White Fang Excels in Ambushes
White Fang is a mech that truly shines in ambush situations. In the mobile game I used to play, it was a useful character for the pilot Rendel. With his acceleration ability, he could close the distance in an instant and carve up enemies that weren’t melee types. The shameless gacha that forced you to pull for both pilot and machine separately drained my bank account day by day, but I still had a lot of fun with it. Come to think of it, didn’t the fan site have a separate game bulletin board? I should check that later.
The reason Rendel had been able to put on a near-invincible performance in the forest earlier was largely thanks to the terrain full of cover, which let him divide and conquer the enemy forces. The fairies had also fed him the enemies’ positions and even infiltrated their machines to freeze them temporarily, so it would have been stranger if the protagonist Rendel hadn’t won. But from now on we would have to abandon every one of those advantages.
The hill was wide open for dozens of meters in every direction, making a surprise attack nearly impossible. The heavy vibrations rolling off the dark-green Aindium also kept the fairies from getting close. That was why White Fang remained hidden in the woods near the hill, waiting for the right moment.
It would have been nice if support arrived to draw the enemy’s attention, but Carson and the other second-years were struggling to break through the guerrilla fighters scattered through the forest.
“Couldn’t we get Senior Muri to provide bombardment support?”
“The angle won’t work. There’s a cliff with the laboratory on it blocking the line of fire from the school side.”
The places where Muri’s Trooper 01 could set up for effective fire were limited, and the school direction offered no viable angle. If the enemy had approached from the sea it might have been possible, but that was probably where their reserves were waiting.
We didn’t have time to sit around. The laboratory entrance the fairies were desperately defending was on the verge of being smashed open.
“We’re moving. Hold on tight.”
“Where exactly am I supposed to hold?”
“……”
Unlike Rendel, who could simply grip the lever, I had nothing obvious to grab. Touching anything would interfere with his control.
“Right. You could just hold me with your legs, Senior.”
“Huh?”
“The pedals only move from the knee down, right? So if you press your thighs against me on the part that doesn’t move…”
“Luna. Please.”
A sigh colored Rendel’s voice. Had I said something strange? He clearly disliked the idea, so I would just have to endure a little discomfort.
“Then I’ll do this instead.”
I stretched both arms and gripped the edge of the seat. Our arms would touch his legs and it would be slightly awkward for both of us, but it was the best option.
“Th-then just bear with the shaking a little.”
Rendel took a long, steadying breath and seized the lever. He began to move forward, working the foot pedals with care. Conscious of me sitting right in front of him, he guided White Fang with the smallest possible motions and raised the rifle toward the enemy Aindium that was ripping the laboratory door off its hinges.
The standard assault rifle—White Fang’s long-range armament—rattled to life. The enemy that had been watching our direction immediately returned fire.
Ping— The built-in speaker carried the sharp whine of bullets grazing the armor.
Unlike his earlier rampage through the forest, Rendel was being cautious with his long-range suppression. In a short burst he emptied an entire magazine, shattering one enemy Aindium’s head and one of its arms.
“That was incredible!”
It hadn’t even been a one-on-one fight, and he had fired from deep in the forest for cover, yet the result was still this decisive. An Aind-class machine didn’t fall apart from a single bullet. Unless you piled on impact quickly, the built-in shield would recover. You had to either strip the shield away in one go or hammer the same spot repeatedly.
Rendel could accomplish the first with melee and the second with gunfire. As expected of the protagonist.
I hadn’t noticed while watching the animation, but after piloting an Aindium myself for a whole month, I felt in my bones just how much of a genius—and how much of a monster—the original main characters truly were.
After downing the enemy on the hill, White Fang retreated into the deep woods to reload. This time the enemy came for us.
The three remaining machines, excluding what appeared to be the enemy commander’s unit, closed in from every side to surround us. Rendel quickly worked the pedals and charged straight at one of them.
Vrrrrm— White Fang’s engine roared as it poured power into acceleration. My body slammed backward, and the enemy that had been some distance away suddenly filled my entire view.
Rendel sliced off the machine’s head and arm with perfect, razor-sharp timing.
Destroying the cockpit would have been the surest kill, but even the weakest Nimust-class cockpit was difficult to breach with ordinary firepower. The Aindium military suffered from a far greater shortage of pilots than of machines. Ordinary people could not operate them; in the past, only those who would have been called mages qualified. The cockpit was built with extreme toughness to protect those precious pilots. Even in combat between Aindiums, the standard practice was to capture pilots alive.
Therefore, focusing attacks on the head and arms was the textbook method for subduing an opponent.
Whiiir— Rendel executed a sharp turn at speed. White Fang’s engine howled. He smoothly manipulated the controls to kill the recoil, then charged the next target the moment balance returned.
The gun barrels aimed at the rushing White Fang never fired. Because the enemy commander had not followed, the fairies seemed to be interfering with their systems.
Slash! Rendel carved diagonally through the upper torso of the second machine, then severed the third one completely before catching his breath.
“Haa…”
Rendel’s exhale tickled my ear. I nearly let out a sound but managed to hold it back. I started to tilt my head again, but he gently turned it back to its original position.
“You’ll hurt your neck.”
“Can’t you see like this?”
“This much is fine.”
True enough. Considering our respective seated heights, I could sit upright without issue. The lower view might be a little awkward, but that was all. There were minor inconveniences—my hair brushing his nose, his breath touching my head and ear whenever he exhaled—but I had no desire to risk a neck injury, so I stayed quiet.
It looks like the other friends won’t be able to help from now on.
“Tell them they did a good job. You all keep working hard too.”
Got it.
The fairies not riding inside White Fang were vulnerable to the enemy commander’s attacks. We would have to fight their leader alone without the reliable backup that had been disrupting the enemy so effectively until now. The animation staff’s intentions were painfully obvious.
“Let’s finish this fast.”
“Moving. Hold on tight.”
Rendel burst from the shadows of the dark forest, accelerating as he charged up the hill. While rushing forward he emptied the last magazine in rapid fire, stubbornly targeting the enemy commander’s head. The enemy raised a thick, shield-like arm to protect its face.
In that opening Rendel stowed the rifle, gripped the sword in both hands, and swung with all his strength.
Clang! White Fang’s blade bit deep but struck an invisible wall, failing to damage the enemy machine.
The instant the attack failed, Rendel disengaged without hesitation. An unseen shockwave swept through the space he had just vacated. The ground tore open in a conical crater and the trees behind us toppled from the impact.
I felt Rendel’s body tense. Similar exchanges of attack and defense continued. Only after an entire line of trees near Fairy’s Hill had been felled did an opening finally appear.
“Ha!”
Rendel shouted and drove into the gap. He seized the back that the shield-like arms could not cover in time. Before the enemy could turn, his slash carved into its arm.
Crunch! This strike was wrapped in magic power, unlike the shallow cuts before. One of the enemy commander’s arms split halfway and hung uselessly.
Having seized the momentum, Rendel swung again and again. The commander, now missing an arm, could only endure the barrage. I felt its thick magical barrier steadily shrinking.
Just as he prepared the finishing blow to the head—
Ding—
“Senior! Fall back!”
I had no certainty, but the deliberate close-up clearly meant to be noticed by animation viewers could not be ignored. Rendel canceled his attack and retreated a beat late. A shockwave immediately erupted from the enemy commander.
“Kyaa!”
The ground shook. The blast was so powerful that White Fang nearly lost its balance. If we had been even a fraction slower we would have been knocked flat on our backs right in front of the enemy.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Thanks to Rendel’s solid back supporting me, I had barely felt the impact.
I couldn’t fight directly, but I could still help by watching the chat like before. It seemed the hidden trump card the enemy had been saving was that large shockwave. After it, Rendel’s one-sided assault continued.
Once its barrier was completely depleted, the enemy fled toward the sea—the direction from which the explosion had come.
“Lan. The enemy commander is running. Toward the sea where that explosion just happened.”
「A unit from the Relief Force is waiting there. Carson and the others have reached the hill. They’ll link up with us soon.」
“Roger.”
We had barely managed to prevent the enemy from infiltrating the laboratory. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but the situation was not over.
“Senior. Let me down.”
“It’s still dangerous.”
“Do you want the other seniors to see us coming out of the same cockpit?”
“…Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Get inside the lab.”
“Yes. That was my plan anyway.”
Rendel escorted me all the way to the cockpit hatch and watched until I had entered the laboratory.
Several Aindiums are climbing the hill. They appear to be students from your school, Luna.
“Grant the second-year seniors temporary access.”
Understood.
Watching Carson’s Hussar and several other second-year mechs ascend the hill, I passed through the half-destroyed entrance. I decided the scattered documents and overturned daily necessities could be cleaned up later, and ran straight to the hangar to board Limpi.
“Fuel status?”
Enough for one more flight, at most.
“That’s plenty.”
I fastened the harness, started the engine, and tapped the flight button briefly. After landing on the cliff top, I picked up the fallen sniper rifle from the ground and attempted flight once more.
“Two, Three. Focus on the weapon system.”
Understood.
Limpi’s engine heated up, pouring magic power into the anti-materiel sniper rifle. The single remaining round was a non-lethal impact cartridge designed for suppression. I shouldered the rifle and took aim.
The dark-green Aindium raced through the forest, occasionally toppling small trees in its path. In the original story it had never encountered the protagonist and failed to break through the fairies’ defense. That machine was the key to identifying the enemy faction that had remained shrouded in mystery until I fell into this world.
I placed my finger on the lever that served as the trigger and steadied my breathing. It wasn’t time yet. I had to wait until the enemy fully revealed itself and paused, even for a moment.
On the shore it was heading toward, a sunken submarine lay half-submerged. Several friendly Aindiums waited in front of it. Capturing the enemy there would not be difficult, but in the original story the pilot would have committed suicide by poison. My goal was to take the enemy alive.
I moved the scope to the shoreline. A few seconds later, just before the friendly Aindiums could rush the enemy that had emerged onto the beach near the sunken submarine—
Bang—!
The massive bullet pushed out by the sniper rifle streaked toward its target. The enemy’s brief hesitation while surrounded by friendly machines had been its fatal mistake. The sound didn’t reach me at this distance, but through the scope I saw the Aindium collapse after taking the impact round directly to the cockpit.
The cockpit itself was not destroyed, of course, but the pilot inside had likely been knocked unconscious by the tremendous shock.
I sent a signal to my helper through the communicator. A small figure immediately appeared on the shore. “Small” was only in comparison to the Aindiums; in reality it was a person wearing power armor several times larger than a normal human.
The principal in power armor tore open the cockpit of the dark-green Aindium and pulled the person inside out.
「Mission complete, Princess.」
“Thank you for your hard work. They’ll probably have poison in their mouth or somewhere on their body.”
「I already noticed a capsule between their molars and took measures.」
“You removed the capsule?”
「I pulled all their teeth so they couldn’t chew anything at all.」
“…G-good work.”
With the task finished, all the strength left my body at once. The moment I returned to the hangar I lost consciousness as if falling asleep.