Watch Your Step, Captain? Huh? (2)
The Obelisk.
As soon as the captain returned, an ominous atmosphere began to spread across the ship.
Departure in 20 minutes. Departure in 20 minutes.
Sonar detection system will report immediately to the bridge.
Periodt Chainstalkers are moving. Please check total numbers.
Twenty minutes until departure.
The interior of the ship grew bustling.
“Everyone, check the jet packs and oxygen supply stones’ status properly!”
Chainstalkers clad in full-body Periodt titanium exoskeletons marched in perfect formation toward the drop pod launch port, their heavy footsteps echoing through the corridors.
“I said it again—this isn’t training. This is real combat!”
“Captain, what is going on? Real combat?”
“I don’t know. There’s going to be fighting soon, so prepare. If you can’t handle it, then don’t.”
Erika answered while idly spinning the arm of her exoskeleton.
Is there a slight hitch? Who greased this?
I’ll have to check the duty roster later and deal with them properly.
“There are still no orders from the front… Is everything all right?”
“Something feels off. Still, we have to follow the Liaria’s orders.”
“However…”
How does the captain know for certain that the enemy is coming? Even the observer doesn’t know about this. Ivan was about to voice that thought, but the moment he saw Erika’s expression, the words died on his lips. The playful spark that had always lingered in the commander’s eyes since her return from the Valkyrie had vanished completely.
“Captain… are you all right now?”
“…”
“Captain?”
Erika couldn’t answer Ivan’s question right away. The pitiful figure of Elia she had seen on the Valkyrie flashed through her mind—the ghost who had been captured in the past, endlessly wandering the afterlife in search of her fallen comrades.
“…Well, Ivan. I don’t know either. Whether she’s truly all right or not.”
“…”
The memory of Elia’s first words to her when she woke up remained burned into her mind like a brand. That initial sentence had been so intense it refused to fade. Her iron mask—thick, unyielding—had shattered like thin glass, scattering fragments of despair in every direction.
“Then why am I still alive? I should have died too.”
“Answer me. Why am I alive?”
Though she had spoken those words with false bravado in front of everyone, Erika herself felt the same confusion. A survivor who idolized the dead. The hand gripping her shoulder radiated the same creepy coldness one might feel from a corpse.
“Swallow it. Eve, please… I beg you. If I can just swallow this, maybe something—”
“I killed them all. With my own hands!”
The dead eyes that had once stared back at her now reflected whose face? The comrades she had been forced to kill with her own hands? Or the villains who had driven her into that corner? What words could she possibly offer in this situation? The crushing weight of powerlessness she had never known before slammed into her, leaving her ears ringing and the passage of time feeling strangely alien.
“…I wanted to do something for Lia, but I can’t do anything at all.”
A sharp pain bloomed in the deepest corner of her chest, as if she had bruised her heart. Erika felt a strange kinship with Elia at the same time. The grief of a warrior marching toward the battlefield. Such sorrow could not be eased by anyone’s help. It was a matter of how the warrior himself accepted the death of his comrades.
“Captain Erika… please take care of yourself…”
“Leave it to me! I will complete this task!”
“Glory to our beloved country, Defelheim!”
The faces of countless comrades she had already sent off flashed through her mind. But they were the ones who had sworn to protect every soul of their beloved country. That oath could never be broken by death. She continued speaking while idly spinning the 45 mm Gatling gun mounted on the right arm of her exoskeleton.
“But Ivan, I’ve become too numb to these things. I only train while dreaming of a future ahead. So… it feels pointless to be completely crushed by the knowledge that reality is a mess.”
Erika’s expression remained unchanged, yet Ivan saw the wildfire of sadness spreading through her eyes—the serious face of the commander he had never witnessed since joining the Aegis Federation. What had truly happened on the Valkyrie? He had no idea.
All Corps pilots, assemble in the briefing room.
Corps drop pod missile loading operation in progress.
Do not approach the Corps launch port except for maintenance crew.
They halted for a moment in front of the closed hatch.
Second deck hatch opening. Do not approach.
Periodt Chainstalkers are moving. Please check total numbers.
“Hey! Go rough them up and come back! Do your best!”
“I’ll prepare a special meal for tonight!”
Broadcasts echoed through the corridors wherever the Chainstalkers in their exosuits moved. Non-combat personnel watched their procession and either called out words of encouragement or saluted with respect. When the hatch opened, the Chainstalkers faced a group of pilots.
“Captain Erika, please take care of this operation too.”
“Uh, Duke. I should be the one asking you to take care.”
Duke, squadron leader of the Corps combat aircraft, greeted Erika. She glanced at him and suddenly wondered what he thought of the Liaria. After being humiliated by Elia during training, the Corps pilots had been looked down upon.
‘…Damn it. Wake up, Erika. So what—if you’re going to ask how I feel about Elia now?’
She only hoped they would not come to hate Elia.
“We’ll launch first again this time. I’ll leave the rear to you.”
“Haha, please leave us some chance to show off.”
“Well, I’ll try my best. Our kids are crazy about fighting anyway.”
Erika smiled at him with a grin.
“—All, clear the way.”
As Duke gave the quiet order, the Corps pilots split left and right, making way for the Chainstalkers. Erika nodded once toward them and headed back toward the drop pod hangar. While walking, Ivan spoke up.
“Captain, don’t worry too much. If it’s the captain, she’ll handle it herself.”
“…Kid, you talk big.”
“Even though I’ve only spoken to the captain a few times, I’ve done countless drills. The captain is someone like a proud Silver Arcanum, so in the end she will achieve what she wants with her own strength.”
“Silver Arcanum…”
Is that true?
But Ivan, I don’t want that.
Drop pod hangar opening. Final inspection.
Non-combat personnel stay out of 02 hangar.
A fact that most people didn’t know.
The darkness hidden behind their pride.
The end of the Silver Arcanum.
“Enough useless talk. Let’s board the pod.”
“Yes, Captain.”
After the group battle, the Silver Arcanum would either one fall from a high cliff and take its own life. Was it regret for a foolish decision? Or despair that could not overcome the weight of death? Yet even so, they elected a new leader.
All hangar lights out. Emergency lights on.
With a dull thud, the hangar lights extinguished simultaneously. Instead, the emergency lights embedded in the floor lit up, marking the exact spot where the pods would land.
“Listen up! Snap out of it! Got it?!”
“Rokaji, Valrek! (Yes, Captain!)”
A scorching fighting spirit filled the air.
The squad leader’s loud voice rang out.
Pang— pang— pang—
Realute canister operating.
Pressure adjustment. Airlock unlocking.
All Chainstalker personnel prepare for gravity change.
Faint orange lights flickered in the darkness alongside the alarm tones. As the interior slowly shifted into weightlessness, the personnel poured mana into the automatic gravity-adjustment stones attached to their exoskeletons. The exoskeletons that had begun to float slightly settled back onto the floor.
“Listen up! The kids who lost their homes because their mothership was destroyed are rushing over to take revenge! Before the Corps pilots come in seriously, we will completely wipe out the enemy’s main ships! Stupid fools who die in this shitty mission—I’ll chase them to the end of hell and beat them bloody, so be ready!”
The personnel roared with cheers, their fighting spirit rising.
Drop pod deployment.
The Chainstalker-exclusive drop pods descended one after another from the ceiling of the hangar. Conical-shaped boarding objects. These four-person disposable spacecraft, designed to strike at supersonic speed against the Unknowns’ Caterpillar-class ships, had been built without a single thought for the passengers’ safety. They relied entirely on the overwhelming physical performance of the Chainstalkers.
Drop pod launch port opening.
All Chainstalker personnel watch your feet.
The launch port of the drop pod opened with a deafening roar. The floor beneath them split left and right, revealing endless space below.
All drop personnel board and prepare for launch.