“…Like you said, if we can identify the communications satellite, we’ll be able to confirm if the base…if Zelene’s information is true or not.”
Operation Overlord hinged on the authenticity of the base, making it the most crucial bit of information when it came to boosting the operation’s chances of success. Shin brought up the communications satellite Zelene had mentioned as one possible clue, and Vika nodded.
“If the Rabe moves in to operate in its place in case it’s lost, that would imply the satellite is in scheduled communications with the base, even if via relay. If that’s the case, locating the satellite shouldn’t be that hard. After all, when the satellite bombardment happened, the Federacy was able to notice the change in how many satellites were up there.”
Artificial satellites remained in orbit and floated at a high altitude, hidden above the horizon. This made them difficult to detect, but depending on how strong a radar’s output was, it could spot satellites from a great distance, and under certain conditions, they could even be seen with the naked eye. If any satellites that remained in orbit after the second large-scale offensive existed in records dating back to the start of the Legion War, it was likely the satellite they were looking for could be among them.
“If we can identify both the base and the satellite, we’ll be able to record how long their transmissions take. Indeed, if we can identify a transmission, we’ll be able to confirm it’s between the base and the satellite…and if we’re lucky, we might be able to directly transmit a shutdown order to the satellite from outside, without taking the base.”
If the satellite was caught on radar, that meant it was within range for transmissions to reach it. However…
“That’s impossible, isn’t it?” Shin promptly cut him off.
“Probably.” Vika nodded, unaffected.
If it was possible to transmit to the satellite and update command ownership over the Legion from anywhere, Zelene wouldn’t have mentioned the base as the key to shutting down the Legion. And given they hadn’t deciphered the communication encryption the Legion used, falsifying a transmission would be difficult. And of course, a military satellite’s security wouldn’t be easy to crack.
Raiden, however, cut into their words. “Wouldn’t you be capable of that? Intruding and falsifying.”
“I won’t say I’m not, but… Come to think of it, Milizé asked me something similar not long ago. If I’d have spent the years I worked as a commander on the front and improved the Sirins, developing their artificial intelligence, I might have been able to do that. But if I’d focused on that, the United Kingdom wouldn’t have lasted. So I told her that I had no intention or time to do so.”
It was possible technologically speaking, but he lacked the resources to do it. Hence, he could do it, but he wouldn’t.
“Stop saying complicated—”
“Hacking into the communications satellite would likely take me that much time. Would you like for me to step away from the fighting to do that?”
His homeland couldn’t survive for years, so clearly, they couldn’t wait for that. Even knowing this, His Highness asked that question. Raiden shrugged.
“No, we need you here. We’ve got Lena and Major Zashya to function as commanders without you, but they can’t fix up the Sirins.”
“Running your mouth, aren’t you?” But even saying this, Vika flashed an amused smile.
Come to think of it, Shin had stopped hearing them call Vika by their nickname for him: Your Highness. Pondering this, Shin put the conversation back on track.
“We’ll need to confirm the satellite is actually working first… Won’t that be enough to confirm the base, too?”
“It’ll be better than nothing, and that’s the Intelligence Department’s work regardless… By the way, have you heard of how the Intelligence Department got the Merciless Queen, with how she refused to answer anything confidential, to actually talk?”
“Mm? No.”
“Torture doesn’t work on the Legion, does it? They must have forced her somehow, then.”
Vika had an expression like he just heard a truly funny joke.
“They used coercion… They read out the names of important figures who’d died or gone missing in the Imperial faction’s last resistance one by one, then had Zelene repeat the names to identify who was a Shepherd and who wasn’t.”
“…”
Speaking the names that Shepherds had in life was a violation of protected information. And so if she was able to repeat a name, it wasn’t one, and if the protection prevented her from doing so, it would identify that name as a Shepherd. However…
“…Isn’t that just a lot of busywork?”
Shin had no idea how many people were listed, but the important figures would likely take a long time to read out. Imagining it painted a rather silly image.
“The interrogators took turns over several days, and it made Zelene overheat, causing her issues a few times. All they were doing was testing for ways to question her, so you can sympathize with her for when the real questioning begins. Formulating the right questions would take considerable time, too.”
“Gotta feel bad for ’em…both for Zelene and the people questioning her.”
Shin had to agree. But on top of that, he came to a realization.
“…They could use that method to get her to expose the name of that base’s commander unit. If there’s a recording of their voice anywhere, some old transmission or anything, I’ll be able to tell if they’re really in the base—”
Raiden and even Vika looked apologetic for some reason.
“We can’t know for sure if the commander unit for that base is necessarily from the Imperial faction, but yes, that could work.”
“So they’ll keep reading out the names of Imperial soldiers they’ve confirmed are Shepherds, then have her say if they’re the commander of the base. That’s extra stupid work.”
This meant that Zelene would be forced to repeat that stupid image over and over again. Shin did think he wanted to go see her once before the operation. But now…he felt like he needed to hear her complain.
“But, Shin, would you be all right doing that? Getting close to the front lines and that base put a strain on you.”
The distance between the active battle zones and the base was still far relative to the Eighty-Sixth Sector. And with the Sheepdogs active, which hadn’t been a problem back then, the wailings of the Legion were much stronger now. Indeed, since the second large-scale offensive started, there’d been more instances where the strain felt too much to bear.
But Shin replied with that in mind. Yes, it was harder on him, and he appreciated the concern, but… Well, if he insisted on digging his own grave.
“Yeah. So handle my paperwork for me for a while, Vice Captain Shuga.”
“What?! Why, you…!”
“…If that’s all it takes to get the load off you, that’s good, but we can’t afford to have you collapse before the operation. Zelene trusts you, so having you question her would be ideal. And having you move away from the fighting for a while is efficient since it’ll give you time to rest, too.”
Ignoring Raiden’s complaints, Vika casually gave his advice, to which Shin shrugged. The Strike Package would certainly participate in Operation Overlord. Shin had no intention of staying out of that operation, and he doubted any of his comrades wanted that, either.
They were Eighty-Six, after all. They trusted only in their own strength and that of their comrades, and they resolved to fight to the very end. The meaning of their battle had changed for each of them since they left the Eighty-Sixth Sector, but the will to fight on remained the same for all of them.
And so as their commander, leaving the unit for even a short time was a choice that Shin couldn’t afford to take, both in terms of keeping up with his training and maintaining the unit’s morale.
“I can’t do that.”