by Shouji Gatou
“We need to do something about that giant,” he insisted. “What are your instructions?”
Instructions? He’s still treating me as his commanding officer... Tessa realized.
“I... I’m sorry,” she told him. That’s right, she thought. I still have more to do. I can kick myself another day... Tessa turned the radio on and opened a satellite channel.
“Yes?” came the response.
“Testarossa here,” she said crisply. “Put me through to Commander Mardukas on the de Danaan. On the double, top priority.”
“Roger that. Give me five seconds.”
Exactly five seconds later, she was transferred over and her XO, Commander Mardukas, responded. “Captain. It’s good to hear you’re safe.”
“Mardukas-san,” Tessa said, “where are you right now?”
“120 kilometers south of the Kii Peninsula.”
Impossible, then. The submarine was over 500 kilometers from Tokyo; it would take two hours to bring new ASes via helicopter, and they were too far away to shoot them here with emergency deployment boosters. Even loading one into a modified ballistic missile, as they’d done during the Sunan Incident, would take at least one hour’s preparation. How much damage could that giant, the Behemoth, render in that time? Just the thought of it sent a chill up her spine.
There’s nothing we can do, Tessa realized. We’re helpless. I’m—
“Captain. Do you require the Arbalest?” Mardukas inquired, his monotone itself reminiscent of an AS’s AI.
“Yes,” she replied hesitantly.
“Immediately?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll send it, then.”
She was stunned. “What did you say?”
“You’ll forgive me for acting in absence of orders, but... we have everything in place to fire a ballistic missile containing the Arbalest in three minutes’ time,” Mardukas clarified. “It should reach you approximately six minutes after firing—In other words, nine minutes from now.”
The process of firing a ballistic missile required the de Danaan to surface briefly to open up the flight deck, leaving it temporarily defenseless. The world’s largest and greatest amphibious assault submarine, the Tuatha de Danaan, was an object of interest for navies around the world. It was a risky move that could lead to their capture.
“Mardukas-san...”
“Forgive me. I’m prepared to receive any punishment you deem appropriate.”
Tessa smiled as she pictured Commander Mardukas’s skinny, nervous face. That’s right. I’m surrounded by the best. To give up now would be disrespectful to them... “No, you did very well,” she told him. “Fire it at once.”
“Yes, Captain. And the drop point?”
“Let me see...” It couldn’t be here; the giant might attack it the moment it landed. They needed a place with more complex terrain, to buy the operator a minute or two to board after it dropped. Somewhere with limited sight lines, if possible. Not downtown, to avoid involving innocents. Somewhere dark. Somewhere restricted, preferably with lots of highs and lows... and...
The best location possible. A place where the Arbalest could use its abilities to the fullest. Where could that be? Tessa was navigating a complex labyrinth of thought, reviewing all possibilities in the blink of an eye. Every location she considered contained elements of uncertainty. Nothing stuck out as a singular “ideal.” But...
It’s not going to be perfect. I need to accept that, and deal with it.
“I’ve made up my mind,” Tessa whispered, then tapped Kaname on the shoulder. “What do you call that building?” she asked.
Towering in the distance, across the water, stood an illuminated building that resembled an inverted pyramid.
“Huh? That’s the International Exhibition Center... the Tokyo Big Sight, I think?”
Takuma activated the Behemoth’s sensors. The cameras and infrared detectors, mounted in a dozen locations, searched tirelessly for his targets. He was tens of meters tall; nothing could escape his sight.
He immediately caught the heat signatures of four people hiding behind a warehouse one block away. Running figures—two men, two women.
“There you are,” he whispered. Teletha Testarossa and her companions... I’m surprised to see Sagara Sousuke still alive, but I’ll kill him now. He pointed a gun at me and threatened to kill me. It scared me. That humiliation... I haven’t forgotten it.
Yes... It’ll feel even better when I step on him. And I’ll teach that impudent and vulgar female, Chidori Kaname, a lesson, too...
If Testarossa dies with them, Takuma told himself, it’s an acceptable loss. No, in fact, it’s better that way—She’s only ever looked down on me; she never noticed my affection. Better to destroy her, if I can’t have her.
“That’s right...” he muttered out loud.
Plain, unadorned legs, like those of a tin toy, pushed forward through thick black smoke. The Behemoth had begun its slow march through the flames.
Sousuke and Kurz had parked their truck behind a warehouse, a block from the giant’s stalking grounds. It was a secondhand kei truck, with “Takasawa Fish” written on the side of the bed.
“You sure this is our only option? It kinda reeks...” Kaname said, sniffing the air.
“Now’s not really the time to complain,” Sousuke observed.
“Hey, guys. I think Colosso’s on his way,” Kurz warned.
The giant’s footsteps had grown louder. The containers and streetlights around them shook each time it took a step. They couldn’t see it through the stacks of crates in their way, but they could tell it was coming closer. Did it know where they were?
“Perfect,” Tessa whispered, as if she had something in mind.
“Huh?” Kaname said. “What do you mean, perfe—”
“Get in! We need to go!” Sousuke shouted, leaping into the driver’s seat. Kaname scrambled into the passenger’s side, and Kurz and Tessa jumped into the bed.
The giant’s head appeared, peering over the mountain of containers; simple, bucket-like armor with two round eyes and a mouth. Its face, reminiscent of an old wind-up toy, slowly turned toward them, then tilted.
“Get going already!” Kaname screamed. Chilled by the giant’s gaze, she drummed her fists urgently on Sousuke’s shoulder.
“I know...” he said, and the second the engine turned over, the kei truck sped off. As it turned the corner of the warehouse, the weight of its four riders caused it to veer wide to the left.
“Listen, Sagara-san.” Tessa leaned forward from the truck bed to address Sousuke in the driver’s seat. “You need to keep that giant’s—the Behemoth’s—attention.”
Sousuke couldn’t believe his ears. She wanted him to lure the Behemoth? To where? And how? Wasn’t that suicide? “But Colonel—” he protested.
“Do it,” Tessa replied in the harsh, cool tone of command. “It’s what Mithril pays you for. You don’t have to make my safety a priority. I’ve decided to put my faith in your skill.”
With that one statement, Sousuke felt a strange change come over him. It was the unique confidence and daring of one who had been given another’s trust. “If you insist, I’ll make it happen”—was the feeling it inspired.
“Very well,” he replied. “Where do we go, then?”
“Keep straight for now,” Tessa instructed. “Turn right at the intersection, then head to the International Exhibition Center—that building, there. The monorail track will help to shield us on the way.”
Of course. An excellent escape plan, Sousuke decided.
“The Arbalest will drop on the Center’s western side,” she continued. “We’ll buy you time until you can board it.”
“You want me to pilot it?” Sousuke asked, with a glance back to Kurz.
“Yes,” she affirmed. “You’re the only operator whose settings it recognizes at the moment. In the incident two months ago—”
“It’s coming!” shouted Kaname, who was keeping watch behind them.
The giant was striding toward them, kicking over streetlamps and roadside trees. Though it wasn’t running, it was still moving fast enough that it could catch up at any minute. It was just so big; its stride was unreal. They could see the giant’s head turning to face them. Was it going to unleash its machine cannons?
“It’s about to fire. When I give the signal, turn!” Kurz screamed.
“Understood,” Sousuke replied tersely.
“Not yet, not yet, not yet... Turn!”
Sousuke jerked the wheel with all his might. In that same moment, the giant’s fire rained down. Dozens of 30mm machine cannon shells, each the size of a milk bottle, fell on them at the speed of sound. The force that hit the kei truck felt less like a strafing and more like an explosion.
Kaname screamed. Chunks of asphalt went flying, and the guardrail, just inches away, was cast into the air like an old rag.
The truck lurched. They were headed for a streetlamp. With technique that was nothing short of miraculous, Sousuke got their vehicle back on course. Tessa was nearly thrown from the truck bed, but Kurz grabbed her and reeled her back in.
“Too close...” Sousuke breathed. I won’t have time to lure this thing anywhere! The next time it fires, this lousy kei truck—
“Sousuke, drive straight!!” Kurz hollered.
“What’s the plan?”
“I’m gonna give him a sock in the mouth. Look, just keep straight no matter what. Keep your speed steady, too!”
“Roger.” Sousuke did as he was told, driving straight at a constant speed. Kurz knelt down in the truck bed and aimed his rifle at the still-pursuing giant.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“Hush, Kaname-chan. You’ll see soon enough...” Kurz’s smile was bone-chilling. His eyes took on the focus of a bird of prey as he licked his upper lip and readied his rifle with a lover’s touch. The barrel swayed up and down from the vibration of the road, but it seemed he’d adjusted for that. The course of the wind. The movement of the light. Taking that and everything else into account...
“Now... aim right at me, you son of a bitch...” Kurz said softly.
The giant turned its head toward them, preparing to fire another machine cannon barrage. Sousuke felt the urge to yank the wheel again, but he put his trust in his friend and maintained course.
Here it comes, Kurz thought, and in that moment, he fired. It was a single shot; a rifle round that wouldn’t even dent an LAV.
Nevertheless, something strange happened to the giant’s head. There was a blast like a firework from one of the machine cannons, followed by a pop of metal shards. Then the right half of the head began to spew flame and black smoke—a minor explosion had occurred. The giant stumbled. It let out a low moan, and pressed a hand to its injured head.
“Bullseye.” Kurz’s shot had flown up the machine cannon’s barrel and ignited the powder inside. To hit an opening three centimeters wide, from two hundred meters away in a moving car...!
“Kurz-kun... you’re amazing!” Kaname said with admiration.
“Easy-peasy,” Kurz snorted triumphantly.
“This whole time, I just thought you were a loser with a big mouth!” she went on.
Kurz scowled.
“It’s not over yet,” Sousuke cautioned. Kurz had taken out half of the enemy’s machine cannons, but they couldn’t expect the same trick to work twice. In addition, the giant immediately recovered from its confusion, let out a roar and raced back into pursuit. It was running now, arms raised. The road buckled beneath its feet.
It was like a tsunami of iron heading right for them; Kaname’s jaw dropped. Its massive body seemed to block out the sky.
“Dammit,” Sousuke cursed, and slammed his foot on the gas.
27 June, 0241 Hours (Japan Standard Time)
Akami Pier, Koto Ward, Tokyo
Near the outskirts of the wharf, onto a ramp lapped by the waves of the harbor, Andrey Kalinin had been dragged ashore. He’d been shot from behind in the sinking ship, but the bullet had only grazed his shoulder. Still, the ocean water had robbed him of blood and body heat; he was so exhausted, it was difficult even to move. This time might really be...
He stopped himself. Who was it who had pulled him from the water, and swam him all the way to this ramp? He decided to sit up and see.
Seina was there, lying face-up on the slope. Her lower half was soaked with seawater, her pale face turned toward the sky.
She was the one who had saved him. That by itself didn’t surprise Kalinin that much; after all, if she’d wanted him dead, she could have hit a major organ. A shot to the head would have been easy at that distance.
“Do you think I’m a fool?” Seina asked him.
“No...” Kalinin responded, then he realized: her back was hemorrhaging blood. She had her back to the ground, so he couldn’t make out the extent of it... but its severity was easy to imagine. She was beyond treatment now.
“The Behemoth... activated?” she asked.
“Yes,” he told her succinctly. “You won.”
“Too bad... I don’t really care anymore...” the voice drifted from her lips, weakly and with great effort. “It was originally... planned... as an anti-AS gunboat... It was supposed to be loaded... with even more firepower... to hunt ASes...”
“But it was too slow,” Kalinin said.
“Hence... the lambda driver... and Takuma...” Seina trailed off. Not even a machine of that size could withstand a direct hit from a tank gun or a supersonic missile—In a competition between shield and spear, the spear typically had the advantage. They’d mounted it with that unstable system, the lambda driver, to compensate; and thus, the Behemoth was born. “It’s impossible... to destroy it,” she predicted. “Forty minutes... of fuel. Can’t be stopped until it runs out...”
“Depending on Takuma,” Kalinin observed.
“I don’t think... I’ve been very good to him,” she confessed. “His memory is so jumbled... At some point... he decided I was the sister he’d killed. And I... exploited that...”
Kalinin said nothing.
“I don’t have any... blood relatives,” Seina went on. “I’ve been alone... for so long.”
Silence. Explosions rang out in the distance, like thunder from a looming downpour.
“You’re not going to ask?” she finally said.
“Ask what?”
“Why I saved you...”
“I think I can guess,” Kalinin said mildly.
Perhaps she had seen the shadow of another in him. Perhaps she hadn’t been able to completely abandon her bonds with others. Perhaps she had wanted to leave behind someone who would remember her. Any reason he could think of was a sad one.
“Always acting... like you know everything... I hate it. Makes me want to vomit...”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and meant it. Seina smiled. It was that smile, the one he’d only seen from her once before.
“My most hated darling... would you tell me your name?”
“Andrey Sergeevich Kalinin,” he answered.
“A strange name...” Those were Seina’s last words.
Kalinin watched her in silence. Then, as anyone would, he closed her eyes for her. Her hollow death mask became a visage of sleep. No one would believe she had been a terrorist bent on destruction. A member of the clergy... perhaps you were right, he thought. I’ve guided so many through their final moments...
Just then, he heard a splashing sound; someone had swum up to the ramp. It was Melissa Mao, grunting and gasping her way through the water. She must have caught sight of Kalinin before, because she didn’t seem surprised to see him alive.
“Dammit. Thought I was a goner,” Mao groaned, then looked over at the corpse next to him. “Friend of yours?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he acknowledged.
27 June, 0241 Hours (Japan Standard Time)
Ariake, Koto Ward, Tokyo
Kaname couldn’t believe how calm she’d managed to remain
. She’d been so scared before. It seemed like just moments ago that she’d felt her temples pounding, and heard the sound of blood pulsing through her veins. Now, those sounds were gone.
Ah, is this it? Kaname thought, with a strange sense of understanding. Is this where Sousuke lives all the time? Now that she thought about it, it wasn’t her first time reaching this state.
Anyone could end up the same way, even in their daily lives—you met an “enemy,” and you felt afraid, but you decided to face it nevertheless. Because you knew that if you spent all your time cowering in fear, you couldn’t do what needed to be done. The human mind is really something, isn’t it? she mused.
There was an explosion, and a crunch, and a lump of concrete came loose above them. The giant’s machine cannons had destroyed the track for monorail—technically not a monorail, as its cars ran on rubber tires—running over their heads.
They were on a collision course. They couldn’t dodge it. They’d hit it. No—
As they braced for impact, the kei truck skated under the tons of falling concrete by a hair’s breadth. The remains that broke up after hitting the road below were kicked away trivially by the pursuing Behemoth. It was like having an angry tornado on their tail, spreading destruction as it pursued.
“Gun it! Gun it!” Kurz cackled, high on adrenaline.
From the driver’s seat, Sousuke scolded him, “Stop laughing and shoot out the other one!”
“Yeah, fat chance. Just keep dodging like you’ve been doing!”
Kurz’s shot had taken out half of the enemy’s machine cannons, and the remaining two must have lost much of their accuracy; time and again, its shots grazed the kei truck, but no more. Still, the damage around them was considerable: the occasional passing taxi or passenger car was hit by an explosion or a stray shot and skidded and flipped, or crashed into the guard rail; street lights and roadside trees were toppled like bowling pins; asphalt was plowed up; and glass was shattered in buildings along the way.
Their vehicle, too, was far from pristine; there was a strange rattling in the suspension, and from time to time, the engine let out a high-pitched whine. The outer frame was in tatters, and the windows had been completely blown out.