Echoes Spreading in the Void (Part 1)
Shuuuuuu.
The surge of emotion had stirred the Emotional Corps troops’ ether to a considerable degree, and if things had gone badly wrong, it might have driven them berserk and electrocuted everyone on the scene to death. But combat drills for worst-case scenarios were mandatory. Their enemies understood the concept of ether just as well; if they lacked experience fighting opponents of comparable level—or if they could not weather attacks designed to send them into a frenzy—they would be swept aside in utter futility. I was no different.
If you butcher people purely through a one-sided physical gap, then when the real contest finally begins, you can rely on nothing but luck. Of course, in that kind of situation, you also need the wit to improvise and the courage not to fear it. But that mental state is, in essence, the very thing that lets one handle superpowers—no, not quite...it is the state itself of shaping ether through the mind. Better to call it “Ethereal.” Next time I go to the Minister, I should suggest that we stop calling it superpowers and instead use the term Ethereal. At least for units devoted to civil operations, if nothing else.
Screeeeeech.
Step.
Step.
Whip.
When I turned around and saluted the trail left behind by the Dyson Sphere strike the Minister had fired, the troops followed suit in crisp unison, turning and saluting as one. The aftereffects of those attacks were still blazing bright, so bright they made it impossible to look directly; and just as that glare began to fade, while darkness threatened to descend again, there we were—standing in solemn, perfectly synchronized descent. There was no need for nanomachines at all.
Then, turning back, I approached the planet’s inhabitants who were staring at us from outside the buildings, dazed by the spectacle, with the proper air of mystery and grandeur. And, as always, I did not threaten them outright. Instead, I began by needling their underdog mentality, gently at first.
“In this location, we have confirmed the presence of a Russian nationalist faction known as Ivan Reofle Petrovsky. Their movements are a dangerous threat that directly contradicts the national ideology of Russia in space, centered around the Russian Free Legion, all under the banner of restoring the glory of old Russia.”
“So tell me who here has been taking the largest share of the profits. For now, responsibility begins there.”
“And then tell me who is responsible for the safety of this place. You can be certain the excuse for that title is drenched entirely in the sweet lie of ‘protecting your security.’”
The residents of Rivervade could hardly get a word out under that overwhelming atmosphere, but that was precisely what we wanted. If they wanted to overcome this situation, they would need a mind strong enough to do so—and if they had that much strength, then we only needed to consider the worst-case or the best-case outcome. If there was a sense of duty toward some organization flickering in them, then that man was our enemy. If, on the other hand, he tried to resolve the situation by speaking up through pure courage, then he was our ally. Because our own appearance was not especially benevolent either, but in terms of force the balance was absolutely against them, so they would place unity above everything else. The thought of solving this for their own safety had already been erased from their heads; all that remained was the instruction to act like machines according to plan, and to value that obedience more than their own lives. Otherwise, they all died.
Unity within a group is always, by its very mechanism, bound to this structure and can never deviate from it even slightly. It’s the root of roots. If you watch long enough, everything eventually comes out.
So we watched to see whether they would behave mechanically in a place that did not respect an individual’s freedom at all, or whether they would simply be speaking with courage for the sake of their own survival. Of course, our side was not always perfect either.
“You there—the one with your hand up. Step forward. You have something to say, don’t you?”
“Ah...I was just stretching.”
“This...? You don’t even know not to fool around in elementary school class, do you?! You little punk bastard, thinking you can do whatever you want in the back row!”
One of them had sharp eyes and called out to the person who raised a hand, but that person said they were only stretching.
“Calm down. Your ether is hurting this person, isn’t it.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Answer my question. Did you raise both hands? Or just one?”
“Bo...both hands.”
“Is that true, gentlemen? Did anyone see this man raise both hands?”
“Yes...”
“How disappointing. If you’re going to go through life thinking that cheaply, then you may as well join the very crowd of fools lurking in that group yourself.”
“S-sorry, Commander!”
“Social grace means nothing to us. We follow only the one true truth. To dare invoke morality without knowing that is an insult to Him, and your duty is no different from declaring yourself dead and throwing yourself into death. To try and erase the stain by punishing the one who made the mistake of dazzling your eyes—that is already a filthy act, following that impious attitude and then forcing it upon the weak as well!”
“I-I’ll correct it....”
Bang.
“Gahhhhhh!!!”
“Hiiiiiiiii!!!”
The moment I finished speaking, the people stared in horror as I fired a single pistol shot into the mistake-maker’s leg.
“Anyone who fanatically believes this one is right, step forward now. I’ll deliver punishment worthy of you. You, too, have hurled ridicule and prejudice at this wrongly dragged-out man with your petty morality, so don’t imagine you have the right to preach about ethics.”
“Y-yes...yes....S-sorry.....C-Commander...”
The troops, having just personally experienced the minister’s grandeur moments before, did not so much as flinch at the wounded soldier’s reckless act. But the civilians, shaken by the consequences of what they had done, were completely crushed in the battle of wills. At the same time, I could gradually sense the flow of ether inside their bodies.
The Minister’s ideals are truly extraordinary. But the fact that I can only follow them blindly is a little sad. Then again, outside of that, I myself have never even thought of moving people through anything other than money.
“Good. Now I wonder whether there’s anyone with the courage to properly raise ‘one’ hand. Can you dare to say no? Let’s see it.”
But naturally, no one raised their hand.
“Think deeply on your own righteousness! That ridicule and prejudice are not flung at others overnight! Even if they are, it is the very people who have done so without a single exception who carry on with no guilt at all! So if you are truly righteous, then raise one hand immediately and confess who here is taking the most profit and who claims to guard this place’s safety!”
Even so, no response came. And from that, I could tell that these people were, as expected, made of the same flawed material as everyone else.
So much for finding the spy who came forward publicly here. It doesn’t matter. I can use them to indirectly move all the remaining civilians who aren’t gathered here away from our direction, then launch a full-scale search.
Clack.
Whoooosh.
And then I gathered ether into my hand at once and lifted the people all together with telekinesis.
“Go and tell those who have not yet come outside the buildings here. We will now conduct a large-scale search of this Rivervade planet. Keep in mind that some may be unable to come out for one reason or another—that is the meaning of this announcement, so make sure you inform them in advance. Understood? If the issue is a physical one, I will move them myself with the power I showed you earlier.”
“Y-yes...yes....”
“Good. Go tell them at once. And move only people. You are not permitted to carry any belongings.”
Clack.
Using telekinesis again, I slowly lowered them to the ground and let them disperse freely. Freedom, of course, was a lie; in truth, it meant only that they should follow our will. But in the larger, long-term sense, it was still freedom.
And once everyone had finally cleared out, we immediately began a full-scale search.
“Captain, do you think there’s definitely something those bastards are preparing here?”
“Probably. Those guys still don’t know this planet we’re garrisoned on very well. If we can at least find the records, we’ll be lucky. The ones running out of time aren’t us—it’s them.”
“I see. If possible, I’d prefer the trap not to be made only of inanimate objects. It’d be better if there were living traps too. We can’t just sit here and watch those idiots try to invade Mephauric Camp.”
And so we began investigating signs of invasion, only to stumble upon traces of both their development work and their collaborators in a suspicious underground laboratory.
“Look at this. A guestbook.”
“They forgot to clear this out? Then they were effectively powerless to respond to us right away. There’s not even a booby trap in here.”
In the guestbook my aide brought me, names like Lepisthine Romanov, Robin Petrovsky, and Ivan Reofle Petrovsky had been marked as VVVIPs.
“Could this be fake? There weren’t any booby traps here either. It’s fair to say they left it here for us to take.”
“We’re not exactly combatants from the nations that participated in the Third World War, and every weapon they’re using is currently impossible to manufacture without approval from the Minister and the Advisor. If they tried to screw over our UN forces under these conditions, they’d lose their supply first—and then they couldn’t beat even a single Strange Zombie.”
“True enough. Without those weapons, it’s physically impossible to kill the Strange Zombie at all, given the bastard’s properties. Maybe they were actually trying to emphasize their own transparency. Still, we haven’t yet confirmed the exact identities of the people named here, so don’t jump to conclusions. What is certain now, however, is that all we need to do is dig into the trail of these three. Intelligence says there were definitely Russian nationalists here.”
— Reofle side — underground laboratory, basement observation room
“Hah. Of all things, the UN troops had to come... It’s a shame our homeland was destroyed by a nuclear blast, and I do doubt those UN troops, but...if we touch them now, it’ll just be annihilation.”
“Brother, they’re enemies we have to crush sooner or later anyway. From the looks of it, they feel like one of those people called the Diagrams of Mystery. Even roaming around with a unit they lead alone, no one so much as stops them.”
“Yeah...so maybe it would be better to wipe them out now while we still can. If anything feels off, they won’t move personally from that point on, and we won’t get another chance like this.”
“Shouldn’t we make ourselves an escape route too? Lepisthine Romanov already left a long time ago. Looks like he didn’t want to get tangled up in this from the start.”
“You really believe that? That guy never hesitates to confront anyone head-on, no matter who the opponent is. Of course, he never shies away from every kind of dirty trick either.”
“I just hope that bastard doesn’t get caught and spill everything.”
“You always act like victory has made you blind. This isn’t really the time to say that, is it? Well, don’t worry. I’ve prepared a contingency plan too.”
Beep.
Ziiiiing.
— Ansolok side —
“Huh. What’s this now?”
Suddenly, a bizarre chill began to pierce straight through me.
“C-Commander...s-suddenly...our bodies...”
“Same here. My superpowers...aren’t coming out properly....”
Of course, our physical capabilities for combat itself hadn’t been dulled, so we hurriedly swung our gun barrels around in all directions and went into full alert.
Thunk.
Thunk.
“What the hell is that?!”
“Damn it, is that their secret weapon? Unbelievable—they were even planning to touch us?! Die!”
Ratatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata!
We immediately entered combat. They weren’t the sort of people who could survive gunfire, so the fight itself was manageable enough. But being in a narrow space opened out like a flat field, while also being unable to feel ether and thus unable to respond to secondary ambushes, was a massive weakness. My aide, seeing that, advised me as well.
“Commander, I think retreating would be best. The fact that people have appeared who can exploit our traits is something no shallow investigation would ever have noticed, and the image we’ve already planted in people’s minds may be damaged as well.”
“That may be true in the short term. But we cannot retreat here. In fact, by that logic, if they don’t attack when the civilians are absent like this and instead openly hide among them while launching an offensive prepared to accept massive collateral damage, the situation could become even more complicated. They may even try to record this, use it as a test, and turn it into propaganda. So we have to eradicate them all here, escape, and leave this place to the regular soldiers. Even if there’s something deeply rotten behind it, we can’t let them create a shred of plausibility for dragging us into it.”
“Yes, sir. Everyone, fight with your lives on the line!”
Fortunately, because the enemy launched their attack immediately with no intention of giving us even a moment to regroup after we flinched, there was no need to worry about them luring us in. We couldn’t prevent them from crowding in at point-blank range, but that also meant we could make full use of CQC, keeping them from creating distance and ensuring that even if they tried to prepare ambushes, they couldn’t actually execute them. And the moment the distance opened up even a little, the bullets we fired in unison were guided entirely by our will into complete irregularity. They didn’t quite become self-destructive, but their inherent explosive function remained intact, so even grazing hits carried enough concussive force to smash them to death without the slightest issue.
Buuuuummm.
Pow.
Bang!
Swoosh.
Swoosh.
Swoosh.
Ratatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata!
Bullets swept through the room from every direction, and sprays of blood followed behind them like fountains. The iron stink was already thick in the air, and one of the faster ones was even grabbed outright, then had his head clutched in both hands and crushed until it burst.
BOOOOOOM!
Crack.
The physical might we possessed was enough to twist their necks 180 degrees, sever throats with a single knife-hand strike, slam whole bodies front and back into the ground until they burst, or even seize them in a bear hug and cut them in half at the waist.
“Hah! Even without superpowers, you can fight this well...? Seems we underestimated you.”
“Come out, you bastard.”
Ratatatatata.
I drew my gun again, switched it to full auto, and fired.
“Don’t waste bullets. I’m not there anyway.”
“Then are you perhaps Ivan Reofle Petrovsky?”
“That’s right. And what comes after that, you probably don’t need me to explain, do you?”
“Damn it. Is this some kind of revenge attempt that doesn’t even follow causality?”
“That’s not the point. Even if it were true, what exactly are you going to do about it right this second? If you search that place thoroughly, you’ll uncover quite a lot. I know very well that half-baked fake intel won’t bait you into showing your faces. I will definitely cut the power to that bastard and that bitch, you machine-loving freaks.”
“Don’t get too cocky with things you picked up from the Jefferson family. You’ll die first that way. The moment these bullets identify your position, you’re dead.”