Hill Capture Battle
Luna! Snap out of it!
“Ugh…” At 1’s shout, I forced my eyes open to find myself upside down in the darkened cockpit. The explosion must have knocked me out briefly. Hanging inverted, I clutched my spinning head and asked 1, “We flipped over?”
[Yeah. We crashed into the forest below the hill and rolled over. Looks like her power source got damaged too. She’s not moving.]
“This is bad.” Being stranded in the middle of a battlefield crawling with enemies. I had to get out fast. I unbuckled the harness and planted my feet on the cockpit ceiling. I never expected them to fire missiles even if it meant destroying the lab. Whether it was a submarine or a ship that launched them, I’d make sure it sank. After I got out of this mess first.
“1. Call 2 and 3 back. Are there any enemies nearby right now?”
[Two units approaching about fifty meters away.]
“Damn it.” If things stayed like this, I’d end up either a prisoner or a corpse. Which option gave me a slightly better survival chance—staying put or getting out?
[Don’t worry too much. The others are tying up their feet. And your knight is on his way too.]
“Knight?”
[You know, that guy Rendel who hangs around with 5.]
“W-who’s calling him my knight?” There was no time to correct 1’s misunderstanding. If the fairies were keeping the enemies busy, I could escape. I needed to get out before more showed up. After opening the cockpit hatch, I poked my head out to check the situation.
Black Fairy’s body was jammed into a large tree, flipped over, with its head rolling around in front. Sorry. Having someone like me as your master… I’d get scolded by the maintenance instructors, so I’d have to ask Kirie or Neria to fix it secretly later.
I jumped down from about two meters up and quickly hid in the shade of the trees. Two Aindiums stood nearby. My blood ran cold at the thought they might start shooting any second. Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I began moving carefully.
「Luna!!」
Just then, White Fang came charging from the hill direction and instantly tore apart the two stationary Aindiums. While the limbless, headless machines tumbled to the ground, Rendel approached Black Fairy and carefully flipped the black Nimust onto its feet.
「Luna! Can you hear me?」
Rendel’s worried shout toward the empty cockpit made me feel a pang of guilt. Seeing Aindium shadows appearing one by one from the hill, I hurried forward and waved my hand.
“Senior! I’m fine!”
「Luna. Are you hurt anywhere?」
“No! More importantly, behind you! There are enemies behind you!”
The moment Rendel heard “enemies,” he spun around and lowered his stance. The cockpit of White Fang, which had taken cover behind Black Fairy and the broken trees, opened, and Rendel emerged. He lowered the boarding rope and gestured.
“Luna! It’s dangerous over there—get in here!”
“Huh?”
I swatted away the comment board that suddenly popped up and blocked my view, then grabbed the handle at the end of the rope Rendel had lowered. With more enemies appearing, I couldn’t run away on foot, so I had no choice but to follow his lead. Pressing the button on the handle, the rope rapidly retracted and lifted me to the cockpit seven meters up in an instant.
“Careful.”
Rendel supported my waist to keep me from falling, then carefully pulled me inside. “Excuse me.”
White Fang’s cockpit was wider than Limpid or Black Fairy’s, probably because it was Aind-class. It wasn’t built for two people, though, so there wasn’t really a separate seat for me. Left with no other option, I stood behind Rendel and held onto the chair.
“Sorry if it’s uncomfortable. Just bear with it for a bit.”
“It’s fine. Oh, right—I saw you fighting earlier, Senior.”
“Yeah? How was it? Think I could beat Rane in a match?”
“Hmm. If you can take out the remaining enemies too, maybe it’s possible.”
“I’ll finish this quickly.”
I was grateful Rendel was motivated. He really was fighting much better than before.
[Should we help too?]
“You guys can pilot White Fang?”
[Of course. We’ll coordinate well with 5.]
The three fairies from Limpid Fairy and Black Fairy received information about White Fang from 5, White Fang’s own fairy. Rendel, who’d overheard me talking with the fairies, spoke with a curious tone.
“You seem to get along well with fairies, Luna.”
“Yes. You seniors can talk with the fairies attached to your own machines too, right?”
“Well, yeah, but it feels more like just exchanging information.”
Ah, right. In the original animation, fairies only appeared on Rendel’s White Fang, and they functioned more like an interface displaying information or status rather than actual conversation. After all, Professor Carol had created the fairies as support AIs in the first place. Since my body belonged to Lewina, who had inherited the princess’s mana, it made sense that I could communicate with them easily.
“Three more fairies followed me. That should make mana control easier, right?”
“Oh. Tell them I’m counting on them.”
“Okay.”
Before I could even relay Rendel’s words, the fairies had already taken positions throughout the cockpit and were assisting with White Fang’s movements. Since things had turned out this way, maybe I should learn Rendel’s piloting technique over his shoulder. Yeah. I’d treat it like sitting in the passenger seat and do some image training—imagining pressing virtual levers and pedals…
Whoosh—
Before I could even appreciate holding onto the chair, White Fang accelerated and my body was thrown backward.
Thud.
“Ugh.”
I slammed into the wall hard enough to make a sound, startling Rendel into slowing down. Even so, his arms kept moving as he smashed an approaching enemy Aindium to pieces. His combat prowess was truly remarkable.
“I’m fine. Kyah!”
This time I clung to the headrest of the chair to avoid falling, but White Fang’s acceleration was still too much to withstand while standing. While trying to hold on, I almost ended up choking Rendel. He suppressed his acceleration as much as possible while taking down three charging Aindiums. Normally he could have dodged all their gunfire with his acceleration ability, but White Fang ended up getting hit several times. Fortunately there was no major damage, but it was clear he wasn’t fighting at full strength because of me. I was going to get chewed out for this.
Ding—
I immediately closed the comment board that popped up on both sides. I could check my evaluation later. Right now, the battle in front of me mattered more.
In this state, it would be difficult to take down the enemy commander’s flag positioned on the hill. Charging at an opponent who used that strange vibration ability without acceleration would be dangerous.
“Um, Senior. There aren’t any enemies around here anymore, so I’ll get off now. I feel like I’m just getting in the way…”
“No. I heard enemies appeared on the way to the academy too.”
A voice that sounded like Rane’s kept coming from the earpiece Rendel was wearing. So that’s why no support had arrived—the path here was blocked. I had no choice. Steeling myself, I spoke up.
“But we can’t stay like this forever, can we?”
“Right. If we’re not careful, you might get hurt crashing into something.”
“The bigger problem is that you can’t use your acceleration ability because you’re worried about that. So I have a suggestion.”
“Suggestion?”
It was really hard to say out loud, but given the situation, I had no choice.
“Yes. I’ll sit here. You can still pilot, right?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah?”
I perched on the narrow space in front of Rendel’s chair, leaned back against him, and tilted my head to the side so it wouldn’t block his view. Keeping my arms and legs neatly together as much as possible, I managed to stabilize my position.
“There’s a spare safety harness, right? Please give it to me.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Rendel, flustered, handed me the harness, which I wrapped around my waist to secure myself. Now even if he accelerated, it would only shake me a little.
“This must be uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Should I press the front pedal for you instead?”
“No! Just stay still.”
Rendel muttered “please” under his breath, exchanged a brief word with Senior Rane, then moved White Fang forward.
“What do we do if they’ve already opened the lab?”
“They won’t have gotten far. The navy and Aindiums guarding Guep City are on their way.”
“That’s a relief. Oh, right—Limpid is in the hangar too.”
“Really? Then we need to hurry.”
As White Fang accelerated, my body was pushed backward, pressing against Rendel with my back.
“Sorry. Am I heavy?”
“No. Not at all.”
Rendel had been a monster who could single-handedly carve through enemy lines, but his voice carried tension, probably from the continuous fighting. To help him relax and prepare for the upcoming battle, I told him about what I’d experienced earlier.
“Vibration ability?”
“Yes. According to the fairies, it’s probably a magical attack.”
“A magical attack, huh.”
While pondering, Rendel sliced through two Aindiums blocking the way. Back at Fairy’s Hill, we encountered a group of Aindiums struggling to open the lab door. And so White Fang’s hunt began.