Episode 71: “Surrender Immediately”
“Hostile Action Detected”
Dreißig=Ringo declared a state of emergency to ＜Ringo＞, and simultaneously took what she deemed the optimal course of action within her permitted capabilities.
She shifted her internal state from normal mode to combat mode. The consumption of internal battery power and various nutrients (fuel) increased dramatically, but in conjunction with that, her cognitive and physical abilities skyrocketed.
(Twenty, Emergency. Twenty-seven, Emergency. Multi-legged Tank Unit 1 (Bravo), Emergency. Multi-legged Tank Unit 2 (Charlie), Emergency. Multi-legged Ground Carrier (Alpha), Emergency. Twenty-eight, Wake up Request.)
(Twenty, Roger.)
(Twenty-seven, Roger.)
(Unit 1 (Bravo), Combat Ready.)
(Unit 2 (Charlie), Combat Ready.)
(Ground Carrier (Alpha), Combat Ready. Twenty-eight, Starting.)
She sent commands to the multi-legged tanks and the multi-legged ground carrier, which were too large to fit through the gate and had been left on standby.
Simultaneously with activating the various devices that had been in sleep mode, she transmitted combat maneuver commands to the microwave transmission system.
All this took a mere 0.3 seconds. The reply from ＜Ringo＞ would take a few more seconds, but there was no time to leisurely wait for it.
It was a waste to have removed the auxiliary device (goggles), but given the level of civilization in this country (Afrasia United Kingdom), she wouldn’t pose a particular threat even in her natural state.
She drew a combat knife with her left hand and a handgun with her right. She swung the knife at the soldier who was about to thrust his sword at her. The handgun was aimed at the ringleader.
“Wha-“
Lord Radaeri Fratara opened his mouth as if to say something, but she ignored him and pulled the trigger.
Simultaneously with the gunshot, she struck the sword blade from the side with her knife, shattering the bronze weapon, and then stepped forward, plunging her clenched fist into the soldier’s throat.
“Gahhh!”
The bullet pierced through the lord’s left shoulder. The lord screamed, and the soldier was blown away. Multiple events occurred simultaneously, and the Fratara city garrison was thrown into confusion.
Amidst this, the head of the delegation’s escort, Leon Degraat, calmly drew the cutlass from his waist. Knowing their combat capabilities, he had braced himself and taken action the moment she (Dreißig) moved.
He slashed away the sword that was about to be thrust, and tackled the soldier whose body was reeling from the impact, hindering the movements of the other soldiers.
A command response was received from ＜Ringo＞ for Dreißig.
(Response Instructions, 126, 45, 4800, 3362,…)
Unless it was a full control operation, the transmitted information was kept to a minimum, so the instructions were given in combinations of pre-determined patterns.
The number of these was extremely large, and the combination patterns reached astronomical figures.
However, since it was necessary to make various judgments while combining on-site information, a proper action could not be taken unless a well-experienced brain unit was used as a terminal.
And the command that was sent was:
“＜Paraiso＞ will seize this town.”
＜The Tree＞ (Dreißig=Ringo) declared, pointing the tip of her knife at Lord Radaeri Fratara’s right eye as she climbed over the table.
“Resistance is futile. Surrender immediately.”
The multi-legged ground carrier (Alpha), having received the command, launched the anti-personnel attack drones that had been on scramble standby via catapult.
The drones flew at 250 km/h, reaching the airspace above the Fratara city lord’s mansion in 5 seconds. They rapidly decelerated using the six deployed propellers, directly confirming the target. Subsequently, the launched ground attack drones began to circle the same orbit.
One minute after receiving the suppression order, the deployment of two anti-personnel attack drones, one ground attack drone, and one anti-air attack drone was completed.
Immediately after that, Twenty-eight, who had been waiting in sleep mode, activated. Instructions were issued to her as well, and she immediately donned her equipment and jumped out of the vehicle.
The side of the ground carrier slowly unfolded, lowering a ramp to the ground. The two multi-legged attack vehicles that had been on standby used their wheels to rush down.
Twenty-eight, who had exited from the ceiling side, jumped onto them and began to accelerate towards Fratara city.
The multi-legged tanks took even more direct action after receiving the command.
The 2nd unit (Charlie) began running towards Fratara city on its wheels, while the 1st unit (Bravo) aimed its main gun (railgun) at Fratara city.
Plasma emission.
Along with a high-pitched sound, an armor-piercing round was fired from the barrel (rails) at 5,000 m/s, flying through the air in an almost straight line.
The target was the clock tower located in the lord’s mansion. The brick-built tower had no way to resist the projectile that struck it at 5,000 m/s.
The supports and outer walls were shattered, and the clock tower, split in two, slowly began to collapse.
“Guuu… you lot…”
“We hold the power of life and death. Disarm immediately.”
Dreißig began to move slowly, keeping the knife pointed at the lord’s eye. With their master held hostage, the garrison soldiers couldn’t move. The six men who had rushed into the room stood frozen, unable to do anything with their swords drawn.
At that moment, the armor-piercing round pierced through the clock tower.
A roar and vibration erupted. The soldiers were thrown to the floor by the sheer impact, and Leon hurriedly clung to the back of the sofa.
The only one who wasn’t shaken by this was Dreißig, who had known about it in advance.
Dreißig, who had moved behind him, whispered to him as she once again pressed the combat knife against his neck.
“Look to your right.”
“…!”
At the end of the lord’s gaze, outside the window overlooking Fratara city, the collapsing clock tower was slowly falling. Following the sound of crumbling rubble, the unintentionally shaken bell rang out.
Seconds later, the clock section slammed into the ground, and an especially loud bell sound enveloped the city.
“That is an attack from us. We can inflict that attack on any place in this city as much as we like. Do you understand the meaning?”
After a pause, Dreißig declared again.
“Resistance is futile. Surrender immediately.”
And this became the first strike of ＜The Tree＞’s first military invasion in this world.
◇◇◇◇
“Hmm… well, this can’t be helped…”
The lord’s unilateral declaration of attack and the humanoid machine (communicator) retaliating. When the icon suddenly turned into a hostile force (red), I wondered what to do, but after the lord’s mansion was quickly suppressed, there was no major confusion, and Fratara city surrendered safely. Well, whether it was safe or not is unknown.
In the end, the ground carrier, unable to pass through the gate, had to break through the east gate and enter the city.
Naturally, the citizens who witnessed this began to flee in panic, but it seemed that heading straight for the lord’s mansion was effective, and the commotion quickly subsided.
Honestly, this was an unexpected turn for the better, as I had anticipated a riot or rampage by the citizens. It settled down without incident, saving unnecessary effort.
After that, the ground carrier pulled up alongside the lord’s mansion, and the lord, who had suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and was seriously injured, was thrown into the medical pod.
That also caused a bit of a commotion, but well, that’s beside the point.
It was just a matter of suppressing the clamoring soldiers with four humanoid machines (communicators) and drones. Everyone became obedient.
With proper treatment, it would take about a month to fully recover. With intensive care in the medical pod, the gunshot wound would heal in about a week. The fact that he was shot at close range with a full metal jacket bullet meant that his scapula wasn’t shattered, and only a hole was made.
For the sake of future governance, it was preferable for the lord to survive.
The next morning, the multi-legged heavy machinery and multi-legged tanks were airdropped. Since the development of rocket motors for reverse thrust had not yet been completed, it was a parachute drop.
The sight of the steel monsters descending from the sky terrified the citizens, or so it seemed. The news of the lord’s mansion falling had spread as rumors overnight, but most citizens truly grasped the situation at the moment of this aerial landing.
“We have successfully disarmed the city of Fratala. I believe we have eliminated the immediate threat.”
“I suppose so… I didn’t expect it to come to a military invasion, though… Perhaps we should rethink our strategy a bit…”
Well, even though I had anticipated it, seizing Fratala was definitely not part of the plan. It’s the worst-case scenario, you could say. Although it’s mostly cut off now, this city originally thrived as a hub for distribution. There’s no telling when trade might resume.
If it comes to light that a mysterious armed group (＜The Tree＞) is occupying the town at that time, it could lead to complications.
“We will continue the blockade for the time being. Nothing will happen immediately, but we will need to solidify our policy within the next few months.”
“There’s also the contact with the Forest Country (Lebresta)… Well, I guess we can just think of it as lucky that a trade hub has been established…”