Kurz didn’t even have time to bat an eye or click his tongue.
With his ECS lifted and lambda driver force fields up, he checked for attacks from other enemies. After confirming that there were no more hostile ASes in the area, Kaspar made his report to Kalinin.
“Mr. Kalium,” he said, “I just finished off Weber.”
“Are you certain?” Kalinin asked.
“He’s done. He’ll have died instantly.”
“I see. Then move on to the enemies resisting in the northeast.”
“We’re to take the woman alive, correct?” Kaspar asked, seeking confirmation.
“If you can,” Kalinin affirmed. “The others don’t matter.”
“Roger.” Kaspar ended the transmission, then leapt his Eligore off of the steel tower and towards the northeast. Kalinin didn’t seem troubled at all that his former student had been killed, but then, Kaspar hadn’t felt any remorse, either. In fact, it had brought him a sort of elation that was rare for him these days.
You were so close, Weber. That building in the center of town really was the best candidate... I definitely would have camped out there, if I hadn’t known it was you I was facing. I avoided it because of that, because I knew you’d see it.
I had a subordinate set a small gas burner on the roof of that building. It was a minimal heat source, but enough to put doubt in your mind. And you fell for it. I’m sure you were rushed. You didn’t have time to think it through. But that’s why you failed.
Did some part of you believe that you’d get a second shot? Kaspar wondered. Or were you simply lacking the necessary concentration in that moment? Yes, you committed too early... You should have thought it over for one minute more. Then you might have out-thought my trick.
Sorry, my student. It was nice knowing you.
You had natural talent. Five years ago, one of my employers brought me an ‘interesting kid.’ That was you. You said you wanted to kill the man who killed your family... a former Japan Red Army terrorist, wasn’t it? I decided to throw you into battle to test you, and in turn, you showed me a glimpse of your potential. Your observations, focus, and ability to visualize ballistic trajectories told me you had promise. That’s why I took you on.
Yes, you were a genius. You absorbed two hundred years of sniper know-how and skill in no time at all. In a year, just one year, you became the greatest sniper on my team, Kaspar marveled.
But you couldn’t summon the spirit.
You soaked up every bit of knowledge I had, like planning, reading maps, communications, camo, and surveillance, as well as the secrets of rifles, ammunition, and trajectories.
But, my student... The spirit never came to you.
You died never having known the moment in which everything becomes one. That moment when all of creation comes together, time stops, and you feel like you can control every molecule. We call it ‘seeing God,’ too. It happens when it happens.
The final determiner doesn’t come down to logical calculations. You never understood that. And that’s why the spirit never visited you.
I gave you your revenge. I passed on most of my skills to you. But you turned your back on me and left, Kurz Weber. You never really had what it takes.
I really am sorry, my student, he thought regretfully. Then Kaspar’s Eligore jumped a second and third time through the ruins, hurrying towards the battlefield on the northeastern side.
Sousuke heard a series of distant explosions from the plant’s south side. There were two shots from high-caliber AS sniper cannons, followed by... the sound of an AS getting hit and exploding. Sousuke couldn’t see anything from his current position, and knew that if he stuck his head out to look, he’d get a bullet in it for his trouble. His gut feeling, though, was that a split-second sniper battle had taken place, resulting in one AS’s destruction.
“Uruz-6,” he radioed, “Report status.”
There was no response.
“Uruz-6,” he tried again. “Did you eliminate the target?” Then he thought, It can’t be... Desperately, he repeated the call. “Kurz, respond!”
“The ADM link is down,” Tessa said, her finger dancing on her tablet. “We’re not receiving data. I’m not even getting an SOS signal, which can only mean his M9 is disabled.”
“Is he dead?” Lemon shouted while trading fire behind them.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But he’ll be out of the fight, at the very least...”
“He wouldn’t be killed that easily,” said Sousuke, while firing out the door. “We’ve been through worse than this. He’ll be fine.” I’m almost out of bullets, he realized. Just about twenty left. I can’t fend off the enemy soldiers much longer.
“You’re right. But at this rate—”
“Don’t give up, Tessa.”
Tessa said nothing.
“You still have responsibilities,” Sousuke insisted. “I will get you back home. Don’t give up now.”
At length she responded, “All right.”
But then, as if to shatter Sousuke’s stubborn sense of confidence, the enemy’s red AS arrived. This was the lambda driver-mounted Eligore—an upgrade to the Codarl model—and it landed in the center of the path they’d have to take if they wanted to leave the room where they were hiding.
No... Sousuke thought desperately. The Eligore was a sniper model, armed with a high-caliber 76mm rifle. If the sniper Kurz had warned him about was appearing in the open like this, that meant...
“Kurz...” he cried out.
“Weber-san...” keened Tessa. “No...”
“Get down!” Lemon shouted at them, as the red Eligore swung its arm down to pry open the room where they were hiding, tearing the rusty roof free from the aged concrete below. They’d managed to take cover so as to avoid immediate injury, but now they were in plain view to the outside. Lemon whimpered weakly as the concrete fragments fell around him.
“You’re on your own now,” a man’s voice said through the AS’s external speakers. “Kurz Weber is dead. Time to pack it in.”
Sousuke knew that a sniper only came out into the open when it was clear that the battle was over, and he had no reason to doubt the man’s words. Still, he muttered, “It can’t be...”
“We hope to take the woman alive,” the voice continued. “Hand her over, or we’ll have no choice but to kill you all.”
Tessa was clearly holding up against the psychological shock this news represented as Sousuke met her eyes. Mustering up all the will she had, she shook her head and mouthed the word, ‘No.’
He knew that if Tessa didn’t want to be forced to give up information on her comrades, she would have to die with them: that’s clearly what she wanted as well. But wouldn’t her survival lead to the possibility that she might be rescued, Sousuke wondered, increasing their chance for a counterattack later? Couldn’t she help to bring Kaname out of her stupor? Those almost delusional hopes led him to hesitate.
Just then, Sousuke heard a whisper through the FM radio band in his ear. “Sousuke... you read me?” came a weak, halting voice. It’s Kurz, he thought. He’s alive.
“Yeah, I read you.”
“I fucked up, man,” Kurz confessed. “My machine’s busted. I think... I don’t have much longer.”
Sousuke knew that the destruction of his M9 had probably dealt Kurz a mortal wound. The world would be growing dark around him, and his body would be telling him it was giving up.
“But... I can manage one shot,” Kurz finished. “Listen, Sousuke... Get the pilot of that red AS... outside his cockpit.”
“Outside? How—”
“Whatever it takes, just do it.”
Sousuke said nothing back as the red AS looked down on them. The soldiers behind it were holding their fire, but remained on their guard. Sousuke had about fifteen rounds left in his carbine, as well as a single smoke grenade. What kind of bluff can I manage with that, he wondered? How can I lure a sniper I’ve never even met before out of his cockpit? That sniper...
Sniper, he realized. Of course...
“I’ll do my best,” Sousuke whispered into the radio, dropping his carbine onto the ground. Yanking Tessa towards him, he pulled a knife from his belt and pressed the tip to her throat.
“Sousuke?!” Lemon shouted in shock.
“Don’t move,” Sousuke hissed back at him, using Tessa as shield to keep his body perfectly hidden, along with what remained of the wall behind him. Tessa didn’t resist, seemingly curious about where he was going with this.
“Oh? And what’s this, now?” the operator of the red AS asked.
“I want to negotiate.”
“Negotiate?”
“If you want the girl, you can have her,” Sousuke told him. “But I want my own safety guaranteed. If you refuse, I’ll kill her.”
“Please, she’s not worth that much to us,” the AS sniper scorned. “I was only told to bring her alive if possible. I’m just as happy to kill you all at the first sign of resistance.”
“Then you should be just as happy to let us all live,” Sousuke retorted. “Let me go, then you can take her unharmed.”
“Are you stupid or something?” The red AS’s shoulders shook, reflecting the laughter of the pilot inside. “Sagara Sousuke, was it? I’ve heard of you. You wouldn’t kill that girl just to save yourself. Drop this absurd bluff right now.”
“It’s not a bluff,” Sousuke said, his body flush against Tessa’s. “I can’t afford to die yet. I’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive, so let me through now.”
“You really think I’ll let you go?” the AS operator asked flatly.
“Your other option is to blow us both away,” said Sousuke. “You can do that trivially enough.” Now, what will you do? he wondered. I know you won’t let us escape. As you said, you have no qualms about blowing us both away—your AS could do it in a second. It would be simple... Yes, extremely simple. That’s why I don’t think you’ll do it. It’s just too easy.