An off-road vehicle drove out of the base. Judging by its route, it was heading toward the field where they had trained with the Tactical Surface Fighters yesterday.
The people who had been called along did not understand why they were going there.
They did not understand, but as soldiers, they only had to obey orders. They would know what they were supposed to do when the time came.
After more than ten minutes, once the vehicle crested the slope ahead, part of the training ground came into view.
"What's wrong, Kasumi?"
The woman driving the off-road vehicle, Marimo Jinguuji, noticed that the child who had come with them had suddenly grown tense, as if there were some danger ahead.
If it had been anyone else, Marimo would not have needed to pay much attention to their emotions.
But this child was special. She possessed telepathic ability and could sense ominous things more sharply than ordinary people.
However, in response to Marimo's question, the child only pressed her lips together and said nothing.
As for tomorrow's operation, Marimo and this child had been confirmed as the pilots of the XG-70b Susanoo II.
Marimo would handle most of the machine's physical operation, bearing the physical burden, while the child would primarily bear the mental strain.
As for the other four people in the off-road vehicle, the brown-haired girl sitting behind the driver's seat was Yui Takamura. Sitting beside her was the short, dark-brown-haired girl Michiru Isumi. In the third row sat the pink-haired Haruka Suzumiya and, beside her, the blue-haired Mitsuki Hayase.
Those four were Marimo's backup personnel in case something happened to her.
In addition, they would also serve as the guards for the XG-70b Susanoo II. All four of them would pilot Tactical Surface Fighters and stay beside the XG-70b Susanoo II to protect it.
That was the composition of their unit for tomorrow.
Right now, Yūko Kouzuki had suddenly called all of them to the area where Tactical Surface Fighter training had taken place earlier. Marimo did not know why.
However, judging from Yūko's tone, she seemed to be in a good mood, as if this was something beneficial.
When the vehicle climbed the slope before them, the training field finally came into full view. They also saw the Tactical Surface Fighter Yūko had borrowed earlier.
And that was-
Who?
A man stood beside Yūko. He looked like a young man around twenty years old, and Marimo had never seen him before.
Had Yūko brought the Tactical Surface Fighter here earlier to meet this person?
Come to think of it, Yūko had recently obtained some special items from who knew where, allowing the XG-70b Susanoo II to be completed. She had also optimized the systems of the Tactical Surface Fighters. That was very likely connected to this man.
Feeling the fabric at her waist being clutched even tighter, Marimo looked toward Kasumi. The child had grown even more nervous.
Kasumi was shy around strangers, but Marimo had never seen her so tense that she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
This child was deeply uneasy about the man beside Yūko.
"Kasumi, is that man a bad person?"
"I-I don't know."
That answer was somewhat unexpected.
"I can't sense anything from him."
"You can't sense anything? Is he like you?"
"N-no. He's like that. Like a black hole. Like a black hole."
Marimo frowned slightly at that description.
"A black hole? Like radar waves going out and getting no return, as if they're absorbed?"
Yui could not help saying that.
Everyone in the unit knew about Kasumi's special nature.
After all, they were also backup pilots for the XG-70b Susanoo II. If something happened, they might have to cooperate with Kasumi to pilot it, so they had been informed of the child's uniqueness.
"Mm."
Kasumi nodded softly.
In the next second, she immediately curled up, lowering her head and holding the rabbit plush in her arms in front of her face.
Marimo noticed that reaction as well. The man had suddenly looked over, frightening Kasumi.
When the off-road vehicle reached Yūko's side, Marimo also noticed subtle changes around the Tactical Surface Fighter.
There were strange depressions in the ground, as if some enormous objects had once stood there and left footprints behind.
They probably were not old marks from yesterday's Tactical Surface Fighter training. These were new.
On top of that, the empty ground around the footprints gave her a strange sense of wrongness.
"Deputy Commander Kouzuki, the Valkyries have all arrived."
Although she and Yūko were friends, this was not a private setting. They were superior and subordinate right now, so she needed to salute her superior as a subordinate.
Thus, as Marimo saluted, the others who had climbed out of the vehicle also stood straight and saluted.
"I called you here because tomorrow's assault operation with the XG-70b Susanoo II needs some changes. You need to adapt to new machines immediately."
"Adapt to new machines?"
Marimo was stunned.
Trying to adapt to new machines at a time like this was a very unwise decision.
The time was too short. No matter how they tried to adapt, there was no way they could perform better than they would in older Tactical Surface Fighters they were already familiar with.
Unless the new Tactical Surface Fighters' combat power was so far beyond imagination that it compensated for the disadvantage of unfamiliarity.
Besides, if they were supposed to familiarize themselves with new Tactical Surface Fighters, where were those machines?
The only Tactical Surface Fighter at the scene was the one Yūko had just borrowed, and it was the machine Marimo used.
"Deputy Commander Kouzuki, familiarizing ourselves with new machines now is an extremely unwise action!"
Yui immediately tried to dissuade her. In truth, her tone carried a hint of protest.
"We only have one day to adapt to new machines. Even if the operating systems are the same, they still need to be adjusted from multiple angles."
Haruka said this with concern as well.
"Deputy Commander Kouzuki, did I get the time wrong?"
From Michiru's perspective, Dr. Kouzuki was not such an irrational person. If she wanted them to adapt to new machines now, then perhaps the operation time had changed.
"The operation time has not changed. As for whether having you adapt to new machines now is correct, you can judge that after you come into contact with them."
After saying this, Dr. Kouzuki looked toward the man.
"This is Mr. Kain. He will be your next commanding officer and will be responsible for training you on how to operate the new machines."
After Yūko's introduction, the young man named Kain took a step forward.
"Disengage ECS mode."
He suddenly said something incomprehensible.
Yet those words made Marimo and the others freeze.
At the place where Marimo had found the footprints suspicious, five Tactical Surface Fighters they had never seen before suddenly appeared.
One of them should be considered a Tactical Surface Fighter, right? As for the other four machines, each was only about half the height of a Tactical Surface Fighter. Were those also Tactical Surface Fighters?
Leaving aside their combat capabilities, that stealth technology alone left them speechless.
On the four smaller units, one of each machine's arms had the shape of a gun. Judging by the muzzle design, it did not look like it fired physical ammunition, but more like an energy projector.
As for the large machine, the three gun barrels mounted on its head also seemed to be energy weapons.
Of course, they could also see weapons resembling missiles, if those really were missiles.
"To let you understand exactly how powerful these machines are, we'll start with a match."
Mr. Kain made that proposal.
In other words, he would pilot these machines, while their side would pilot Tactical Surface Fighters, and they would conduct a mock battle.
That would indeed be a very good way to see how powerful they were.
(End of Chapter)
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