The Shell Peels Away
BOOM! KRA-KOOM!
The din of battle erupted from every direction.
"Damn it! Goddammit!"
The louder the noise grew, the more irritably Beatrix reacted—because a portion of that noise belonged to her own side.
FWOOOOSH—
The Culvest moved with unnatural freedom, its shields weaving to protect its body while, at every opening, four arms extended and spat guided lasers. Some of those beams hunted the dedicated strike team; others punched clean through the flanks of allied machines already locked in combat, sending them down in flames.
"Beatrix!"
"I know! I know already!"
They had to stop the Culvest. But how? Not a single attack from their side was landing.
As allied losses mounted, Beatrix snapped a sharp reply at her sister's call and fired her lance gun.
PEW-PEW-PEW!
The freely moving shield registered the incoming fire the instant it left the barrel and snapped into place, catching every laser. Whatever metal it was forged from, the rapid-fire beams left only faint scorch marks on the circular plate. The rest of the strike team kept up a chaotic barrage from every angle, but the shield swallowed it all—no one scored a clean hit.
ZZZZZNNN—!
Then, from behind the shield covering its front, an ominous charge began to build. The Culvest parted its shields, and from the center of its chest a laser of ferocious output lanced out.
KRA-KOOM!
The targeted allied cruiser's shields failed to hold. The main cannon punched through, and the ship went up in a thunderous detonation, breaking apart as it fell.
This isn't going to work.
Jincheon judged that if they kept fighting like this, the allies would retreat faster than they could win—and he was certain the moment had come for a decisive strike.
"Hey, Captain. We're gonna need support fire from the allied fleet."
"I know!"
Beatrix answered irritably—Jincheon was right—and requested fire support from the Rastold. Eirin had reached the same conclusion: nothing short of that would crack the Culvest's defenses. She ordered the main cannon charged.
While the strike team bought time and kept the Culvest's attention fixed, word came that the Rastold Silverion's main cannon was ready. They scrambled left and right, opening distance at once.
"Target locked!"
"Fire!"
The Rastold Silverion angled its massive frame diagonally downward and unleashed its main cannon. A laser vast enough to swallow a giant body poured forth—
ZIIING!
—only for the Culvest to raise the very shield the Particle Splitter had once shattered, catching the Rastold Silverion's main cannon head-on.
KRA-CHICHICHICHICHIT!
Shield and main cannon collided in a roar of noise and a light so fierce it seared the eyes.
"Culvest—damage minimal!"
"What…!"
Eirin could not hide her shock. The Rastold's main cannon had failed to pierce the shield of a single mecha. It was a vivid reminder of why so many nations across the galaxy coveted Calsorn Empire machines—but the critical fact remained: even with the Rastold committed, they had inflicted only light damage.
KRA-BOOM!
"Kh!"
"Enemy anti-air cannons are concentrating fire on the flagship!"
Under normal circumstances she would have ordered the ground forces to destroy the anti-air batteries—but Culvest's assault had already driven allied mecha losses into a steep climb.
We still hold the numerical advantage, but if we keep fighting like this, even a victory will cost us so much it won't mean anything. Should we withdraw?
As Culvest's presence tangled Eirin's thoughts—
"Bassaehi!"
—Jincheon, reading the brief lag in the Culvest's movement as it tanked the main cannon, slipped in behind it in a sudden rush.
KRA-CHIT!
He felt at once that the Culvest's thick armor would not yield to one or two strikes. Accelerating, he drove his lance into the right rear arm.
CRUNCH! KRA-BOOM!
The lance crumpled, its internals shattering in an explosion—but in exchange, one arm was destroyed.
TUK-KAKAKAKAKANG!
Discarding the ruined lance, Jincheon raised his Gatling shield and poured fire into the remaining rear arm. Only shallow scratches appeared; he could not land a proper hit. When the sub-arms mounted on either side of the continuous tracks reached to seize him, he shot upward at once and opened a channel to the strike team.
"This thing isn't something you beat by throwing numbers at it! Calsira and I will handle it—the rest of you, move somewhere else!"
"I am the commanding officer of this team! Don't issue orders on your own!"
"Calsira! Close in as far as you can and attack!"
"Yes!"
"Jincheon!!"
Beatrix, furious at his unilateral move, leveled her lance gun at him.
"Disobeying wartime orders is summary execution!"
"That so? Then hold on a second."
She was right, of course—but Jincheon had a card of his own, and the ease in his voice made it plain. A moment later, Eirin's transmission cut in toward Beatrix.
"Beatrix. Leave this to Jincheon."
"W-why!? That doesn't make any—"
"Captain of the Guard! Are you refusing my order?"
"…! I… receive the order…"
The situation was too urgent for patient explanation. Eirin pressed hard, and just like that the strike team was reduced to two: Jincheon and Calsira.
"The rest of us—me and Calsira—will handle this. Help the allies or do whatever the hell you want."
"Alpha… Five, Six. You two and I will clear the perimeter."
Sister… why…
Eirin and Beatrix had always relied on each other, a close pair of sisters. Their bond had only deepened through the hard road they had walked together—and so Beatrix felt something close to despair at the sight of her sister choosing Jincheon over her.
Freed from Beatrix's command, Jincheon and Calsira began to use their own genius instincts without restraint.
Half-assed long-range fire won't work.
Then we close in as far as we can.
From the fight so far, both of them already knew how to crack it. They closed the distance.
WHIIIR! WHOOSH-WHOOSH!
Of course the sub-arms swung, reaching to grab or smash them—but if either of them could be caught by something that basic, they never would have made it this far.
KAKAKAKAKANG! PEW! KRA-BOOM!
They opened fire with everything they had, trying to wreck the sub-arms first—but the sub-arms' defenses were no joke either, and destroying them proved hard.
WHOOSH!
"Ugh!?"
"Kyah!?"
When even the sub-arms failed to catch them, the Culvest's shield shot out and swept in a great arc. It was built for defense, but it carried more than enough force to punish anyone who had closed in.
"This thing's got every damn trick! Give us a break already!"
Forced back by the unexpected shield strike and the sub-arms, Calsira snapped in frustration. Every time they tried to attack one way, it defended or counterattacked another—enough to drive anyone mad.
"Calsira! It's opening its arms!"
The moment Jincheon and Calsira opened distance, the Culvest spread its arms again and resumed its laser assault.
"Now!"
There was no time for a long explanation, but Jincheon knew this was the window. He shot forward.
CLACK!
The clamps holding the Anti-Ship Sword on his back released; the massive blade started to slide free. Jincheon discarded his Gatling shield, spun his mecha through a full rotation, and seized the Anti-Ship Sword in both hands, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH!
The lasers came first, of course—but Jincheon rode out the crushing g-forces, weaving in a zigzag to slip every beam that came for him. Sub-arms lunged out, arms wide, trying to snatch his machine.
Now!
His body already remembered the lasers' curving patterns. He cut hard into a vertical climb and slipped free.
DRDRDRDRDRK!
"Khrrgh!"
With a sharp grunt, Jincheon used his Inner Qi to catch the blood that tried to drain from his head toward his lower body and force it back into a normal flow.
KRA-CHICHIT!
He glanced down. The lasers he had drawn after him were looping back; the Culvest hastily thrust its shield forward and caught them.
"There!"
With the shield pulled in front of the body, the metal rods that drove it stood fully exposed. Jincheon dove hard and swung the Anti-Ship Sword in a great arc.
KRA-CHICHIT! KUUUNG!
The Anti-Ship Sword sheared through the rods. The massive shield crashed to the ground with a heavy, final sound.
"Finally—the shell comes off!"
KRA-BOOM!
With the shield gone, Jincheon poured rail-cannon fire into the Culvest's now-naked flank. Nothing left to stop the shots, the side armor buckled and warped under the one-sided barrage.
"Waist! Waist! Waist! Waist! Waist! Waaist!"
Jincheon hammered the exposed midsection with relentless rail-cannon fire. As the damage stacked, the Culvest's pilot felt the danger and did something he had not done until now.
CLANK-CLANK! DRDRDRDRDR!
"Hahahahaha! Getting desperate enough to start dodging now? Too late!"
"Not a chance!"
KRA-KRA-BOOM!
The moment the Culvest began to move, Jincheon and Calsira slammed rail-cannon fire into its continuous tracks. But the tracks, too, were no ordinary material; even under the barrage they showed little sign of real shock.
As it fled, the Culvest thrust its arms forward and spat lasers again. The beams curved mid-flight, homing exclusively on Jincheon and Calsira—no other mecha, only the two of them. Already familiar with the pattern, both of them threw their machines into wild, multi-axis motion and slipped the incoming fire with ease.
ZIIING!
"Ah! Jincheon! The shield again!"
"It can make one with a single shield left!?"
Buying itself that window, the Culvest began regenerating its shield. If it finished, their means of attacking it would vanish. Both of them frantically poured rail-cannon fire into the forming barrier.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Holes punched through the incomplete shield with every hit, but the color deepened by degrees, the barrier knitting itself closed around the machine. If it completed, they would be dragged back into the same grinding, one-sided fight the Culvest wanted.
"Jincheon! Calsira!"
"Sister!?"
Heliane, piloting a ground-use mecha, cut into their channel. She opened fire on the ground where the fighting had been fiercest moments before—and a familiar object was caught in the blast and flung skyward.
"Ah—!"
"Calsira!"
"Yes!"
At Jincheon's order she redlined her engines and shot forward, snatching the spear-like Particle Splitter out of the air. It had once shattered the Culvest's shield—then the shield-plates had appeared, and the weapon had lost its presence almost overnight.
"Haaaat!"
Calsira seized it, dove, and hurled it at the Culvest like a javelin.
FWAAAAH!
The Culvest's pilot immediately kicked the engines at the front and rear of the continuous tracks and dodged at high speed. A veteran who knew how to hold something back until the very end—no question.
But this time, the opponent was simply the wrong one.
"Heuryassap!"
The instant the Culvest dodged, Jincheon shot forward, snatched the flying Particle Splitter out of the air, and threw it again.
PA-CHICHICHIT!
The nearly complete shield met the Particle Splitter and collapsed once more. Jincheon never slowed—he charged straight in with the Anti-Ship Sword.
KRA-JIJIJIK!
Driven by the mecha's full speed and mass, the Anti-Ship Sword punched deep into the Culvest's body.
"Hyaaat!"
Jincheon forced the blade downward with everything he had, trying to pry the wound wider—but the remaining shield swung hard, aiming to smash his machine aside.
"Iyaaaaaat!"
From above, Calsira—armed with the same Anti-Ship Sword—dove hard and sheared through the rod that held the shield. After borrowing Jincheon's Anti-Ship Sword once and finding the feel better than expected, she had added one to her Knight Pack.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Calsira drove her Anti-Ship Sword hilt-deep into the wound Jincheon had opened, then kicked off the Culvest's body and shot upward. Jincheon slipped a late-coming sub-arm and opened distance.
"Fire!"
"Just die already!"
KRA-KRA-BOOM! KIIIIIIIIING!
Jincheon and Calsira poured rail-cannon and head-vulcan fire into the opened wound without pause—until the rail-cannon barrels glowed white-hot and needed cooling, until the head-vulcans ran dry.
Whir— whir— whirr…
The Culvest tried to move again, but the damage had gone past the point of combat readiness. Sub-arms and main arms hung limp.
"Is it dea—"
"Stop! Don't cast the resurrection spell!"
"Y-yes?"
Calsira, who had been about to ask if it was dead without thinking, shut her mouth at Jincheon's sudden shout.
"Hoo. Fuck. Thank god. Barely stopped the resurrection spell."
He had cut off, in advance, the kind of resurrection spell that could restore even an enemy ground to atomic dust—and looking at the unresponsive Culvest, he finally allowed himself a breath of relief. This Culvest had brought every annoying gimmick in the book; it had been the worst kind of enemy.
"Heh. Heheh. Hehahahahahah!"
And realizing he had actually beaten it, Jincheon threw his head back and laughed the laugh of victory.
Not long after, the enemy forces—learning the Culvest was combat-ineffective—surrendered. Word went out to the entire army that one of the Galantid planets had been reclaimed from rebel hands, and the battle on that world came to an end.