“Target confirmed. Transition to intercept posture.”
“Roger. Intercept posture. Target sighted. Lock-on.”
“Confirmation complete. All green. Commence interception as soon as it enters firing range.”
“Roger.”
The Multi-legged Tank, lowering its profile, aligned its sights on the target (Big Moth). The barrel of the Railgun minutely adjusted its position, targeting the centerline of the staggering, flapping giant.
“Target within firing range. Fire.”
A deafening roar.
The Cannon Shell, accelerated beyond the speed of sound by the Lorentz force, tore through the atmospheric barrier as it flew.
“Second shot, fire.”
The two flechette warheads, aimed at the torso and head, pulverized their targets without fail. The Big Moth, its vital organs riddled with gaping holes, ceased its life functions and plummeted.
“Target neutralized. Dispatch recovery team, Team D.”
The slain Big Moth would be recovered by the Multi-legged Heavy Machine unit.
Big Moths were valuable resources. The war expenses were considerable, but the prospect of a return on investment was a silver lining.
“So, this makes the monumental 100th kill… No, I’m sorry. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s my job.”
Bipinatus=Cosmos nodded expressionlessly at the words of gratitude from the defense officer.
“Still, the numbers have increased dramatically all at once. I wonder how long this will last…”
Currently, Team Gamma, led by Bipinatus, was stationed in the westernmost village in their assigned region, the closest to the Afrasia United Kingdom.
“Incoming transmission from the recovery team. Team C. Officer Reiriata, your cargo has arrived.”
“Understood. We’re running out of storage space soon…”
“The structural integrity is high enough. Stacking them might be a good idea.”
“I suppose so. Unthinkable in normal circumstances, but in this situation…”
A firing range of 800T (Tons), approximately 1,200 to 1,300m. All Big Moths—Soul Butterflies—that intruded into this defense perimeter were being shot down by the Multi-legged Tanks.
The smooth movements of these behemoths, the curves of their white armor giving off an almost organic impression, had initially been unsettling, but now they were the guardian deities of the frontier villages.
Naturally, the girls with beast ears and tails who operated them were also extremely popular.
“Report: Continuous firing count has exceeded the prescribed value.”
“Roger. Execute barrel replacement as planned. MLT-E-04 (Hopper) C(Gamma)-(・)A(Alpha), advance to the designated position. C(Gamma)-(・)B(Beta), maintain alert status.”
“Beta, Roger.”
“Alpha, Roger.”
Currently, Big Moths were intruding at a frequency that required firing more than 10 times per hour.
Each time the Railgun barrel was fired, its surface was vaporized into plasma, gradually wearing it down. As the barrel wore out, the condition deteriorated exponentially, with reduced accuracy, decreased heat dissipation, and increased electrical resistance.
Even with a large safety margin, the barrel still needed to be replaced multiple times a day. This was the only drawback of the high-powered, low-cost Railgun.
“This is the second replacement today…”
“The number of intruding individuals is increasing. It can’t be helped. We still have spare parts, so rest assured.”
C(Gamma)-(・)A(Alpha), which had been on standby for the changeover, moved to the base occupied by C(Gamma)-(・)B(Beta).
The base was set up in the highest location in the frontier village to ensure visibility and line of sight. It was an unstable rocky area, but that was where the Multi-legged Tank excelled. Its six Legs firmly anchored it to the earth.
“Alpha, arrived at the designated position. Data received, takeover complete.”
“Roger. C(Gamma)-(・)B(Beta), commence retreat.”
“Beta, Roger. Stand down. Commencing retreat.”
Team Gamma currently operated two Multi-legged Tanks (Hopper). They were accompanied by eight Doll Machines (Communicators), forming a single team. In addition, they had five Multi-legged Heavy Machines for recovering the downed Big Moths. The other teams, Alpha and Beta, deployed to other frontier villages, had the same composition.
Originally, the plan was to alternate the Multi-legged Tanks every other day for defense, but the increasing number of Big Moth intrusions meant they had to operate almost at full capacity.
In any case, additional Multi-legged Tanks were scheduled to be dispatched tomorrow. Although the dispatched forces had been limited, the additional request was approved due to the current raid situation.
Of course, it was some high-ranking officials in the central government who were reluctant to grant permission, while the field personnel were eagerly hoping for it…
“Bipinatus-dono, you should take a break soon. I’ve had a meal prepared at the assembly hall.”
“I suppose so. I’ll take you up on that. Alpha, I’m going on break. Permission to attack enemy individuals that have intruded into the defense perimeter is granted. Execute interception at your own discretion.”
“Roger. Command authority transfer confirmed. Good work.”
Bipinatus=Cosmos removed the head-mounted display and shook her head lightly. Her neatly arranged hair spread out smoothly, and her freed lop ears drooped down.
“Could you show me the way?”
“Of course. This way, please.”
◇◇◇◇
A caravan loaded with supplies advanced along the cleared forest path. At the head was one Multi-legged Tank, followed by two Multi-wheeled Tanks. Behind them, protected, were four Multi-wheeled Transport Vehicles. Bringing up the rear was one Multi-legged Tank and three Multi-wheeled Tanks.
However, the Multi-legged Tank had one of its six Legs folded up into its torso, and although its speed hadn’t decreased, it followed with a somewhat awkward movement.
“We will arrive at the campsite as scheduled. We will be replacing the faulty parts, so I regret that we cannot accompany you.”
“Yes, we understand. You don’t need to worry about us. We apologize for making unreasonable requests.”
Four Forest Country (Lebresta) people accompanied the caravan as negotiation representatives. They were nominally in charge of trade negotiations, but in reality, they were supervisors, and also personnel to facilitate matters in the villages along the way. The Council of Elders (Le Elphia) had sent them to silence the noisy high-ranking officials in the central government. There was no particular reason to refuse, so they had been traveling with the caravan for the past two weeks.
The group deployed to a campsite set up along the road.
The Multi-legged Tank, which had suffered a leg failure during the journey, was put into a parked state for parts (module) replacement. Multi-legged machines had many moving parts, and they were subjected to considerable loads, so mechanical parts failures occurred relatively frequently. For this reason, each part was modularized so that the moving parts could be replaced as a whole.
When the faulty leg was secured to the replacement frame, the electric locking bolts were released. The entire frame moved, and the massive leg was pulled out. It was a huge part (unit) over 2m tall and 70cm thick. It was not something that a human, or even a single Doll Machine (Communicator), could lift on their own.
“It moves smoothly like a living thing, but when you look at it like that, it’s still a Golem.”
“In the end, it’s no different from a carriage. As long as you replace the broken parts, you can get it moving again quickly.”
While watching the parts replacement work, the negotiation representatives prepared chairs and tables for themselves. They planned to spend the night at this campsite. This was their third time on this route, and they were used to it. They also prepared meals for the accompanying girls (Communicators).
Well, elaborate meals were not necessary for Doll Machines (Communicators), but there was no need to show that off. Rather, it could be misunderstood as abuse, so they were equipped with equipment appropriate for their appearance.
While they were preparing for the night camp, the deployed tanks suddenly began to move.
A Big Moth that had slipped through the surveillance network had entered the identification range. Most individuals were drawn to the three frontier villages with Hotspots, but occasionally, individuals strayed from there.
And most of those stray individuals were being exterminated by the moving caravan. The western region of the Forest Country (Lebresta) was almost perfectly defended by the activities of the ＜Paraiso＞ dispatched unit.
On the other hand, most of the area from the north to the east seemed to have been abandoned. They were gradually concentrating their forces while retreating the front line.
The more they retreated, the higher the concentration of their forces became, making defense easier. The basic strategy for the Northern and Eastern Fronts seemed to be to retreat to a certain extent, hole up in a relatively large city to defeat the Big Moth swarms, and then launch a counter-offensive.
Because they were able to extract most of the forces from the Western Front and deploy them to the Northern and Eastern Fronts, they were able to keep this retreat distance considerably short.
The Lebresta Stampede defense was entering its climax.