Black Bullet - Volume 4 - Chapter 4.5

5

Just then, Rentaro heard the sound of a large number of distant rotors in the air. Turning to spot them, he estimated that there were over twenty transport aircraft and helicopters flying in a formation toward them. When the transport craft swelled and passed over Rentaro’s head, he was sure he could see the Shiba Heavy Weapons emblem printed on its side.

It looked like what he had ordered had arrived.

As Rentaro pushed his way through the stunned civil officers, a rappelling extraction rope was lowered to the ground from one of the air units, and a girl wearing a kimono with long, fluttering sleeves gave a big wave as she blew a kiss toward Rentaro. “Satomi, dear! I’m on my way! Whoa!” Miori Shiba swung dangerously midair, and just as Rentaro expected, her sleeves got tangled with the rope in the air and she lost her balance.

Rentaro didn’t wait, but pushed the crowd out of the way as he rushed over, sliding to catch the falling woman.

As she hit, he felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs and almost lost consciousness as a thud vibrated all the way to his organs.

When he looked again, he was on his back and Miori was sitting on him, flushed with embarrassment.

“Owwww… It’s been a while, Satomi, dear. Oof. This is kind of a kinky position.”

“Hey, idiot! Don’t climb down a rope ladder wearing a kimono and geta clogs!” Rentaro yelled.

“But I wanted to see my dear Satomi as quickly as possible!” Flirtatiously, the daughter of the weapons conglomerate CEO put her arms around Rentaro’s neck and whispered in his ear. “I knew you’d save me, Satomi dearest. I think I might’ve sprained my ankle. I wish you’d carry me in your arms like a princess to a nearby tent. You can take care of me however you want, mon ami.”

Her elegant kimono was made of dyed black cloth and embroidered embellishments. Her lustrous black hair was wavy, and her beautiful white face with its shapely nose was so close to Rentaro’s face his heart pounded.

“H-hey, Miori…” Rentaro said.

“Sa-to-mi, my dear… Tee-hee,” she said, articulating each syllable distinctly.

Suddenly, Rentaro heard a sharp tongue click from behind him. “Too bad. It would have been nice if you’d fallen and broken your neck.”

Jumping up with astonishment, he found that it was Kisara who had spoken, as he expected, and was standing in front of his chest with her arms crossed, her legs shifting with irritation. “What business do you have here? Hurry up and take care of it and leave.”

“Oh my, it’s been a while, Kisara. Have your breasts distended since we last met?”

“We just saw each other recently! There’s no way they’d get bigger so suddenly!”

Miori took a fan out from her bosom and spread it, covering her mouth as she narrowed her eyes, laughing bewitchingly. “Unfortunately, I’m here today officially employed as a weapons advisor to dear Satomi. I don’t have to listen to you.”

“What?” Kisara glared at Rentaro sharply. “Hey, Satomi! What’s the meaning of this?”

Rentaro felt like he’d finally gotten permission to speak as he went to stand between them. “It’s true that I asked Miori to come. In order to defeat Aldebaran, we definitely need the cooperation of a weapons specialist.”

In the staff tent Miori constructed was a crude desk, and the lightbulb that hung from the ceiling with a simple lampshade over it lit only the desk. But around that desk were the members of Rentaro’s adjuvant, plus Miori.

Miori put her hands on the plain wood surface and looked around at everyone with an uncharacteristic scowl. “I’ve heard about Aldebaran from our dear Satomi. An immortal Gastrea is no joke. You’ve all done your best. Let us at Shiba Heavy Weapons back you civil officers up with everything we’ve got.”

Rentaro nodded. “Thanks. That’s encouraging.”

“Hey…Miori.” Kisara, who had her hands crossed in front of her chest, put a hand to her chin and looked uneasily at the woman. “It’s not that I have any complaints against you all, but don’t we have any extra backup other than Shiba?”

Miori understood what Kisara was trying to say and nodded. “Kisara, you’ve been at the front lines this whole time, so you may not know much about the mood in Tokyo Area right now, but it’s terrible on the home front. In the first place, in order to prevent the attack of the Zodiac Scorpion that came out during the Kagetane Hiruko terrorist incident, Tokyo’s land, sea, and air self-defense forces were already nearly annihilated. Then, before the paint was even dry on that matter, Aldebaran came. The city’s defense systems are practically worthless now.

“Even if it can miraculously defeat Aldebaran, it would take Tokyo Area years to recover to its national power to previous levels. I’m sure the Lady Seitenshi will have to deal with more national troubles than any Seitenshi we’ve had so far.”

Gazes with deep-rooted criticism fell to the terrorist in the corner of the tent, but Kagetane just shrugged, showing no sign of remorse.

Kisara continued. “What about support from outside the country, or other areas?”

“That’s difficult, too. The other countries have their own speculations, but in the end, most think of it as someone else’s problem.”

Miori pointed a finger at Rentaro. “I have one more piece of bad news. This is a report from Shiba Heavy Weapons’ man-made satellite. It looks like the Aldebaran troops have finally started moving.”

The mood inside the tent stiffened noticeably.

“When are they expected to arrive?” Rentaro asked.

“At eleven p.m.”

Rentaro hurriedly checked the time. They had a little over half a day left. Rentaro forced down the nervousness inside him and asked Miori as calmly as possible: “Well, Miori, is there a way to defeat Aldebaran?”

Everyone’s eyes seemed to cling to her as Miori suppressed a smile and hid her mouth with her fan. “Who do you think I am? Of course I came with a plan.”

Miori placed the small case at her feet on the table before opening it and pulling out a cylindrical object. The shiny black metal on its surface was probably Varanium; the red sensor inside that gave an impression of solidity, reflecting the light of the bulb above them.

When Rentaro stroked the surface, it felt cool, and when he tried holding it, it was much heavier than he expected. It was just about as thick as a tea canister, but Rentaro could hold it with one hand with no problems.

Since he had been preparing himself for what was about to come out, Rentaro was a little disappointed. And it looked like Rentaro was not the only one who felt that way.

“Oh my, is Miss Miori going to make us some tea?”

Miori did not respond to Kisara’s sarcasm, but looked at everyone with seriousness. “That is a special bomb developed by our research team. Its development code name was the ekpyrotic bomb, but everyone calls it the EP bomb because the name is too long. It can cause extreme explosive damage to a very small area, and it has twenty times the power of the five-hundred-pound bombs dropped on Aldebaran by the self-defense force, so be careful when you’re handling that.”

Rentaro almost dropped it.

Seeing that, Miori chuckled and took the can from Rentaro’s hand.

“In other words, Miori, you’re saying—”

Miori nodded. “Completely destroy Aldebaran so that not even a scrap of it is left. There is no other way for us to win.”

Rentaro stared hard at the small cylindrical bomb. It didn’t look like there was a spare. The fate of Tokyo Area literally lay in this single small bomb.

“But Satomi, dear, at this rate, just hitting Aldebaran with this will not kill it.”

Rentaro tilted his head in question. “What do you mean?”

Miori smiled bewitchingly and continued. “Exactly what I said. At this rate, I’m still worried that there is not enough firepower. That’s why, based on the results of analysis by our research team, making this explode inside Aldebaran’s body is the only chance we have to destroy it.”

Kisara, Tina, and Shoma had looks of sudden realization on their faces, but Rentaro still didn’t understand.

“Satomi, did you know that gunpowder is more powerful when you have it explode sealed up inside a hard container than when you just let it explode as is? It’s like when you let a firecracker explode on the palm of your hand, your hand will just get burned, but if you hold it tightly in your hand, your whole hand can be blown off. The EP bomb is an amazing bomb that explodes with a high-pressure implosion reaction, but that will not completely destroy Aldebaran. That’s why we would like to have it explode with another layer of complete airtightness around it.”

After getting that explanation, Rentaro was finally also able to follow the conversation. “In other words, Miori, you’re saying we need to injure Aldebaran, toss the EP bomb in before it regenerates, wait until the wound fully heals, and then make the bomb explode?”

All of the giant Gastrea had exoskeletons that were extremely hard so that they would not be crushed under the pressure of gravity. If they injured one, threw the bomb in, and then waited for it to heal, the bomb would be taken in by the Gastrea’s body, which should completely seal it off. If they activated a timed fuse in those conditions, it was possible to create a terrifying detonation.

In other words, Miori was planning to use the Gastrea’s body as a vessel to increase the bomb’s explosive power.

Miori pointed at a slit in the middle of the tea canister–shaped bomb. Upon closer inspection, Rentaro noticed that the slit part was notched with red gradations. “If you twist the EP bomb itself to this notch, it will explode three minutes later. It will be more sensitive at that point, so after you twist the can, make sure you do not let it undergo any strong shocks.”

Rentaro was dumbfounded at the audacity of the plan. However, it was true that it might be possible to kill Aldebaran with this. But his doubts had not all been cleared up yet. “Miori, how do you plan on getting a wind hole into Aldebaran? We don’t have a weapon left that can do that.”

The five-hundred-pound bomb dropped from the fighter aircraft could deliver a blow like a giant war hammer with the addition of gravitational acceleration, and the first blow to injure Aldebaran that Gado delivered was a satisfying one from the state-of-the-art powered-exoskeleton suit he wore. However, in order to throw the EP bomb deep into Aldebaran’s body, they would need a combination of ballistic and penetrating power greater than those. Rentaro explained without pausing that even a tank gun or bunker buster might not be strong enough.

“We do have a weapon strong enough. Just one. Something with greater ballistic and penetrating power than a tank gun. One that, if it’s not damaged, is a weapon we can trust. Our greatest and last weapon.”

“Where?” As he braced himself for the answer, he noticed that all the eyes in the tent were looking at him—or more precisely, at Rentaro’s arm and leg. Consecutive days of fighting had left the artificial skin peeling off, and he hadn’t had time to do repairs. His uniform was torn and frayed. The cloak was also a hand-me-down from Gado, so its hem was worn out, and it was tattered, but it made it look almost strangely vintage.

And, in the past, the defense ministry had asked for each individual soldier’s equipment in the New Humanity Creation Plan to have enough power to defeat a Level Four Gastrea with certainty.

Rentaro pointed at himself. “M-me?”

Miori nodded with a grin. “That’s right. Our last weapon is none other than you, my dear Satomi.”

Rentaro stared at his right arm. It was true that if they were to say who among them had attack power that could rip through Kagetane’s transcendent barrier, Imaginary Gimmick, it would no doubt be himself. However, even though Aldebaran was not a Stage Five, it was much bigger than other Stage Fours, and if they were to rank it, it would be somewhere between a Stage Four and Stage Five. Could he really annihilate it with his own power?

Rentaro shook his head. He had to do it; there was no other way.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Miori put the palm of her hand next to his ear and patted him twice. “Okay, attention please. I want to confirm with everyone. Aldebaran is a practically immortal Gastrea, but it controls other Gastrea with its pheromones, so as long as we defeat it, we’ll win.

“In order to win this battle, we have to fulfill the following conditions: One, find Aldebaran as quickly as possible from the midst of the enemy troops. I have a plan for this. Two, cut across the enemy camp with the rest of the adjuvant protecting Satomi, bringing him to Aldebaran. And three, to have dear Satomi fight Aldebaran and injure it, twist the detonation can of the EP bomb, throw it into Aldebaran, and escape.

“If Aldebaran finds you, it’s game over. If dear Satomi is defeated, it’s game over. If the bomb Satomi throws in is not deep enough and does not completely destroy Aldebaran, it’s game over.”

“That’s tough.” Rentaro let out his frank thoughts.

“But there is no other way.”

“What are our chances of success?”

“God only knows.”

“Isn’t that hopeless?”

Miori grinned and slapped the table hard, looking around at everyone. “This plan will be called Rapier Thrust.”

Rapier Thrust. Just like the name implied, it was a plan to rush through with a sudden attack that thrust at the enemy camp like a rapier, to cut up the enemy without thinking about defense.

Miori grinned as she took a cell phone from her bosom and pushed the redial button. “There is one more lady who couldn’t come here but wanted to support you, Satomi, so I’ll introduce her now.”

Catching the cell phone thrown at him, he put it to his ear. From the polite way Miori described her, Rentaro had some clue as to who the person on the other end could be.

“Satomi, it’s me.” He heard a dignified voice that made him straighten up unconsciously.

“I thought it’d be you, Lady Seitenshi.”

“Yes, I also wanted to be there, but I want to continue the work of guiding the evacuees to the very end, so it was impossible for me to go. That’s why I thought I could at least send my voice, and called.”

Rentaro was startled. “You aren’t in a shelter?”

“I will only go into a shelter when I have confirmed the safety of the last of Tokyo Area’s citizens.”

Rentaro was shocked. He could easily imagine the Seitenshi refusing the pleas of her aides and continuing to stay on the scene, and it brought to mind the troubles of her aides.

“Commander Satomi, I will not say much, but good luck. I think it is fate that you became the commander of our forces.” She was exaggerating, but somehow, he did not feel like teasing her about it.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” He hung up and threw the phone back, and Miori caught it.

Then, she looked at everyone and continued. “Now, we will abandon this place and go farther back to ready our camp. There, we will ambush Aldebaran.”

Kisara interrupted hurriedly. “Farther back than this? Is there a good place to set up camp back there…?”

Rentaro and Miori looked at each other and nodded. Miori spread a map on the table and pointed to their current position, then brought her finger directly behind it.

Kisara made a startled sound.

Rentaro nodded slowly. “The location of the final battle will be the Flame of Return.”