Chapter 17

They were the same age and had become Valkyries around the same time, and since joining the same squadron, they had developed an excellent rapport in combat. Alma was heavily specialized in inflicting damage, while Natalie aided her by providing skillful situational analysis and high maneuverability. Natalie could draw the enemy’s focus with her Spitfire, setting up a sector on the battlefield where they could be sure that allies would not get caught up in Alma’s massive attack, allowing Alma to focus wholly on delivering her battle-ending bombs. Ever since they started refining that tactic, their results had been off the charts. However— “Could you not just communicate more clearly that you’re properly keeping track of my movements! Without that—” Alma cut Natalie off and simply said, “You’re annoying. Is that clear enough?” “You are so—!” Despite their compatibility in the air, there was no end to their arguments. But even as they went at it, Natalie was still skillfully covering Alma’s retreat to the rear now that Alma had unleashed her trump card and run out of munitions. They were certainly a strange pair. “I’ll still have to give them a talking-to when we get back down, though.” While giving their teamwork a bit of side-eye, the pilot of the crimson Deus ex Machina turned her attention to the enemy again. Sadly perhaps, her plane was significantly less powerful when compared to Alma’s and Natalie’s, particularly in terms of offensive potential. It was almost fatally insufficient, but she had given up on lamenting that difference or feeling bad for herself long ago. “—Ngh.” Leaping sharply into hostile airspace, she slipped through a narrow gap, cutting a path that brought her close to another enemy. As its focus shifted to her when she passed, it almost felt like their eyes met. “” It was a being with a pitch-black shell covering its whole body, and short feelers and horns protruded from what would have been its head. It flapped the wings growing from its back. It looked similar to a flying ant drone, but its body was more than three meters long, and its jaw was fully capable of tearing apart a fighter jet. —The unknown enemy beings commonly called pillars. That was the name of the opponents they were facing off against in the air, and the enemy of all humanity currently menacing the world. The only means available to challenge the pillars were the Valkyries. They were the wings Odin had granted humanity, giving them a chance to fight and save themselves in the face of total extermination. “Hah.” She exhaled, making a point to keep breathing as she caught the pillar’s focus. All of a sudden, the sound of the wind, the rumbling of her engine, the pounding of her heart, and the constant noise of her rushing blood returned at once. Turning her plane, she caught the enemy’s attention as she wove through the miniscule gaps between enemies trying to block her way. The moment she slipped between enemies and got a 360-degree view of the sky around her, it felt like she had threaded the needle. Her plane was far weaker in both offense and defense compared to her peers. That was her limitation. So all she could do was trust in her senses and the instinct for fighting that she had cultivated with all her experience— “—Gh!” Behind her, one of the pillars that accelerated to stay on her tail suddenly slammed into another pillar, badly cracking both of their thick shells with a pained howl. The pillars’ outer shells were stout, impenetrable for even the most powerful conventional weapons. The only things capable of piercing them were attacks that came from Deus ex Machinas piloted by Valkyries—and friendly fire from other pillars. Unable to fully utilize the former, her only reliable means of attack was the latter. Because of that, she would dive into the enemy ranks, disrupt their focus, egg them on until they followed her, and cause as much collateral damage as possible. And once the enemy had been thrown off-balance— “Falling in behind Major Evereska.” “Get wrecked, you damn bugs!!!” A refined, graceful voice and a spirited roar rang out at the same time as two more planes slipped into position behind the pillars still chasing her. By the time the pillars noticed the looming threat, it was far too late. She pulled up into a steep climb so that only the distracted ants were in the line of fire— “” A merciless stream of rounds easily shattered the pillars’ shells and slammed into their bodies. Torn apart by a storm of lead, the pillars’ wings, legs, and torsos were shattered. Without so much as a groan, they transformed into particles of light, scattering as they fell to earth. “The pillars have reached their activity limit. They are withdrawing.” Just as ten more pillars had been added to the mission score, the coolheaded operator’s voice chimed in with the report that the battle was over—their enemies were pulling back, proof that the Valkyries had won. “—Checkmate.” A single word crossed her lips as she looked out at the scene before her. She had let that out subconsciously, and she scolded herself for such an exuberant reaction. The enemy had merely withdrawn for the moment. It was not as if any definitive conclusion had been— “—Yeaaaah! We did it! All that’s left is mopping up the stragglers!” “Lisbeth, don’t get ahead of yourself. You could learn a thing or two from Major Evereska.” “Ha! Spare me the lecture, Leili!” “” Hearing such a youthful exchange after catching herself, she felt a little guilty. It was nice to be held up as a model pilot, but less so when she had just messed up herself. Either way, she couldn’t really ignore it once she heard them. “Don’t let your guard down until all the pillars have disappeared. Remain on standby at the rally point until further orders. Return to base in formation once we get the all clear.” “—Roger.” That drew a response from the entire squadron. They stayed on station, waiting for permission to withdraw from the mission area. During that period, the remaining pillars turned into light one by one before being absorbed back into the tower looming over the forest in the distance to the east. The tower of light standing in the distance was essentially a frontline base that spawned pillars of all shapes and sizes. There was no indication where one would appear next, and since they cropped up without warning, there was no way to stay ahead of them. However, there did appear to be a rule the pillars followed when they advanced: They never appeared in the middle of large cities or suddenly pop up behind the front lines of humanity’s armies. But even so, they were an enemy that could not be communicated with that advanced without warning, regardless of time of day. That alone was menacing enough to slowly wear away at the nerves of humanity’s fighting forces. “” The tower of light gradually faded from the top down, disappearing. With the frontline base disappearing, the grunts had no choice but to follow suit, and countless winged ants dissolved, taking the distracting buzz of their wings and their twisted black silhouettes with them, concluding the battle. “—No more hostile contacts on radar. Please return to base.” The same cool voice that had been in contact throughout the battle reported the end of combat operations over the radio, and the pilot nodded, even though the operator could not see her. She nudged the control stick and turned her plane toward the base— “Well done, Major Evereska.” Her lips broke into a smile at the curt acknowledgment. 2 Returning her Deus ex Machina to the hangar, she leaped from the cockpit with a light step. She removed her aviator hat and shook her head, her streaming silver hair shimmering in the sunlight. Undoing the top button of her flight suit, she felt an immediate release, followed by relief. She took a long, deep breath as her well-endowed bosom was finally freed from its tight confines. “Hey, good-looking. Catch.” All of a sudden, a voice called out from the side of the hangar, and the silver-haired beauty—Rusalka—caught an object that had been tossed her way. Looking down, she saw a cute pink water bottle with a flowery pattern on it, a bold statement of its owner’s tastes. “Thank you, Chief Reever.” “Don’t be like that. We’re friends, aren’t we?” The tall, well-toned man smiled as he put his hand to his cheek. His light-brown hair was held back by a pink hair band. Rusalka was on the tall side for a woman, but he was still much taller than her. He was Roger Reever, the chief technician who headed up the maintenance crews at the base. He was a maintenance fanatic, running a hangar with incomparably exacting precision. Charged with overseeing all maintenance at humanity’s forwardmost outpost, Holm base, he was almost single-handedly keeping the Valkyries’ Deus ex Machinas running, making sure the only effective weapon humanity had against the pillars could take to the skies at any time. And on top of the natural relationship between a Valkyrie and the maintenance crews, he was also a close friend of Rusalka’s. Indulging in his kindness, she brought the bottle to her mouth. She was greeted by a warm, sweet flavor that seemed to make her exhaustion melt away. “That’s quite delicious. Your tea has reached a new level.” “Humans are constantly improving, after all. That goes for more than just serving tea. I’m getting better and better at repairs and maintenance, too. It won’t be long before I break free from all human limits.” “That’s amazing. I can’t wait to see how far you’ll go.” “Thank you, sweetie. On an unrelated note, is it okay if I get my hopes up, too?” “—? I don’t really mind, but are you asking me for something?” Rusalka cocked her head at Roger’s roundabout question. Before Roger could answer her, though, the situation cleared itself up. “Again with that?! Gimme a break already!” A shout split the air inside the hangar, pausing the general hustle and bustle for a moment. The outcry had come from a pair of girls facing each other in a corner of the building. One was a lively-looking girl with short black hair, while the other had long, almost translucent blond hair—they were both young, still in their mid-teens. “…Those two again?” “Those two again.” Roger nodded as Rusalka’s shapely eyebrows furrowed deeply. There was more than a little exasperation and resignation in her voice, proof that this wasn’t the first time she had dealt with this exact problem. The two of them arguing in the hangar was not a new development. In fact, they got along about as well as water and oil. Their arguments could be heard in the hangar, in the barracks, in the mess hall—pretty much anytime and anyplace they happened to be. “Is this really the state of Sigrdrifa, fighting on humanity’s front lines…?” Rusalka lamented. “It would be a disaster if any outsiders happened to hear them. But getting them to work together is your job, so do your best, Squadron Leader.” “Executive officer of the base and squadron leader besides…I really should have turned those positions down when I had the chance.” “What? Nooo, what are you even saying?” Rusalka sighed as she put her hand to her forehead. Roger fired back immediately before waving his hand lightly as he headed for his post to examine Rusalka’s Spitfire. In other words, he was telling her to do her job like a professional. As chief technician, he would maintain their planes, so as squadron leader, she should… “…I suppose I should discipline my ill-mannered pilots.” Rusalka rolled her shoulders, sighed to herself once more, and then started walking over to where her pilots persisted with their unsightly bickering. “Just accept it already! I got more kills than you! That’s proof I’m better. Grades from back during training don’t mean a damn thing anymore!” “I didn’t say anything about old results, Lisbeth. I merely said there would have been fewer dangerous situations if you would just put more effort into working together with the people around you.” “That’s their fault for not matching my pace! Why do I have to slow myself down for people weaker than me?! If we lose because of that, whose fault—?” “—That’s enough.” The two of them were in a heated argument over what had happened in the battle they had returned from. In and of itself, their observations contained some valuable analysis, but the location, optics, and several other aspects of how they were going about it were problematic to say the least. In order to explain that to them, Rusalka cut into their conversation, starting by silencing the loud dark-haired girl—Lisbeth Crown. Grabbing the back of her head in a vise grip, she lifted the small girl into the air. “Ghgyaaaaa!” “Aren’t you the very model of a proper soldier, holding a debriefing right after the battle. However, our speech and conduct, and even our presence, are deeply tied to strictly classified military secrets. Please learn to consider the appropriate time, place, and occasion for your conversations.” Lisbeth’s feet fluttered as she writhed under the powerful grip threatening to crush her skull. As Rusalka continued chastising her, she smiled kindly at the other girl—Leili Haltija—who watched in mute shock at the terrifying feat of strength. Seeing Rusalka’s smile, Leili turned pale and snapped to attention. “Y-yes, ma’am. Ummm…Major Evereska…I’m sure Lisbeth is reflecting on her outburst, too…” “Th-that’s right! Lemme go! Lemme go already, Major Kong… Ghgyaaaa!” “Really? You call this reflecting?” “I’ll—! I’ll make sure she understands, ma’am! Please have mercy!” Leili pled for clemency, finding it unbearable to watch as Rusalka gave the unrepentant Lisbeth more encouragement to reconsider her actions. It was clear Leili was far more mature than Lisbeth. “Very well. I’ll leave it to you. But if you are going to take responsibility, you need to follow through.” “Y-yes, ma’am! I swear it.” Trusting Leili’s spirited acknowledgment, Rusalka released Lisbeth’s head at last. The younger girl collapsed to her knees as Leili caught her, bringing a definitive end to their argument.