will send your life flying,” she said.

Rentaro was forced to his knees, and pressing into his throat was the cold blade of a Japanese sword. Behind his back, he could hear multiple guns cocking, and as he glared at Gado with his teeth gritted, he received a pitying look. “Leader Satomi,” Gado said, “I personally expected a lot out of you. It’s unfortunate.”

Damn it. Rentaro cursed his own carelessness as his clenched fists shook above his knees. When he had been summoned by Gado, why had he not sensed any danger? If he had been able to predict that this would happen, he could have thought of a way to deal with it. Instead, he just nonchalantly…

Rentaro lamented his own foolish actions and the fact that he could not find anything wrong with Gado’s logic. Gado’s reasons were completely valid. If the rules of the corps were to be the most important, then he had to punish whoever broke the rules, no matter who it was. If their positions were reversed, then Rentaro likely would have imposed the same grave punishment on Gado.

Resignation slowly took its toll. Rentaro’s stomach felt as heavy as lead, and he started to feel dizzy.

“My…” He saw Enju’s smile in his head. He felt stunned, and his vision grew dark as he sweat profusely. Then, finally, words of defeat passed Rentaro’s lips. “My adjuvant… Please do not punish them… They were just following my orders. Please.”

Gado snorted. “To think that the hero who defeated the Zodiac Gastrea Scorpion and saved the country is now on death row. Fate is ironic to the bitter end, isn’t it?”

“Commander. There is no need to have pity on him. Let us execute this man here and now!” demanded one of Gado’s subordinates.

Gado rejected his subordinate’s suggestion with a wave of his hand and looked straight at Rentaro with a sigh. Then, he said, “Leader Satomi, are you ready to die once more?”

“Huh?” said Rentaro, startled.

“Commander!” said Gado’s subordinate.

“Now, wait a minute,” said Gado. “Leader Satomi, as you know, the battle we are fighting right now is a defensive battle to hold out until the construction of the replacement Monolith. However, there are also people who think we should not just be defending. If we were able to eliminate the symbol of the civil officers’ current fears, the Gastrea Pleiades, then I believe we can find a way out of this blockade. However, we do not have enough troops that I can deploy elite troops to do the job.” Gado stopped talking for a moment and gave a bold smile. “So I have a request to ask of you.”

Gado stood with one hand on his cane, schooled his gaze, and spoke from his belly. “What I ask is for you to infiltrate enemy territory by yourself and exterminate the unknown long-distance sniper Gastrea Pleiades.”

Rentaro felt like he had been hit hard on the side of the head. He couldn’t react for a good while.

“What I really want to say is to go and defeat Aldebaran, but it would be rash to go up against an immortal Gastrea without a plan.

“Asaka.” Gado gave her an order, and she calmly operated the PDA device next to her. When she did, a giant 3-D image that seemed to bury the whole room appeared. In front of them spread the expanse of flat plains connected to the ruins that Rentaro and the others had requisitioned, and through the forest behind that was the memorial monument, the Flame of Return.

It looked to be a scale model of District 40, where Rentaro and the others were. There was something similar in Miori Shiba’s student council room, but the accuracy and color of this was nowhere near as good as the one owned by the daughter of a multimillionaire.

From where Rentaro was, he could see the small mountain of powder in the back that was what remained of the Monolith.

“Currently, the civil officer and Gastrea troops are positioned equidistant from the Monolith with the Monolith between them,” said Gado.

As if their hearts were beating as one, as Gado spoke, Asaka turned the model and drew a line. The line disappeared into an oval-shaped forest quite far away and outside the city wall. The forest was expansive, and there was a river that seemed to pierce its center. With a tree canopy that high, even a Stage Four Gastrea could hide in it.

Gado continued. “Because of the Gastrea virus, this forest has seen abnormal growth and diverse ecosystems. Somewhere in this forest, the twenty-seven hundred-plus Gastrea we were discussing are resting.”

“Do you know what part of the forest Aldebaran and Pleiades are in?” Rentaro hedged.

“Unfortunately, no. Not even the highest resolution artificial satellite could tell us this. We do also have sixth-generation unmanned reconnaissance crafts, but the JNSC cabinet ministers are extremely unmotivated to send them.”

“Pleiades, huh…?”

“That’s right. A being that the JNSC higher-ups are afraid to shoot down even with cruise missiles and support fighter aircraft. They had guaranteed us mastery of the air, but they have not brought that promise to fruition yet. Thanks to that, the flying Gastrea dealt us a lot of damage, and it was all we could do to defend ourselves. They really gave us a beating.”

The joke that even one powerful Gastrea could change the tide of a war was happening in real life. And the still unseen Pleiades that shot compressed mercury… According to Tina, it measured about ten meters on all sides. Since it was on land, its archerfish genes must have mixed with those of a land-dwelling animal, so Rentaro wondered what form it would take.

“Leader Satomi… No, Former Leader. Destroy it. You have no right to refuse. You only have a small chance of succeeding, but since you were supposed to die anyway, it will be no great loss if you go. Dead heroes are very easy to use, after all.”

Fury pierced Rentaro’s spinal cord, and he brushed off the men at his sides who were holding him down, pushed away the other subordinates trying to stop him, and pressed on determinedly toward Gado. Slamming the palms of his hands on Gado’s steel desk, Rentaro got so close to the man that he practically head-butted his nose. “You’ve finally shown your true nature, huh? You old weasel…!”

Gado smiled without changing the cool expression on his face. “But Satomi, these are also my honest, true feelings. Among the civil officers, there are those who mistakenly believe that we don’t need to fight Aldebaran anymore and can sit pretty for another three days. Unfortunately, once Aldebaran completely heals the injury I gave it, it will definitely attack again. This is the only chance we have to attack. Satomi, if you accept this mission, I promise that I will not charge your adjuvant for this crime. But if you refuse, I will punish you all together. It looks like you have an Initiator who adores you as if you were her father and a lovely childhood friend in your adjuvant. I’m sure you could not bring yourself to let them undergo such severe punishment.”

“Just try laying even a finger on Enju or Kisara… I’ll kill you!”

“Then, it’s decided. We will prepare the equipment for you. Go say your good-byes to your friends today.”

Rentaro closed his eyes and exhaled, then slowly opened them again. “There’s one last thing I want to ask. You all saw Aldebaran with your own eyes, right? What did it look like?”

The moment he asked, a startled expression crossed over everyone in the room. Gado had a frighteningly stern expression on his face and looked like he was about to shoot fire from his angrily narrowed eyes. “Satomi, unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. No, I do not want to answer your question. Last night, because of our encounter with the repulsive monster, none of us slept one wink. We will probably not be able to sleep well tonight, either. Do your best. I pray from the bottom of my heart that you will be able to complete your mission without running into Aldebaran.”