86 - Volume 11 - Chapter 1

In honor of Lieutenant Colonel Shinei Nouzen.

—VLADILENA MILIZÉ, MEMOIRS

9.29

D-DAY MINUS TWO

“Oh, and about the Legion command positions’ counteroffensive operation. For the moment, they’ve only decided on the date and name of the operation, but they’ll be naming it after a historical one. It’ll be Operation Overlord.”

The person speaking while pouring a cup of tea was a distant relative of Shin’s. A young man from Marquess Maika’s family who was ten years older than him. He was also an Esper specialist officer of the Federacy military.

None of his subordinates or assistants were nearby; it was just him and Shin in one of the offices of the western front’s integrated headquarters. Lieutenant Colonel Joschka Maika returned his hands to the tea set. For some time now, this man had been meeting Shin periodically to help him work on controlling his ability.

“That’s a very…hackneyed name.”

“Isn’t it, though? They could have picked an easier operation that had more of a sweeping victory. That operation may have been a triumphant one, but many soldiers died in the landing, and a mention of overlords is rather inappropriate for a democratic republic, wouldn’t you say?”

He was a tall man, his hair cut short as was often the case for soldiers. He was quite robust, with wide shoulders and a chiseled chest, but by contrast, he had quite the baby face, and his crimson eyes were constantly downcast.

Joschka silently sipped his tea. As if following his lead, Shin brought his own teacup to his lips. The delicate porcelain was accented with red and gold paintings both on the inside and outside of the cup. As he looked into the transparent red liquid, he could see the drawing within it sparkle in a mystical fashion.

“As for the date, well, this’ll be a major offensive for the Federacy military, and it’ll also probably be a joint operation with the United Kingdom and the Alliance. At the earliest, it’ll be four months from now, around the Atonement Festival in February. And if they’ll want to make doubly sure they’re ready, it’ll be six months from now, around Easter.”

The operation’s date reminded Shin of the Strike Package’s—namely the 1st Armored Division’s, cycle of operations and leaves. This September, they’d been deployed to the Theocracy, which concluded their operation time. So if all went according to schedule, they would finish their two-month period of rest and training at around December or January of the following year.

That meant that they would be there in time if the operation occurred in April, during Easter. But if it took place around the Atonement Festival, in February, it would clash with their leave.

“The entire Strike Package will be participating either day,” said Shin.

“I didn’t think otherwise,” Joschka said with a strained smile. “These kinds of operations are what the Strike Package was made for, and the top brass knew you’d say that. So for the time being, the Strike Package as a whole will be taken off operational activity for a while. They’ll tell you to rest up this month and use the remaining time to thoroughly prepare yourselves for the upcoming operation.”

But after saying that, Joschka suddenly smirked.

“I’ve heard the complaints. Is it true that your group neglected your schoolwork during the last operation?”

Shin gulped audibly. The 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions had wrapped up their leave period—which was also their designated schooling period—early. In other words, the complaint wasn’t directed at Shin’s 1st Armored Division, but Grethe ended up scolding all four division commanders for it.

She warned them she wouldn’t stand for this next time, which was of course a justified complaint, and Shin knew joint liability was a fundamental tenet of the military, but…it did strike him as a bit unreasonable.

“That’s no good, you know?” Joschka grinned at him. “You might be out of the special officer academy, but right now the primary responsibility of you kids is to get your education. Spend the next month going to school, listening to lectures, catching up on your schoolwork, and so on. Read silly books in the library, hang out with your friends, and worry about things like romance and heartbreak.”

“I’m not so sure about that last sentence, Lieutenant Colonel.”

That last point hit especially close to home.

“Not at all. All those are the kind of studying you kids need to catch up on.”

This relative of his, who was around ten years his senior, leaned against the lounge-suite sofa with his teacup in one hand and smiled at him in a truly elegant gesture, but the glint in his eyes was remarkably undignified.

“And if heartache and romance ever trouble you too much, feel free to consult me, your reliable older brother of sorts… And once you’ve managed that, I’ll be able to teach you how to control your ability.”

“…”

Joschka had told him that same thing during their meeting three months ago. At the time, there were several other Espers from the Maika line present, and they all treated him much the same.

“Every generation has a few children who can’t properly turn their abilities on and off. And kids like that usually learn how to do it from their parents or older relatives.”

Shin met them in House Maika’s estate in the capital, in Marquess Maika’s prized orangery filled with yew flowers. Sitting on the opposite side of the table were a few relatives of his, close to him in age and clad in Federacy uniforms.

Their representative, Joschka, had his crimson hair cut short.

“In terms of difficulty, controlling your ability in and of itself is, well, not much different from learning how to ride a bicycle or do a cartwheel. It’s easy once you get the hang of it. You just haven’t learned the trick yet. So if you Resonate with those who do know how to do it, they’ll be able to help you turn it on and off. And most people get the hang of it after a few attempts, assuming they’re not terribly poor learners. Honestly, one can’t really call this training.”

The other relatives remained silent or smiled as they gestured for Joschka to move things along. They were a mix of men and women, all of them with crimson hair and eyes.

Like southern flowers, Shin thought.

They drank from teacups adorned with lovely southern colors, meant to contrast the yew flowers brought from afar. The snacks that accompanied the tea smelled of vanilla and were also fashioned after a type of yew flower—or so a woman had told him. She was twenty-two years old—and also his cousin, apparently.

“As for why it’s so limited to the family, it’s because Resonating with those who can control their ability requires a deeper state of Resonance. More specifically, it’s because they’re— Hmm… They’re a bit deeper in from the voices you usually hear. Do you get my meaning?”

“Yes.”

As Joschka spoke, Shin could only vaguely follow along.

Seeing Shin nod made Joschka crack a visibly happy smile, like he was relieved to see Shin pick up on what he meant from such a hazy explanation.

You really are of one of us.

It was a smile bursting with warmth and affection, yet one that still had some distance to it—one directed at an outsider and spread across his features.

“That’s not to say they’d be able to tell what you’re thinking, peer into your memories, or see any scars you want to hide. But to put it simply, it would be unpleasant, right? Having someone you don’t know and trust intrude that deep… I’d hate it. I’d even go as far as to say I’d be terrified.”

And so—

“For the time being, we’ll just have these pleasant little tea parties. We’ll chat, and if there’s anything you want advice for, feel free to ask us. Even things that have nothing to do with your power, anything you might want to ask… And then—”

With that said, Joschka and the other Maika youths all regarded him with carefree smiles.

“—when you feel comfortable enough to tell us, even just one of us, about the girl you like, you’d be able to practice controlling your ability without much resistance.”

Following that conversation, in the three months that passed, when he was in between his studies and training or had an operational reason to show up in the western front’s headquarters, Shin would take time to meet one of the Maikas.

He ended up asking Joschka to handle his training, mostly because he was the one who reminded him least of his brother.

His hair was the same red shade as his brother’s, and given their blood relation, Joschka’s features were somewhat similar to his. Whenever Shin interacted with the younger Maika family members, he always found himself looking for Rei’s face among them. He felt that he should not have found comfort in their presence solely due to their resemblance to his brother. He worried that admitting such a truth would be rude.

Joschka had a soldier’s haircut and physique, and his voice had a low bass to it that fit a commanding officer’s intimidating presence. These traits were far removed from Rei, who had the slender physique of a scholar and a gentle voice as well.

The most significant difference between the two would have to be their speech styles. Shin couldn’t imagine, much less recall Rei ever being as crass, or even violent, with his words as Joschka sometimes was.

But even so, talking to Joschka occasionally gave Shin an odd feeling. If Rei was still alive, he would have been about Joschka’s age. Had the war never happened, had they never been taken to the Eighty-Sixth Sector, would he, as an eighteen-year-old, interact with a twenty-eight-year-old Rei like this? That thought filled his heart with an oddly wistful feeling.

“I heard an interesting nugget, by the way. They say you have a girlfriend now? And a beauty, at that. I’m looking forward to hearing about all the juicy details and tales of heartache!”

…And would Rei pester him like this if he was still alive? A part of Shin hoped that wouldn’t have been the case, but another part of him vaguely felt that Rei would’ve been even nosier about his love life because he was his big brother.

And then the realization set in that, at some point, he’d begun thinking of his brother in a carefree manner.

As Joschka snickered at him, Shin feigned calmness and sipped his tea as he attempted a riposte. Pretending all the while he didn’t notice the gulf that still hung between them.

“Maybe you should tell me about your love life first, Joschka.”

“Wow, look at you. Already learned how to strike back, have you? All right, you asked for it. Here comes a tale about your big brother Joschka and his tender romance with his lovely bride—”

“Go ahead, Big Brother.”

“Oof, another direct hit! But nope, sorry, that wasn’t cute enough.”

“The ‘big brother’ thing was your idea.”

“I know, I know. But when you say it with that monotone, I just can’t get into it. Besides, you really wanna know about my love life? Like, seriously?”

He looked utterly surprised but leaned in with excitement all the same. Shin couldn’t resist cutting him down mercilessly.

“No, not really. But the way your expression softened before you even started talking about it was priceless, so I figured I’d feign interest while enjoying my tea.”

“Oh, so that’s your game….,” Joschka began to grumble.

But then he turned his eyes to the window. Like a cat catching notice of a butterfly, or a dog distracted by a bird, the rapid movement caused Joschka’s hunter’s instincts to react faster than his thoughts.

And at first, Shin did indeed assume he had caught sight of a butterfly or something similar, but Joschka’s eyes were fixed on something much farther away. It was also night, which made it that much more unlikely that he would’ve seen an active animal, save an owl or a moth. And any creature that was that small wouldn’t be visible from the brightly lit room they were in.

“Joschka?” said Shin with a faint curiosity.

“Oh, I just thought I saw something flash in the sky—,” Joschka said, still staring at the spot where he’d first noticed the flash.

Shin followed his line of sight, and once again, something flickered brightly like a star. It soon died down, and Shin looked away from the fiery-red glint and cocked his head, confused. He had little interest in astrology or the stars and only knew what was necessary to interpret cardinal directions and the weather. Shin’s pensive expression was dripping with curiosity as to the identity of the light.

“Was that a shooting star?”

The light only seemed to flicker and then go out, and it didn’t seem to be moving.

“There shouldn’t be any stars in that part of the sky at this time of night. I don’t think so anyway…,” Joschka whispered with a frown.

In that same moment…

…a white-gloved hand smacked against an ebony desk with a loud thud. Willem Ehrenfried, the western front’s chief of staff didn’t seem to realize he’d just performed this action, unconsciously driven by an explosion of emotion. Even during last year’s large-scale offensive, when he stood in a frontline base that could have well been blown away by railgun fire in the middle of the Morpho subjugation operation, his chiseled features never once lost their composure.

But now the face of this man who never once wavered, even before a harrowing operation that put his country at risk of total annihilation, contorted in alarm.

As scion to the great nobles who once ruled over the Empire, and as a commander charged with the duty to protect and sacrifice the lives of his soldiers, he wasn’t allowed to display his emotions. He’d been raised this way since infancy and comported himself with the utmost discipline.

But now something more instinctual than habit and discipline stained his conduct.

It was alarm and unease intense enough to make him momentarily lose sight of the values and behavior that had been etched into his heart.

This is unprecedented.

Displayed on the holo-windows around him were the analysis results of a certain structure: the naval artillery point built three hundred kilometers north off the shores of the Regicide Fleet Countries, also known as the Mirage Spire.

This was a three-dimensional schematic, partially re-created using the data from the mission recorders of the Reginleifs that had infiltrated this base. The missing information made up using visual footage of the tower base hidden in the Holy Theocracy of Noiryanaruse, despite the Legion’s attempts to distract from its presence by using the Halcyon.

Projected in the holo-window was a re-creation of those steel towers made up of lines of light, but it included a structure that none of the Processors’ reports, nor the final report submitted by the operation’s commander, mentioned existing within the Mirage Spire.

And none of them reported it because it simply hadn’t caught their eye. Neither the Eighty-Six nor the girl who commanded their operation… Even the United Kingdom’s Esper prince would not have known to pay it any mind.

Because for as long as they could remember, that arena did not serve as a battlefield anymore.

…And perhaps the fact that they wouldn’t be caught entirely unaware when they were attacked from that direction—the fact that he’d noticed it ahead of time—perhaps just that would’ve been good enough. The Federacy had obtained the control cores of Legion commander units—the Halcyon and the Weisel—from deep within the territories and were focusing their efforts on analyzing them. And in the midst of that, Willem pushed for the Mirage Spire’s structural analysis to be expedited. His caution was what earned them this success.

But even knowing this, Willem couldn’t shake a sense of shame.

The holographic, three-dimensional map displayed the Mirage Spire’s vast interior space, and highlighted within was a massive cylindrical structure that ran diagonally through the tower.

It went from the bottommost level of the Spire all the way to its peak, drawing an acute angle. And at the top of the tower, it formed a tube made of eight rails, pointing perpendicularly up at the heavens. The cylinder was wide in diameter, so large that, according to their calculations, an entire locomotive could fit inside it.

But of course, what sat within that cylinder, what was fired from it, wasn’t a train. It wasn’t even a Morpho.

How did this escape my notice…?

He knew of it, but the possibility didn’t so much as occur to him.

Ten years ago, soon after the beginning of the Legion War, in the midst of the revolution… As the tides turned in favor of the revolutionary army, the Imperialist faction had their command centers transmit a self-destruct order to all their artificial satellites, which subsequently went offline.

At the time, the satellites broke apart into large debris—which was likely intended—and hit any other countries’ satellites that were in close proximity to the planet. And artificial satellites flew within their set orbits at the high speed of several thousand meters per second. If it was a small piece of dislodged equipment or debris, it would have no effect. But chunks of metal weighing several tonnes and moving at that speed would result in serious damage.

And so the other satellites were also ruined, some of them breaking into debris themselves, causing a destructive chain reaction across the planet’s orbit. As a result, the orbit paths used by the satellites became littered with great amounts of debris. And since large masses did not easily lose altitude, they remained in orbit.

The satellites’ orbit had been littered with debris to begin with, but now it was even worse, meaning it required thorough cleaning and removal if more satellites were to be relaunched. And during wartime, even the Federacy, the largest nation on the continent, struggled to find the large amounts of budget and fuel required to do so.

In fact, some of the lower-flying debris got in the way of deploying ballistic missiles, which traveled in those altitudes.

But the same conditions should have applied to the Legion, too.

For starters, the Legion were developed to fill the roles of rank-and-file soldiers and up to low-ranking officers at best. Their developer likely never intended for them to deploy tactical weaponry like ballistic missiles and applied a firm protection setting to prevent them from doing so. And indeed, the Legion had never used that kind of ordnance. The same held true for nuclear weaponry, which was essential to ballistic missiles due to their low accuracy.

And so neither Willem, nor the joint chiefs of staff above him, nor the Federacy military in general considered the possibility…

…that the Legion was using satellite orbit to launch man-made satellites or similar weapons by some other means that were accessible to them.

The hexagram-shaped towers discovered on the vast blue expanse of the Fleet Countries and the ash-laden battlefields of the Theocracy were structures meant for launching satellites into orbit—

“Mass Drivers…!”

As their name implied, man-made satellites orbited the planet. These veritable reconnaissance units were used as communications relays for global positioning and predicting the weather.

Their roles influenced the height and speed at which they moved, but as a rule of thumb, they maintained the altitude and velocity they were launched in for the entirety of their life span.

Some low-flying satellites appeared to be in motion, while those flying over ten thousand kilometers above the ground seemed to be stationary due to their distance, but in reality, both were actually moving along the planet’s orbit.

Yes, strictly speaking, man-made satellites didn’t actually float in orbit.

They were launched from the surface at high velocities approaching eight thousand meters per second and altitudes between several hundreds to several thousands of kilometers. And from those several hundred meters of height, they fell beyond the horizon with a speed of eight thousand meters per second.