In the hangar of one of the ships Kurt had downed was the Guide. Having regained his humanoid form, he was doing his best to extricate 3588 from the pile of debris she was buried beneath.
He shoved rubble aside, searching for the girl.
“Urrrgh! My trump card can’t die here!”
The hangar was a mess. Sparks flashed here and there, and an explosion could occur at any moment. However, the Avid’s successors—dubbed the Neos—were protected by rare metal armor, so there wasn’t a scratch on them. These craft had the same basic silhouette as the Avid, but certain details had been changed in an effort to surpass the original. What stood out most about the Neos was their great shields—and their heads.
Since the five Neos were equipped with artificial intelligence, they didn’t require pilots—but the flip side was that they wouldn’t move without orders. The commander who should’ve directed them to sortie had perished along with all the staff under him, so at this point, the Neos were little more than piles of expensive junk.
Among them was one craft painted red. In addition to being outfitted with AI, it had been adjusted for 3588 to pilot. The Guide sensed 3588 somewhere near that red mobile knight. As he cleared debris, he at last located her.
“I finally found you!”
The falling rubble had injured 3588. “Sorry, Mr. Hat. I got hurt…” She laughed weakly.
The Guide smiled. “Worry not. Liam is coming now. Let me take you to your craft.” Seriously, what were you doing here?! You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you’d been in that machine to start with!
The red mobile knight 3588 would pilot was the only thing that could possibly defeat Liam, and their chances of that would be much higher with the white Neos added to the mix. Yet Calvin’s faction had treated 3588 as if she were nothing more than a bonus.
I don’t want to lose any more power, but if she collapsed here, it would cause me trouble. The Guide held his hand out above the wounded 3588, and her injuries healed.
“Wow! It’s magic!” Number 3588 said happily.
The Guide wasn’t sure how to react to that. “Well, it’s not actually magic. Just get into the machine, would you? You’ll be safer in there.”
He took 3588 to the cockpit of the red mobile knight. When the craft’s pilot approached, its hatch opened automatically.
Number 3588 looked lonely. “You should come too, Mr.—”
The Guide shook his head, though. “You have to do this by yourself.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll be fine! The mobile knights with AI will protect you. Work with them to take Liam down, okay?” The Guide set his hands on 3588’s shoulders, his words manipulating her sweetly.
Number 3588 smiled back at him. “Okay! Got it, Mr. Hat. After all, I made a promise to you. I’ll definitely beat Liam, so watch me, okay?”
“Sounds good! Now, off with you.”
Entering the cockpit, 3588 sat down and started up the mobile knight. The craft’s head resembled the Avid’s, but its visor set it apart from the original. The visor was lit up by several camera eyes, giving it an odd look.
The other four craft had simple round heads designed without a shred of character. They were plain mobile knights that moved using artificial intelligence—and when the four powered on, they began destroying a nearby wall to open a path outside.
“I swear I’ll do this, since that was my promise to you, Mr. Hat.”
When the Neos came online, 3588 opened communications with her temporary commander. “Th-this is the…special…mobile knight…force? Permission to launch?” she said, trying to employ the emergency-launch method she’d been taught.
The temporary commander’s confused-sounding reply came back to her. “Confirmed. Yes, you should all launch.”
Watching 3588, the Guide spread his arms. “Right! All of you attack Liam together! If you do, I’m sure you can—”
This, however, was where the Guide’s plan began to fall apart. The temporary commander didn’t really understand how the Neos worked. The original commander had been killed, and this man was only taking his place for the time being, so he hadn’t had time to read up on details about 3588 and the Neos.
“Your red craft is a different model, right?” he asked 3588. “In that case, I’d like you to go after the ground forces. An enemy ace is making short work of our mobile knights down there.”
The Guide froze, his arms still spread wide. “Huh…?”
“The other four craft can go after House Banfield’s main force as planned. If they’re functional both in and out of atmosphere, I expect a lot from them.”
Once the temporary commander had given his orders, the Neos moved to carry them out. The four units broke through the hangar wall fully and flew out into the sky.
“Oh—they left! U-um… I’ll go too, okay, Mr. Hat?”
The red mobile knight likewise exited through the hole the Neos had opened. Finally, the Guide understood what was happening; he reached out an arm to stop the craft, but he was too late.
“Wait! You have to prioritize Liam, or there’s no…!”
The red mobile knight flew off, and the Guide despaired.
“Why?! Attack him with all five units, like you planned!”